FOAK: Mobile Interweb

I'm planning on trundling around France in a few weeks. It would be useful
to have some sort of mobile internet connection to look up campsites and the
like.

What's my best bet? Currently thinking of taking a netbook and a phone, and
using the mobile as a modem (or whatever you call connecting via 3g / GPRS)
via bluetooth. Or are there cheap and decent second hand smartphones
knocking around now?

 

Vodafone PAYG 3g+gprs USB dongle.
No contract, credit does not timeout, topup at 15 quid a shot.
I keep one here for when my ADSL goes down, you just need to use it once
every 3 months to keep it current.

 

Just use the phone as a modem. If it's a 3G phone, so much the better, but
3G coverage in France is a bit sparse so don't worry if it's just 2G. The
radio in the phone will be shitloads better than any dongle.

Roaming data is expensive, so organise all your bookmarks before you set
off. And make sure you've got roaming set up before you go.

 

Erm you are likely to run up several hundreds of pounds in very few
days. Forget it!!
That's up to £8 per MEG expensive.

Take a map of McDonalds outlets.

 

Your cheapest bet is to become a McD customer - IIRC McD offers free
wireless in their restaurants in France.

Data roaming is a good way to end up with a really, really big bill so
I make sure that I turn that off these days.

 

You don't half spout some rubbish sometimes.

Vodafone international roaming data costs:

"On your phone
Up to £4.99 for the first 25MB
£4.99 for each 25MB
On your laptop
£9.99 for the first 50MB
£9.99 for each 50MB

if you just want to check a couple of emails, the first Mb is charged up
to £4.99 in 1Kb steps and then the next 24Mb are free"

http://online.vodafone.co.uk/dispatch/Portal/appmanager/vodafone/wrp?
_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=template12&pageID=OS_0097

 

I don't think to Tonto. I said UP TO £8. You might, with the right
tarrif and a roaming connection to the right network, get in somewhat
cheaper but it really is a mugs game ATM.

Also, it is suitably complicated:
www.mobileindustryreview.com/2009/07/3_and_vodafone_two_roaming_data_cost_cuts_two_very_different_offers.html

As from 1st July the new EU roaming caps have come into place. WHOLESALE
data is pegged at 1Euro per MB between operators.

You should have seen some of my own data roaming bills in the EU and
USA. Obviously Timo has had an experience.

 

Ipod touch and Wifitrack. Wander around and see how many locals haven't
bothered to secure their wireless LANs.

TBH, I haven't tried this in France, but it worked well enough on a recent
trip to Italy.

 

I used to use a GPRS phone but now I have a Vodafone USB thingy. They
did me a half price contract deal and the 3Gb a month has proved quite
handy for use on the netbook in the UK when there is no Wifi.

In France the tariff is £10 for a 24 hour connection with a limit of
50Mb. One thing to watch though is that the 24hours runs from midnight
to midnight.

Usually drops back to GPRS at 'the chateau', in fact almost everywhere I
have tried it, but it is good enough to check a few emails and research
camp sites or other accommodation. SWMBO used it to good effect last
year to check up on mountain refuges in the Pyrenees, as she wasn't
exactly sure which section of the GR10 she wanted to do until we had got
a weather forecast (also handy for that) nearer the trip.

We blow ten quid on a session about once a week when we are there for
the summer. There aren't any internet cafes in the sticks where we are,
and the nearest free Wifi is probably a gallon of petrol away.

As Ogden says, Vodafone have just changed their data roaming fees, so
for light use a phone is probably all you need. I do find, however, that
the dongle seems to establish a connection quickly and hold it well
except in the case of thunder storms. My old Sony Ericcson phone could
be very pernickety at times.


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You left out the crucial bit - the midnight in question is UK time.

 

I ran up just over 2K euros in a 10 day period in Athens two years
ago. IIRC it was 250MB down and about 1/2 that up, good job I wasn't
paying the bill.

 

Excellent. We'll mainly want it for looking up campsites when we're on the
autoroute, so that'll be ideal.

Noted.

 

Ok, apart from leeching wi-fi, whether via access points or punters,
join up to Fon, as an additional option.
www.fon.com