On the road
Travelling as a group: sharing the connection without complaints
One plan for everyone or one each, and who pays what. How to split it depending on the group and what to agree before leaving.
Claudia Ferrán 5 min Photo by Amani Nation on Unsplash On a group trip the connection turns out to be one of those things nobody discusses beforehand and everybody comments on afterwards. Half an hour of decisions before you go settles it.
Three ways to split it
| Split | When it works | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| One person shares with everyone | A group that sticks together | Their battery and their plan carry the lot |
| One each | A group that splits up every day | Nobody depends on anybody |
| Mixed: one big and two small | Families | You have to agree who shares |
What to agree before leaving
- Who has the big plan, if there is one.
- What happens when the group splits up for half a day.
- How the cost is divided, since that goes down worst when it is improvised.
- And one simple rule: video and downloads over wi-fi.
The fourth avoids 90% of the problems, since a group's usage always spikes for the same reason.
What sharing really costs
Sharing uses whatever the connected device uses, so a group of four on one plan uses like four people, not like one. And the battery of whoever is sharing disappears in an afternoon.
The figures are in sharing internet from an eSIM.
And the family case
With children it is the tablet that sets the usage, not the adults. There it usually works better to have one plan per device for the older ones and downloaded material for the youngest.
The full calculation is in travelling with children and mobile data.
Frequently asked questions
Is it better to have one plan for the group or one each?
One each as soon as the group ever splits up. A shared plan works if you are always together.
How much does sharing with several people use?
As much as all the devices use together: a group of four on one plan uses like four people.
What should we agree before leaving?
Who has the plan, what happens if the group splits up, how the cost is divided and that video and downloads happen over wi-fi.
And on a trip with children?
The tablet sets the usage. It usually works better to give them downloaded material and the adults their own plan.
