Pocket WiFi is very important, if you are always online, or for people who like to get in touch with their family, friends and share their moments, at least it is for me..
I learned my lesson the hard way not too long ago when I decided to head to Bali without one, thinking I can just rely on public free WiFi and hotel WiFi and it ended up as a more expensive event.. I tried booking a Grab Car from the airport which would have cost me only about RM15 to my hotel… and I got my Grab Car, but since I had to go outside the airport, the airport WiFi disappeared and along with it my chance to save money on transport to city.. where other drivers demanded RM30-RM45 for a ride to my hotel in Kuta….
Then when looking for some shop, restaurant, place; I was again stumped as I could not use google maps or google without WiFi. Finally I bought a local traveller SIM which cost me about RM70 for the 2 days I was there….
And so yes, a WiFi is definitely of utmost importance to me when traveling… and so for my trip to Osaka and Kyoto, I decided to try out the www.iVideo.com.tw pocket wifi, which a friend recommended to me…
To rent an iVideo pocket WiFi just head to the iVideo website and follow some easy steps.
iVideo is a Taiwanese online shop that offers to rent different kind of pocket WiFi…The website was pretty easy to navigate, as all you need to do is just select where you are headed to and the appropriate suggestions for your Pocket WiFi will pop up…they even have monthly rentals that make it even more cheaper if you are traveling there for a month for business or slowly backpacking the whole Japan… the regular price is just less then RM18 per day…
Once you made your selection, you will be prompted to log in or well, register as a new customer…
…so once you have done so, you can easily ‘check out’ your device..
Then you can select where you want to pick up your device from, whether it is at the airport there or one of the monorail station or so… you can have your iVideo WiFi sent to your hotel as well or pick up at the iVideo store… but for me, I opted to have my iVideo WiFi delivered to a Lawson -something like a 24 hour convenience store like 7 Eleven at the airport…
Then just confirm your rental duration dates, and make your payment via your credit card or debit card… simple as that…
….a confirmation will be emailed to you and days before you fly , they will also send you a bar code as to how to collect your WiFi package…
When I arrived in Kansai International Airport, I just headed to the Lawson at the Aeroplaza and collected my device, which came in those courier cardboard envelopes from Sagawa Express Company, after they scanned the bar code.. simple as that…
….and inside the pack, I found a cardboard envelope pack, the WiFi, a wire for charging , an adapter with 2 USB ports and a little guide book… how convenient…
Using it was easy.. just flick the button on, look for the network which is indicated right at the back of the device and key in the password…and presto, all connected…
I definitely love the WiFi speed and connectivity. One of these WiFi can be used for up to 10 gadgets… and my daughter used it to check on her college reports and chats as well, besides updating her instagram and facebook…
It definitely saved our time when we used it for google maps to look up places as well when we were kinda lost…which I think is the most important when you are traveling in a foreign country…
If you leave it on all the time, the battery can last around 10 -12 hours me thinks, but, for me, I only turn it on when I needed to search something or be online, so the battery lasted longer and charge it only in the evening when I was back at my hotel …
With the iVideo pocket WiFi, I could also WhatsApp call back home to my mother, my husband and younger daughter and share moments of my travel with them….
Returning the device was also a breeze, since iVideo included a return packaging inside the pack which you receive… so you need to do put everything that came into the Sagawa Express Company pack and just drop it into a red box – at least it was a red box in Japan, since we are talking about Japan, other countries might be different, ok…
So there you have it, and yes, I highly recomment it and will definitely use iVideo.tw WiFis again in the future….
oh my this is so convenient!!!!! thanks kak! now i know what to do d if im travelling …
LikeLike
Yeah I understand that annoying feeling that you can’t connect on wifi, especially for emergency. Glad that there is a rental like this. I will avail it soon!
-blairvillanueva
LikeLike
seems great! would love to have it when i’m travelling oversea one day.
LikeLike
Definitely a life saver for those travelling overseas. Thqnks for the thorough review
LikeLike
Wow! Thanks for this info! Next time I check on this when I go to Japan again.
LikeLike