My iPhone was tireless and my Tep tool was wireless
Every time that I have previously gone to Europe, I have had to turn off my iPhone and keep it on Airplane mode for the duration of my travels.
Otherwise, I could run up a roaming data bill of $2,000 for a two-week vacation, as many irritated AT&T customers report they have unwittingly done.
But now there’s a new service in Europe that let’s you connect to the Internet for data wherever you go, for however long you want, and it’s not expensive.
The Tep Wireless Wifi device
Tep Wireless is a British-based data service that rents a pocket-sized Wifi device for between $8 and $10 a day, depending on which country, or countries, you are visiting.
You turn on the playing-card-sized Tep device and it picks up a wireless phone signal in the country in which you are traveling; it then converts this signal to Wifi for up to five of your own devices (cell phone, iPad, tablet, laptop), permitting you to surf the web and send emails to your heart's content. There are no additional roaming fees, and no fear of returning to America to face a $2,000 roaming data charge.
What you get in the Tep Wireless kit they courier to you: An electrical charger, a car charger (an optional fee) and the Wifi device itself.
Remember, this is for data transmission only and not voice, but you can always get voice for free by using Skype on your Tep device.
Tep Wireless has even taken a page out of Netflix; they courier you the device (along with a wall charger and an additional car charger, if requested) just prior to your international departure and provide a free, postage-paid, return mailer.
No hassles, nothing to take back to a store, no late fees, and no nonsense.
Me using my iPhone in Italy last week – thanks to Tep (data only); I checked the stock market daily, called up Google maps repeatedly to get un-lost and located some tremendous, off-road restaurants, thanks to Tep.
One more positive note: the cost of Wifi in Italian hotels has gotten expensive; in one Rome hotel, the posted rate was 15 Euros ($20) per day per device. For two travelers each with a cell phone and maybe an iPad or laptop, between them, this could easily run up to three devices x $20 each per day = $60 a day to have Wifi at the hotel only.
By contrast, I took my Tep Wireless device every where I went – even in remote outback areas -- and only paid a total of $10 a day, which enabled me to hook up as many as five devices for the one flat daily fee. That’s a substantial savings and a whole lot more coverage in Wifi-speke. Thanks, Tep!
Interested in learning more? Go to www.tepwireless.com
Comments