Serving in our nation’s military comes with a range of sacrifices both large and small. It often means late nights, weekends, and holidays spent working when you would much rather be home with your family. It can mean going TDY and being away from home for weeks at a time or PCSing to parts unknown every couple of years, often uprooting your spouse and kids from their current support network. And, one of the most often mentioned sacrifices our military service members make: missing countless life events and milestones due to lengthy deployments. While we can’t help you physically be there for that dance recital or graduation, Sapphire Mobile Hotspot can help you get connected so you can stay in touch with your loved ones back home throughout your deployment.

Getting Connected While Abroad

Any time you leave the country, electronics can be a hassle. There are different plug styles to contend with and, often, different voltages to worry about. On top of that, the more pressing concern is figuring out how to use your cell phone, tablet, or laptop while you’re away. At home, it’s as easy as connecting to your home WiFi or choosing the right cell phone plan for the internet connectivity you need. When you’re overseas, however, you can’t take your phone or internet plans with you. Well, you can take a phone plan with you, if you’re willing to pay the international fees necessary, but those can quickly become excessive—especially for the quality of service you get. The trouble isn’t necessarily keeping your electronics charged, it’s finding ways to get connected that won’t break the bank. And, if you’re being deployed, it can be near-impossible to find reliable service at all.

Internet Options Overseas

Phone Plan Choices

For those traveling to more populous areas, there are a few different options to get an online connection. As we mentioned, you can often pay for an international cell phone plan. However, these are generally pretty costly—and the price tends to go up exponentially as you increase your data plan. Months of that price hike can really strain finances. The other problem that means this won’t be a solution for most military is the availability. There may not be cell service or availability, depending on where you are being deployed.

Another prevalent option is to purchase a pay-as-you-go phone once you arrive in your host city and stock up on prepaid phone cards. Again, this can get costly pretty quickly, and it generally only works if you’re in an area with enough of a commerce center to make that an option. Unfortunately, even if it were an inexpensive enough option, buying a phone locally is not an option in most of the places our military is most commonly deployed to.

International WiFi Hotspots

The other prevalent option for getting internet overseas is a travel WiFi hotspot device. These generally fall into a few different categories. First, technically your smartphone probably counts as a portable WiFi hotspot. However, if you don’t have cell service, you won’t be able to use your phone as a hotspot because it won’t be receiving any sort of internet connection to project for your other devices. The other main variety of portable hotspot works similarly to your smartphone. You can either opt for a pay-as-you-go hotspot or you can choose to pay for a monthly plan, depending on how long you’ll be in that area. Be careful, however, when you go to choose a plan. Many portable hotspot devices will require a new SIM card in order to operate overseas, and others may charge international rates.

Get the Best WiFi Hotspot

At Sapphire Mobile Hotspot, we have experienced all the trials and travails of finding an internet connection that is both affordable and reliable. All of those high fees and days of spotty connections drove us to create our namesake international WiFi hotspot device, Sapphire. Our international WiFi hotspot device comes with virtual SIM card technology, so you don’t need to worry about figuring out how to connect each time you travel or deal with the hassle and expense of roaming. Pay only for what you use, or choose a prepaid plan for additional savings. Our goal is to make it simple to get connected no matter where you go. Simply turn on Sapphire, connect your internet-capable device, and select the right data option for you. Sapphire will create a secure personal WiFi connection which you can use to connect however you wish. Call home with Skype on your tablet, stream shows on Netflix, or just pop online to quickly check your email. As with most modern smartphones, Sapphire offers up to 4G connection speeds. That’s a sight better than other internet connection options on deployment.

Want to learn more about how it all works? You can explore more information on Sapphire Mobile Hotspot online, or get shopping online to stay connected on your deployment!