Internet on the move

[maggyd]

John Thompson - 2010-10-11 8:28 AM

 

I have been watching on other forums posts about Vodafone.ie cards being available which offer roaming for 0.99 euro a day for 50mb if you go over this you are charged 0.2 euro per kb.

 

These are available on ebaY http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180561777788&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

 

Other users have fed back on these and found the deal genuine.

 

I decided to buy one

 

It is cheaper than roaming with my contract vodafone at 9.99 euro for the same amount of data.

 

John

 

 

 

How does this sim card work? do you put it in a dongle?

[Dr Dave]

I know this is a bit limited but if you are a clubcard holder you can get free internet access in tesco superstores IE: on your mobile phone you need your clubcard number and postcode.

[buxton-arts]

I spend several months a year wild camping in both the UK and Europe ... have to say never spent a penny on internet access but log on daily ... a coffee at McD's or use your smartfone as a free wifi detector (altho I now do more internet access on my Galaxy 2 than my laptop these days) ... there are many free sites in all countries if you look (keep an eye out for young people sitting with their laptops) ... cafes, municipal buildings, ferry terminals etc etc

[aande83]

Whilst I was in Italy last year I thought I would take advantage of free wi-fi at McDonalds. Not as easy as you think!! Only give the code number by phone and to a local phone at that! No chance if you are using a UK phone - so no free wi-fi. I eventually booked my trip to Greece sitting outside a small cafe in town.

[issie]

I live in France, All Mc D's free, just sit in the carpark and hook on

Most cafe's and bars now offer free wifi, just hook in

and now lots of our campsites have free wifi.

 

At the moment I am sat in our camping car in the municiple Camp site at Eymet in the Dordogne, Hubby gone walking the dog and I am using their Free Wifi and have been chatting to my daughter on Skype.

 

Every campsite this week has been free wifi, even got a free hook up on one of the free aires we use so much :-D :-D

[sambukashot]

I never use a 3G dongle only free wifi, I pick up free wifi almost everywhere I go at some point on my travels the trick is to get a good external antenna for your laptop to pull in the weak signals that your laptop cannot receive with it’s own built in antenna.

I have written a dummies guide for getting wifi on the move you can read it here, hope it helps someone out.

http://www.camperstops.co.uk/index.php/motorhome-articles/20-articles/18-wi-fi-internet-in-your-motorhome

[Guest Had Enough]

sambukashot - 2012-12-11 4:46 PM

 

I never use a 3G dongle only free wifi, I pick up free wifi almost everywhere I go at some point on my travels the trick is to get a good external antenna for your laptop to pull in the weak signals that your laptop cannot receive with it’s own built in antenna.

I have written a dummies guide for getting wifi on the move you can read it here, hope it helps someone out.

http://www.camperstops.co.uk/index.php/motorhome-articles/20-articles/18-wi-fi-internet-in-your-motorhome

 

There's a much easier method of connecting other devices such as iPads and smartphones. Like you I use a booster aerial which pulls in wi-fi very well. On my laptop I have Connectify - this automatically (with no fuss or messing around) creates a wi-fi zone onto which you can log on any other device that isn't able to pick up the primary wi-fi signal.

 

http://www.connectify.me/

 

I'm in Morocco at present. I have a Maroc Telecom dongle which cost £15 and gives unlimited 3G Internet for a month, and the reception is brilliant everywhere.

 

When I log on I can then connect my smartphone using Connectify's wi-fi zone to make free calls to the UK using Virgin Smartcall. You need a Virgin home or mobile phone for this.

 

I've just a had a fifteen minute call to my office, which cost nothing. The cost would normally be a pound a minute from here. I believe that BT has a similar app for smartphones.

 

They work as the transmission of your call to the UK is on the web, which costs nothing. It then uses the Virgin/BT landline system to call any number for what you'd pay in the UK, which is nothing if you have a call package.

 

http://my.virginmedia.com/my-apps/smartcall/overview.html

 

And before anybody jumps in telling us that they don't bother making calls when on holiday just think about if you have an emergency and have to phone insurance companies, your bank or whatever. You can run up a bill for tens of even hundreds of pounds in some situations. As long as you can find wi-fi you can make those calls for nothing if you're with Virgin or BT for your home phone.

 

 

[Guest pelmetman]

Had Enough - 2014-01-10 6:38 PM

 

http://www.connectify.me/

 

I'm in Morocco at present. I have a Maroc Telecom dongle which cost £15 and gives unlimited 3G Internet for a month, and the reception is brilliant everywhere.

 

 

More importantly whats the weather like Frank? :-S.................as its been overcast here today *-).......

 

Although...............15 quid a month might not seem so cheap to the locals...................which probably explains the good reception ;-)........

[enpiste]

I use GIFFGAFF .....you can get a free sim here http://giffgaff.com/orders/affiliate/enpiste I use the £10 offer and get 500 min calls unlimited texts and 1gb of internet.... if you go over internet limit they have special cheap rate untill you top up again.

 

You can even use your phone as hotspot and access internet from your tablet or laptop.

 

All you need is sim free smart phone ........seen them around for about £30.00

 

From experience its a waste of time and money trying to access paid internet abroad until roaming becomes v cheap.

 

I use an outside aerial £20 from ebay to extend my laptop wifi range and access hotspot such as maccy dee etc.

 

 

[Tracker]

enpiste - 2014-06-28 2:09 PM

 

I use GIFFGAFF .....you can get a free sim here http://giffgaff.com/orders/affiliate/enpiste I use the £10 offer and get 500 min calls unlimited texts and 1gb of internet.... if you go over internet limit they have special cheap rate untill you top up again.

 

You can even use your phone as hotspot and access internet from your tablet or laptop.

 

All you need is sim free smart phone ........seen them around for about £30.00

 

From experience its a waste of time and money trying to access paid internet abroad until roaming becomes v cheap.

 

I use an outside aerial £20 from ebay to extend my laptop wifi range and access hotspot such as maccy dee etc.

 

 

Giff Gaff is currently 45p per mb of internet use in mainland Europe and very quickly runs away with your money if you are unprepared and do some web browsing or time wasting on here.

It works well enough and if used just to retrieve emails, reply to them off line and then send when back online it is cheap enough.

[colin]

Odd, I see orange website quotes 45p/mb for EU, I've had two texts this month from them, first said 14p/mb second was 18p/mb. It's highly unlikely we'll be holidaying in EU this year so have not bothered checking which is right.

[patriciawilliamson]

Nice and informative post, Thanks for sharing it, I would like to go in depth of it and want to get full knowledge which helps me to take any steps or decision on it.

[pheasantplucker]

3 mobile network allow use of your UK data and phone allowance in a lot of other countries and the list is expanding.

 

When the satnav went on strike in France, I was able to use the phone as a navigator without roaming charges and my dongle also has the same usage.

 

Not able to tether the phone while abroad though, so if you need a screen larger than the phone you'd need a dongle, or presumably Mifi.

[clunegapyears]

Only 19 days till we start our big European adventure. Busy packing up the house for a 12 month let. Yippee. Bring it on.

 

We were also very concerned about Internet connection, both cost and availability. I considered a wifi booster, but we will not be on sites as we plan to free camp or use aires as much as we can. We had to replace James' work Sim at Christmas when he retired. Trawled through the network providers and were DELIGHTED To discover THREE and their free to use the contract data / calls package in 16 countries. I also asked about internet abroad and an ex student of mine (they do have their uses) recommended a mifi.

 

We did not need a mifi hub then, so I looked on eBay for an unlocked and cheaper one, but to be honest they seemed old and still pretty expensive. So in February we signed up for the mifi. Tested it in Hollyhead and Dublin - it worked brilliantly. It can connect 10 devices. The only negative is that we had to reconnect with a password each time.

 

Cost £15pm, but this includes a second phone sim, as my Vodafone contract expires in June and this worked out cheaper in the long run.

 

We are off to Scandinavia at the end of April, so will properly test it then.

 

K

 

 

[Patricia]

I don't understand why you need to put your password in every time - I don't. Also remember you can only connect one device to the Mifi when overseas. But you are right - 3 is really good when out of the UK.

[outcats]

I copied this message from another thread, because I think it fits in better here. Great info so far? Did anybody get internet through satellite? My parents want to get internet in their motorhome, since they are retired now and planning to go for some longer trips. And of course I'm the one who has to solve the problem... Does anyone know a good provider?

 

Or is sat internet totally old-fashioned and would it be better to just buy them a smartphone and an internet flatrate?

 

Slightly different question: Did anybody build and update a website while travelling? I've seen Jo's post, but i would be interested in a slightly more updated answer. How fast was the internet connection you needed, and which provider did you use for hosting? So far, I've been searching here

 

Thanks!

[StuartO]

I haven't bothered trawling back through this old thread to see what's already been said so forgive me if this is repetition.

 

But there have been changes in roaming phone and datra services recently, with more to come.

 

We use a smartphone on the Three network, which gives us unlimited data and our full ration of included calls in most of Europe and this has worked well for us. France. Spain, Austria and Italy are definitely covered; not sure about Germany yet. You can't tether the smartphone to use your laptop on this service but you get good speeds on the smartphone and I find it adequate for domestic purposes. If I really need to use the laptop I seek out a McDonalds, where there is always free wifi on the Continent.

 

Prior to the availablility of these "free" services I used an SFR dongle thingy in France and that cost 30€ per month to a max of 1 or 2Gb (can't remember which) which wasn't bad - and I could use my laptop with that.

 

Not sure about building websites that way but if you do the work off line and then upload only occassionally it might be adequate. I doubt if satellite phone technology is likely to be affordable.

[outcats]

StuartO - 2015-07-16 10:56 AM

 

I haven't bothered trawling back through this old thread to see what's already been said so forgive me if this is repetition.

 

But there have been changes in roaming phone and datra services recently, with more to come.

 

We use a smartphone on the Three network, which gives us unlimited data and our full ration of included calls in most of Europe and this has worked well for us. France. Spain, Austria and Italy are definitely covered; not sure about Germany yet. You can't tether the smartphone to use your laptop on this service but you get good speeds on the smartphone and I find it adequate for domestic purposes. If I really need to use the laptop I seek out a McDonalds, where there is always free wifi on the Continent.

 

Prior to the availablility of these "free" services I used an SFR dongle thingy in France and that cost 30€ per month to a max of 1 or 2Gb (can't remember which) which wasn't bad - and I could use my laptop with that.

 

Not sure about building websites that way but if you do the work off line and then upload only occassionally it might be adequate. I doubt if satellite phone technology is likely to be affordable.

 

Thanks for the advice, StuartO! Yeah, I think satellite will be too expensive and I'll just buy them a smartphone. It's going to be adventurous to teach them how to use the thing...;-) Three sounds good, since they're mostly planning to travel through France and Spain. But I'll have a look around and see if I can find a servive that does allow tethering. Will let you know if I find something.

 

I don't know too much about this, so sorry for the potentially stupid question, but is it possible to build website offline and upload them later on?

[peter21]

clunegapyears - 2015-03-31 9:08 PM

 

Only 19 days till we start our big European adventure. Busy packing up the house for a 12 month let. Yippee. Bring it on.

 

We were also very concerned about Internet connection, both cost and availability. I considered a wifi booster, but we will not be on sites as we plan to free camp or use aires as much as we can. We had to replace James' work Sim at Christmas when he retired. Trawled through the network providers and were DELIGHTED To discover THREE and their free to use the contract data / calls package in 16 countries. I also asked about internet abroad and an ex student of mine (they do have their uses) recommended a mifi.

 

We did not need a mifi hub then, so I looked on eBay for an unlocked and cheaper one, but to be honest they seemed old and still pretty expensive. So in February we signed up for the mifi. Tested it in Hollyhead and Dublin - it worked brilliantly. It can connect 10 devices. The only negative is that we had to reconnect with a password each time.

 

Cost £15pm, but this includes a second phone sim, as my Vodafone contract expires in June and this worked out cheaper in the long run.

 

We are off to Scandinavia at the end of April, so will properly test it then.

 

K

 

 

Hi

We have used the 3 sim while abroad, and after some early teething problems (it didn't work..they finally accepted that it was a 3 problem and refunded some money) it has worked well. However I was surprised to be told by a 3 customer services guy a couple of days ago that the 'feel at home' deal only operated for three months per year. I'm afraid he wasn't really up to speed on this and it wasn't clear whether this was 90 days, or use within any three months, or what the deal was, and it also isn't clear on their website.

Anyone come up against this issue? Its important if like us you spend more than 3 months abroad.

[Charles]

We were away for April and May, and then again from the 3rd of September until now (20th October) and Three 'feel at home' is still working as normal. we're going home mid November.

[KenR]

I have been using an unlocked Huawei MiFi for several years now, in much of Europe. For the past two or so years, I have been using a 3 SIM (PAYG) in those countries where 3 have "free" roaming agreements. In those countries where 3 do not have "free" roaming agreements, I go to a phone shop, buy and local PAYG SIM (you need your Passport with you, in most countries, to do this). The MiFi allows for upto 8 connections at any one time. So, myself and my wife can have our smartphones on WiFi, as well as IPads and laptops, while in the van, or, indeed, while sitting upto a few metres away. This has worked brilliantly in Portugal, Germany, Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark and Sweden. The Huawei MiFi has a built-in battery, which gives several hours use between charges, and, can be charged from the Van 12v output, using a USB lead. It is clearly cheaper to use free WiFi in places like McDonalds, Tourist Information Offices, and even local Libraries, or campsites which offer free WiFi, but, if you want the convenience of being able to use the internet, from you van, on a campsite, Aire or even Wild Camping, This solution works just fine. The cost if you are using a "local" SIM is dependant on the country and network, but, in those countries where 3 offer free roaming you are either using your included data (if on contract), or, UK PAYG rates. The PAYG rates depend on what you buy, see the 3 website. Because I have had my current Huawei MiFi for several years, it supports only 3G, which I have found quite adequate, but, I do intend to upgrade to a newer model which will support 4G.

 

Hope that helps.

[maoli169]

Europeair - 2007-02-07 8:47 AM

 

I have given up trying all the different options and opted for a contract with T Mobile and a Blackberry. The only downside is I can't print out and I can't imput long word documents such as my Open University assignments. It would be ideal if I could use my Apple laptop to prepare assignments and transfer them to the Blackberry to send. I am off for another trip to Portugal and will try Wifi but not very optomistic.

Maybe you need try more time,because i'm successful...

[Charles]

4 months and 10 days in France and Spain and Three 'Feel at home' is still working. :-) I just get the odd text off them telling me welcome to France and the prices for calling etc.

 

For the last month I've managed on the freeby 150mb you get every time you put £5 on... that's not supposed to work abroad, but it does tee hee.

[veletron]

Hi

 

For the UK...

 

I use a shared EE Sim (shares the data from your phone contract), costs £7/mnth extra. I have 20GB from my EE phone contract so loads to go around - I run two shared sims off it one in MiFi and the other in tablet.

 

For remote area's of highland Scotland, Vodafone 2G is often all you will get. OK for emails, checking the weather and not alot else. For this, I use a second sim from http://the.pebble.network/ in a separate MiFi. The pebble is NOT cheap at 25p/MB, but it does roam across all UK networks. The MiFi is fixed to 2G service and at 2G speeds it would take a while to get through 1MB of data. I used to use a sainsburys mobile sim for this (they used vodafone), but they are shutting down early jan).

 

To ensure that the MiFi gets a decent signal, I have a high gain dual band (700-900 + 1800-2100MHz) antenna on the van. This covers the majority of 2G,3G and 4G bands in the UK. The 2600MHz 4g band is only deployed in larger town's/cities with high population densities - eg places I never go!

 

Aside from cellular, I also joined FON (as a non BT customer, by plugging in their router at home). Fon operates a 'you share yours, we share ours' model. FON is often useful in small highland villages where no mobile, or only 2G mobile exists.

 

I run an Alfa R36 router connected to an Alfa TubeU-G the TubeU-G connects to a high gain wifi antenna on the rear of the van. The Tube-U picks up the wifi signal, and the R36 re-broadcasts this inside the van as my own fixed network V.A.N - van area network ;-) It works well, I tell the R36 to do a 'site survey' via its web interface, I choose the network and it connects and re-broadcasts as V.A.N. Also useful outside pubs etc for borrowing wifi after you have finished your pint.

 

For those with Van conversions, the mounting method is easy. Buy https://www.leisureshopdirect.com/electric/caravan-tv/maxview-accessories/maxview-masts-and-mounting-brackets/maxview-universal-aerial-clamps

 

Form the long edge of one bracket such that it hooks around the top of the door (use mole grips with tape on them to protect the paint). Secure this in the inside of the door with a blob of sikaflex. Use the supplied sticky pad on the lower part of the top bracket and both sides of the lower bracket. Put some clear mastic around the sides. Any wind loading is on the top bracket, which is secure - even if the sika gave up, it would stay put because it is trapped by the door. The cables just go through the door, the door still seals well enough. no drilling required, and invisible removal possible. On my old van I used a telescopic pole to get the antenna high up, but this not poss on new van.

 

See pic

 

Nigel

 

 

[veletron]

http://photos.veletron.com/index.php/album151/Wifi