Connectivity for a journey to Saudi Arabia
Prayer-time apps, maps in an unfamiliar city, and video calls home — these three are what the data is for on this trip, and all three must work where the crowds are densest.
Kurz erklärt
- Many prayer-time and qibla apps work offline once the location is set, so configure and test them before you travel.
- The areas around the holy sites are extremely dense during Ramadan and at prayer times; expect the network to slow noticeably then.
- Video calls home are the biggest single consumer on this trip; budget for a daily call, or use hotel Wi-Fi where you can.
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Häufige Fragen
Do prayer-time apps need a connection all the time?+
Mostly not: prayer times are calculated from coordinates and the date, which the phone can do by itself. Such apps usually need the internet only for first setup or when you change city. Test with aeroplane mode before you travel to be sure.
What size plan for a ten to fourteen day trip?+
Mostly it depends on video calls. Calling daily over mobile data needs clearly more than an ordinary sightseeing trip; if the accommodation has usable Wi-Fi and you call from there, a mid-sized plan is usually enough. Work it out from the minutes you will really talk using our calculator.
What should I do if data crawls around prayer times?+
Treat it as normal for that window and plan around it: do the things you need — ordering a ride, working out the way back — before it starts, and postpone photo or video uploads until the crowd disperses. Changing plan will not help, because the cause is the number of people on the same cell.
When does Ramadan begin this year?+
It follows the lunar calendar and is confirmed by moon sighting, so it moves every year and can differ by a day between countries. We do not print dates here: follow the announcement of the religious authority you observe and the official announcement of your destination country.
Instagram and TikTok have no web share button, so we open your phone's share sheet or copy the link instead.