Mobile internet access

Hello! I'm planning a trip with some friends to Spain, Portugal, France & Germany. We want to avoid roaming from our US mobile company, but we want to keep connected to the internet. I heard about “Pocket Wifi”. Does anyone have experience using it before? Can it covers different countries or do I need to change SIM cards?? Is it worth it?? Thanks!

(Copying my response from your duplicate post in the other branch:)

A pocket wifi is a generic term for a wireless modem that fits in your pocket. Do you plan to buy one? If so, make sure that it is not locked to a particular provider. If it is unlocked, then it is easy to replace the SIM, but make sure you get a SIM that is the right size for the wifi unit -- that is a standard SIM, and not a micro or nano SIM such as are used by most modern smartphones.

Also make sure that the unit is set to allow roaming, and that it will connect as many devices as you will have with you, all at the same time. You may need to make these adjustments by connecting the pocket wifi unit to a laptop to make those changes. You probably will also have to set up a profile for the SIM you will use, and set the provider's APN (access point name) as part of that profile.

As an alternative, you could buy a SIM for a smartphone (if it is a GSM model, and not a CDMA model as used widely in the US, and it is unlocked) and then set up that phone as a hotspot so that your friends can connect to it for data.

Earlier this year the EU abolished roaming fees between member states. So if you buy a SIM in Spain, as the first country you visit, then you can use the same call and data allowance in other EU countries as you get in Spain at no additional cost.

I have just posted more detail on this matter another thread.

• https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/permalink/post/22624386

Yeah pocket wifi bit obsolete and expensive as emmeff discusses easiest is just to buy a local sim card and use over EU. Just make sure the SIM you buy has 'international' roaming ie for use all over EU cheaper SIMs ony valid in country you purchase. How long will you be travelling around

We bought a local prepaid SIM when we arrived in Spain in April and have just been topping up whenever we need to since then. It's relatively inexpensive and you just switch roaming on before crossing the border into France (or anywhere else in the EU). Much easier and one less piece of kit you need to bring with you and keep track of.

On my Eurotrip I used a pocket wifi from iVideo. It was a great help to have it. So convenient. It can be used in Europe without change simcards. Also, it was really cheap.
This is the website: https://www.ivideo.com.tw/english/

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