It’s not any different than using a cell device frankly. Always a slight danger that something is eavesdropping but much higher chances it’s an existing app on your phone, tablet or Windows device than something built into this. You can always go with a VPN to make things even more secure if you want but it’s not something that overly concerns me to be honest and is likely much safer than using free public WIFI. Check out our post on VPN’s to see if you want to go the VPN route. https://www.thebarefootnomad.com/travel-tips/should-you-use-a-vpn-for-travel/

Tep Wireless was using the same device but had it’s own SIM card and system. They now have their own device (it’s called the Teppy) however we haven’t tried it yet since the old device still works fine for us.

Ron, I think the idea is that you can share it with your travel partners (up to 5 devices at once) so the cost becomes more negligible. The Tep Wireless is also great if you’re bouncing between countries without having to grab a new SIM card in each country.

Lots of higher end hotels charge $8 or more a day for the use of their WiFi. Sometimes that’s per guest and doesn’t work outside your room, so $8.95 a day to rent one (the price has dropped) or $8 if you own the device to take it with you doesn’t sound too unrealistic.

Here in Canada, most companies charge $10 a day for out of country data and they have very low limits on the amount you can use and only certain providers they work with. Tep deals with multiple providers and I love how if you own the device, like we do, you can use it for 24 hours and then stop using it.

When we’re traveling, we often use it here and there as we need it rather than the entire duration to save on costs. That said, if we’re somewhere and need or want internet, we pull it out of our bag and voila, instant WiFi.