Here’s the reality of van life: you roll into a new country every week or two, and your internet needs to work immediately—for navigation, campsite bookings, remote work calls, or just streaming after a long drive. We’ve shipped portable WiFi devices to hundreds of van lifers crossing Europe (and beyond), so we know the frustration of patchy campground WiFi, the hassle of buying a new local SIM in every country, and the shock of a €300 roaming bill after one month on the road.

This guide walks through every real option for internet in a van, the trade-offs we see travellers actually face, and which setups work best depending on where you’re driving and how long you’re out there.

Why Van Life Internet Is Different (and Why Your Home Plan Won’t Cut It)

If you’re doing a two-week campervan holiday in France, your UK or Australian carrier’s roaming might be fine. But if you’re living in the van for months, crossing from Spain to Portugal to France to Germany, traditional roaming falls apart fast. Most carriers either don’t cover multi-country routes properly, charge daily fees that add up (£5/day = £150/month), or throttle you after a few GB because you’re “roaming excessively.”

Van lifers need internet that:

• Works across multiple countries without swapping SIMs or hunting for local shops
• Connects laptops, tablets, and phones at once (you’re working, navigating, and entertaining kids simultaneously)
• Doesn’t require a foreign billing address or local bank account
• Costs a predictable monthly amount, not surprise charges when you cross a border

Let’s look at what actually works.

“I’m a vanlifer and was totally let down by another company while over in Spain. These guys stepped up and gave me the greatest experience — communication was non-stop, service was impeccable.”
— Gavin Baines, verified ConnectPls customer

Your Real Options for Van Internet: A Practical Comparison

Here’s how the main options stack up for someone driving a campervan around Europe for three months:

Option	Best For	Multi-Country?	Devices	Trade-Offs
Home carrier roaming	Short trips (1-2 weeks)	Limited or expensive	Phone only usually	Daily fees add up; fair-use caps kick in after 30-60 days abroad
Local SIM in each country	Long stays in one place	No—buy new SIM each border	Phone, or hotspot if allowed	Paperwork, local shops, new number each time, hotspot often banned or throttled
Multi-country eSIM	Solo travellers, phone-only data	Yes (if regional plan)	Your phone only	Can’t share with laptops/tablets unless you hotspot (drains battery, often capped)
Portable WiFi (monthly subscription)	Van lifers, families, remote workers	Yes (wide coverage)	Up to 10 at once	Requires carrying a small device; monthly cost

Portable WiFi for Vans: Why It’s the Go-To for Multi-Country Routes

From what we see shipping devices across Europe every week, portable WiFi subscriptions have become the default for van lifers doing serious mileage. Here’s why:

It Connects Everything at Once

A portable hotspot connects up to 10 devices at once. Your phone, laptop, partner’s tablet, kids’ devices, even a smart TV if you’ve built out the van properly. You’re not draining your phone battery tethering all day, and everyone stays online without fighting over the hotspot.

One Plan, Dozens of Countries

ConnectPls’s Plus Europe package covers around 70 countries with truly unlimited data (no fair-use throttling). That’s the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, all the Nordics, Turkey, and even Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand if you’re driving further afield. Cloud SIM technology switches between local operators automatically as you cross borders. You’re connected the moment you roll into the next country. No SIM swapping, no hunting for a Vodafone shop in rural Portugal.

We also include a backup physical SIM slot, which has saved travellers in remote Scottish Highlands or deep Spanish valleys where one network drops out.

Activated Before You Leave, Works When You Arrive

You order the device, it ships to your home address (2-3 working days in Europe, 4-5 in the UK), and you activate it before you fly or drive out. The moment you land or cross the border, it’s live. No scrambling at the airport or waiting until you find a SIM shop.

Monthly Billing That Flexes with Your Travel

You’re billed monthly, and you can pause or cancel anytime. On the road April through September? You pay for those six months. Parked up at a mate’s place over winter with WiFi? Pause it. No annual contract, no termination fees (there’s a £25 fee only if you cancel a mobile router subscription within the first three months, which covers the cost of shipping the device back and forth, but after that, nothing).

The device itself is included in the monthly plan. You’re not buying hardware upfront and hoping it works. You’re subscribing to connectivity, and the router comes as part of that.

When a Local SIM Actually Makes Sense

If you’re parking your van in one country for two or three months—wintering in Portugal or spending the whole summer in Norway—a local SIM can be cheaper. You’ll get a big data allowance for €15-20/month, and if you’re only moving around within that one country, it works fine.

The hassle is real, though. You’ll need a local address (campsite or hostel sometimes works), possibly ID registration, and you lose your number when you leave. If you’re doing remote work calls, that’s a pain. And the moment you cross into Spain or France, you’re back on roaming rates or buying another SIM.

We’ve had customers try the local-SIM route, then switch to a subscription after the third time they had to find a Carrefour with a SIM kiosk.

eSIMs for Vans: Great for Phones, Limited for Laptops

Multi-country eSIMs (like ConnectPls’s own eSIM plans) are brilliant if you’re a solo van lifer and all your work happens on your phone or a tablet. You install the eSIM profile before you leave, and it works across the same 160+ countries. No physical device to charge or carry.

The limitation: you can’t easily share that connection. Yes, you can hotspot from your phone to your laptop, but that drains your battery fast, and many eSIM providers throttle or cap hotspot use. If you’re running Zoom calls on a laptop, editing videos, or uploading to Instagram from a camera, you’ll be tethered to a power bank all day.

For couples or families in a van, eSIMs don’t scale. You’d need one per person, and you still can’t connect shared devices like a tablet the kids use or a WiFi security camera.

What About Campground and Café WiFi?

It exists, it’s free, and it’s almost always terrible. We hear this from van lifers constantly: campground WiFi works for checking email at 11pm, but it won’t hold a video call, and it drops out every time someone in the next pitch starts streaming.

Cafés are fine for an hour of admin, but you can’t rely on them for daily remote work or if you’re parked in a national park for a week. Treat public WiFi as a backup, not your primary connection.

Real Costs: What You’ll Actually Pay

We don’t publish exact pricing here because it varies by plan and region, but here’s the honest cost landscape for van life internet in 2025:

• Home carrier roaming: £3-5/day (so £90-150/month) if you’re abroad long-term, often with throttling after 10-20GB
• Local SIMs: €15-25/month per country, but you’re buying a new one every time you cross a border, plus the hassle cost of finding shops and dealing with paperwork
• Multi-country eSIM: Comparable to a local SIM but covers multiple countries; limited to phone use unless you hotspot (which drains battery and may be capped)
• Portable WiFi subscription (like ConnectPls): Monthly plan that includes the device, unlimited data across 70+ countries, connects 10 devices, billed flexibly with no contract

The portable WiFi option costs more per month than a single local SIM, but when you account for no SIM-swapping hassle, no roaming charges, connecting multiple devices, and the ability to pause billing when you’re not travelling, the value shows up fast. Especially if two people in the van are working remotely.

Coverage Notes for Popular Van Life Routes

Here’s what we see from real customers on common routes:

France and Spain (classic van life loop): Both are in ConnectPls’s Group 0 unlimited countries. You’ll have truly unlimited 4G across both, switching operators automatically as you cross the Pyrenees. Portugal is also Group 0, so you can extend the loop without any change in service.

Nordics (Norway, Sweden, Finland): All Group 0. We ship devices to UK addresses before people drive or ferry north, and it works immediately on arrival. Delivery to Scandinavia itself is 2-3 working days if you’re starting there.

Eastern Europe (Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary): Coverage is solid (Group 0 for most), though in very remote mountain areas you’ll occasionally drop to 3G. The backup SIM slot helps in those spots.

UK and Ireland: Both Group 0. If you’re touring Scotland’s NC500 or the Wild Atlantic Way, it works throughout, though rural signal can be patchy on any network.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use portable WiFi while driving?

Yes. The device runs on battery (usually 8-12 hours depending on model) or you can plug it into a 12V socket or USB port in the van. It connects while you’re moving, so your passenger can navigate or work on the road. Just make sure it’s in a stable spot so it doesn’t slide around.

What happens if I drive into a country that’s not covered?

ConnectPls covers 160+ countries, so most of Europe, North America, Australia/NZ, and large parts of Asia are included. If you drive into a country outside the coverage (rare in Europe, but possible in some Balkans or Eastern edges), the device will show no signal, and you’ll need a local SIM or café WiFi for that leg. You can check the full country list before you order.

Do I need to return the device if I pause my subscription?

No. You keep the device. If you’re wintering somewhere with fixed WiFi or heading home for a few months, you just pause billing and reactivate when you’re back on the road. The device stays yours for the duration of your subscription. You only return it if you cancel entirely, and we provide a prepaid return label.