Mobile internet while travelling

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andym

Über Member
0.59€ may be cheaper than most mobile operators offer for data roaming it's still prohibitively expensive - although I guess a gizmo like this might be useful for an emergency.

In most countries - at least in europe - you're better off relying on WiFi in cafes, hotels, hostels, and campsites or other free/paid-for hotspots.

If you are a heavy internet user, and you are planning to stay in one country for a while then it might be worth considering getting an USB modem from an operator in that country.

This site is a useful source of information on mobile internet tariffs abroad:

http://prepaid-wireless-internet-access.wetpaint.com/
 
Another option I have heard of is to use one of the MiFi gadgets and then stick in a local prepaid SIM card.
 

andym

Über Member
I came across t-mobile's Euro Broadband Booster

£10 for 50Mb and £40 for 200Mb, so 20p/Mb which still pretty expensive, but could be worth considering if you already have a t-mobile or unlocked stick and/or you're travelling through a number of countries and you want a backup in case there's no wifi.
 
Cheat!I bought a "3" MiFi and e cost is £10 for 1 Gb and £15 for 3 GbBut instead of buying the bandwidth, you can simply buy a new sim card preloaded!For instance a 3 sim with 3 Gb is available from Amazon at £7Similar deals are available abroad
 

andym

Über Member
Cheat!I bought a "3" MiFi and e cost is £10 for 1 Gb and £15 for 3 GbBut instead of buying the bandwidth, you can simply buy a new sim card preloaded!For instance a 3 sim with 3 Gb is available from Amazon at £7Similar deals are available abroad

I've just bought a MiFi and those deals would be definitely be useful for people in the UK. However, the British mobile telecoms market is one of the most competitive in Europe and it would be a mistake to think that what holds true here holds true elsewhere. Here it's easy to get a deal with a free SIM and your credit lasts forever - IME deals like that can be much harder to find in other countries (at least in France, Spain and Italy - Germany and the nordic countries may well be different) where you often have to pay for the SIM and there's a minimum top-up and the credit isn't indefinite - so it only pays to get a SIM if you are a relatively heavy user and/or you're going to be there for a while - if you're a light user (or you just want something to use just in case) then something like the t-mobile booster could be worth considering.
 

borcan22

New Member
Location
romania
amazon kindle 3g is best option for internet when travelling because the cost is 0 eur, but the browser is not so advanced
 

tbtb

Guest
I find the newest Kindle (Kindle 3, as they refuse to call it) has a fine browser. You wouldn't reach for it if there were a laptop about (it's monochrome, smaller, it doesn't have a mouse, just directional buttons, and it can't open any link that want to open a new window) but it's about as functional as a modern mobile phone browser - actually it uses the same "Webkit" engine as all the latest Apple, Android, Nokia browsers. It's fine with dropdown menus (an old weakness, I think).

I can quite easily do my usual tasks on it - a look at Yahoo email (it writes them fine too), Facebook, a couple of news sites (Guardian, NYT, BBC), some google searching.
 

snowy10

Well-Known Member
Location
London
Hi
I use the free wifi in hotels, Macdonalds and the like. I have never had any problems with it.
Cheers
 

andym

Über Member
I use the free wifi in hotels, Macdonalds and the like. I have never had any problems with it.

That would be my first choice option, especially if you are only going somewhere for a couple of weeks. However availability does vary a lot, and while in hotels it's becoming more and more a standard feature, campsites are a little way behind. (And I've just seen that the YHA charges £5 a day!!!).

EDIT: a wee footnote on the MiFi from 3UK. It worked brilliantly with 3Italia - just popped in the SIM card and I was off to the races.

But it was a different story with TIM (the major national operator). Fortunately I found (or Google found for me) the settings I needed and I'm using it to post this. If anyone who wants to know what they might be up against here's the page with the settings for the Italian operators. A faff, but do-able - but probably only worth the faff if you are in that country for a while.
 
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