Full Disclosure: SkyRoam kindly provided a SkyRoam Solis for review, testing and evaluation purposes – along with 15 days passes. The opinions of this article remain that of the author alone, with no influence from SkyRoam in regards to the editorial content.
Like a lot of us, we are dependent on our Smartphones when we travel. But what happens when the data runs out, or your mobile phone carrier doesn’t have a roaming agreement in a country?
For example, in my current trip, my provider wants… £6 per megabyte for data (Close enough $7.75 a megabyte). That’s not gigabyte… that’s megabyte.
Obviously, there needs to be a better solution – especially when I’m visiting countries of the world when it’s £6 a megabyte of data.
Today, I’m looking at a new product which could help if you travel a lot – the SkyRoam Solis.
This starts at $149.99 to buy the device (including a 24-hour pass). Additional passes are $9 per 24 hours
Box shot
The device is a modem with a 6000mHa power bank inside. More importantly for connectivity requirements, it supports up to 4G LTE (dependant on what signal you can pick up), with unlimited data transfer.
So, what’s inside the box? Well first… there’s a user guide
Getting started
A USB to USB-C Cable (so yes, you can use this as a 6000mHa power bank if needed too)
Charging Cable and adaptor
And finally – the Skyroam Solis itself.
The Solis
On the bottom of the Solis, are the SSID and password for the device.
On top, a little Wi-Fi Button and power button to the side.
The device fits in the hand quite nicely.
Setting up the SkyRoam Solis
Setting up the Solis is pretty easy. Power it on and connect to the SSID its broadcasting. T
he device takes two to three minutes to boot up – and when you get a glowing Wi-Fi symbol, it’s ready to rock and roll. Connect your phone to the Solis, and then browse to a web page – and it should redirect to the loading page
The device booting up…
From there, it’s a matter of registering the device.
You get a 20-minute window to set the device up, and check for the activation emails – so you don’t have to worry about being connected to another network
The device is much more mobile friendly than laptop friendly, but it makes entering and registering the device easy to do on the go.
Once registered, you’re off and ready to go! Hit the start button and you can roam at 4G speeds
Rather than test it in the UK, I waited until I was in a “dead spot”. For me, that was Malaysia.
Using the SkyRoam Solis and Speed Tests
As usual, I fired up a SpeedTest – and I was on the KLIA Ekpres on my way into central Kuala Lumpur. And for something that’s moving along… this isn’t bad.
The device auto-switches between 4G and 3G dependant on signal coverage. And in urban areas and not moving around much – you get excellent numbers
And to prove it works, I did some tweeting and posting out of it too.
As @threeUK doesn’t allow feel like home in Malaysia, I’ve turned to @MySkyroam… With some good results…. pic.twitter.com/0ORQMg0WOc
— Kevin-Economy&Beyond (@EconomyBeyond) August 28, 2017
You can connect to the SkyRoam home page of the device at any time to see how long your day pass will last, the connectivity model, connections and how much charge there is on the device.
4G connectivity, 1 connection and 11% battery used. I was out for about 3 hours at that point
I tended to tether off the SkyRoam Solis with my phone primarily. And it worked a treat. There were signal drops occasionally, but the performance pretty solid.
You can connect up to five devices with the Solis, so it’s good for connect phones and laptops up.
When the device drops to 3G (for example you’re on top of a tall observation tower on Kuala Lumpur or in a basement of a food court), the device can drop, you can check the device… and it will tell you…
Here, the device has fallen back to 3G for connectivity.
When you run out of data, you’ll be re-directed to the SkyRoam Homepage. From there. You can buy another pass, or activate an existing pass if you have some stored in your account.
Another pass activated… I was also up the top of the KL Tower at this point…
Speaking of the batteries, they’re rated for 16 hours or so. I accidentally left my one on overnight, and it had a good 40% left in it still when I woke up and switched back to hotel Wi-Fi.
The value proposition of a device like this depends where you live, and depends on your roaming package.
As an example, ThreeUK offers me 12GB of roaming a month outside the EU in countries (which should be more than enough for me).
So, for example, Singapore is covered by my roaming coverage at 3G speeds – but countries like Malaysia and Qatar are not covered when travelling for me.
In addition, I’m limited to 3G speeds though my provider – so the proposition for me is actually a good one for more mobile speed performance when travelling aboard.
That for a mere $9 a day when travelling is good value. Add in the unlimited data transfer – it becomes compelling, fast.
In terms of daypass costs it’s $9 a day. According to their price list:
SkyRoam has coverage in 100 countries, with a coverage list here. You can also rent SkyRoam devices too – check the pricing here. For those considering the original SkyRoam – the one major difference is it’s a 3G Device. You should check the comparison chart to make sure you get the version that’s right for you.
Overall
Most of you know I’m a nerd and I like technology. But I like technology that just works. And the SkyRoam Solis provided high-speed connectivity on the road with minimal moans when I was travelling around, using maps, lots of social media, and a bit of editing on the road.
And it fits in the bag nicely…. or in your hand.
Again – it’s a use case requirement.
- If you’re live in the EU and travelling excursively in the EU area, this might not be the best thing – although it will hook onto any network and provide coverage wherever you are.
- If your mobile phone provider has limited coverage when you’re travelling, or charges outrageous roaming fees per megabyte – you can make some serious savings in the long term.
- If performance is your concern and your mobile carrier throttles your speed, bandwidth or capacity, this will help those concerns when travelling for a fixed cost per day.
Whilst it maybe simpler to get SIM cards as you go when you travel, this is a nice little solution that removes the faff of swapping SIM cards, trying to buy data in a language that is not your native tongue or dealing with complex tariffs.
For me, I can honestly recommend the SkyRoam Solis. And it’s coming with me when I go to the USA next… and maybe a few other countries when I need connectivity on the go at a reasonable speed.
The Solis costs $149, and can be brought from the SkyRoam site.
Full Disclosure: SkyRoam kindly provided a SkyRoam Solis for review, testing and evaluation purposes – along with 15 days passes. The opinions of this article remain that of the author alone, with no influence from SkyRoam in regards to the editorial content.
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