Staying Connected Abroad with Skyroam Global Hotspot
If you’ve ever traveled abroad, then you know how frustrating it can be to be to stay connected to home.
Sure, the tech savvy thing to do would be to unlock your mobile phone and buy a local sim card for every country you visit, but I’m going to be honest…I just don’t want to mess with that for the one or two international trips we take a year.
Sure, I could pay for an international plan with my mobile carrier, but I hate how ridiculously expensive it is! Yes, I’m a bit of a cheapskate.
That’s why for our past travels we’ve always simply gone without. Relying on local wi-fi and paper maps to get us on our way. (Ok, I still have a thing for paper maps).
Then I discovered the Skyroam global hotspot, an easier way to stay connected abroad, and our lives have been forever changed!
Full Disclosure: This post also contains affiliate links. We purchased Skyroam on our own for our recent trip to Italy and loved it! So much so that Skyroam sent us a free Skyroam global hotspot to give away to one of our readers in exchange for this 100% honest review. Read on for more details!
How does Skyroam Work?
Our trip to Italy last April was totally changed by having our Skyroam Global Hotspot, and I honestly can’t imagine ever traveling without it again!
What is Skyroam? Well, it’s essentially a mobile wi-fi hotspot. But what makes it unique is that it automatically picks up the nearest local signal of wherever you are at the moment. That means you have the same seamless wi-fi coverage whether you’re in Italy or Istanbul.
Skyroam’s network spans 100+ countries and is still growing, meaning no matter where you are in the world, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be covered with Skyroam. No changing sim cards. No unlocking devices. Just your regular phone (or tablet, or laptop) connected to Skyroam’s global network.
Is Skyroam worth the investment?
At first I was a bit skeptical of how well it would work. Would it be worth the investment? Would we truly be covered with reliable internet everywhere, like rural Cinque Terre and Umbria?
Figuring we didn’t have much to lose, we decided to give it a try. We’d be moving around a lot and needed a reliable connection to help us navigate traveling across Italy. Not to mention, traveling with little Evelyn, I wanted the security of knowing we were connected to the outside world at any time, any place, should something go wrong. Home was always just a Skype call away.
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How Much Does Skyroam Cost?
There are two parts to getting set up with your own Skyroam global hotspot…
Rent vs. Buy
First, you’ll need to choose between either renting or buying the global hotspot device. If you choose to buy, this will be a one-time cost (think of it as a set-up/equipment fee). The device currently sells for $99 and includes 3 free daypasses (an $8/day value)
If you want to try out the service before you buy, or plan on doing infrequent trips abroad, you can opt to rent the device instead. Renting the Skyroam global hotspot costs $9.95/day, but there is no initial fee involved…so you only pay $9.95/day for the duration of your trip.
Daypasses
If you choose to buy your own device, you’re Skyroam global hotspot will run on a “daypass” system. Before your trip (or at any time during, so long as you have an internet connection), you can pre-pay for your daypasses at $8/day and they’ll be automatically loaded onto your device. The nice thing about this is that you only use them as you need them! Each daypass lasts 24 hours, and once one runs out, you simply click “start” to get your next daypass going.
This was one advantage I saw to buying vs. renting. Since we had wi-fi in most of our Airbnbs, there wasn’t always a need to use our Skyroam global hotspot for internet coverage. If you choose to rent your Skyroam device, you’ll pay for every day you travel regardless.
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Putting Skyroam to the Test
We used our Skyroam all over the place. Call me addicted to the internet, but it was just too darn convenient! Seaside Cinque Terre? – check! On the train throughout Tuscany? – check! Driving the countryside from Florence to Rome? – check!
We even began to count on it as a back up for our Airbnb rentals where the internet was occasionally slow and spotty.
Each daypass includes unlimited wi-fi, meaning you’ll never have to worry about going over data limits. That was a definite selling point for me, as we’re always battling with our mobile provider over data overages when we travel!
We were also able to connect up to 5 devices to the Skyroam global hotspot at once. We often had a laptop computer, iPad, and 2 iPhones connected to our hotspot all at once without experiencing any slowdown in coverage!
It’s important to note that your connection speed will slow down once you reach a certain data usage for the day, but to be honest, I rarely noticed much of a difference. After the 24-hour daypass is up, your usage resets, so even if things do slow down, it won’t be for long.
Who is Skyroam Ideal For?
Ok, so you know I’m in love with this thing already. But seriously, I would recommend the Skyroam global hotspot to any family that wants to do occasional international travel. If you’re like me and don’t want the hassle of trying to figure out different sim cards and unlocking phones, this is a foolproof solution that is just too convenient and easy to use.
I look at it this way: I could pay our mobile provider $10/day (x2) for an international plan that would keep us connected while abroad. That still wouldn’t get us wi-fi internet for our other devices, and we’d be restricted to using the data limits within our current plan.
Or, we could pay $8/day to connect all of our devices with unlimited wi-fi in just about any country we visit. There’s just no comparison!
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How Do I Get One? // (GIVEAWAY!)
I’m so glad you asked! Now that I’ve got you convinced that Skyroam really is the bees knees, you’ll be excited to hear that you can get one of your very own for FREE!
As a thank you for sharing our experience, Skyroam has sent us a free Skyroam global hotspot, plus travel case, plus 14 complimentary daypasses, and I’m giving it all away to one of our lucky readers! (that’s a $200+ value!)
>> GIVEAWAY CLOSED! <<
Thanks to all who entered!
Missed the giveaway, but still want to try it? No worries! Use code NEXTADVENTURE10 at checkout and receive 10% off your Skyroam purchase!
Where will you use your Skyroam?
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