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Recently,
a client asked about using Internet services while on holiday.
After all, it's the "world wide web," which implies more
than just your home PC.
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If you have a laptop, you're
already halfway there. Even if you do not, there is a lot of net-stuff
you can do with a few quid while on the road.
FIVE WAYS TO CONNECT FROM THE ROAD
Nearly every place in the
western world (and a surprising percentage of everywhere else) has ISPs
(Internet Service Providers). Local phone companies, while not the
cheapest, are usually good bets. Their support, if plodding and
unfriendly, is usually the most technically competent... assuming you
catch them on a good day.
The problem is not getting an ISP, but getting access to it.
1. Regular telephone (good 'ole fashioned dial-up):
you need regular "wired" telephone service in your hotel / holiday home
for this to work. Simply connect the modem in your PC to your
phone jack (similar to the Internet connections of old) and
purchase pre-paid Internet service (an ISP gives you a telephone
number, an ID and a password). Normally, you buy "x"
minutes/hours of connection time and use them as you see fit.
Alternately, some
ISPs have a 0870-like number that you can dial. Because they
charge a fixed fee per minute for these calls, you pay nothing in
advance. Just watch how long you are connected or be surprised
when you get your phone bill.
Traditional dial-up gets between 25-45 kilobits per second of actual
speed (unlike the 56 kilobits often claimed), which is fine for
sending/receiving email and for slow to medium speed web surfing.
It would be too much to expect Skype telephony, as it would likely be choppy (though we've done it on more than one occasion) but Skype
chat will work without fail. Streaming audio would also be a
stretch and streaming video is out of the question. By the way,
if you would like help with Skype installation, click here.
 2. Subscriber line telephone service (i.e. DSL, ADSL, ISDN and other random letters): Again,
this requires a working "wired" telephone where you will be
staying. It is virtually identical to what many have in their
homes and would likely cost as much. Because of this, it's not
really much of an option for the occasional visitor.
3. Cable Internet services: In
the same way as DSL comes via an unused part of your phone line, cable
broadband comes via an unused portion of your cable television
wiring. Therefore, it requires cable TV to where you are and the
additional monthly charge for cable Internet... again, not much of an
option, but this does yield an incredibly fast connection.
 4. Wireless Internet services: This is a best-bet for many travellers. Hotels, many Internet cafés
and some communities provide (usually paid) access to the Internet via
the WiFi standard. It is usually referred to as "WiFi,"
"802.11" followed by a "b" or "g," or a "WiFi Hotspot."
Your PC (or other computing device) needs to have a WiFi networking capability. Many business-grade and some consumer-grade laptops come with this built-in, and nearly all PCs can be upgraded. For technical help with this, either for travelling or for "Going Wireless" in your home, click here.
On the island
of Madeira for example, there are at least two WiFi hotspots in
Funchal alone, both based from McDonald's restaurants (Av. do Mar
2 & the one in Centro Comercial Madeira shopping mall in
Quitéria).
You pay for access and use it while you're there. Depending upon
the connection speed (which should be faster than dial-up), you should
be able to do most things. For instance, while using the hotspot
in the business lounge of Newark Airport, I was able to pull mail,
watch a brief set of demonstration videos from YouTube and call my wife via Skype... all from my laptop.
5. Internet via the mobile phone network: This
will either be very affordable or extremely expensive, depending upon
what sort of mobile deal you have. It can also be technically
tricky.
European networks use a technology called GSM. This standard has a couple of ways for
computers (rather than phones) to use it, and which of these is
available depends upon the mobile carrier (your phone company, rather
than your phone). The most common will likely be a variant of GPRS (whose higher speed cousins are often called GPRS/G3 or just G3).
As well, you need to get from the mobile phone network to your
PC. There are some "wacky" ways to do it (for instance, I can
link my Nokia mobile phone to my PC through a Bluetooth connection,
which works, but has proven to be needlessly fiddly).
Normally, the simplest method is to use a laptop card (also called a PCMCIA card) or a USB
"dongle" (similar to USB "flash memory" sticks). In either
case, the card or dongle will have a slot into which you slide
your mobile phone SIM card, basically making the device your
"phone."
Speeds vary depending upon the following:
- Your phone carrier's network
- Which plan and/or service you've purchased
- The capabilities of the card/dongle
Best way to
investigate this one is to call your mobile company, tell them that you
would like to use mobile-based Internet services (note that use will
be infrequent, such that they do not recommend an additional
monthly plan just for this capability) and ask what's available.
FIVE THINGS YOU CAN DO WITHOUT A COMPUTER
 First
off, find an Internet café. It is surprising how, over the
last few years, it's become difficult to find a town without one (Broadway has one with excellent
service). As well, some restaurants, many hotels and nearly
all airports offer similar services.
A note on online privacy: remember
that you are using someone else's computer and Internet connection.
Many web login screens use techniques that prevent
Internet-based outsiders from reading your username and password,
but will not prevent the PC, itself, from recording your
keystrokes.
While it may seem paranoid to
do so, we recommend that you consider everything you type and transmit
to and from such a machine be considered "public." That being said, we have yet to leave Britain without stopping by
an Internet Café at least once, much to our spouse's
chargrine.
1. Surf The Web: This may seem obvious, but think about how often
you could have used just a bit more information on your flights, on the
locale in which you find yourself or even on the language of the area.
The web is a near endless source of data, in which you can often find
what you need (as well as a heck of a lot of what you do not).
 2. Check / Send Email:
Most email service providers, whether they be your local ISP or a free
service, have some sort of web "front end." That is to say, a
publicly available website from which you can read and send your emails.
If your email is not "web enabled," consider setting up a free temporary account before you leave. Both Yahoo and Google offer such services, as does Microsoft's Hotmail.
Simply create an account, log in and send a few
messages (just to familiarise yourself with it), then use it while on the
road.
In many cases, you can even forward messages from your regular email
account to this temporary one, automatically. This is
particularly helpful if your normal email comes through an employer,
one that has not established "web enabled" email access.
Obviously in this case, it
would make sense to check with your employer, first.
3. Do Work: Yes, I know how popular this one will be, but it's true that you can get some work done while on the road.
We've seen people pulled from sunny shores and mountain slopes, only to
spend whole days trying to get access to some spreadsheet or other
without having a PC. Google has just started offering (for free) a completely online document and spreadsheet system.
 It is not unlike Microsoft Word and Excel, except that you get to it
(and your files) by typing a username and password into any Internet
connected PC anywhere in the world. Actually, it's more like
using OpenOffice (what we use at Permutation), but you get the idea.
4. Store Photos:
There are more services than we could comfortably list offering free or
discount photo storage and sharing. This can be especially useful
when on holiday because cameras can sometimes disappear
or run out of space (though, with the low cost of
storage cards, this really should never happen).
Our recommendation on digital photos is as follows:
- Before you leave, find an online photo storage/sharing provider you like
- Again,
before you leave, successfully get photos from your camera to the
service provider (this is not something you will want to fiddle with while sipping
overpriced coffee-like by-products under a tent at a bazaar); if at all
possible, do this from a neighbour's PC, as it will simulate the
experience of doing it "on the road"
- Be sure you
have all the components needed to get from your camera to someone
else's PC (including any necessary adapters or cables)
- Failing the above, find a reputable camera shop wherever you are and ask for help; they likely will know exactly what to do, albeit for a fee
- Alternately, buy another memory card; given their current pricing, it's a hard option to beat
5. Do Nothing At All: A
hard lesson for us at Permutation has been that vacations are a time to
"vacate." Few things in life cannot wait till ones' return and,
excepting the occasional check-in or eBay bid, that is what one should
do. After all, why else bother to leave home?
If you have further questions on WiFi, Internet use or other computer concerns, please browse our offers section here and let us know if we can help.
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