Portable wifi - madrid and lisbon

I've always just used an eSim for my cell phone and set that up as a hotspot.

For other - maybe more specific answers - this could be posted in the Spain forum or in the Tech forum.

The simplest solution would be to buy a cheap unlocked cell phone and load a data-only eSIM for Europe. Or even to load a local hard SIM card once you land. Motorola has one for a hundred bucks. Use it as your hot spot by tethering.

https://www.motorola.com/us/smartphones-moto-g-play-gen-2/p?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw6auyBhDzARIsALIo6v_2y7vpPCZg4DXP66USXgtapwpyoj1oiqivuA_ZorJV4XJRCpzSFKoaAviYEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&skuId=856

Just buy a cheap mobile hotspot on Amazon or Aliexpress and then get a sim card from any of the local EU providers so there is not roaming charges.

My wife and I each have a cellphone, but I carry a spare, older, phone as a backup. I'll have an international sim with 10 Gb. of data or so, in that phone. I can use that as a hotspot.

Renting a portable wifi doesn't sound practical or convenient. And buying one can be more expensive than a cheap used phone.

Three Caveats:

1. If buying a used phone, or a portable wifi, make SURE it is unlocked, and not tied to AT&T or Verizon, or such. Some portables are.
2. Check the terms of the sim card plan to make sure hotspot is allowed, some inexpensive plans do not allow hotspots.
3. Check how much hotspot data is allowed. My T-Mobile account gives me 100 Gb/month, but I'm only allowed 5 Gb. of hotspot data. If I buy an international add-on for T-Mobile, it's 15 Gb.data for 30 days, but it's only 5 Gb. of hotspot data.

I see. I thought a portable wifi would be easier - I would like to avoid opening up my phone or downloading an app, but I'm sensing that's a Luddite view. thank you everyone.

It does depend on a few things like the phone you own, whether it is unlocked, and your own comfort level with "relatively" easy tech.

To me, the simplicity of a single device (my iPhone) using an esim (no app needed) from Orange (or others like Airalo for data only) as my MAIN device and periodically using it as a HOTSPOT to share internet with my wife (if she hasn't loaded an esim too) and my laptop and/or iPad. Since we are in a hotel usually for laptop usage, it is rare I actually need a hotspot, but it has been nice to have that option when wifi is weak or otherwise no good.

If you search around here, you should find many posts on esims and their pros/cons, but for most phones of the past 5 yrs or so, it's just baked in tech.

I saw a video of how to set up Airalo and it looked complicated& stressed me out, but I have to get over it & not be lazy.
my pricey phone is a year old & can do an eSim & dual Sim so I have no excuse.
thank you!!!!!!!!!

I used two Airalo eSIMs last year and just installed a new one a few days ago. Installation procedures varied a bit--I assume due to the different telecom providers the eSIMs use, but Airalo's instructions were clear. You do have to accept that the terminology under "Settings" differs from cellphone to cellphone, so you may have to spend a few seconds locating the place you need on the phone.

This year my emailed confirmation included a smartcode. If you have a second device available (I also travel with a tablet) or a way to print out the smart code, you can scan the code with your phone and avoid some of the manual installation steps. The whole process could easily take only 5 or 10 minutes. I get nervous every time, but it has always worked out in the end.

I had a hiccup this year, because somehow Mobile Data (under Data Usage on my Android phone) was turned off--probably by me, since I was at my hotel with Wi-Fi access; unfortunately, I spent a good bit of time checking other things before I stumbled on that very obvious problem.

Airalo points out that a solid data connection is needed to download the eSIM and recommends doing it on Wi-Fi. You can do that at home. Supposedly you can also do most of the installation at home, because your usage period doesn't start until your phone connects to one of the eSIM's supported networks. Just don't forget you'll need to make the ESIM primary after you reach your destination (and turn off Airplane Mode!). If you buy the eSIM before leaving home, print out the instructions and carry them with you so you can refer to them if the eSIM doesn't work soon after you arrive at your destination.

You'll need to think about whether you need to maintain texting capability. A data-only eSIM doesn't support texting. On a trip of any length, that's something I would want; it's possible a traveler will receive important texts from credit card companies, etc. This topic has come up in earlier threads on this subject, and I'm not a techie who can explain all the options. I can tell you what works for me, but I believe this varies with your regular phone-service provider.

• I make the new eSIM primary. (I think everyone would want to do that, so you aren't paying your regular provider for data roaming; that' probably why you're buying an eSIM.)
• I have Google Fi as my regular service provider. I get free texting anywhere Fi has service (not in North Macedonia, but most of the world is covered). I leave my Google Fi SIM turned on. That allows inbound texts to come through as normal. People who pay a lot for overseas texting might want to explore other options like WhatsApp.
• Handling outbound texts requires different techniques with different phones. My Samsung Android phone doesn't work the same way as some other Android phones. Outbound texts require me to indicate, for the first text sent to each recipient after I install an eSIM, that I want to use the Fi SIM to send texts. In the little text-entry box I see an icon that looks like a piece of paper with a "2" on it, indicating the eSIM. I have to touch that and select SIM 1 instead. If I do not make that change, I cannot send texts, because the eSIM doesn't have that capability. (There are eSIMs--I think including some from Airalo--that include calling and texting features, but they are more expensive and give you a different telephone number.)

I think many other (not Samsung) phones have a single setting you can change to make your phone's original SIM primary for oubound texting. You can find that information by Googling (include the phone manufacturere in the search string), but it may take a bit of time, so it's definitely something to do before you leave home. Take the printed instructions with you. But again, you'd be smart to check what your phone-service provider is going to charge you. I think Google Fi and T-Mobile are the two major US players that don't charge for overseas texts.

so kind of you to post this- thank you very much, I will refer to it in a few days when I start the process. its funny how i started w/ pocket wifi in mind, now i'm at downloading an eSim. I wish I had an in house family tech person.
thank you Acraven!!