 | | | | What is the best way to get online with your laptop, mobile phone and PDA while travelling?
Overview : International ISP Internet Service Provider | Asked this question by travellers, particularly those venturing into new territory or off the beaten path. And it's a good question -- with the proliferation of RJ-11 jacks and upgraded telecommunications systems in a good portion of the world, many times the real challenge is no longer how to hook up your modem. It's how to access the Internet (or your company network) once you are hooked up. What might be the best way for you depends on your needs and your budget. Let's look at some of the options. |  | | Your Present ISP | Unless you use one of the Global ISPs discussed below, making an international call to your present ISP could be an expensive proposition. It can be done, and I've been in situations where I really didn't have much choice. Besides the obvious expense (which can be quite high when hotel tariffs are added to international calling rates), you shouldn't expect an optimum data connection when dialing in to a server thousands of miles away. | Global ISPs | Global ISPs are much like regular ISPs, with the exception that they have POPs, or Points Of Presence (local access numbers) that can be used around the world. Sometimes their overseas locations, or "nodes," are operated as an integral part of their operations just as it is in their home country. In many cases, however, they use cooperative agreements with other local networks, just like those used by global roaming services discussed in the following section. Network surcharges based on time used are usually applied in addition to the regular service fee. These can vary from place to place and sometimes can be rather steep. It would be a good idea to research the types of fees you will be charged in a specific destination to avoid unpleasant surprises afterwards. One of the all-time best global ISP services was IBM.net, while it lasted. When I first joined, IBM offered unlimited connection time with no network surcharges when overseas. I suppose all good things like this must end, and so it did. First, IBM did away with unlimited service, introducing a charge when used more than a certain number of hours per month. Soon afterwards, they began charging extra for connecting outside of the subscriber's home country. Eventually, IBM.net was acquired and rolled into what is now AT&T (see below). AOL (America OnLine). Many Internet old-timers still grimace at the mention of AOL, remembering the onslaught of newbies unleashed when the company first offered Internet access. Like it or not, AOL is now the world's largest online service and a media superpower in its own right. AOL appeals most to families and individuals who don't want to spend a lot of time fussing with things like POP3 settings and logon scripts -- AOL's proprietary software makes this unnecessary. Though they first offered international access many years ago, their global presence increased greatly when they acquired CompuServe a few years back. If you're already an AOL user, they should probably be your first choice when traveling overseas, though there are some places their network doesn't cover. CompuServe. Yes, it's owned by AOL, yet still maintained as a separate information service. I've been using it since 1984 -- long before AOL became involved. CompuServe was known as one of the most technically proficient online services long before most of its users understood how important that could be. As a long-time user, I subscribe to the classic service, which allows good access to POP3 e-mail. It's my understand that CompuServe 2000 uses IMAP e-mail. Either way, you should be able to access the Internet and any POP3 account by using CompuServe's Dial-Up Networking (DUN) capability for Windows. CompuServe is also very business-friendly, allowing companies to establish group accounts with central billing. UUNET. UUNET, a WorldCom company, is a global ISP with more than 2500 POPs on five continents. They are strongly represented in Europe, North America (particularly the US, but also the larger Canadian cities), Southeast Asia and Australia, though they lack service to much of Latin America and all of China, Russia, the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent and the African Continent. As with all global ISPs, access to POPs outside one's home area may be subject to additional network connection charges. AT&T Business Internet Services offers local numbers in more than 50 countries. The service has good coverage in North America and most of Europe and Southeast Asia. It currently lacks numbers in some Latin America countries, far Eastern Europe, China, and much of Africa and the Middle East. As with all global ISPs, new numbers are regularly added (and sometimes removed). Earthlink. Earthlink offers widespread coverage in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and portions of Southeast Asia. They offer a variety of services, including broadband, dial-up and wireless access. | Global Internet Roaming Services | Global roaming services differ from global ISPs in that, for the most part, these aren't ISPs so much as they are companies that have cooperative agreements/partnerships with numerous ISPs around the world. The services and rate plans offered by each can vary greatly. Some require a regular subscription, with additional usage fees. Some charge only when the service is actually used. Some may offer ISP-like features such as e-mail and web space, while others may not. Net Roamer: Worldwide Internet Access. If you travel and use the Internet, you can use Net-roamer's Global Internet Roaming service. This service provides access to the Internet and e-mail through over 11,000 ISPs around the world in over 150 countries. Access is made through a local call. Net-roamer has also launched a companion service for Palm and Windows Pocket PC devices (PDAs). MaGlobe. MaGlobe's Premium Roaming is a prepaid service, allowing subscribers to access all MaGlobe worldwide locations with a single Username and Password. This account can be accessed regardless of who you use for your ISP. Coverage is strong in Australia, US, Europe, the Middle East, and India (sometimes a difficult place for roaming). The pre-paid plan is not without its faults -- on a recent trip to the Middle East, and had repeated difficulties sustaining a connection to MaGlobe. The reason: MaGlobe's web site must be accessed to update the user's account balance information. On connections below 28.8 bps (which were more the rule than the exception during my recent trip to the Middle East) the page timed out and the connection was lost. iPass. The most interesting aspect of this service may be its plans to accommodate dial-up, ISDN, PHS, 802.11b, DSL and cable remote connections within one easy-to-use application. I use iPass, as it sometimes has local nodes in places CompuServe does not (China and Margarita Island, Venezuela are examples). Unfortunately, iPass seems to have lost much of its previous presence in the Middle East. It may pay to shop amonst iPass providers, as some charge a monthly subscription fee whilst others charge for usage only. GRIC. GRIC stands for Global Reach Internet Connection™. I believe that, like iPass, GRIC requires an account with one of their ISP partners in order to use the roaming services. WorldWISP Yet another global roaming service. As with most of services of this type, WorldWISP requires the use of their own software to access their international network. However, it does not appear to require an account with a participating ISP. RIP American Express® Online This was originally reported as another possibility someday. Someday never came. The link (if still active) leads to the obituary of this would-have-been service. | WiFi zones. Wireless access points and wired broadband locations. Broadband Internet access, often shortened to wireless internet "broadband Internet" or just "broadband" is a high data-transmission rate internet connection. DSL and cable modem, both popular consumer broadband technologies, are typically capable of transmitting 256 kilobits per second or more, approximately nine times the speed of a modem using a standard digital telephone line.
Broadband Internet access became a rapidly developing market in many areas in the early 2000s. Modern consumer broadband implementations, up to 54 MBit/s, are several hundred times faster than those available at the time of the popularization of the Internet (such as ISDN and 56 kbit/s) while costing less than ISDN and sometimes no more than 56 kbit/s; though performance and costs vary widely between countries.
Wireless websurfing at the breakfast table, e-mail on the sofa, send a fax from the veranda? Cast off the cables for real Internet, ADSL and ISDN fun. WLAN lets you put full ADSL speed in cable-free PC, while you connect your computers in a high-speed network. Africa
Egypt Morocco South Africa Tanzania
Asia & Indian Ocean
China Hong Kong India Indonesia Japan (437 kb) Kazakhstan Macau Malaysia Philippines Russia Singapore South Korea Taiwan Thailand Vietnam
Central America and Caribbean
Aruba Bahamas Costa Rica Mexico Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands
Europe
Austria Belgium Bulgaria Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany (137 kb) Hungary Ireland Iceland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Serbia Montenegro Slovakia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey United Kingdom (438 kb - England, North Ireland, Scotland, Wales)
Middle East
Bahrain Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Qatar Saudi Arabia Turkey United Arab Emirates
North America
Canada
The United States
Alabama Alaska Arizona California (200 kb) Colorado District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Indiana Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Mississippi Nebraska Nevada New Jersey New Mexico New York Ohio Tennesee Texas Virginia Washington Wisconsin
Oceania
Australia New Zealand
South America
Brazil Colombia |
Download the complete list with about 17.000 locations to WiFi wireless points and broadband internet networks in 66 countries.
| | Other Options | Hotel-provided ISPs. A growing number of hotels (particularly among the larger chains) offer their own in-room Internet connections. Sometimes this can be a real life-saver -- while in Bahrain in October 2002, there was no CompuServe or iPass access, and for as noted above slow connection speeds kept me from maintaining a MaGlobe connection. Fortunately, the Holiday Inn Bahrain has it's own easy-to-use dialup ISP connection, which worked great (ditto for the Crowne Plaza in Abu Dhabi). In some hotels, ISP access is not just through dial-up, but sometimes ISDN and increasingly through broadband services around the world. These systems usually require a network card or built-in connection for your laptop. A potential downside of using someone else's ISP is that while you may be able to retrieve e-mail, you might not be able to send it. This is because many ISPs, in an effort to block spam, do not allow those who aren't regular subscribers to use their outgoing mail servers. And watch out -- like mini-bar charges and sometimes even local phone calls, using the hotel's ISP can be surprisingly costly. Local ISPs. If you're going to going to be on a extended assignment or stay of a couple of months or more, it might be economical to obtain a local Internet Service Provider at your destination. Free ISPs. In portions of Europe, North America and elsewhere, certain areas are served by a variety of free Internet Service Providers. Most are supported by advertising, and some post restrictions on usage time. However, the price is hard to beat, and they might be good for short-term use or in a pinch. | Conclusion | It's likely there's no one perfect solution to the global connection issue unless your travels are rather straightforward and take you only to larger cities in Western Europe, the Americas, Asia or Australia. If your travels frequently take you to smaller or more remote areas, particularly in regions like India, Russia or China, you might need to look into a more specialized service. Perhaps a combination of the services available will suit you best. 
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