Globlinker 2GB/month data "for life"

Stuart_W

Anyone else come across the Globlinker 2GB/month free data portable mobile hotspot device?

Looks like for £125ish upfront you get a mobile hotspot that includes 2GB data every month for free for life.

Is this a scam? Is this based on the presumption 2GB/data will be close to useless in a few years and they are relying on folk buying top ups?

The free data stacks, so might be worth a punt as a back up connection.

TadleyBaggie

Who's life?

flaneurs_lobster

10% off that price if you sign up for emails.

The interesting bit to me is the (claimed) global nature of the connectivity, that might be actually useful to someone who is travelling a lot cross-border. Multi-network global SIMs are available but at a hefty price, think the cost of that device per month.

I vaguely remember back in the early days of mobile comms that someone offered (I think) an ebook reader that came with a "lifetime" mobile data connection, was a big deal at the time when most home internet connections were still dial-up and you had to buy Wi-Fi access in internet cafes. That deal didn't last my gerbil's lifetime.

Is it a scam? Website's been registered for a couple of years, no contact details on the website other than an email address. No details of the actual tech (4G? 5G? Wi-Fi 4,5,6?), it works by "CloudSIM"?

120 reviews on Trustpilot, 119 of them are 5*, only back to start of this year.

If it were £20 I might have had a punt, £125? Nah.

born_again

Lifetime of what? Certainly not a humans. As no way can they guarantee that networks do not get turned off.

My guess would be till device no longer can connect or get updates.

redux

I assume they think that customers will buy enough additional data to make this worthwhile as a promotional offer. Sometimes customers don't behave exactly as the marketing team foresee. In an odd way I'd see it as more realistic with a bit less data, 500 MB or 1 GB. I can find some discussion online involving other prospective and actual customers - might be worth a look

For me I only use fairly modest amount of mobile data, and already have two free bundles in phone and cheap UK only 3GB in a portable 4g router, so not enough need to justify an upfront deal this big, but I'll keep an eye on it.

Stuart_W

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81960640#Comment_81960640

The free data endlessly backing up seems a rather too generous feature. It has a role as a back up device, but the roll-over nature of the data means even if just used for an annual holiday etc, it comes with 24GB data free each time and no topping up would ever be required. A fair amount of the upfront cost must be for the actual device production so I don't see the airtime business model working but I could be completely wrong. However, I am pretty sure my 2001 Pay upfront forLife BTCellent deal will still outlive this one.

flaneurs_lobster

Been looking around the web for independent reviews of this device, not much beyond a couple of homebrew YouTube vids and a healthy thread on Reddit.

The device is real, although the consensus is that it's not nearly as robust as it looks from the pics on their website.

I haven't found a single user review or comment from anyone outside the US but overall most people have been positive, especially with the level of customer support.

The general scepticism is about the business model and the company's ability to make enough money to pay for the airtime they are giving away.

At least a couple of people suggest its only function is to sell your data to China/Russia/Anthropic/The Illuminati.

neilmorgan

I can't confirm if it's a scam or not.
It appears to be a 4G device. That means it's likely to last until 2030-2035 and maybe longer.
Even at 4 years from now £125 / 48 is £2.60 per month but cheaper if it lasts longer.
If it goes faulty I assume you would end up needing to buy another so lifetime would be restricted to lifetime of the device.
Where are their offices?
It says it connects to various networks. I wonder what they say about it?
If it sounds too good to be true……. but I'm very tempted.

Edit: It also appears to have 802 11b wifi which is fairly slow but usually adequate

redux

A couple of those other discussions mentioned it starting in Japanese language for the first few seconds

So I wondered if this is a clue that it may be available somewhere else and has been white labelled. I found a couple of similar images

But what might be more interesting would be figuring out the underlying eSIM arrangement, and can this be found on its own

flaneurs_lobster

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81971726#Comment_81971726

The Japanese language startup is probably down to the origins of the firmware on the chip(s).

The eSIM arrangement will be a commercial agreement between Globlinker and whatever comms company has the kind of arrangement in place to offer (near) Worldwide roaming/coverage.

It's possible to buy global data SIMs (e- or otherwise) from lots of vendors, the cost is hard to judge because they will charge you for an amount of "credit" but the cost of the data you use will vary by country/region. Typically they are around £/$1 per GB for US/EU but considerably more for (say) Turkmenistan ($5-6/GB).

redux

Yes. A while ago I started making a list of new found roaming SIMs and eSIMs, plus SIM adaptors for adding eSIM

About 40 so far