[wolfbln]

Well, we had a discussion about WiFi hotspot router rental agencies on the prepaid data WIKI, whether to include or exclude them from the listing.

Some users claimed that they are doing a business/service which is totally different than selling a local SIM card to go online. Others said that they can offer a viable alternative.

As being the Admin there, I don't want to take sides as long as this is not necessary. But we ended up with more rentals than good SIM offers by providers in France or Japan. So we adopted a policy to add them in countries where it's "difficult" for any given reason to buy a local SIM card.

We need to be fair to the agencies: Their product/service is priced much higher than a local SIM card, but normally lower than internatl. roaming rates on your own device.
They claim to be the "all inclusive" "everything is cared for" solution which is worth the premium. This is for everyone up to decide. But I think the most convenient solution needs to be, that finally international roaming rates must come down. Buying a local SIM card is a surrogate like renting a MIFI device to save some money.

What strikes me most about the rental agencies, that all of them put all liability for the device (and sometimes even for the transport) on the renter. This fact mostly hidden in their T&Cs, was always erased by the rental companies as soon as I added it to their offers on the Wiki. I mean when you rent a car, you look at insurance and want a deductible as low as possible. At WIFI rental agencies it's if you break or loose the device, you'll pay for it. No insurance offered and they have your credit card data and signature on the rental contract. To state this clearly, obviously contradicts their image of an "all inclusive" service.

But this applies to all rental agencies and not to alldaywifi in particular. They have made a great marketing effort (as you see on tripadvisor) based on questionable claims. A rental router agency as being the no.1 outdoor activity in Istanbul is just ridiculous.
They are still on our Turkey article amongst other agencies. Ironically, it was the Turkish Government who took away a major reason for them to exist. They extented the grace period of how long a local SIM card can be run on a "foreign device" without being blocked from a few days to 2 months in 2014. So the average tourist to Turkey can be perfectly all right with a local SIM card from Turkcell, Vodafone or Avea using them up to 60 days.