It’s a WI-FI hotspot that allows you to connect to local cellular providers in different countries for $9 bucks a day (24 hr day pass). It’s a pay per use system so you just buy a day pass when you need it. There are no monthly service charges with day passes. You basically turn it on and if there is cellular phone service in the area it will pick it up. You then connect to the Solis (orange puck) via wifi from your device (iphone, ipad, computer etc). Their website kind of sucks but it does have some information on the product. - https://www.skyroam.com/solis
Cons (What they don’t tell ya)
With the 24 hr day pass you have about 500mb of data at 4G speed. After that it drops down to about a 3g/2g level but is not limited in the amount of data you can use in that 24 hour period, but it is slow. So it’s not good for heavy data use (no video streaming or downloading movies) but seems to be working fine for everything else so far like general web surfing, email, text, short videos online.
This is meant for international travelers but can be used by anyone. They have some good Cyber Monday deals going on right now.
20% off the Solis
Day passes can be had for
Coupon Code: 10BLACK25 (25% off 10 day passes)
Coupon Code: 20BLACK40 (40% off 20 day passes)
I’m on Project Fi. They have a data only SIM that I have in a MiFi unit. Works and no reduction in speed until 15G of data used (I think) and can contact support to get more data. Works internationally too.
I’ve used other’s in the past with no issue. I personally have a GlocalMe that has different rates depending on the amount of data and time you will need. I normally either purchase 300mb for $3.50 for a day or 30 day unlimited for $90. I haven’t seen any throttling issues while using the monthly unlimited
Project Fi is google right? That sounds like a good deal if you get one of their phones. Looks like they use T-mobile, us cellular and Sprint as their main cellular networks and wifi when available. Still a monthly fee tho.
Just yesterday they expanded their network to a bunch of non-Fi phones. Those phones will get service just not the great switching service between all the carriers and WiFi. And I need a phone anyhow so I’m going to have a monthly fee no matter what ($20/mo for unlimited talk and text). I’ll top off for $60 up to 15Gb of data per month. But I have yet to have a bill over $48 and my average is in the low $30s. Project Fi phones can also do calls over WiFi. So if I have no cell signal I can still make calls. And if I want I can use Hangouts on my laptop to make/take calls too.
Also their international plan is the best I’ve seen and has worked flawlessly for me everywhere I have been (except Addis Ababa which for some reason is not on their list of roaming/partner countries). I was even taking selfies with elephants in the Serengeti and was able to post to facebook from the middle of nowhere on 4G LTE. And no additional fees for SMS text with international numbers. Though most of my non-USA clients are on WhatsApp. Sure the international calls have additional fees but data is priced the same no matter where one is at. So doing calls over data via Hangouts or WhatsApp is actually less expensive than using the cell towers for voice.
But the great benefit for me is the data only SIMs. I have 4 old Android phones that I’m using to keep connected to my gotenna stationary relays so I can ping them to see if they are still alive.
Found another good use for the Skyroam. I have both a personal phone and a work phone (at&t and Verizon) while working in Buffalo NY my personal phone did not have signal, most likely due to the metal building and heavy equipment I was around. My work phone did have signal but very weak. so I figured I test the Skyroam to see if it could get a signal and it did. I was able to put the Skyroam up high and still have my phone with me. One benefit of the Skyroam is that it works with several cellular companies. I found it connected to at&t, Verizon and T-mobile at different times, using this site. https://tools.tracemyip.org/ )
