If your data cap lasts for a week, buy 4-8 SIMs and rotate them.
If you need a stable phone number, either buy a dual SIM smartphone or buy two smartphones.
Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?
161–170 of 209 posts
Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?
#162I run https://www.waveform.com and we help a lot of folks like yourself get better signal. It's not really worth messing around with cheap options - your productivity is on the line and it's worth spending a little for great connectivity. With that in mind, the best option is a Pepwave MAX HD2 Dual SIM. Then put a Visible SIM from Verizon in one slot and a Calyx SIM (T-Mobile) in the other, or sign up for the AT&T iP…
Would you have any suggestions for Europeans?
Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?
#163I've been pretty happy with spending most of my time in Costa Rica for nearly a decade or so. The pandemic numbers here have been really low, partly because people are fairly health-conscious here. Anti maskers are basically just gringos nobody likes or want anything to do with here instead of crazy people yelling vitriol in grocery stores. I don't live at the beach, because frankly it's kind of distracting having pe…
How's the process of getting permanent residence there?
They have a 'digital nomad' visa right now which grants you a whole year which you should try and score if you can, but the other stuff with the rentista is definitely recommendable as well and is pretty spot on advice (thanks!)
https://ticotimes.net/2021/03/05/costa-rica-an-ideal-destina...
Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?
#164My partner and I have worked most of this year from a little 13 ft Scamp travel trailer all across the U.S. and we're currently building out a van to get a bit of extra mobility. I'm a staff engineer for a consultancy with lots of meetings with our enterprise clients, so solid internet is a major concern. The hotspot I use is called "Glocal Me". It's run by a company out of Hong Kong, and sells fairly expensive U.S.…
Question- how do you and your partner handle the logistics of sharing a relatively confined workspace? I value a quiet working space and this arrangement seems like something which not everyone would be able to adapt to.
Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?
#165Earlier quoted context omitted.
I found this really old book from 1938 for learning German which is quite the artifact, one from 1944 on how to survive an atomic bomb which is also super old and has some funny advice/a picture on wearing a fedora to protect yourself from the heat flash... some book from 1924 on mathematics which takes a historical analysis approach to teaching called mathematics for the million which is pretty cool. It has a lot of…
> one from 1944 on how to survive an atomic bomb which is also super old and has some funny advice/a picture on wearing a fedora to protect yourself from the heat flash 1944?
https://www.hyperorg.com/gifs/hat.gif heh this is way OT now but this cracks me up
Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?
#166I have a french sim with free mobile, they give you 25 GB per montlh in a lot of countries all over the world, including the USA, for 20 euros (24 usd) per month, 4G download speed is excellent.
Coverage with free SMS and free calls too : https://assistance.free.fr/mobile/freeroaming/
After traveling for 4 years as a nomad, I will now buy 2 or 3 more sim like this because they work great and are cheaper than local sim without the hassle / paperwork
If a french friend can give you a free mobile sim, don't hesitate :)
Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?
#167I run https://www.waveform.com and we help a lot of folks like yourself get better signal. It's not really worth messing around with cheap options - your productivity is on the line and it's worth spending a little for great connectivity. With that in mind, the best option is a Pepwave MAX HD2 Dual SIM. Then put a Visible SIM from Verizon in one slot and a Calyx SIM (T-Mobile) in the other, or sign up for the AT&T iP…
Any recommendation for handheld / tripod-mounted directional antennas for camping/backpacking purposes? It's surely more of a niche than this RVer-heavy comments section, but if you have anything suitable to point to I'd be very interested.
Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?
#168I work from the road quite a bit and use a Pepwave Max router which allows you to pop in multiple sims. I have a Verizon prepaid sim as well as Google Fi which gets me Sprint & T-Mobile so I basically pretty much always have coverage. Data cap wise, Google Fi is pretty generous but also relatively cheap to add additional data-only sims if you need to.
Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?
#169I have a french sim with free mobile, they give you 25 GB per montlh in a lot of countries all over the world, including the USA, for 20 euros (24 usd) per month, 4G download speed is excellent. Coverage with free SMS and free calls too : https://assistance.free.fr/mobile/freeroaming/ After traveling for 4 years as a nomad, I will now buy 2 or 3 more sim like this because they work great and are cheaper than local si…
Whoa, does this mean that if I manage to get hold of a sim like this anywhere free has coverage I can effectively bypass local service packages?
I understand that in many countries this kind of roaming still comes with bandwidth caps (ie. slower speeds than if you were using non-roaming sim) but it may still be a better option
Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?
#170I think you'd be better off transiting between urban areas where there's good 5G/4G service, and save your more off-grid adventures for the weekends.
I've traveled both US coasts as a DN. My gear was essentially:
- Macbook Pro
- Verizon Jetpack
- iPhone with hotspot enabled
- Goal Zero Sherpa 100AC
- Goal Zero Nomad 50 Solar Panel
- BMW X3
- In-vehivle laptop mount arm (passenger side)
- Belgian Malinois