Our 2020 Motorhome Roaming Internet System
This post describes how we’re accessing the internet for roaming abroad in our motorhome in 2020.
Our Internet and Phone Needs
This is how we use the internet, make phone calls and send text messages from our motorhome:
- We sometimes travel outside the UK for several months at a time, which is often longer than UK mobile providers ‘acceptable use policies’ allow.
- Almost all of our travels are within the EU.
- We don’t travel full-time, and prefer not to be held in any contract longer than 30 days.
- I’d describe us as ‘medium use’ for internet access: while we have the system to watch streaming TV abroad we generally don’t (this uses around 0.5GB to 1GB an hour).
- We make and receive very few mobile phone calls and text messages while abroad, but do want to keep our UK number so we can be contacted as needed.
- We’re lazy when it comes to searching for WiFi, and just want to park up the van and have internet access working immediately.
- 4G speeds are easily fast enough for us and we’re rarely in high-density environments (like football stadiums) where 5G would be useful.
The Motorhome Internet System We Use
This is the equipment we’re using in 2020:
- We have two smartphones which each have 1pmobile.com PAYG SIM cards in them. We’ve found this provider doesn’t seem to block the SIMs if we’re out the UK for a few months at a time.
- We don’t have mobile data turned on for our smartphones, but instead connect them to a MiFi-type device which creates a private WiFi network inside our van (see next point), and can take it with us if we want internet when away from our van.
- We use an unlocked Huawei E5577 4G personal wireless hotspot (MiFi) to connect to the internet (these are available from Amazon for about £65).
- The MiFi has a SIM card in it which connects to a mobile network and shares it out to both our phones, our laptops, Kindle and so on.
- We also have the MiFi wired into our van’s 12V system so it is always fully charged, and connected to a roof-mounted omni-directional low-profile 4G antenna, which boosts the signal in remote areas. This equipment is available from motorhomewifi.com.
The SIM Card(s) We’re Using in 2020
We use a combination of SIM cards, mainly to ensure we have a connection if something goes wrong with one of them (it gets blocked by an operator, we run out of data and can’t recharge it, there is no network available on one of them and so on):
- Three’s Internet with Legs. These are pre-pay SIM cards which provide a set amount of data lasting for 12 or 24 months (you can simply buy them from Amazon, no need for an account with Three, a contract etc). The clock only starts when you start using them, so you can store a few and use them as you like. We have two of these, and use them mainly as fall-backs in case the options below don’t work for some reason.
- This year we’ve opted to buy a local SIM in Spain as our main internet SIM card. We were recommended the SIMYO operator (who use the Orange network – there’s a really good site with lots more details here) and we’ve bought a 32GB SIM for €17. That’s very roughly half the price per GB of using a UK SIM. Unused data rolls over for three months, so this SIM plus part of one of the Three SIMs could last our entire trip (it’ll roam into Portugal and France like a UK one would), although I suspect we’ll buy another top-up so we’ve plenty of data. To get the SIMYO SIM we went to a shop in Santander, showed our passport and paid €10 to them for the SIM (we used the shop address as our ‘Spanish address’), then, we needed to load another €7 onto the SIM. After much faffing about we discovered SIMYO don’t accept UK credit cards online, so we bought a further €10 top-up from a Repsol garage, leaving us with €3 credit.
- Last year we used a Vodafone PAYG SIM and roamed with it. This is much easier than buying a local SIM: it just worked as we moved from country to country. The Vodafone SIM also issued a UK IP address so we could watch iPlayer without paying for a VPN. However, Vodafone now seem to cap some of their SIMs at 25GB per month when abroad (weirdly their terms indicate this only applies to ‘unlimited’ packages). Their 30-day SIMs are very good, but still more expensive than using SIMYO, and unused data doesn’t roll over to subsequent months.
That’s it, any questions or suggestions just add a comment below or on Twitter or Facebook folks.
Cheers, Jay
Hi, v interested in the SIM information. Just wondering how you get the correct information to configure the mifi? I just registered a Voxi SIM which is not working in mifi, they say it is not intended to and I need use a phone! I’m baffled.
Hi Sue. If the network operator allows tethering (Orange and SIMYO do here in Spain) then the MiFi usually just auto-configures and works. The main things to check are (a) whether your contract/operator allow tethering and (b) that the APN config is correct in the MiFi (for Voxi I think this is pp.vodafone.co.uk). Good luck, Jay
Many thanks Jay that’s helpful
Hi Jason
Where did you get the information that Vodafone cap usage at 25 gig. I’ve used my phone package abroad to stream tv etc over the last 2 years within my 35 gig/month contract and have never had a problem. I’m intending to renew my contract on an unlimited basis in the near future because I’ve found the arrangement ideal when travelling but on the face of your information I may have to rethink.
Love your blog. Keep up the good work.
Regards Steven
Hi Steven. You’re right, oddly Vodafone’s Terms and Conditions only refer to a 25GB a month cap on their unlimited plans: “If you have an Unlimited Lite, Unlimited or Unlimited Max plan, data usage when roaming is capped at 25GB per billing month in Roam-free and Roam further destinations. We will notify you as you approach this limit. If you reach this limit, you will need to purchase an additional data bundle to continue using data in a Roam-free or Roam-further destination until your monthly allowance renews.” I’ll update the post, thanks! Jay
Good info, thanks. We are thinking about an extended RV trip in Europe but not until 2021. But there are so any options and they keep changing all the time. In the past we have used the https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.com/wiki/Prepaid_SIM_with_data website which seems to be kept fairly up to date for SIM card choices around the world.
Hi guys, greetings to Mexico! Yep, that’s a great wiki – there’s already a link to it in the post and it appears bang up to date. Enjoying your pictures of the Copper Canyon and that link Europe trip sounds great. Happy travels! Jay
Great post as always Jay. Thanks.
Just wondered how your use of SIMYO is going? I use an E5577 and a MIMO but only with Vodafone and Three UK Sims and are burning data with a Roku TV stick (which is great by the way) when off camp WiFi having come through Spain, now in the Algarve en route for Morocco (where I plan to buy Sims from Maroc.
Cheers, John
Hi John, good to hear from you. The SIMYO SIM is working fine thanks, good connectivity and speed so far. The smartphone app is handy too to check remaining data (as it rolls over to subsequent months this might be awkward with the MiFi meter). Last I checked Maroc Telecom was still the way to go over there, have a great time! Jay
Thanks Jay. I’ve spotted a SIMYO outlet as we re-enter Spain so I’ll give it a go.
Different subject – so pleased with the heavy duty spring mod that I got from you. Different beast completely on all sorts of roads now! Cheers, John
Just an update on Vodafone and Simyo for folks reading this blog.
I have a vodafone 100gb monthly phone contract and have used it in Spain exclusively since September 2020 and am a heavy data user. In May 2021 I received a text from them saying they were enforcing the roaming clauses and I would have to pay for anymore use abroad. I believe that Vodafone are now stricter with their roaming limits and unlikely to be a long term option for folks abroad as they have been in the past. I have been using a local Simyo SIM for this last 5 weeks and speed/ coverage is excellent. The best value option is the recently released 25gb for €9 data only option rather than the 35gb for €17 Jay mentions and can be topped up whenever it runs out so in my case I will renew fortnightly. I noticed I had a free gift of 30gb on my simyo app as a summer bonus so that was a pleasant surprise..
Hope this info helps people with the current situation.
Thanks Paul, appreciated, Jay