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Where do I get WiFi for my holiday - a mini tutorial.

Posted: Fri Jun 1, 2018 6:39am
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Movingon

Movingon

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A question which crops up on a very regular basis is "I'm coming on holiday where can I get WiFi"?

Just like 'Hoover' for instance which was and still is a brand name but which is today the default name for all vacuum cleaners, for many the term WiFi has become the definition of - and synonymous with - access to the internet when in fact it means nothing of the sort and while most will put that down to semantics and call it irrelevant nevertheless I think a little basic clarification might help some folk understand why it is the wrong question to be asking.

Lets start by stating that WiFi, or Wireless Fidelity to give it it's full name, is simply a technology which enables electronic devices to communicate with each other over modest distances without the need for connecting wires - and that is ALL it is nothing more.

A crude analogy would be two or more people in a small area chatting to each other with identical walkie talkies, they can all communicate with each other but none of them can communicate with anybody outside the group nor can anybody who does not have a matching walkie talkie join in.

To extend simple WiFi into internet access requires something more and in the vast majority of cases that means one of two things:

1. A phone line with a WiFi equipped router connected to it and a contract with an ISP to provide a service.

or
 
2. 4g router/hotspot or smartphone fitted with a data SIM.

Unless holidaying in a house or apartment etc. where the owner has installed #1, and of course granted you use of it, then that is pretty much out of the picture. Plus if you did have that then you probably wouldn't be asking the question in the first place.

That leaves you with #2 a 4g router/hotspot or smartphone each of which, always assuming that a reasonable mobile signal is available of course, will be capable of connecting to the internet via the mobile phone network and internally converting that to WiFi which anybody in close proximity and with permission can then connect to.

You will very likely have a data allowance with your own phone contract and you could use that as a hotspot for others to connect to. The potential problem with that however, and especially if you have kids with phones who are gorging on Instagram/Snapchat/Whatsapp etc. etc. etc. during their waking hours, is that they can gobble up huge amounts of data in a very short space of time and you can very quickly find a seemingly generous monthly data allowance is gone in few days and topping it up via your provider can be ruinously expensive if even possible.

The question you should be asking then is "where can you get the best prepaid data deal in Spain" to which the answer is somewhere like this which, although not cheap, does give you a reasonable data allowance but perhaps more importantly one which is renewed daily so the worst that can happen is that you can run out of data on any given day but start afresh the next.

If choosing just a SIM then remember unless you have a dual SIM phone then your own phone number will be out of commission whilst that is in it.

EDIT: an alternative 4g hotspot but with no usage limits http://wifivox.com/

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Gentlevan Removals
Gran Alacant Insurances
AA Free English TV
Airport Service Taxi Mil Palmeras  Torre de la Horadada
ASSSA Insurance
Expat Services
Thy Will Be Done
interior building work
James Spanish School
Espana Dream Properties
Car Key Solutions
Jennifer Cunningham Insurances SL
Costa Blanca Building Specialists
Blacktower Financial Management
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