Blog of a Long Distance Worker Tech

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Tag Archives: International Data

Making sure you get connected

After the experience of the last few days whilst in France, this article really brings home the need to have a number of options available to you for getting your data connectivity that you need to do your job when travelling.

Starbucks is a digital oasis for me.I usually pop in, fire up the Starbucks mobile card app, order a beverage, have my iPhone scanned to pay for it and then sit down to use the Starbucks WiFi access point (provided by AT&T) on a smartphone, iPad or notebook (or netbook). This plan usually works just fine. And, I’ve executed this plan more times that I would care to admit.

via 0.12Mbps on Starbucks WiFi? Have a Backup Data Access Plan! – SocialTimes.com.

I had options that I could use despite my connectivity problems – the options I had left cost too much ‘just’ for connectivity whilst on vacation so I did not use them and waited until I could get the most cost effective solution working.

My options in order of priority are:

  1. Local SIM with MiFi/3G Router
  2. Local SIM with Android Phone
  3. Low cost WiFi in nearby establishments
  4. Low cost Roaming SIM with Android Phone/Mifi/3G Router
  5. Roaming Data
Make sure when you travel that you have more than one available to you. I finally managed by getting (2) to work with a bit of (3) and (5).

Another Tool in the Travellers Toolbox

You land in a strange outpost with your Smartphone and Laptop, you cannot find any WiFi that costs less than $20 per hour, you dare not turn on roaming data on your phone for the horror of $9 per MB charging, you need to feel close to your home country, you need to be able to find out what is happening at home, you need to make that ‘I’ve landed tweet’, or find out where your Hotel is…. You are stuck. You have to bite the bullet and run up a chunk of charging to your account….

…. or you grab and power up one of the most interesting devices that you can buy today – the Amazon 3G Kindle eBook reader.

What! I hear you say. Why that? It has an extremely interesting feature for the travelling worker – 3G/GPRS Worldwide data service built in, that costs nothing combined with quite an effective web browser hidden away in the Experimental menus. This gives you the capability to do simple web browsing including tweeting, and possibly accessing webmail wherever you are for nothing. You do of course need to buy the Kindle, which will set you back about £150/€160/$200, but there are no transaction costs. Why would Amazon do this? Because of the other more obvious capability of the device – giving you access anywhere to eBook purchasing.

You know you need one…. The books are good too.

Tales of ‘Woaming’ …

In some rather interesting timing, I saw that the EC are to look into the cost of data roaming.

The European Commission will soon launch a public consultation into the cost of data roaming, digital agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes announced on Friday.

via European data roaming consultation looms | ZDNet UK.

I would say interesting timing, because I got caught by the recent bad weather and had to change my normal travel route. I was in Amsterdam and was due to fly back to Gatwick in the UK on Wednesday, however that morning British Airways saw fit to cancel my flight and I was left looking at missing the conference I was on my way to on Thursday. I booked the alternative that I could find that worked – Inter-City Train and Eurostar from Amsterdam via Brussels, Lille and Calais to London.

You have to know that I use an unlocked 3G MiFi to give myself data access in NL through the insertion of a local SIM. I have the same in the UK. In both instances, I have carefully selected the provider particularly in NL, to give myself maximum flexibility. All lovely.

Then I had to make a trip through Belgium and France, countries for which I had not made any arrangements or undertaken any research on how to get a Sim card that is enabled for PAYG data, and to get it provisioned up for the trip. The way I work, only works for when I travel regularly to the particular country – something that I had not done for these ‘new’ countries. So I was basically screwed for any data access, and I did need it. I got off the train a little early in Belgium and needed to confirm where I had to go to and for some reason the signage was not helping me, resulting in the call to the ‘remote access’ Internet – phoning home and doing the info checking talk through with my significant other. The alternative was to pay £3 per MB (O2 UK’s EU Roaming rate), which with the iPhone would have resulted in a bill of about £30-£40 for the query.

It is at this point that roaming data is a real annoyance, and I hope that the EC investigation results in the reduction in roaming rates to something more reasonable, like £0.20 per MB or a fixed price £10 for 500MB. I can only hope. The other thought I have is I need to research all the ways of getting online in the EU, and even further afield (as the US Roaming Data cost is £6 per MB!)

Internet Access on the Go

For the last few months I have been spending my time in multiple countries, which in Europe means that the almost universal 3G high speed access I enjoyed in the UK is no longer available to me. What I hear you say? well the issue is not one of service but one of cost. 3G data roaming is pitifully expensive in the region of £1.50 per MB – yes per MB. There are a variety of options for reducing the cost slightly but they still price my usual traffic levels in the £150+ range, if not higher.

I could get a contract service in some of the countries but that is darned fiddly and also I have challenges about payment as I would not have a local address/bank and they get a little awkward with that. I could also get a PAYG SIM for the country I am in but it seems that this provision is low speed (less than 384kbps at best) and still remarkably expensive – nothing as enlightened as the PAYG tariffs that are appearing in the UK.

So I have been relying on Wifi – not exactly a perfect solution as I have found. In many hotels, the WiFi service is a charged for service which makes some of the Roaming or PAYG options look cheap. Really, is €25 for 2 hours a cost plus percentage service or a big fat fee with a tiny cost attached? However with judicious use of the options on sites such as Booking.com, you can find hotels with free WiFi – an absolute godsend when away from home and for working in the better comfort of the hotel room rather than the client site.

However, not all free WiFi is created equal. I have come across hotels that have WiFi only if you cross yourself and place the laptop in precarious positions… in the hotel lobby… only on particular floors or in specific rooms, and (my personal favourite) with WiFi so maxed out that you have trouble actually sending and receiving email never mind running a Skype call. All in all, this is something a little trial and error needed in your selection of hotels.

The last week has introduced a new one on me, which is the WiFi Access Point and laptop incompatibility. An incredibly frustrating situation that left me out in the cold for a few days until I figured out the setting in my driver to force it to be compatible (oh and the installation of a slightly older version of the driver that worked/works perfectly fine at home and in the office).

So watch out… particularly if you have Realtek Wifi built in or if you happen to use a hotel with Apple WiFi kit. I am thinking one thing I could do next time is to have a USB WiFi adapter to deal with the incompatibilities…at least reducing the possibility that I have a complete no-go situation. Or reconsider my 3G possibilities.