Portable Wifi Options

Do you have a smart phone? Is it unlocked? if so, you can just buy a SIM in Budapest and use it in the phone - and use the phone's hotspot to provide WiFi to the other devices. Because the EU has done away with most roaming fees, you should be able to buy a SIM in Budapest that will keep working in Croatia (at least for data).

You can always just buy a cheap Android phone in Budapest and a SIM to go with it if your current phone isn't unlocked (and use the phone as a hotspot). (Or your home carrier doesn't offer an international roaming plan?)

http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Hungary

Thanks Andrew H.
I believe both our phones are unlocked and we had already planned to grab SIM cards so we can call and text each other. But wasn't sure if there would be enough data to operate online for a 4 - 6 hour road trip. But that probably won't surpass a gig (occasional Skype meetings might chew up data, but otherwise just document processing).

Data on these SIM cards tends to be really cheap. Last May, I bought a Dutch Vodafone SIM on eBay to use in Slovenia, Italy, and France. I got 3GB of data for 20 Euros (plus about $8 USD for the SIM), and in 17 days I used only 2GB of data. I wasn't Skyping, though, but I used a lot of Google Maps for walking/public transit, and I used my phone's hotpot on trains and such quite a lot for my laptop. (For driving, you don't need mobile data for Google Maps - you can download "offline" maps ahead of time on WiFi and keep the phone in airplane mode while using it as a GPS.)

If you buy a Hungarian SIM, just find out whether you'd be able to buy more data or add credit remotely once you get to Croatia. But I suspect that even if you have to buy another SIM in Croatia, it won't cost that much.

These WiFi hotspots you can rent made much more sense a few years ago but today they really don't for most people anymore - with cheap SIM cards and your own hotspots.

Okay, so I have a LOT of experience with this, as I work online, must be online daily, and have done so for nearly 20 years. In that time I've done probably 10 trips to Europe and a few to Africa. So here are my tips:

1. I have plan A, B, and C. Always. Because this is work, I am that anal about it. So when plan A doesn't work, I have plan B and C.
2. Plan A is find accommodations that have reliable wifi and use that. Often times in the early morning the wifi is best (because fewer people are on it, and I can breeze through a lot of work emails, etc quite quickly).
3. Plan B is for when I the wifi sucks, is slow, or I must have a secure connection that's not just an open wifi option at the hotel or restaurant. That's when I use cellomobile. I rent a smartphone from them that also serves as a MiFi and allows me to connect up to 5 devices. https://www.cellomobile.com/ The data allowances are pretty generous. It's like 14.99 a day and after reading the crappy reviews on Skyroam (which is 9.99 a day and is only a MiFi and not also a smartphone - not that I need a smartphone but occasionally it has come in handy) I have decided to stay with using cellomobile.
4. Plan C is to use my phone's data allowances - I have T-Mobile and get unlimited data in Europe. It's 2g and sometimes 3g so it's slow, but it works in a pinch.
5. Of course there's also Plan D - find a cafe or restaurant, order some food or coffee or whatever, and use their wifi.

With this combination of options I've been quite successful. :)

.

Wendy, why would you rent a smart phone instead of just buying one + a SIM?

It's easier for me. I don't have an unlocked phone and because I have T Mobile I can just use my phone over there. Plus, I did two trips where I got the sim with a USB dongle to access the internet, and it was a pain. Again, I don't have an unlocked phone to just insert a sim card into. Plus, I usually travel to several countries when I'm over there and it's just easier to have one device, where I never have to go out and buy sim cards, that works everywhere.

I know you don't have an extra unlocked phone - that's why I wondered why you didn't buy one and use it as a WiFi hotspot. If you are traveling to several countries in Europe, you should be able to use one SIM in the next countries you visit because the EU has done away with most roaming fees. I did this last year in Slovenia, Italy, and France with my Dutch Vodafone SIM. I used it in an unlocked Android phone that I used often as a hotspot for my laptop. In fact, I never even used it in the Netherlands.

I do understand that this can be a bit of a hassle, but $14.99/day is kind of steep. A 20 day trip would set you back about $300. You should be able to buy a phone and a SIM for half of that, at most, with plenty of data if you are usually on the hotel's WiFi, and have a phone to use next trip.

It may be something I look into. Yes, the cost of the MiFi is factored into business costs and is a tax deduction. I like the fact that up to 5 devices can connect, which has been handy in meetings when everyone was complaining of crappy connections...they were just able to connect to to the MiFi.

If I recall correctly, the local SIM cards have data limits and were less generous than the MiFi, which I've never had an issue of running into data limits or throttling. Add more than one user connecting, and that data runs out pretty quickly.

Thanks everyone, I think we will be able to get sorted. Great advice.
Cheers.