john steggles Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Can someone please help? I am shortly going to New Zealand motorhoming for three months and wish to take my laptop with me to access e-mails, download pictures from a digital camera and also generallu get access to the internet. I notice from adverts that a lot of campsites have internet access. As a complete novice to computing can someone please tell me how I can access the net and retreive my e-mails? Thanks in anticipation, john steggles (lol) (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrytraveller Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Hi John, I did reply to this one before, but it got lost! I understand that your PC is wi fi enabled - so - when you get to your campsite which has wi fi, you may need to pay for a connection at the reception and will be given a password, some campsites do not need a password to connect to their internet. When your PC boots up it will detect all connections available, double clicking on the bottom right monitor icon and selecting from the next box, 'view wireless networks' will display available connections, choose one and select connect. If a password is required, enter it and you will be connected. Some sites and Hot spots if available have limited connectivity, and will allow you to purchase a connection on line with a credit card, once the form has been completed, an email is sent to you providing a password to connect fully with the internet. Regarding email, you will be able to receive email from your ISP but you may not be able to send email, join a worldwide facility like Hotmail and you can then send your email as well. If you download and install the free skype application before you go, you may make free telephone calls to other Skype users, and cheap telephone calls to landlines. Typically phoning Aussie from UK costs about a penny a min to a landline. Regards Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john steggles Posted February 17, 2007 Author Share Posted February 17, 2007 Hi Terry, Thanks very much for you information I am sure it will be of great use. Once again thank you, Regards John B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Madge Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Hi John, At present I'm using my laptop on a site in Spain which has free wifi. It's great to just sit in the van with the laptop instead of looking for an internet cafe. Some places there is a charge for the connection, the price varies considerably. As Terry has already pointed out I can receive mail but can't send so I've opened a free Google mail account to use while away from home. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mansell Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 Hi Terry I have just looked on google to download skype and there are several diferent options, can you tell me which one to download please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrytraveller Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 Hi Val Hit the 'download now' button on http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/helloagain.html , and follow the instructions, it is okay to run from the site which simplifies the install. Once installed there is a skype test call facility so you can test your mic and speaker settings, although a USB phone from as little as £9 is better to use. If you install it and want to test, give me a call on terryhart100938. It works better on broadband than dialup, and works very well on wi fi too. Regards Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisD Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 Don Slightly aside from the laptop issue, what's the campsite like? Any info on tracking down decent campsites in spain is always appreciated Chris D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Madge Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 ChrisD - 2007-02-18 4:37 PM Don Slightly aside from the laptop issue, what's the campsite like? Any info on tracking down decent campsites in Spain is always appreciated Chris D Chris, The site is very good, we have just had 31 nights here for €8.50 per night. That includes electricity and wifi. It's €20 per night if you only stay a few nights. One downside is some of the sloping pitches are bad in rain. Facilities are very good, a very good restaurant on site and it's about a 20 minute walk into the town. Excellent beach and a town (non food) market on Friday. The site organises trips to Cadiz, Seville, Gib and Morocco (Tangier). Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mansell Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 Thanks Terry have downloaded, will get phone tomorrow and test if thats ok. Barrie Middleton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrytraveller Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 Hi Barrie, Look forward to hearing from you. Regards Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Don Madge - 2007-02-18 5:06 PM Chris, The site is very good, we have just had 31 nights here for €8.50 per night. That includes electricity and wifi. It's €20 per night if you only stay a few nights. One downside is some of the sloping pitches are bad in rain............. Don What, what, what? The rain in Spain - surely not Don. You must be mistaken. Its just your eyes going misty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Hi folks, we have not yet managed to connect our new little toy to the internet when away, please can you enlarge on the skype bit as I am a definite luddite, regards mavis (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrytraveller Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Hi Mavis, If you look at the web page http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/helloagain.html gives you all the details. Basically - installing Skype will allow you to use a phone (£9 approx) which plugs into a connector on the side of the PC (USB connector), and using the Skype application you can phone landlines (ordinary telephones) for a very small charge, and other people that already have skype on their PC's for free. I use it extensively when touring in Europe when I find a connection, these days there are many connections free of charge on campsite inclusive with the overnight charge. Other connections can be found by starting the laptop and clicking the little monitor on the task bar (bottom right of your display, if wi fi enabled) and viewing available networks. Although you will detect them, for example in a supermarket car park, you may not be able to connect to them if they are 'secure', if they are not secure then you should be able to connect okay. I wonder if I have answered your question? if you can think of anything specific to ask, either myself or another will be pleased to help. Regards Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Re wifi hotspots, I understand you can get a hot-spot detector keyring from PC World. It tells you, without having to boot your computer, if you are within range of a wifi access point, which sounds convenient.Anybody got one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrytraveller Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Hi Brian, Have seen them in Maplins and thought might get one about £14 I believe. I stumbled on http://www.netstumbler.com/ and tried that out, but its PC based, gives a great deal of useful info about any networks in range. Useful too if you have neighbours with wi fi, as it gives such information as the channel they are transmitting on etc...., so you can select a different channel on your router. There is a GPS mode as well so when mobile you can pinpoint the wi fi location, haven't tried that out yet, although I do have a USB receiver which I used with Autoroute on the laptop, before I bought the Mio 269+. Regards Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Thanks Terry.I looked but didn't understand most of it! However, I did gather that Americans think driving round with their laptops picking up wifi spots is fun. Makes watching paint dry sound totally compelling! Who are there people?? No wonder they elected Bush! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisD Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Don Thanks for the reply and info -- sounds great. Is it against forum protocol to ask the name of this El Dorado of campsites? Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 HI Terry, thanks for the info, next time we are away we shall just have to keep trying to find a little hot spot. Does it also mean that if someone has their computer on a wifi thing, that i can tap into that , ummm Yes I know I can try the patience of a saint! regards mavis :-D *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrytraveller Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Hi Mavis, Many people do use others wi fi connections, morally and probably legally you should only use a wi fi hotspot if given permission to do so. Having said that, is a non secure hotspot an open invitation to use it? in the case of my system 'yes' as I don't have it secure enabled (WEP), but I do have some protection as only computers with their addresses registered can use it (MAC addresses). I have allowed neighbours to use my wifi connection in the past, now they have their own, I don't need to. I advise never to leave passwords or confidential information on your machine, but to transfer sensitive information to a USB memory stick, safe guard the stick with a password, and hide it away from where you keep the PC in the MH. If using online banking, always log off and exit the session of IE you were using, run spybot before connecting to internet banking. Regards Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest starspirit Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 I found Spybot a bit difficult to use as it leaves the user to delete anything that it feels is unsavoury and unless you know what you are doing it would be easy to completely screw up your computer. That was a few years back - has it improved? I use Spyware Blaster which is also free, and automatically blocks almost all spyware as long as you update it regularly. I also use Ad Aware which does need a manual scan but which does sometimes pick up things that have crept past Spyware Blaster and the other measures as long as it is up to date. That said I am always interested in finding better solutions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza454 Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Agree with StarSpirit. I have tried a number of options but by far the best is SpywareBlaster. Can be downloaded from - http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrytraveller Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Just downloaded and used SpywareBlaster, certainly looks good and effective but - this is what I found. Spywareblaster did not stop spyware from being loaded onto my clean system. Running Spybot before and after visiting sites known for spyware and viruses, spyware had been loaded and was detected only by Spybot. I was able to delete the spyware that SpywareBlaster was not able to stop with Spybot. It all takes a few minutes to download, install and run SpyBot, I would be very interested to know what you found. Regards Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza454 Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Hi Terry, I have used SpyBot in the past and found that it will always alert you to a threat but generally these are harmless "cookies". If you first clear your temporary internet files and cookies and then run SpyBot it should report everything is ok. Everytime I log off I use EZ Clear, it's free and literally takes seconds, (although the first time you use it, it may take a while until it has cleaned everything). It can be downloaded from - http://www.kabwebs.com/EZ_Clear.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza454 Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Re StarSpirits post - Ad Aware can be downloaded free from - http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad-aware_se_personal.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrytraveller Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Barrie - re Skype to use your USB phone, plug into any USB port, then on the Skype Panel, go to Tools, Options, Sound Devices, from each of the three drop down boxes, select USB Audio Device and then SAVE. To use the PC speakers and the USB phone at the same time, go to Start and choose Control Panel, selecct Sounds and Audio Devices, select Audio Tab, from Sound playback combo box, select Realtek AC97 Audio (not USB audio Device),On bottom of Box ensure Use only default devices is selected (tick in box) - Apply then close all boxes - I understand you have the Tesco USB phone, there has been a problem with one other user with the Tesco Phone. As before give me a call to test on terryhart100938. Regards Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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