International Superwireless!

Hey everyone,

This is my first post here so I hope I'm following proper postology for this particular forum model.

Anyway, I'm in the process of deciding on a laptop and my considerations are the Dell XPS M1530 or a Sony FZ something but that's a post for a different part of the forum. The laptop I will end up with will come with me on my summer trip overseas. I'll be in Alexandria, Egypt and then Paris, France. I will pretty much be at a hotel in Paris so chances are good there will be Wi-Fi there but my question is, how exactly do I get internet access everywhere on the planet? Okay, not literally everywhere on the planet. I'd like to be able to open that laptop and surf anywhere basically. I've never done a wireless internet setup before.

I know that I need a PCMCIA card for this to work and it might also require a service plan from a cell phone provider. My problem is I only need this for about a month and Verizon would ask me to sign some contract. So basically I need this to be temporary and give me access in both of those places especially Egypt. I thought of getting an AirCard when I got to Egypt but they're just as expensive as Verizon's GlobalAccess and it's not clear or stated at all on their website if you need to sign a contract either (or do they not do that in the Middle East and Europe?).

Additionally, what kind of speeds can I expect? It looks like Egypt, at least according to the Verizon Wireless website, has voice and GRPS data coverage as does France.

I would be willing to do prepaid but as I need this to work in two different countries I'm not really sure what to do. I'm really confused to put it mildly. I would greatly appreciate any help any of you can give me with this. Thanks.

btw I'd also like to ask another question. I've read that generally Verizon gives wireless broadband customers an allotment of 168MB per day if I'm not mistaken. Does watching videos on YouTube count towards that?

 

You should ask verizon if they will let you do a month to month service plan if you buy your own card. That is where they lock most people into a contract by giving them a card or phone.

Anything you do will count against your allotted bandwidth, including youtube videos.

Be prepared to have an expensive bill!

 

Thanks for the response. I never thought of that. It didn't occur to me that it might be possible to bring an unlocked Wi-Fi card to a carrier much like bringing unlocked phones to carriers.

My understanding of Wi-Fi is that you have to be close to a hot spot. I find myself wishing that they make Wi-Fi cards that make the signal come to you instead of you coming to the signal. Yeah, you could be like ten miles away from a hotspot and still log on.

 

Modly was talking about WWAN I think

The FZ has a build in Wi-Fi card, so does most new notebooks. So if you sit in a coffee shop or something with a hotspot then you can just connect to that and get online

 

WWAN might be the way to go if you would like Internet access without immediate access to a hotspot. Also you should keep in mind that many WiFi hotspots are not free - in many hotels (especially in Paris), they can run as high as 30 euros for a 24hr block access. Also, my recommendation is to go with Vodafone over Verizon. Unless you are planning to use Verizon when you are back in the US, there might not be a benefit for you to use their service (since they do charge you premium rates/download limits when using the WWAN service internationally). Having been in your shoes, my suggestion would be to purchase an unlocked EVDO card and just use the Vodafone service when in France (and roam with Vodafone when in Egypt). Vodafone does offer a prepaid service for WWAN, so this way you prevent yourself from getting locked in to a contract.

Good Luck

P.S. One more thing - make sure to read about whatever service you go with and the correct WWAN card required for that service.