XComGlobal MiFi Rental Or Competitors?

[starbai]

Has anyone used an Xcom MiFi Rental for your ED (Or a competitor)?

What was your experience?

I was originally planning on adding international data on to my AT&T plan where I 'get to use' my plan's normal data for $10 per day.

But it looks like Xcom MiFi and others are fairly cheaper than this and it would give both my wife and I the ability to use our devices (and any other devices we have with us) during our trip.

This can come in handy if I want to use my phone for Waze GPS and she wants to use her phone to look up info on the destinations etc.

What do you guys think? Any experience with this?

[Thescout13]

My gut reaction is that this is not a bad idea at all and would be very nice to have even if you are only saving a few dollars. The worry for me is calling. Unless you have a skype account set up or the like, you will not be able to make any normal calls back home or within country. With the AT&T day passes you can call home and within country for " free" (within your data/minutes from back home). Given that we have 84GBs of rollover data on my family plan, this is ideal for us and we would want to have that ability to call freely. So I do not personally see much use in that for our situation.

However, if you are fairly confident you will not have to call anyone then this may be the way to go and have your day pass as a back up in an emergency.

Also, when you look at the shipping costs and the add ons (like car charger) it does not look much cheaper than using the day pass on your phone and using it as a hotspot for your wife's phone.

[starbai]

Originally Posted by Thescout13

My gut reaction is that this is not a bad idea at all and would be very nice to have even if you are only saving a few dollars. The worry for me is calling. Unless you have a skype account set up or the like, you will not be able to make any normal calls back home or within country. With the AT&T day passes you can call home and within country for " free" (within your data/minutes from back home). Given that we have 84GBs of rollover data on my family plan, this is ideal for us and we would want to have that ability to call freely. So I do not personally see much use in that for our situation.

However, if you are fairly confident you will not have to call anyone then this may be the way to go and have your day pass as a back up in an emergency.

For ATT I have 'wifi calling' enabled. Even when I'm home or at the office. Would it not in theory work that same way for calling people 'back home'?

I'm not really worried about calling anyone from home. If anything I'm wondering if we wont want to have the ability to make calls from europe to europe phone numbers (calling a head to a hotel for example) or any other emergency situations.

[starbai]

18 days total. Works out to:

XComGlobal = $12.87 day. Unlimited data, 4G Speed, Shipped to the US, looks like it has to be shipped back while in Europe.

Roaming Man = $11.65 / day. Speed Unclear, but Unlimited. Shipped to and from the US.

My Webspot = 12.87 Euro /day. Unlimited Data. 4G speed. Shipped to the hotel in Germany, shipped back to them from Germany.

hippocketwifi = $12.69 a day. High-speed 4G LTE connection and unlimited internet. Will ship to the US but seems like it needs to be dropped off while in Europe.

Tep Wireless = $8.54 a day. Using coupon code "TepBook" for 30% off. 4G Speed Unlimited Data, shipped to the US and shipped from the US included in the cost. Now I'm not promoting them, I've never used it. But I was given that code to use and it worked and that made the price low enough to make it a no brainer. Apparently, if anyone orders through my link, I get a referral now that I've offically ordered. And I'm not above throwing it out there. For the trouble of saving you the time of comparing the above, order using my link : https://mbsy.co/hZW2b

Or not. Thats cool too. lol

[Thescout13]

Yeah I see what you mean. Though with those numbers, AT&T may be best. Just not sure. When I say "within country" I mean that AT&T lets you call german numbers under your plan if you are in Germany etc. This is perfect for us for calling hotels ahead of time. Like I said above too you may be able to use your phone as a hotspot for your wife's and use your data like normal. That is what my wife and I do. So it is $10 a day for one phone.

These are intriguing options thought. Keep us updated on what you decide.

Edit: Just saw the Tep Wireless. Let us know how it goes.

[starbai]

Originally Posted by Thescout13

Yeah I see what you mean. Though with those numbers, AT&T may be best. Just not sure. When I say "within country" I mean that AT&T lets you call german numbers under your plan if you are in Germany etc. This is perfect for us for calling hotels ahead of time. Like I said above too you may be able to use your phone as a hotspot for your wife's and use your data like normal. That is what my wife and I do. So it is $10 a day for one phone.

These are intriguing options thought. Keep us updated on what you decide.

Edit: Just saw the Tep Wireless. Let us know how it goes.

I've never been to Europe, so honestly I have no idea how much 'local' calling we should expect to do while there. If it IS necessary, I believe TEP wireless includes the ability to use their device for a varying cost per minute. It kinda defeats the benefit of being a little cheaper, but I can't see making that many local calls that it'll ultimately equal the $10/day charge of ATT.

My ATT plan is 10gb/mo but theres not much on the rollover. So I just feel like plugging this hot spot in, leaving it on the dash somewhere and my wife and i both being able to use our phones with no problem/concerns may be the simplest solution for me.

Calling home to the US from Europe should be no cost at all so long as I use ATT's wifi calling like I do all the time from home/the office.

We'll see how it works out! lol

[Thescout13]

Originally Posted by starbai

I've never been to Europe, so honestly I have no idea how much 'local' calling we should expect to do while there. If it IS necessary, I believe TEP wireless includes the ability to use their device for a varying cost per minute. It kinda defeats the purpose of, but I can't see making that many local calls that it'll ultimately equal the $10/day.

My ATT plan is 10gb/mo but theres not much on the rollover. So I just feel like plugging this hot spot in, leaving it on the dash somewhere and my wife and i both being able to use our phones with no problem/concerns may be the simplest solution for me.

Calling home to the US from Europe should be no cost at all so long as I use ATT's wifi calling like I do all the time from home/the office.

We'll see how it works out! lol

You sir, have this very well thought out. I am sure you are going to be fine as you know your situation better than the rest of us. Also, thanks for aggregating the different services. This will definitely help someone down the road.

[Yas Marina F80]

If you have an unlocked GSM phone, you can just go to T-mobile, get a sim card with a $50 a month plan. It includes unlimited data in like 140+ countries. It will work great in Germany (LTE speeds) , at least mine has. Once you come back, you can cancel that line, without any penalties. I've actually kept mine for few months since I was returning to Europe and Dubai for a few weeks. Hotspot function was also enabled, so my wife was able to connect her phone and use it ( she had AT&T wifi calling enabled ).

[Encanto]

I have been using XComGlobal MiFi in multiple countries in all my ED since 2011. Works quite well, no critical problems so far. They are now much more cheaper at $7.77 per day/$8.77 LTE per day for 2-countries compared to almost $15 per day 6 years ago, and they used to charge extra per country. They are offering a $9.00 discount if you order early, so shipping is free.

Great to make Skipe and WhatsApp calls from Europe.

Originally Posted by starbai

Has anyone used an Xcom MiFi Rental for your ED (Or a competitor)?

What was your experience?

I was originally planning on adding international data on to my AT&T plan where I 'get to use' my plan's normal data for $10 per day.

But it looks like Xcom MiFi and others are fairly cheaper than this and it would give both my wife and I the ability to use our devices (and any other devices we have with us) during our trip.

This can come in handy if I want to use my phone for Waze GPS and she wants to use her phone to look up info on the destinations etc.

What do you guys think? Any experience with this?

[starbai]

Originally Posted by Encanto

I have been using XComGlobal MiFi in multiple countries in all my ED since 2011. Works quite well, no critical problems so far. They are now much more cheaper at $7.77 per day/$8.77 LTE per day for 2-countries compared to almost $15 per day 6 years ago, and they used to charge extra per country. They are offering a $9.00 discount if you order early, so shipping is free.

Great to make Skipe and WhatsApp calls from Europe.

The problem with Xcom I found is that they charge a surcharge for more than 2 countries. And its not cheap, like $30 for the surcharge alone I believe. That surcharge kills the average price per day which starts at $7.77 but creeps up with the add ons.

But I'm glad you had good experience/service with them. I hope that I have a similar experience to report when I get back on Tep Wireless.

[Encanto]

Yes, they are sneaky.

Originally Posted by starbai

The problem with Xcom I found is that they charge a surcharge for more than 2 countries. That surcharge kills the average price per day which starts at $7.77 but creeps up with the add ons.

But I'm glad you had good experience/service with them. I hope that I have a similar experience to report when I get back on Tep Wireless.

[CenCal X3M Comp]

Hi,

I used the ATT $10 per day and I put my wif's phone on ATT WiFi calling and shared my data with her through my hotspot. It worked perfectly.