KEEPING CONNECTED WITH TEP WIRELESS

As a blogger -or even a Millennial- living in our fast-paced tech-driven world, staying connected while traveling is super important.

For me, it’s my job. I need to be able to send out Tweets or post up pretty pictures on Instagram. But it’s also nice for keeping in touch with friends and family back home– or for being able to meet up with friends I make on the road.

I worried about what I would do for 40 days in Europe.

Debating on buying SIM cards in each country we traveled to, it started to stress me out just thinking of having to buy and input a new SIM every 2-3 days. Luckily, another traveler mentioned TEP Wireless!

TEP provides travelers wifi devices that will work all over the world including Europe, Asia and even Africa. You simply tell them where you’re traveling, how long you’re traveling for, and how much data you think you’ll need, and then they help you pick out a plan that’ll suit your needs.

The devices work basically as a wireless modem that allows you connect any WiFi enabled devices.

Local SIM cards have already been installed in the device for you, so you don’t need to worry about anything. Simply turn it on, find the device on your phone or laptop as you would any Wifi connection, input the password written on the device and you’re good to go!

When I was offered to test a TEP device during my trip, I sent them my itinerary and a few days later a nice little kit arrived right to my house.

I loved that everything was kept neatly in a nice little zippered bag– it made it so easy to just toss in my luggage, knowing everything I would need was inside.

So just what’s inside the kit?

I was actually sent three different devices due to the countries I would be visiting. TEP offers what they call the European pocket WiFi device, which works across most destinations in Europe. This was the device I used 90% of my trip.

There are only a handful of countries that are not compatible with that device, such as Austria, France, Switzerland and most of Scandinavia. Because I was also going to Austria and France, TEP sent me two additional devices made for those countries so that I would always be connected.

The kit also came with all the chargers I would need, an instruction manual, and a spare battery.

Best part about these devices?

They’re so small!

Having to pack three in my suitcase was no big deal because of their size. If you’re a guy you could easily just toss it in your pants pocket and forget about it. I chose to just keep it on inside my purse and it worked perfectly!

I constantly had a fast internet connection that saved us on multiple occasions when we got lost or weren’t sure where exactly the building we were looking for was located. Really, how did anyone survive before the internet??

The connection was even strong enough to tether my laptop to when I needed to work online and it also allowed for flawless Skype calls. The only time I ever had connectivity issues were during a few parts of train rides– like when riding through tunnels and the stretches that were in the middle of nowhere.

Up to five devices can be connected at once, which was nice because if my mom needed to connect her iPad she could. Of course this would slow down the internet a bit and drain the battery faster, but that’s to be assumed.

Each day the device would last for maybe four hours when fully charged. Again, due to the nature of my job, I just made sure to carry a fully-charged spare battery when I knew I’d be out all day.

I actually did have one issue with my TEP device. One of my devices came without an active SIM, so I contacted TEP right away. While it called a little bit of chaos arriving in Paris, TEP was very apologetic and offered to overnight ship a new one right to our hotel room. Talk about customer service!

Once I returned from my trip it was time to say goodbye to my little companions and send them back to TEP. They had already provided me with a pre-paid envelope, so I just simply slipped the kit inside and away it went.

And now, depending on where you’re traveling from, TEP is also opening drop off points in various airports around the world.

In the end I was so impressed with TEP and was very glad to have my little device with me. It saved me a fortune on data roaming fees back home and looking at the prices, they’re very reasonable. I now know what company I’ll turn to whenever I need internet when I travel.

Thank you to TEP Wireless for keeping me connected through my crazy trip around Europe! As always, all opinions are always my own.