[oarsinsync]

My slightly expensive hack-around is to have a second travel iPhone, and tether my primary phone to that when I travel.

I used to swap SIM cards around so that my primary SIM ended up in my travel phone, and my region-specific SIM ended up in my primary phone, but ultimately that became more hassle than it was worth, and tethering was a less painful solution with the prevalence of wifi everywhere in most places I visit.

[untog]

I wonder if anyone on HN can recommend a cheap-ish tethering device? That had occurred to me before - some little hotspot thing I can throw a SIM card into. Maybe annoying to keep charged, though.

[ericabiz]

Assuming you’re talking “phone with hotspot”, I use an iPhone 5S on Tmo for this purpose. They are cheap and tethering works decently from them.

I also have a mobile hotspot, but the 5S works better. Our use case is a food truck type of setup.

[untog]

I was thinking "hotspot without phone", if only for a possible battery benefit. But realistically, Android phones are already so cheap that they're probably the best option.

[torstenvl]

Yeah, these are extremely common in the military. You get a "puck" (hotspot box), install a SIM for Kuwait or Iraq or wherever, and then you've got Wi-Fi Calling, iMessage, etc. on your U.S. phone and U.S. number.

I have a TP-Link M7350 from my last deployment. Don't think it works on Verizon bands in the U.S. though.

Here's the one I had in Iraq: https://m.imgur.com/a/4FD9h

[Foivos]

Do you mean something like this?

https://ztedevices.com.my/index.php/category/modem-mifi/

You just plug a sim card to it and it creates a wifi network that you can connect your devices. It also has a usb cable so that you can plug it to a computer to charge it, even though the battery lasts long enough.

[fyfy18]

I have a Huawei E5573 (a lot of carriers give them out free with data contracts), however I'd just recommend using an old phone. The battery lasts for around 2 hours when tethered, and the signal is no better than a phone (although you can connect an external antenna).

[dorian-graph]

I wonder if simply a cheap Android phone would suffice?

[oarsinsync]

I considered both the Android option and the mobile hotspot option, neither effectively solved the problem of using the local SIM for voice calls and providing access to my full contact database (which is currently stored in iCloud).

If you have no need for voice calls, or your address book, or have your address book stored on a more cross platform friendly service, then either of these solutions will work for you!

[voltagex_]

Do you find a lot of carriers blocking / limiting tethering?

[op00to]

I use an iPad w/ LTE that I tether my phone to.