Whether you're working remotely, online,
or just a human being in the world today,
you need good internet everywhere and after traveling the world for more than
20 years. In this video,
I'm gonna give you my top five tips for bringing high speed internet with you
wherever you go.
The most straightforward way to bring your internet with you is with your cell
phone, and I have a whole separate video dedicated to that that I'll link in the
description. But um,
typically if you're bringing your local cell phone with you on an international
trip, this is gonna be a good backup option for you,
but you don't want it to be your primary option.
I'm gonna have some more options for you on that, but uh,
that's because your local plan is going to be more expensive
for a slower and lesser amount of data compared to if you use some of the other
options in this video. But it's still something that you should do.
So if you're using a company like AT&T,
you can add an international pass to your plan.
You can also upgrade your plan with T-Mobile to getting an international plan,
or you could go with Google Fi,
which charges about $10 per gig of high speed data.
But as you'll find out,
you might be able to get a much larger amount of high
speed wifi for the same price for $10 per month instead of
$10 per gig. But this is a good entry level option.
It's always something I do because you wanna be able to use your cell phone to
navigate maps to call an Uber, whatever you want to do.
And so AT&T will cap your monthly charges at a
hundred dollars per month and they'll also give you your same plan that you
would have back in the US. With T-Mobile, it's a little bit different.
They will cap your data and your speeds once you exceed a certain
amount of data, but then you can also pay to increase that.
A way to get around these expensive data caps with your home country
cell phone plan is to either get an international E-SIM or to
buy a SIM card in your destination.
And the benefit of getting an E-SIM is that you can have it delivered before you
actually leave home.
And often you can also get an E-SIM in your destination as well.
One company that comes highly recommended is called Airalo,
where you can get E-SIM for more than 200 different countries and
regions.
People really like Airalo because it's easy to use and you can
activate and install your E-SIM before you leave home.
You can get a local E-SIM.
by country a regional E-SIM or a global E-SIM.
People really like it because it's usually cheaper than using your
home country data plan, but it can also be more expensive.
Than buying a physical sim card in your destination.
And even though it can be a little bit of a hassle to change out your SIM card
or to register a new E-SIM,
you can save a lot of money this way because the sim card itself is
usually free and then you just pay to activate the type of package that you
want. And um,
you can go with the tourist package that you might see advertised in the
airport.
But if you do a little bit of digging online and go to the sim provider's
website or even go to one of the local stores,
you can often find a much better deal.
And so this can mean upwards of unlimited 4G
5G high speed data for about $10 to $20 per month.
I'm currently in the UK and I pay 15 pounds per month for
essentially unlimited data.
And I use my phone a lot for live streaming,
for uploading videos and things like that. So, um,
compare $10 or $20 per month to the $100 that you could
be paying if you're depending on your home country plan.
Now if you're from Europe and you're traveling around Europe,
then you might already have a sim card that's gonna give you that high speed
data in other countries. But if you're coming from abroad,
from the Americas, from Asia, from Australia, from Africa,
anywhere else in the world, then um,
you'll want to get one of these E-SIM or physical sim cards in your
destination. You can thank me later.
My third tip is using a wifi hotspot.
Now there are a lot of different hotspots out there,
but I'm gonna tell you which ones are my favorite and why.
So one that I've been using for as long as it's been available since it was
called a different company, Skyroam is the Solis hotspot.
And what I like about this one is that you can have it with you as a backup and
you can activate a day pass, you can get a monthly pass.
It's really flexible and you don't need to get an extra sim card to be able to
use it.
You can have that just built in right there and you can activate a day pass
in a matter of seconds. So you can just create an account there. If you need it,
you have it. The Solis has gotten a lot better in recent years.
They keep improving it.
It has 5G speeds now and it also has a 16 hour battery life.
Another one that I really love is called EZMobile.
And I first found out about this one when I was traveling in Norway with a
friend and she was using this thing to work at the top of mountains and fjords.
I mean this thing worked everywhere and it was fast. Now,
EZMobile is traditionally created for RVers and Van Lifers,
but it also works for tourist and Digital Nomads and anyone who needs internet when
you're traveling around the world. So I highly recommend this one.
You can get an 800 gigabyte plan for $120 per month,
or unlimited plans from $140 to $160 per month.
This device is a little bit more expensive per month than other options,
but it's very reliable and it's very fast.
The Numen Air device by G Local is a 5G worldwide
hotspot with a 12 hour battery life that connects up to 16 devices
simultaneously.
This one has some of that same cloud technology that the sole lease has where
you don't need to swap the physical sim card,
you can just activate the packages as you go.
But I checked out the packages and they are a bit expensive.
So not only is the device pretty pricey coming in at
$259, but also those data plans are as well.
So let's take a look here.
We have 30 days of high speed data in the UK that cost between $69
and $349 per month.
Or you can get an unlimited pay as you go data plan with Vodafone UK
for only 40 pounds. So as you can see,
you're paying for the convenience here,
but getting that local SIM card is always gonna be the most cost effective
option.
Another option when it comes to wifi hotspots is just getting a generic
unlocked hotspot that you can put those physical sim cards into.
Now the upside of this is that you can get one on Amazon for like 70, 80,
less than a hundred dollars.
But also the downside is that unlike the Numen or the Solis,
you don't have any data plans that you can activate immediately.
You're gonna have to wait to get a SIM card that you can put in there.
This Huawei,
one that I got from Amazon that I'll show you here on the screen is my favorite
one. I've been using it for many years now, old faithful. And yeah,
you can pick one up for around $80 online.
I'll put the link to this one in the description below.
But with this next option,
we are truly entering a new era of mobile internet.
And that is with Starlink ala Elon Musk and Company.
You know that there was a lot of anticipation and hype around the launch of
starlink. I feel like it kind of happened overnight. Um,
but these guys are really breaking down barriers when it comes to global
internet because they're using all of their satellite technology. Now,
Starlink has a few options for you,
and this really works well if you have an RV or a boat or if you're gonna be
somewhere for an extended period of time,
like maybe a few months at a time because you don't really wanna be carrying
these Starlink devices around with you,
especially if you're traveling carry on only.
But I did hear from some friends that they met a group of people who were
traveling throughout Africa with no end date in sight,
just trying to go to as many countries as possible.
And they were all sharing a Starlink device so that they could have high speed
internet in rural areas.
So there's a lot of coverage around the world,
and although it is a little bit expensive,
this is gonna be a very reliable internet source for you and a game changer,
especially if you're sailing or if you're doing Van Life.
So depending on where you are purchasing from,
Starlink will charge you a one-time hardware fee,
which might be around $500 or $600,
but it depends on the device that you buy. And then you've got the monthly plan,
which could be around $120 per month for a fixed internet service,
and then an extra 25 bucks on top of that if you want to be able to change your
location and move your service around.
But another benefit with starlink is that it is month to month,
so you can cancel any time if you don't like it.
Typical speeds are about 50 to 150 megabits per second,
which is not so shabby,
but for a couple grand you can upgrade to a business connection where you can
get speeds right now of up to 350 megabits per second.
Although it's gonna cost you now,
if you have one of these mobile roaming packages,
you can get either a regional or a global plan.
And Starlink is expanding their coverage as we speak.
And so make sure to check their availability map to find out if they have
coverage where you need it.
So the first four options in this video are all about you being in control of
your internet connection. You have the power, you have the speed,
and then you don't have to rely on very slow and flimsy and unreliable
public wifi networks. However, as a fifth option,
you also can look to get a good cable or wired connection in the places
that you're staying.
So if you're gonna be renting at an Airbnb or a vacation rental,
then make sure to ask your host what the internet speed is and if there are any
caps on usage.
We've heard of a lot of stories of people who went over their internet usage and
it would cut off every few hours or every other day.
And so ask about that and even ask for a speed test.
If you wanna make sure that, uh,
high speed internet is actually high speed,
and I've even done this with hotels where I have emailed the hotel to ask what
the internet speeds are.
I will call the reception and have the receptionist at the lobby do a speed test
from her computer. And so, you know, don't mess around.
When it comes to internet, you definitely wanna ask before you book your hotel,
before you book your vacation rental. And if you're out and about,
then you can always use an app like wifi finder to find wifi at public
places like cafes and coffee shops and restaurants.
Or you can also search specifically for places with wifi on Google
Maps and see what you can find around you. But with all of these tips,
you're gonna have high speed internet wherever you go.
So where are you going next?
Let me know in the comments below and make sure to subscribe from where travel
culture and living abroad videos.