If you are an entrepreneur who likes to travel or just someone who loves reliable Wifi wherever you go: look no further. I personally belong to both types.
As an internet entrepreneur, I always take my work with me on my travels. That may sound like a big bummer to non-entrepreneurs, but it has its advantages. I only need my laptop and it allows me to stay on top of things, in case an emergency needs my attention. Plus, my income doesn’t stop when I’m on the road. Although I’m never really disconnected, you can see it has its advantages. Purposely staying offline helps me disconnect, but that is for an other topic.
Traveling without reliable Wifi
Anyone that has traveled before, must have experienced the hardships of having no or crappy wifi. As technology progresses further, we are increasingly dependent on data/wifi to get a cab, book a stay, order food or to get to the nearest hospital. Although people used to manage just fine without internet, we are getting more and more used to ‘winning’ time via tech solutions.
As an internet entrepreneur, it is even harder. Working on a laptop on an exotic location seems enticing, but it is extremely frustrating when your wifi connection keeps disappearing. You intended to work for a few hours, but it turns into a full days work. Not much time to enjoy your holiday left – sucks!
So when we decided to go to New-Zealand and Indonesia, I intended to find a solution. Soon after booking our airplane tickets, I came across an ad on Instagram: ‘reliable wifi in over 150 countries’. Nice! It turned out to be Skyroam: a pocket mifi device that gives you an internet connection without any hassle. Sounds great, right? But how does it work and is it as reliable as they promise?
How it Works
Using Skyroam is as easy as it gets: turn the device on and within a few minutes you have a clear and strong wifi signal. You can connect up to 5 devices.
But where does it get the data from? Skyroam has a virtual SIM technology that delivers local data internationally. In short: it buys data from lots of different cellular networks and transforms this into a one-stop wifi hotspot. So no need to change your SIM card or buy a local SIM.
Reliable or not?
I have personally used it in Belgium, Dubai, New-Zealand and Indonesia. It works perfect in almost every location we visited. Even on really remote parts of the South Island (NZ) and on small, far away, islands in Indonesia (Bunaken, Komodo Island, Rinca Island, Nusa Lembongan). I admit it was a bit slower on Bunaken (where electricity regularly just stopped working), but even there it was pretty impressive. Definitely MUCH better than the wifi of our stay.
I also used it a lot when we were on the road in New Zealand (we used a campervan to travel around the country). This proved very useful. Especially because local wifi at campgrounds was pretty crappy or even non existent.
My Skyroam impressed me the most, when we took a 2 day boat trip in Labuan Bajo, Flores. We were literally at sea and it still managed to create a reliable wifi signal. Although I personally recommend not using any internet and enjoying the wonderful nature ;-).
I will continue to update this article in the future. Especially when I used it in other countries/locations. I’d love to hear your experience as well, so feel free to add a comment!
How much does it cost?
There are multiple parts you have to consider here. Firstly, the price for the device itself. Secondly, the price for the data/wifi.
Getting your hands on a Skyroam can go 2 ways: you either buy or rent a device. The latter is better if you’re just planning a short travel. I bought one because I plan to do quite some traveling in the future. Plus, I love it as a backup at home.
As for buying wifi/data, there are multiple options. You can buy a daypass, monthly subscription or take GoData. They are also continuously developing new packages, to suit consumer needs. You can check out their pricing here.
I took the Unlimited Monthly Subscription, when we traveled for 7 weeks. I used it quite a lot and that way I didn’t have to bother buying passes. I haven’t tried GoData yet, but I think that’s a great option if you don’t need that much data, but still love reliable wifi.
7 Reasons Why You Should Buy Skyroam
To sum up, I give you 7 good reasons why you should get a Skyroam yourself.
- No more worrying about (reliable) wifi
- Skyroam Solis has a really generous battery life
- No more messy local SIM cards or crappy local wifi
- You can buy and use data whenever you like
- Unlimited data
- No contracts
- Great support service
Let me know what you think and be sure to give a comment if you went for Skyroam after reading this article.