Has anyone travelled with a WorldiFi Pass. I picked up a brochure from my local postoffice and it says that with the 30day pass $25AUD you get unlimited access to the worlds largest Wi-Fi hotspot network.
I was wondering whether anyone has used this pass and whether it is worthwhile getting. Is it easy to access hotspots travelling around Europe?
"Is it easy to access hotspots travelling around Europe?"
Yes and no. Almost all hotels, at all price levels, have Wi-Fi. However, the signal strength, speed, and reliability can vary. For instance, sometimes it's only strong in the lobby.
In restaurants and other public places, there is often Wi-Fi. However, more and more I find you need to log into it with Facebook, Twitter, or another similar service. If you're not with those services, you have to give your e-mail address to get the access code sent to you. Sometimes, you need a phone number to have the access code sent to (so you can't use it if you're not traveling with a phone that works in that country), and sometimes it has to be a local phone. Once you do get the Wi-Fi, there are similar issues of signal strength and speed (my local lunch place has free Wi-Fi, but it's so slow as to be almost useless).
If you are going to use Wi-Fi that requires them to e-mail you a password, check your spam folder; that's where mine went when I tried to use it in the Montreal airport (you get one free hour, then have to have them send you the code for more time). Since I only check my spam folder infrequently, I didn't get the code until about two weeks after my trip.
Given these issues, I often find that I can't take useful advantage of the free Wi-Fi for one reason or another.
I know nothing specifically about this Wordfi Pass.
All questions that include the phrase "is it worth it?" are subjective, and only you can answer that.
You need to ask yourself one question:
How important is it TO YOU to be able to access the internet when and where you want to?
If you really don't care if you're offline for long stretches (maybe a few hours, maybe a few days, depending on the circumstances of your trip) that's one thing. If you really want to (or need to) get online access predictably and or reliably, that's quite different.
If all you care about is posting a quick message to social media or checking email briefly once in a while, only when it works out, then don't worry, you will be able to find some wifi somewhere that will probably work OK. If you'll be staying at major chain hotels used by business travelers, you'll have a much better chance of getting good wifi there than at small hotels and B&Bs. Hotel wifi/free wifi is nice when it's available/fast/working, but sometimes it's not any of those things.
If you really want (or need) to access internet reliably on a regular basis, then you may be disappointed (or worse) if you're planning to just catch a free wifi connection in your hotel or other free places (in a cafe, etc.). If you really need to rely on connectivity you would be foolish, IME, to expect free wifi to meet your needs.
Both are perfectly valid, but which way you go depends on what you want/need. For some, being offline for a week is blissful. For others, it's like trying to kick heroin.
I'm not sure if I would agree that it is usually the case that big chains provide better or faster wifi than small hotels. In my recent trip a week ago to the German Alps, for example, at a small hotel on the Deutsche Weinstrasse I got a strong 52 megabits down and 40 up (yes, I always check because I use a lot of devices) whereas at a Doubletree in Luxembourg I barely got 2.7 down and 0.82 up - with dismal signal strength.
The networks are different in each European country - it is not all the same by any means - and the 4g and 3g services are by no means widespread.
Your wifi pass will only work where there is decent wifi already, it does not sound like a Mifi which creates a hotspot from 4g (much better) or 3g (much much worse) if there is any.
Do you just want lots of wifi or do you need it?
