Keep Kids Entertained on Portugal Trains Without Blowing Data
To keep two or three kids streaming across Portugal without blowing your data or your budget, rent one truly unlimited pocket Wi-Fi rather than an eSIM for each device. A single hotspot puts every tablet, phone and laptop on the same connection for the whole trip - the Lisbon to Porto Alfa Pendular, the Algarve line down to Faro, or a day trip up to Sintra. No per-device plans, no daily caps that throttle you halfway to your stop.
Kids' entertainment is the fastest way to burn mobile data on the planet. A single child streaming cartoons in HD can chew through 1 to 3 GB an hour. Multiply that by two or three tablets and a 2 hour 40 minute run from Lisboa Oriente to Porto Campanha, and you can see the problem before the train even leaves the platform.
Why the train wifi will not save you
First, the honest bit: do not count on the onboard wifi. Portugal's Comboios de Portugal (CP) has been adding wifi to Alfa Pendular and some Intercidades services, but it is shared across a whole carriage of passengers, it drops through tunnels and rural stretches, and it is not built for three children all streaming video at once. It is fine for checking a message. It is not going to keep a five year old happy from Lisbon to the Algarve.
That leaves your own connection. And this is where families quietly overspend.
The trap: one eSIM per device
An eSIM is a neat solution for one phone. The catch is right there in the definition: one eSIM lives on one device. Your child's tablet almost certainly cannot take an eSIM at all, and even if it could, you would be buying and managing a separate plan for every screen in the family.
The usual workaround is tethering - turning your own phone into a hotspot for the kids' tablets. On a long journey that backfires in three ways:
- Your phone overheats and dies. Broadcasting wifi while holding a data connection is one of the most power-hungry things a phone does. It runs hot, throttles itself, and flattens the battery - usually right when you still have an hour to go and no seat-side plug.
- "Unlimited" is not really unlimited. The popular travel eSIMs advertise unlimited data but apply a fair-usage policy: a set high-speed allowance each day, after which speeds drop to a fraction of full speed. Three kids on HD cartoons will hit that ceiling fast, and then everything buffers.
- Tethering is often capped or blocked. Many of those same plans limit or disable hotspot sharing entirely, which you tend to discover mid-tantrum.
The fix: one hotspot, every screen
A rented pocket Wi-Fi is a small dedicated router with its own battery and antenna. It runs on the native Portuguese network and shares one connection with up to 10 devices at once - which is exactly what a travelling family needs. Two tablets, a couple of phones and a laptop all ride the same hotspot, and it is built to do that all day without cooking itself.
Crucially, it is truly unlimited full-speed data with no daily high-speed cap and no fair-usage throttle. The cartoons keep playing at full quality from Lisbon to Faro, not just for the first 40 minutes. Because it works over plain wifi, it also gets your kids' tablets online - the very devices an eSIM cannot help with - along with any older or carrier-locked phone in the family.
An eSIM lives inside a single phone. To share it you have to tether, which drains that phone's battery and is throttled or blocked on most "unlimited" plans.
One rented pocket Wi-Fi shares a truly unlimited connection across the whole group - no phone battery burned, no tethering limits.
Doing the maths for a family
Buy an eSIM for each device that can take one, and the numbers climb quickly - often well over ten euros each, and that still leaves the tablets stranded. One shared hotspot covers the entire family for the days you are actually in Portugal, and you split a single cost instead of stacking several. For a fuller breakdown of where the savings come from, see our guide on how families save 50% on travel internet in Portugal.
If you are genuinely a solo traveller with a single phone and light needs, we will always say it plainly: an eSIM is cheaper and simpler for you. The hotspot wins the moment there are multiple screens, kids' tablets, or a laptop in the mix - which is every family train trip.
Packing for the journey
A little preparation turns a two-hour train into peace and quiet:
- Download a buffer offline. Even with unlimited data, load a few favourite episodes onto each tablet before you leave the hotel wifi, as insurance for the odd dead spot on rural stretches.
- Charge the hotspot the night before and bring a power bank. One charge easily covers a Lisbon to Porto run, but Algarve day trips with connections add up.
- Set it up once. Power it on, connect every device to its wifi network, and you never touch a setting again for the whole trip.
- Sort out headphones. Not a data tip, but your fellow passengers will thank you.
How much data does a family really use?
It adds up faster than parents expect. A rough guide per hour, per child:
- Cartoons / kids' shows in HD: 1.5 to 3 GB
- Downloaded games with online features: 100 to 300 MB
- YouTube on a phone: around 1 GB
- Video calls to grandparents back home: roughly 1 GB
Two children streaming for a single Lisbon to Porto leg can pass 5 GB between them. On a metered eSIM that is a real dent; on the pocket Wi-Fi it simply does not matter. If you want to size your own trip properly, our how much data do I need in Portugal guide walks through it, and the eSIM vs pocket Wi-Fi vs SIM comparison lays out which option fits which traveller.
Getting one before you travel
Order the pocket Wi-Fi before you fly and have it waiting at your hotel, an airport terminal or a pickup point, so it is charged and ready before your first train. Move it between the platform, the taxi, the apartment and the beach without changing a thing. At the end of the trip you post it back.
Land in Lisbon or Porto with your hotspot already waiting
We deliver an unlimited pocket Wi-Fi to your hotel or airport terminal. No setup - turn it on and connect up to 10 devices.
Frequently asked questions
Will it really keep three tablets streaming the whole train ride?
Yes. The hotspot is designed to share one truly unlimited full-speed connection across up to 10 devices at once, so three kids' tablets on cartoons is well within its comfort zone. There is no daily cap that slows you down partway through the journey.
Can I not just use the train's free wifi?
You can try, but do not rely on it for kids' video. CP's onboard wifi is shared across a whole carriage, drops through tunnels and rural sections, and is not built for several people streaming at once. Your own connection is far more dependable.
My kids' tablets do not support eSIM. Does that matter?
Not with a hotspot. It connects over ordinary wifi, so any tablet, older phone or carrier-locked device gets online - which is exactly why it beats an eSIM for families. eSIMs only work on newer eSIM-capable phones.
Is it cheaper than buying an eSIM for everyone?
For a family, almost always. Several eSIMs at often ten euros or more each add up fast and still leave the tablets offline, whereas one shared hotspot covers the whole group for the days you are here. Our families guide breaks down the savings.
Does it work down in the Algarve and out to Sintra?
Yes. It runs on the native Portuguese mobile network, so it works on the Lisbon to Faro Algarve line, the Porto route and day trips like Sintra. Coverage fades in the same remote spots any network does, which is why a few offline downloads are worth packing.
Land in Lisbon or Porto with your hotspot already waiting
We deliver an unlimited pocket Wi-Fi to your hotel or airport terminal. No setup - turn it on and connect up to 10 devices.