SphinnCon Israel is 25 days away now and I’ll be in Israel in less than 25 days. This will be the largest SphinnCon ever and I believe the largest search conference in Israel ever – so it is exciting.
But whenever I travel internationally, I get nervous about being connected – mostly data connected. Israel is a small country and reception is almost always solid. But whenever I go, it costs me hundreds of dollars to be connected for the ~10 days I am there.
In the past I end up:
(1) Renting a cell phone and paying minutes at a higher rate
(2) Buying a USB data card for my laptop
(3) Adding the AT&T international data plan to my iPhone
All these three things add up.
This year, I am going to try to change things up.
In January 2011 I plan on:
(1) Buying a SIM card from Orange Israel, which I did in the US from israelsims.com.
That is it. I will pop it in the Nexus S that I will get soon and use that for my phone calls and data connectivity via its mobile hotspot.
I can then use the Android hotspot on the Nexus S to give my MacBook Pro, iPhone, iPad and other devices internet when I am Israel for the same fee. Plus, I can check my emails, feeds and stuff on the go on the Nexus S and also make calls.
This should save me a lot of money in the long run and I won’t “rent” any of it.
Every year, when I go back, I can use the same device. So I can keep the same number and not worry about renting stuff.
Hope it all works out well.
Great idea. The Nexus S with Google’s Android OS can be used an infinite amount of ways. A wireless hotspot, web browser, e-mailer, RSS reader, video game and multimedia player, GPS turn by turn navigation, and one day it will have a built in iPhone.
Heh, built in iPhone.
For now, in the US, I’ll stick with my iPhone. Rather not jailbreak it in Israel.
I love turning my phone into a wifi hotspot, its indispensable when I travel.
However, I actually found that often it is better to USB tether instead of WiFi. What is the point of wirelessly broadcasting your data feed to a single laptop a mere inches away in most cases? Seems like a waste of battery unless you need to connect multiple devices simultaneously.
USB not only avoids draining the battery with the WiFi radio, but actually also CHARGES your phone at the same time. Awesomesauce.
Just my .02
Mordy,
I actually do that with my MiFi. Yea, I am sure I’d tether when I don’t need multiple devices connected. But like I said above, I have several devices that need it.
So you bought an unlocked Nexas and a SIM card? I like it, simple. I’m going to be in Israel for a day next month for #FONSI and have been trying to figure out what to do.
I rarely travel to Israel, but I’m in Canada all the time. This seems like a great solution for both.
Thanks!