- This topic has 50 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 5 years ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Since you’re techy people can someone do a review for global pocket wifi roaming devices?
I understand there’s Vodafone roaming but there’s definitely a price point where that isn’t the best way to go. It would be so awesome to just load up pre pay via an app and charge pocket wifi and go. My partner and I could be on without adjusting phones or SIMs or use multiple devices. We switch to laptop, & tablet at times. Much more handy I think. I know there was one that even earned a few airline miles!
Since you’re techy people can someone do a review for global pocket wifi roaming devices?
Will see what we can do. There have been some new offerings in the last year or so that look interesting, with value propositions getting a lot better. In the past, most of the global(ish) travel SIMs or data devices have been really poor value, but they are a lot closer to just getting a local SIM now, but with less hassle.
For me, $5 a day Vodafone roaming is worth it for the convenience of just being able to use my phone automatically. I can also hotspot to my laptop if needed, but I find I’m actually not taking it away with me as often anymore and just living off my phone (work trips excepted).
@sbiddle – If you’re seeing this thread – didn’t you see something interesting at CES this year or last?For me, $5 a day Vodafone roaming is worth it for the convenience of just being able to use my phone automatically. I can also hotspot to my laptop if needed, but I find I’m actually not taking it away with me as often anymore and just living off my phone (work trips excepted).
Yeah but even in Oz $5 a day x6 days away = $30 to use my NZ data with Vodafone.
But I could purchase Optus $30 for (I can’t remember) but some decent amount of data. I have Optus and Telstra hotspots because some places one is better than the other etc. Telstra more expensive but anyway, there is a price point where roaming isn’t the way to go. I did have a previous world SIM of some sort but I chewed through data a bit faster than anticipated so biffed it. And I’m too lazy to spend time on the net looking at what’s out there properly 🙁 I have a spare phone which I would put the world SIM card into but if you’re travelling with someone else it’s just way more convenient to carry that device around and either of you could connect without changing SIMs etc. I’m happy to pay a bit extra for the convenience but I don’t want to be robbed either!
Only skimmed it but this one looks good! Unlimited data $99/mo (excl buy device fee) or $9 daily (I’d use Vodafone roam for short trips), pay as you go. Decent global coverage. Looks like it’s missing a bit of Eastern Europe but not a biggie for me. Hope it has decent speeds. Looks like it would fit in a handbag. That’s important right?
I have just realised I should be hooking the laptop up to my Oz phone instead of my NZ phone. Oops!
While at CES this year I met the guys from we.stream and played with their hotspot. It’s a very cool device and ended up being released around the end of March.
I have a friend here in NZ who is an Air NZ pilot who has got one, but I’ve been far too busy over the past month to catch up with him and have a play with it.
Just to add to this, I am a big fan of just using VF $5 day roaming. The downside of roaming is when you’re in Europe, because of the way roaming works all data is tunnelled back to the home network first meaning you have terrible latency while using data over there – 350ms or so back to NZ, and if you’re then accessing content in the US (or even worse Europe) that’s another 150ms, or even worse 350ms of added latency.
With no roaming charges in Europe now anybody who is traveling around Europe would find their best option to buy a local SIM.
I’ll be in the UK from Monday next week and, having just spent two weeks on the South Island, I have used a lot of my 17Gb for the month already unfortunately. Streaming Netflix seems to be a good way to burn it quite fast!
I might buy a UK sim, although I hate the fact that my phone won’t ring if dialled whilst the wrong sim is installed. I do wish dual sim phones were sold more in NZ.
Had a quick look at westream. 2 SIMs so I could have one slot for overseas and one for Oz Telstra maybe? Then use Oz Optus phone and have NZ Vodafone and still have a spark hotspot for troublesome areas but I’m not in those areas much anymore.
Kiwimac I miss my dual sim phone but it puttered out. Icons would go missing after updates or move, eventually I’d go to answer the phone and the icon to answer the phone didn’t even come up! I wanted another dual sim but couldn’t be bothered with the research and was told I’d have to go to parallel import or something. So I split back to 2 phones and hate it. Love being back with iPhone but dislike the Samsung I picked up. I didn’t think I needed a nice Oz phone and I don’t, it performs the functions I need but I just don’t like the phone. I miss being able to tap a few settings on the phone and it switched SIMS and I was always able to get calls with one phone from either number.
Suppose I should get a spreadsheet going to work out what’s best. I’d like to rationalise these gadgets and get rid of what I don’t need.
A long time ago, a UK network called Orange (now EE I think) offered two numbers on the same SIM, which was handy for keeping work and personal sperate with one handset.
I would have thought dual SIM handsets would be popular but I suppose the networks won’t sell them, knowing they’d miss out on lucrative roaming.
I think a worldwide network like VF should be just that and that roaming on VF ought to be free for VF customers.
Dual numbers was a feature first introduced by One2One in the UK and was part of the GSM 1800 spec. There are a number of dual SIM handsets available in NZ.
Zero rated roaming on network was introduced by Three when they first launched their 3G networks in the early 2000’s, however this ended once the Three networks all imploded.
The whole irony of this concept is that it was something Vodafone were looking at in the early 2000’s as well. After their big spend up in Europe on networks they wanted to remove roaming but were essentially told by the EU it was deemed to be anti competitive because other providers couldn’t offer that. Here in NZ and Australia Vodafone were off the record told not to proceed because it would raise anti completion issues in both markets.
And then there’s Viber! Used to use Skype a bit but depended on someone being online at the same time but Viber is great. Well in terms of just ‘dialing’ the number and connecting, but sometimes connections are awful but mostly good. And you can only dial someone who has Viber. I haven’t looked at all the ins and outs. I had another look at Skype recently as being able to call businesses etc is useful and loaded some $ but still haven’t got it working. Need to take another run at it. I have limited patience when it comes to this stuff. I’ve been more familiar with Viber but just to call friends and family etc.
And yet… The EU has killed off roaming charges within the block anyway!
The market has changed a lot since then.
I’d like to commend the software used here.
It’s much more modern and easy to use than the GZ version.
What about doing a podcast or something with an experienced travel agent interviewing them in terms of what they think they can offer above and beyond what people now book on their own? Like flights and accommodation are the biggest costs. I think they can provide some advantages but it might be a matter of knowing when to use them.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.