Skyroam or unlocked Mifi
I travel mainly to the Middle East or Africa where I would need a sim card to get internet access. So the day passes would hardly be of use to me unless I had a long layover in the UK or EU. The last hotel I stayed in the internet was mostly unusable. I have looked at Glocalme and the website is too hard to find the countries that you may fly into to get access to buy internet service. So what are your thoughts on which device to buy?
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Skyroam is only HSPA. It will support a foreign SIM card. I have thought about a GlocalMe 2 which seems to have a fair amount of LTE bands and two SIM slots.
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I have been traveling with Goodspeed - 4G MiFi with 9 slots for SIM cards but typically the SIM cards are sourced through them (there are options to use own SIM cards as well).
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I have a Skyroam and a Glocalme U2 mifi's, both have it's pluses and minuses.
Skyroam Positives - Great coverage (used it in West Australia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, Amsterdam, Spain, Italy) and customer service is excellent. It has the ability to purchase additional data without having internet access. E.g. Ran out of day passes and you're not able to use a computer/phone to buy passes. And ability to monitor data usage on the device Negatives - It only has 3g/HSPA+ and it gets pretty warm/hot when in use. The usb port seems flimsy Glocalme U2 Positives - 4G speed! I just used it this weekend in Mexico City and got 26 megs down and 30 up on speedtest app. Ability to use a sim card? I haven't tried it yet. Battery? it seems to good. Never had a chance to use it all day. Negs - The ability to buy more data when you've run out. I ran out of data and couldn't purchase more data until i was able to get internet access on my phone to use their website to purchase more. I emailed the company and they "said" they'll see if it's possible to add that feature. The Glocalme app needs improvement on my phone anyway. It lags and at times hard to connect to the app. (galaxy s5) Possible data bleeding? I read on amazon it bleeds data, I couldn't verify as I turned off the mifi when not in use. I hope that helps! |
Thanks. Nice contribution. I would just add you can use your own SIM on a Skyroam device as well.
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Originally Posted by powerlifter
(Post 27854533)
I travel mainly to the Middle East or Africa
https://c1.iggcdn.com/indiegogo-medi...has2k1yplk.png
Originally Posted by Dubai Stu
(Post 27874591)
Thanks. Nice contribution. I would just add you can use your own SIM on a Skyroam device as well.
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This trip is to Oman. So I will need a sim card to use wifi. The client has booked us into a hotel where the reviewers have stated that the wifi is slow. We are gone for two weeks so I need good wifi. I was in West Africa on the last trip, and the wifi was abysmal. I had a hard time with WhatsApp and facetime. I do not want to do that again.
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Originally Posted by Boostedtaco
(Post 27880270)
I found this listing of countries that they support. Not sure if's the ones you're looking for.
https://c1.iggcdn.com/indiegogo-medi...has2k1yplk.png No problem! Whoops i forgot that. |
Originally Posted by powerlifter
(Post 27881906)
This trip is to Oman. So I will need a sim card to use wifi. The client has booked us into a hotel where the reviewers have stated that the wifi is slow. We are gone for two weeks so I need good wifi. I was in West Africa on the last trip, and the wifi was abysmal. I had a hard time with WhatsApp and facetime. I do not want to do that again.
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Originally Posted by powerlifter
(Post 27881914)
Are you talking Sky Roam or GlocalMe?
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I went ahead and bought skyroam. The reviews were better on amazon than GlocalMe. I will see how it goes. Thanks for all the input.
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Originally Posted by Dubai Stu
(Post 27874591)
I would just add you can use your own SIM on a Skyroam device as well.
Thanks for any/all help! |
Originally Posted by mpiotrow
(Post 27945770)
Having just started looking at SkyRoam/MyFi options, what is the benefit of being able to use your own SIM in a device? If you do that, can you then use the data on SIM without having to pay for the SkyRoam usage? Is it possible to tether multiple devices with your own SIM (even if the SIM does not support tethering)?
Thanks for any/all help! When you boot the Skyroam up, it senses the external SIM card and asks whether you wish to use it or Skyroam. |
Originally Posted by Dubai Stu
(Post 27947913)
There are a number of reasons. The one that comes to mind is that Skyroam is a good deal for a short term stay in a country, but not a long term one. I spent three weeks in Australia two years ago. A local SIM easily would beat Skyroam, but I have one day in the Netherlands later this year. A local SIM card wouldn't be such a good deal. Then there are uncovered countries. It doesn't look like Oman is a covered country (see above). At that point, a Skyroam is jut another hotspot. TMobile has slow roaming included in its data packages (now at 256k). On the days you are just checking your email, that would be fine but once you have work to do, Skyroam makes more sense. If you are using a competitor with LTE service, you might want your home country SIM in the device for use at home, and the roaming service abroad. Skyroam, etc., can also give you backup coverage on a different network. Yesterday, I was in a hotel where ATT's coverage didn't reach the meeting room, but TMobile's did. I believe Skyroam also gives you a US internet connection which could get you around blocking in some countries.
When you boot the Skyroam up, it senses the external SIM card and asks whether you wish to use it or Skyroam. Also, just to be clear, the SkyRoam acts ONLY as a data device, it does not handle or pass telephone calls through it, right? Thanks again! |
I doubt the device would respect it but I can't speak for the carrier. If I stick my ATT global unlimited datacard into a hotspot device ATT would be breathing down my throat. It doesn't take a genius to realize that an iOS device shouldn't be connecting to Windows update service.
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The example you gave is Italy. If you are truly going to Italy you could use the day pass, and 5 devices can tether to the skyroam. If you are like me going to Oman or a place where the day pass doesn't work, I will get a data sim to tether to.
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Originally Posted by Dubai Stu
(Post 27949939)
I doubt the device would respect it but I can't speak for the carrier. If I stick my ATT global unlimited datacard into a hotspot device ATT would be breathing down my throat. It doesn't take a genius to realize that an iOS device shouldn't be connecting to Windows update service.
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If your cellular provider says that you shouldn't tether with your SIM card, you shouldn't do an end run around that by putting the SIM in a hotspot. Whether they detect or enforce that depends on the carrier. Many carriers don't as long as you have the correct access point entered, some do. I have unlimited data world wide on my iPhone. ATT isn't going to look kindly on me if I go stick that SIM into a hotspot and stream a 4K movie from a laptop while roaming in Russia.
Many of us have occasionally cheated on these rules, but you are having to be careful. If your carrier charges you by the megabyte, they probably won't care. In the US, ATT looks harder than TMobile does. In Canada, I used to have a Telus tablet SIM in a hotspot and they could care less. |
Originally Posted by Boostedtaco
(Post 27880270)
I found this listing of countries that they support. Not sure if's the ones you're looking for.
https://c1.iggcdn.com/indiegogo-medi...has2k1yplk.png No problem! Whoops i forgot that. The Americas Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, El Salvador, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saipan, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Island, United States, Venezuela Europe Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vatican City Asia Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Macao, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Vietnam South Pacific Australia, Christmas Island, Fiji, Guam, New Zealand Africa Egypt, Kenya, South Africa Middle East Israel, Qatar, Turkey "Unlimited" doesn't mean "unthrottled". SkyRoam allows up to 500 MB at normal speed in one pass-day, but then throttles back to slower speeds. As stated in a PC Magazine article, "you get 500MB of 4G data per day, with unlimited 2.5G speeds after that. Those 2.5G speeds are about the same as you get with T- Mobile's unlimited international data plan." |
Originally Posted by miikka
(Post 27867142)
I have been traveling with Goodspeed - 4G MiFi with 9 slots for SIM cards but typically the SIM cards are sourced through them (there are options to use own SIM cards as well).
Have you continued to use Goodspeed? Would you (or anyone) give us a fresh user report? Thx |
Originally Posted by bukzin
(Post 28493784)
Have you continued to use Goodspeed? Would you (or anyone) give us a fresh user report?
Elsewhere, I have continued the usage. They have had regional challenges in some areas (related to one specific operator providing one of the SIM cards) which affected the usage in multiple countries and I think they also had something happening with China but otherwise it is typically rather rock solid. Naturally it always depends on the local network conditions and if the SIM card is also roaming and providing the service that way then there are two operators involved so overall situation might be complex if you encounter problems. Goodspeed customer support is rather quick on resolving and jumping to solutions but also ensure the customer satisfaction. One topic to be cautious, depending on the plan, the daily package might not be renewing multiple times but only for example one time - this might limit the total amount of data per day significantly. They have also more expensive option where you can enable unlimited renewals in the countries which support it. Some time last year they reduced the default package size so in some countries it might now be rather small and it is good to calculate the benefit. I typically use something between 1-4 GB per day so I trust very much on these type of devices. I have tried to look for alternatives but haven't found the perfect one yet - Goodspeed has been keeping up with my travels and gets out of the luggage everywhere where I go (including transits). |
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