If you’re reading this blog, you probably have some kind of elite status with a hotel chain. Thus, you’re likely to get free internet access at the hotel when you’re traveling abroad. However, if you want mobile data on the go or if you’re staying at a hotel that isn’t in one of the chains where you have elite status, you might be interested in renting a mobile hotspot.
You pay an upfront fee, and then you get a MiFi device shipped to you. When you land in a foreign country, you turn the device on, you connect your computers / laptops / phones to it, and boom – you have WiFi access anywhere you go. Easy peasy.
The largest player in this space is Xcom Global. I really recommend them, as I’ve used them with a coworker once when I was in Sao Paulo. I decided to use a new company when I went to Mexico over the Christmas holiday, and I gave TEP Wireless a try.
I wrote a LONG blog post detailing every interaction with the company here.
You may not be interested in reading the entire post so let me just post the conclusion for you:
- They didn’t send me the same device that all of the reviewers got.
- They sent me the wrong power adaptor.
- The service never worked.
- Their support is probably the worst I have ever used.
- Their co-founder is flaky with his e-mail responses as well.
- If they mess up, they won’t admit it and issue a full refund.
Thus, if you need an international hotspot, do yourself a favor and go with Xcom Global :-).
