Pocket wifi for Geocaching

[jawks]

Last month I went to do some geocaching in France (I'm from Spain) and as we don't have any specific GPS device, we had to use our Iphone. The problem as you might know is that we need to switch-off the data from the smartphone due to the high roaming costs, so doing geocaching offline ends up being a real mess. We searched for a solution because 4 years ago we also went to the south of France for geocaching and it was a pity to search caches with no Internet connection. We found a company that rents Pocket Wifi devices, that is like a little device that creates a portable wifi hotspot that you can carry everywhere and get connected everywhere you go. It was a very smart solution and we end-up having lots of fun (however we didn't find any caches, LOL). The company is called Wifivox and price per day was very reasonable (7 euros) as you can share the wifi with all your friends.

 

Have you tried something similar while geocaching outside your country?

[Mr.Yuck]

Last month I went to do some geocaching in France (I'm from Spain) and as we don't have any specific GPS device, we had to use our Iphone. The problem as you might know is that we need to switch-off the data from the smartphone due to the high roaming costs, so doing geocaching offline ends up being a real mess. We searched for a solution because 4 years ago we also went to the south of France for geocaching and it was a pity to search caches with no Internet connection. We found a company that rents Pocket Wifi devices, that is like a little device that creates a portable wifi hotspot that you can carry everywhere and get connected everywhere you go. It was a very smart solution and we end-up having lots of fun (however we didn't find any caches, LOL). The company is called Wifivox and price per day was very reasonable (7 euros) as you can share the wifi with all your friends.

 

Have you tried something similar while geocaching outside your country?

 

Well, I've only cached outside my Country once with a smartphone app for one cache, and I only did that because I was going to a sporting event, and didn't feel like hauling my GPS into the stadium with me. So I saved the cache for offline use, and found it without an internet connection using only the GPS on the phone. Worked like a charm. If I was a smartphone only cacher, and I realize most people are these days, I'd save dozens or hundreds of them in that fashion, perhaps even using a pocket query, before the trip.

 

EDIT: I see you're not a premium member. I assume you can save caches for offline use on the paid official ios app. That all does sound very interesting if you need data for whatever reason while outside your home Country, Geocaching related or not.

Edited December 13, 2014 by Mr.Yuck

[+Tassie_Boy]

Haven't tried that but normally if i'm caching without data available then i'll save to an offline list in the app and work with that, you get all the information you need. Another thought... is it possible for you to just get a local sim card in france? may save carrying something else around with you and only 1 battery to charge at end of day.

[+niraD]

I've never seen the need. The phone apps I've used have worked just fine with cached data and the cell/data antennas turned off.

[+Titus Adduxas]

I recently went on a cruise and before I left I saved caches near every port for offline use. The GPS on the iPhone works perfectly well without data roaming. The only problem is that it seems to put the date you upload the logs rather than the date you actually find/save the logs so they need to be changed later. We usually found a restaurant with free wifi to upload the logs on a daily basis so that didn't present a problem.

[Mr.Yuck]

I've never seen the need. The phone apps I've used have worked just fine with cached data and the cell/data antennas turned off.

 

Like I said in my first post, they may not be allowed to save caches for offline use as a non premium member, but I doubt it. We may be enlightening someone. My experience is a lot of newer (or low volume cachers in the case of the OP) think they can't cache with a smartphone without a data signal.

Edited December 13, 2014 by Mr.Yuck

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I've never seen the need. The phone apps I've used have worked just fine with cached data and the cell/data antennas turned off.

 

Like I said in my first post, they may not be allowed to save caches for offline use as a non premium member, but I doubt it. We may be enlightening someone. My experience is a lot of newer (or low volume cachers in the case of the OP) think they can't cache with a smartphone without a data signal.

 

A premium member can save Pocket Query results in the official app (I believe that there are some other apps that will do that as well). The official app also allows you to save map tiles for the area where the caches are located. You can even put the phone in airplane mode and and the GPS and/or compass will work for navigating to caches.

 

A purchased or rented SIM card isn't necessarily going to give you a data connection. It's just going to give you a local phone number and access to data might be extra. If someone is going be traveling to other countries more than a handful of times the purchase of a handheld GPS might be less than the cost of purchasing a SIM card + a data plan for a smart phone.

 

I don't bother trying to log finds in the field. I just keep track of what I found and log caches when I get to an internet connection, which is usually at the end of the day in the hotel where I'm staying someplace with free wifi. That's worked for me in about 20 countries.

[+Viajero Perdido]

Getting a local SIM card can be a great bargain in some countries, if your phone is unlocked. I did that on a recent Mexico trip, and received more voice minutes and data gigabytes than I could possibly use, all for about US$1 per day. Cheap.

 

I used it for stuff like asking Tripadvisor for good restaurants near me, catching up on email beside fountains, and booking a hotel from a park bench. Didn't really need it for caching/mapping; my app takes care of that nicely offline, but it never hurts to have online caching as a backup option.

[+kunarion]

Getting a local SIM card can be a great bargain in some countries, if your phone is unlocked. I did that on a recent Mexico trip, and received more voice minutes and data gigabytes than I could possibly use, all for about US$1 per day. Cheap.

Did you rent a Sim Card?

 

I used it for stuff like asking Tripadvisor for good restaurants near me, catching up on email beside fountains, and booking a hotel from a park bench. Didn't really need it for caching/mapping; my app takes care of that nicely offline, but it never hurts to have online caching as a backup option.

The OP's idea may be suitable for cachers who arrive in a strange land and discover the roaming charges (and who are fortunate to find that some kind of wifi rental thing is offered). They don't always know what happens to any given App if data is shut off, nor what things need to be done in advance (such as loading maps and caches for offline view).

Edited December 13, 2014 by kunarion

[+Viajero Perdido]

Did you rent a Sim Card?

Nope, it was free. I still have it for the next trip.

 

I walked into a Movistar store holding a printout of their webpage showing a 30-day data package for a good price, said I wanted that, gave them a little extra pesos for some voice minutes (totalling 300 pesos, ~US$22), and somehow - with promotions I didn't quite understand - got twice the data I expected: 1.6GB, which was plenty.

 

In Mexico, Movistar seems to be cheaper than Telcel, but the latter has wider coverage. I found Movistar's coverage fine, even in some remote places I visited.

 

Heck, it even worked underground in the Mexico City metro, though I couldn't seem to get a usable location on my map app for some reason (I believe I had cell-based location turned on). That would've been cool - see where you are under the city on your phone. (EDIT: Figured out why. Google collects GPS/cell location pairs for cell-based location, but nobody's phone would ever get both signals at the same time. Now if Google added those locations manually...)

Edited December 13, 2014 by Viajero Perdido

[+kunarion]

Did you rent a Sim Card?

Nope, it was free. I still have it for the next trip.

 

I walked into a Movistar store holding a printout of their webpage showing a 30-day data package for a good price, said I wanted that, gave them a little extra pesos for some voice minutes (totalling 300 pesos, ~US$22), and somehow - with promotions I didn't quite understand - got twice the data I expected: 1.6GB, which was plenty.

 

In Mexico, Movistar seems to be cheaper than Telcel, but the latter has wider coverage. I found Movistar's coverage fine, even in some remote places I visited.

 

Heck, it even worked underground in the Mexico City metro, though I couldn't seem to get a usable location on my map app for some reason (I believe I had cell-based location turned on). That would've been cool - see where you are under the city on your phone.

Cool! Not owning a 3G/4G data kind of tablet, I've vaguely considered buying a wifi hotspot device like the kind the OP rented. If it were "unlocked", I could have it on hand for some future trip, and find a 30-day subscription or whatever. But in the situation where I require a different provider for data service, my phone also probably wouldn't work. So, I could cache, but no PAFs.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

 

The OP's idea may be suitable for cachers who arrive in a strange land and discover the roaming charges (and who are fortunate to find that some kind of wifi rental thing is offered). They don't always know what happens to any given App if data is shut off, nor what things need to be done in advance (such as loading maps and caches for offline view).

 

I suppose if someone hasn't really traveled much that they might but unaware of the exorbitant roaming charges but it's pretty universal. I typically get a text message on my phone within a few minutes of landing indicating what the data roaming charges are.

 

For someone that is about to travel it's worth testing their app *before* they leave (turn off data or go to airplane mode) to see how the app is going to behave. It can be done before you find yourself in a strange land.

[Mr.Yuck]

 

The OP's idea may be suitable for cachers who arrive in a strange land and discover the roaming charges (and who are fortunate to find that some kind of wifi rental thing is offered). They don't always know what happens to any given App if data is shut off, nor what things need to be done in advance (such as loading maps and caches for offline view).

 

I suppose if someone hasn't really traveled much that they might but unaware of the exorbitant roaming charges but it's pretty universal. I typically get a text message on my phone within a few minutes of landing indicating what the data roaming charges are.

 

For someone that is about to travel it's worth testing their app *before* they leave (turn off data or go to airplane mode) to see how the app is going to behave. It can be done before you find yourself in a strange land.

 

Dude. I could be 8 miles from my house in Niagara Falls Ontario, and it's exorbitant.

 

I've never been outside the U.S. or Canada since I started Geocaching, but I will go abroad again in the future, I'm sure. Personally, I think I'd have next to no use for a data connection for the phone. I'd be fine with wifi and/or public computers at the hotel.

[+fuzziebear3]

Hey, I don't use data on my phone in the US, why would I want it overseas?

 

Load GPS with coordinates; load phone/tablet with coordinates and maps. Use either HH GPS or even use the phone/tablet GPS to find caches.

Log everything when I get to wifi and a real keyboard.

 

No data plan required.

[+kunarion]

Hey, I don't use data on my phone in the US, why would I want it overseas?

To go find newly activated caches or avoid newly archived ones, or read the latest logs, or to contact cachers while overseas. Bunch of reasons.