We have traveled to 24 countries to date and as travel bloggers, being connected to the internet is part of our job. No matter where you are from, when you travel out of your home country, your cell phone usually won’t work well or won’t work at all. During our European road trip, we spend the majority of our time looking for places with Wifi.
Our phones would connect to local networks, but things would go at a glacial pace and nothing would load, rendering the small bit of connectivity useless. We couldn’t do anything until we got to a place with wifi, and even then, a lot of wifi was untrustworthy. We recently learned about a company called Telecom Square and the existence of wifi hotspots for travel.
We though wifi hotspots were expensive things that you could add to your phone plan for a couple hundred dollars a month. Well, we sure were wrong!
What is Telecom Square Global Wifi and how can it benefit you?
In the most basic sense, Telecom Square is a pocket-sized device that you take with you on your travels so you can be connected to the net. It works in 96 countries so most of the major destinations you will travel will be covered in a beautiful blanket of wifi connectivity. Global wifi benefits you in a ton of ways. First off, if you do not have free global roaming, you may incur a ton of charges that are more expensive than the Telecom Square daily rate of $6.99 a day. If you intend to work while away or simply want your snapchat to connect, global wifi is an easy and cheap way to gain internet access while abroad.
How does it work and what does it cost?
Telecom Square is frighteningly easy to work! The company will send you the global wifi hotspot a few days before your trip and once you arrive at your destination and you are ready to use it, simply click the little button to power it on and boom….internet! We were surprised at how long the battery lasted. Even when the battery looked like it was on its last leg, we eeked out another two hours of life! Very impressive. You get a good solid 5-6 hours of time before you need to think about charging it, which is perfect if you are exploring a city all day. You are charged by 24 hour periods so it is not advised to start a new session just to browse the web real quick. If you are on the internet constantly like us, this is perfect for you as you will use it many times during your active period. The base cost starts at $6.99 per day. If you want to upgrade to a country-specific package or premium membership, the costs run from $9.99 to $19.99 per day.
You are charged by 24 hour periods so it is not advised to start a new session just to browse the web real quick. If you are on the internet constantly like us, this is perfect for you as you will use it many times during your active period. The base cost starts at $6.99 per day. If you want to upgrade to a country-specific package or premium membership, the costs run from $9.99 to $19.99 per day.
Who is a good fit for purchasing a global wifi hotspot?
The short answer: anyone who is looking to have reliable wifi on the go. The longer answer is this. Telecom Square is perfect for travelers going on shorter trips. Our first trip abroad was 15 days long so something like this would be perfect, especially if you have never been overseas or out of your own country before. It certainly adds a feeling of safety knowing you can access friends and family instantly. If you are a digital nomad or travel extensively, the costs can add up quickly. We suggest finding a home base with reliable wifi [but you know this!] and using the Telecom Square hotspot for shorter trips. We do our business online, so if we are on a press trip in a remote location, the ability to be connected to the outside world for just $6.99 a day is beyond worth it when you compare the cost of losing customers because work isn’t completed.
Real Talk: Honest thoughts and how Telecom Square really worked
Our first trip with a global wifi hotspot was to Peru. We were told by the company that Peru was a developing country so the internet will not be as strong as it would in say, Europe. This was also our first time in South America and we were told the wifi in Peru is absolutely horrible [news flash: it was just dandy]. So how did Telecom Square perform? It met and exceeded our expectations! If you follow us, you would see that we were posting constantly and from remote areas. Facebook friends even asked us if Machu Picchu had installed free wifi. Nope!! Just us using our trusty Telecom Square to share the Inca Village with the world! We used our Telecom Square in large cities like Lima and in tiny cities like Paracas. We used it on a train in the middle of the Andes, while driving along the coast, on top of sand dunes, and in Airbnbs that we accidentally booked without wifi.
As expected, the device wasn’t perfect, but it was way better than anything we would have had otherwise. It worked fantastic in most areas. The areas it didn’t work? At 14,000 feet in the mountains [no surprise], in the middle of a desolate desert with no one around for miles [again, no surprise]. and on airplanes. Other than that, we only had “slow” connectivity in one location, but again, it was way better than nothing.
If we did not have Telecom Square, we would have been left in the dark for the entirety of our month trip, except when we were at our Airbnb at the end of the night. It was a welcome and refreshing change to be able to answer work emails during the day during a car ride or actually post to Instagram stories in real time.
The Verdict
We cannot even imagine the ease of traveling Europe, Canada and other western countries with a wifi hotspot! It will be like a dream! We feel like we discovered a whole world of internet that we didn’t even know existed and now we will never go back to non-global hotspot travel! $6.99/day is a small price to pay for the epic benefits of Telecom Square wifi to follow you everywhere you go!
Convinced you want to travel with wifi? It is never too early to start planning! Check out our travel tips to help you get started!
Disclaimer: Telecom Square provided us with wifi services for the purpose of this review. All opinions are our own and darn did they sell us on the luxury that is global wifi! Try it, you won’t be disappointed!
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Luxury Meets Adventure At Hotel Paracas In Peru
Very interesting little gadget. And affordable too. Thank you for sharing your experience of using this piece of technology with us.
Oh my goodness! Thank you! I will totally use this the next time I go out of the country.
I bought a pocket wifi like this in Japan, but I had to buy it at the airport and was a bit stressful in figuring all of that out and they didn’t have something similar in Europe (which wouldn’t have worked anyway cause I flew in and out of different countries.) and even though I had a global plan on my phone, it was still challenging.
It is a total lifesaver!! You will LOVE it!
Hello !
That sounds great, but as i’ve been travelling on a budget for the past 10 months, in experience, I’d rather go for a local prepaid sim card PLUS the free wi-fi instead of paying a daily fee that could add up to 200 euros monthly, which is actually half of my monthly backpacker budget 😉
Well, this technology has become the trend almost everyone has this devices in their cars while they are travelling and with it they connected to entire world.
Hi Victoria and Terrence,
Out of all the Travel blogs I’ve read to research for my upcoming Iceland trip, (next week, December 2-7) I find you guys’ more informative! So a big THANK YOU for this!
Your itinerary looks almost the same as ours. My husband and I plan on seeing as much as we can when we go (we’re renting a car too), my question is the sunlight: I checked weather channel for the sunrise and sunset and it seems that we will only get an average of 5 hours of light. When you went, were there more sunlight? Did it got dark hella quick? I also noticed no pictures of the Northern Lights, were there not any when you went?
Here’s my itinerary:
Day 1
Reykjavik
Day 2
Keldur, Seljalandsfoss, Gljúfrabúi, Skogafoss, DC Plane, Dyrhólaey, Black Sand Beach
Day 3,
Jökulsárlón, Ice Cave tour, Diamond Beach, Skaftafell, then drive back to Reykjavik
Day 4,
Thingvellir, Bruarfoss, Kerid Crater, Geysir, Gullfoss,
Day 5
free day
Day 6
Blue lagoon before heading to the airport.
Your feedback/comment is greatly appreciated! 🙂
Hey Sheena!! Thank you for your sweet comments, we always try to help! Your itinerary looks great!! We have been to Iceland in March [sunset at a great time] and November and yes, there is barely any sun and the sun doesn’t get very high in the sky either which is actually super cool to witness because it is basically like sunset all day long! When we went, the sun rose at about 10-10:15am and set at about 3:45-4pm. If you have a long drive, simply do it so that you arrive at your destination when the sun rises so you have enough time. There were no nothern light photos from us [save two floating around] because, of course, there were no nothern lights when we went [we have the WORST luck] and the other days it was super cloudy many times during the trip. Make sure to Google how to take photos of the Northern Lights so you can set your camera on a good mode and don’t forget a tripod. If you don’t care about super amazing photos, you can still see them and enjoy them in the moment and there are websites which will help you know how strong they may be at certain days. We highly recommend the blue lagoon too after not doing it our first trip so we are glad you are doing it! It is so much fun! Feel free to contact us or email us about any other questions!
Hi guys!
I’m moving to rural eastern Nunavut in a few months and was wondering your thoughts or experiences with Telecom square there?
thanks so much!
This is awesome! I have been using Telecom Square for quite a while now and I am totally satisfied with their internet service. The internet works just fine when you are travelling except for the times when you are at a deserted area in the mountains. Nevertheless, it is a good and a safe investment for people who have to travel frequently.