One of the few necessities, when you travel nowadays in this age of time, is to make sure that you are always connected online, anytime and anywhere. More especially when you are doing online work.
In this modern time, updating one’s Facebook and other social media accounts have become a norm for travelers. Instagram must always be updated not because to show off but to inspire other people that you can go to places too. But you cannot just go to another place and expect there’s always “free wifi” everywhere. This is where travel WiFi devices are coming into place.
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Gone are the days (almost) when you need to buy a SIM card and insert it on your phone. You can now just rent travel wifi and connect seamlessly wherever you are, whenever you want.
CherryRoam Travel WiFi
What is CherryRoam? Cherry Roam is a hotspot travel Wi-Fi device that provides up to 4G/LTE data speed ensuring a fast, stable and secured internet connection globally. It uses a SIMless connection to provide a data connection to any of 100+ countries worldwide.
We have used this during our travel in Guangzhou, China – Macau – Hong Kong – and Shenzhen, China. Here’s our review.
CherryRoam G3 Travel WiFi
We were provided with CherryRoam G3. This is the newest addition to CherryRoam device family including CherryRoam T1 Style and CherryRoam T2 Slim. We haven’t used any other CherryRoam devices yet and this is our first time to try out the product.
The CherryRoam G3 has a battery capacity of 5,350 mah which can last for more than 18-24 hours of usage (based on experience). With 4″ LCD display and a power bank feature tp charge your other devices. A cool and convenient device indeed. It’s like a regular phone except that you can only use it for your internet connection.
CherryRoam Experience in Guangzhou, China
Since the internet connection in China is exclusive, we had to use a VPN service (Virtual Private Network). Good thing is that CherryRoam has a data package for China with VPN. So for us, that was a great plus to the service.
For those who do not know yet, if you go to China and you don’t have a VPN app installed on your phone, you will have problems connecting to the internet as most sites are blocked and only China-approved websites will be available. Facebook and some of the other social media are not allowed, so in order for you to use Facebook, you need to connect to VPN first.
And with CherryRoam Travel WiFi having its own VPN access service, everything went seamless and we were directly connected to the world.
We actually had issues in Guangzhou Airport and you can read it here. But thanks to the connection CherryRoam provided, we were able to access our Facebook and other accounts without hassle so we got sorted out. Imagine if we don’t have a travel wifi device in our hands, we could be stuck in the airport for a day.
By the way, when we first opened the device, we didn’t expect that its battery was low so we had to charge it first before using it. We really haven’t checked if the battery level was okay for use when we were in the Philippines, so we were quite surprised that it was on less than 10% battery capacity when we first opened it. Nonetheless, the service and connection it provided us was great. You can just charge it and go.
We spent 4 nights in Guangzhou and this is what we often use even when there is wifi on our Airbnb. The wifi in China is generally hard to use or connect to even if you have a VPN app. Glad we had this travel wifi in our hands.
The data package provided for us was 5GB of network use and before we left Guangzhou for Macau, it has a remaining data capacity of 2.XXGB. We are not heavy Facebook/internet users when we travel overseas because we also want to enjoy our moments away from the online community.
CherryRoam Experience in Macau
For those who do not know, yes, you can cross to Macau from Guangzhou, China. Macau is just in the south of Guangzhou and is just around 2 hours away.
As soon as we entered Macau, the data connection on our CherryRoam Travel Wifi seemed to have refreshed but is no longer 5GB. I honestly could not remember but I think it was around 2gb to 3gb of data.
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Apparently, the travel wifi detects your location and starts to use/connect another network and your data package is different per country.
Similar to our Guangzhou experience, we had no issues connecting to the internet in Macau because their internet is open (non-exclusive) unlike in China. In Macau, you do not need a VPN.
We used up only a bit of our data because there are lots of FREE WIFI connections in Macau – from restaurants to hotels. You wouldn’t even need to use your travel wifi, only unless you are far from establishments.
Take note that the buses are free (free shuttle) and do have Free Wifi too.
CherryRoam Experience in Hong Kong
This is the part where I got kind of confused about our data connection. Unlike when we departed Guangzhou that the data allocation has refreshed or changed, it was different when we entered Hong Kong. I’m thinking that the data allocation was for both countries already.
Apparently, we were left with 2.xx GB when we left Macau and we will stay in Hong Kong for 2 nights. Not sure if our remaining data will be sufficient.
Anyhow, I highly advise you not to take the bus from Macau especially if you have large luggage with you going to Hong Kong. It’s true they are now connected via a bridge but the border crossing process was very tiring especially if you have a large suitcase with you as you’d have to go down and back to your bus four (4) times. I’d rather suggest you take the ferry from Macau to Hong Kong.
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We had to make use of what little has remained from our CherryRoam Travel WiFi device so basically, we used most of the data on the first night. Luckily, there’s wifi on our Airbnb home so we didn’t have to connect only at our CherryRoam.
As for the connection, it still gave us a seamless connection despite the remaining data we had to use. I think 2-3 GB of data wasn’t enough when you have Macau and Hong Kong travel for almost 5 days.
CherryRoam Experience in Shenzhen, China
So after Hong Kong, we were back in China. We will be staying for two more nights before heading back to Manila and we’re also back to needing VPN connection again because, well, we’re in China.
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This is one of the easiest border crossings we had in this entire travel itinerary because Hong Kong and Shenzhen could be crossed using just the train.
Remember when we left Guangzhou and had the remaining data of 2.xx GB? Well, it was continued in Shenzhen. I think the data allocation was for the entire China trip. However, I am not 100% sure that is the case.
Similar to the connection in Guangzhou, CherryRoam Travel WiFi with a data package of China with VPN really helped a lot. The VPN is integrated into the app/device itself so all we need to do was open the device and let it serve us while we were in China.
CherryRoam G3 Travel Wifi Verdict
Overall, we had a good experience using this device. It isn’t bulky and heavy unlike any other travel wifi in the market. The connection was so seamless. The design was sleek and it’s just like a regular phone that you can put in your pocket.
The battery lasts for up to 12 – 24 hours of usage so it was great. Though normally we are charging the device every night to make sure it won’t die on us during the trip. Other than that, you can also use it as a power bank if needed.
I may have not seen it reach more than 10mbps (I use Speedtest app installed on my phone), especially in China region because probably of network restrictions, but rest assured that the data connection is fast enough for you to open and browse websites, play videos, and games too.
The LCD display helps you keep track of your data usage which is a good thing especially if you only have a data allocation package. It helps you monitor how much remains of your data.
It was also easy to use. Just open the device, wait for a mere 2-4 minutes until it has determined your location and network, and connect to the internet good for up to 5 devices (or more) simultaneously. It acts as a WiFi hotspot.
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We totally were in awe with China with VPN package. As I have mentioned earlier, the internet in China is totally different than the rest of the world so that package really helped a lot in getting us always connected within China.
But if you already have a VPN app installed on your phone, you can also avail of the China data packages alone (without VPN).
HOW TO AVAIL CHERRYROAM TRAVEL WIFI
You can BUY or RENT CherryRoam Travel WiFi.
TO RENT:
Just head on to their website https://cherryroam.com.ph/.
Click RENT NOW.
Click on your Country/Destination.
Select your preferred package.
Click ORDER NOW and fill in the required details.
You may opt for Pickup or Delivery of device.
TO BUY:
Just head on to their website https://cherryroam.com.ph/.
Click BUY NOW.
Select your preferred device. (G3, T1 Style, T2 Slim)
Enter your desired quantity (default: 1).
Click Purchase Item.
Enter Checkout details and Pay.
TO CHECK FOR RATES, click https://cherryroam.com.ph/rates/.
If you have any questions about the device, click https://cherryroam.com.ph/faq-s/.
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