If you live in a van full-time—whether you’re driving a Sprinter conversion through the Pyrenees or parking a motorhome along the Algarve coast for three weeks—you already know that connectivity isn’t a luxury. It’s how you work, navigate, book campsites, video-call family, and occasionally stream something after a long drive. The question isn’t whether you need internet. It’s which solution actually works when you’re crossing from France into Spain on a Tuesday, parked in a forest in Sweden on Thursday, and need a Zoom call to go through without cutting out.

We’ve supported hundreds of van lifers at ConnectPls—people doing month-long loops around Europe, couples working remotely from different devices, and solo travellers who need their laptop, phone, and tablet online at the same time. Here’s why a dedicated portable WiFi device (not your phone’s hotspot, not campsite WiFi) has become the go-to for vanlife connectivity.

Your Phone Hotspot Wasn’t Built for This

Most van lifers try the phone hotspot route first. You tether your laptop, maybe your partner’s phone, and it works—for a while. Then you notice your phone is scorching hot by mid-afternoon. The battery dies before dinner. Your data allowance vanishes in a week because you forgot to turn off cloud backups. And the moment you cross from Portugal into Spain, you’re either paying roaming fees or scrambling to buy a new local SIM.

A portable WiFi device is built for this. It connects up to 10 devices at once—laptop, two phones, a tablet, your partner’s gear, even a smart camera if you’re documenting the trip. The battery lasts a full work day (8-10 hours depending on the model). It doesn’t drain your phone, so you still have navigation and emergency contacts when you need them. And because it’s a dedicated hotspot, you’re not constantly toggling tethering on and off or wondering why your Instagram upload stalled halfway.

“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

Campsite WiFi Is Hit-or-Miss (Mostly Miss)

We hear this all the time: “The campsite said they have WiFi.” Sure. So do train stations. That doesn’t mean it’s usable. Campsite networks are shared across dozens of vans and caravans, often throttled to basic browsing speeds, and rarely reach the far pitches. If you’re trying to upload client work, join a video call, or even load a map with satellite view, you’re fighting 40 other people for the same bandwidth.

Portable WiFi gives you your own connection. You’re not competing with anyone. You’re not walking to the reception building with your laptop at 6am because that’s the only spot with signal. You have 4G (sometimes better than the campsite’s wired connection) wherever you park, whether that’s an official site, a vineyard aire, or a beach carpark in Galicia.

Border Crossings Without the SIM Shuffle

One of the biggest vanlife headaches is connectivity across countries. If you’re doing a long trip—say, UK to Portugal via France and Spain, or a Nordic loop through Norway, Sweden, and Finland—you’ll cross multiple borders. Local SIMs are cheap in each country, but swapping them every week is a pain. You lose your UK number (which your bank and clients have). You have to find a shop, deal with registration paperwork, and hope the coverage is decent outside cities.

Cloud SIM technology (the backbone of most modern portable WiFi devices, including the one ConnectPls ships) fixes this. The device automatically connects to the strongest local operator in each country without you doing anything. Drive from Bordeaux to San Sebastián? It switches from a French network to a Spanish one. No SIM swap, no new number, no configuration. It just works.

ConnectPls covers 160+ countries, but the real advantage for van lifers is the Plus Europe package: truly unlimited data (no fair-use throttling) across 70 Group 0 countries including the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, all the Nordics, Turkey, and even Australia and New Zealand if your van trip goes global. If you’re planning a month-long route around Europe, that’s one device, one plan, and zero surprises.

Monthly Billing That Matches How You Actually Travel

Most van lifers don’t travel 12 months a year. Maybe you’re on the road April through October, then you park up somewhere for winter. Or you do three months in Europe, fly home for a bit, then head out again. Signing a 24-month phone contract or paying upfront for a year of connectivity makes no sense.

ConnectPls works as a monthly subscription. You activate it for the months you’re travelling, pause when you’re not. The portable WiFi device itself is included in the plan—shipped to you in 2-3 working days across Europe, 4-5 in the UK—so there’s no upfront hardware cost. When you’re done for the season, you’re done. If you cancel within the first three months there’s a £25 fee (covers device shipping and return logistics), but after that, there’s no penalty. It’s built for people whose plans change, which describes every van lifer we’ve met.

How Portable WiFi Stacks Up: The Real Comparison

If you’re deciding between portable WiFi, an eSIM, a local SIM in each country, or just using your home carrier’s roaming, here’s what the trade-offs actually look like for someone living in a van:

Real-World Vanlife Scenarios We See Every Month

A couple from Manchester spent five months driving a Fiat Ducato conversion from the UK down to Morocco and back. Both worked remotely—graphic design and copywriting. They needed two laptops, two phones, and occasional tablet use all online at once, often from laybys and beach carparks with no campsite in sight. Portable WiFi meant they could both work simultaneously without one person’s hotspot killing their phone battery by lunch.

Another van lifer does repeat loops: three weeks in France, two in Spain, a month in Portugal, then back north. He tried buying a local SIM in each country the first year. The second year he switched to a portable WiFi subscription, activated it April through October, paused it over winter when he stayed with family. The flexibility matched his actual travel pattern, and he stopped losing his UK number every few weeks.

What About Japan, Australia, or Further Afield?

If your van trip is Europe-focused, you’re covered with unlimited data across all the Group 0 countries. But plenty of van lifers ship their vehicle (or rent one) further afield—Japan for a Hokkaido road trip, Australia for the east coast, or North America.

ConnectPls covers those too, though the data policy adjusts. Japan, Singapore, Thailand, and other Group 1 countries give you 4G unlimited but may slow after about 5GB in a single day (still plenty for work and navigation). Australia and New Zealand are in Group 0, so you get the same truly unlimited treatment as Europe. If you’re doing a one-month campervan hire across Australia, that’s the same device, same plan, no new setup.

Honest Trade-Offs: When Portable WiFi Isn’t the Answer

We’re not going to pretend portable WiFi is perfect for everyone. If you’re solo, only use your phone, and you’re parked in one Spanish town for six months, a cheap local SIM is simpler and costs less. If you’re doing a two-week holiday and your phone’s eSIM hotspot covers it, you don’t need dedicated hardware.

But if you’re living in a van full-time, crossing borders regularly, working remotely, or sharing connectivity with a partner, the cost of a portable WiFi subscription (device included, no contracts, monthly billing) pays for itself in time saved, hassle avoided, and the certainty that your connection will work the moment you park up in a new country.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use portable WiFi while driving, or only when parked?

The device works while the van is moving. Plenty of passengers use it for navigation, music streaming, or catching up on work during long drives. That said, 4G coverage can drop in remote mountain passes or deep forests just like phone signal would. It’s most reliable when you’re stationary with a clear view, but it’s absolutely usable on the road.

How does portable WiFi compare to Starlink for vanlife?

Starlink offers high-speed satellite internet and works in truly remote areas where 4G doesn’t reach, but it requires roof-mounting hardware, costs significantly more per month, and needs a clear view of the sky (tricky under trees or in valleys). Portable WiFi is plug-and-play, fits in your glovebox, and covers 99% of routes van lifers actually drive across Europe. If you’re overlanding in the Sahara, Starlink wins. If you’re doing France, Spain, Portugal, and Scandinavia, portable WiFi is simpler and cheaper.

What happens if the device breaks or I lose it mid-trip?

ConnectPls support is reachable 24/7 (travellers mention this in the Google reviews), and because you’re on a subscription, you’re not left stranded. If there’s a hardware fault, a replacement can be shipped. If it’s lost or damaged, there’s a process to sort it quickly. The advantage of a subscription model over buying hardware outright is you’re not stuck troubleshooting a broken device on your own in a foreign country.