Internet in Europe for Travelers
This is a follow up to a question I asked about Internet access in Europe.
Before I get any hate mail, I must say I absolutely love Europe and am
_very_ glad we have come, however the Internet is not nearly as accessible,
as fast, or as reliable as it is in the US for travelers. I impressed and
pleased with how people can live so well here without the Internet - it's
hard to imagine living without the Internet in the US. I feel bad that I am
so dependent. :(
In regards to Central Europe at least (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and
Italy), we have arrived and I can safely say after a few months in a few
different countries that finding the Internet is a difficult task. Laptop
use is relatively infrequent in general; so far I've only seen 3 people with
their laptop in public. There are few Internet Cafes, and they are more
like low grade computer labs than cafes - most were a bit frightening to us.
In addition these cafes may have just a pay for use computer as opposed to a
WLAN or Ethernet connection. In any case the Internet will be expensive -
typically around $5-15/hour or $25-30/day.
The best bet seems to stay in a place that has Internet access. However the
definition of Internet access is not what I would expect coming from the US,
and only about 20% of hotels have Internet access. Numerous times hotels
have told us they have Internet access yet reality was different. In most
cases Internet access means a computer in the lobby that is a pay for use
computer and there is no WLAN or Ethernet in the rooms. In one case,
Internet access meant the phone had a phone jack. When we have found WLAN,
80% of the time the signal was either too weak or the connection was faulty.
We had problems in a few places because VOIP was restricted or PPTP
protocols were restricted meaning no phone calls or VPN to my office.
Telecom providers have very strict rules on allowing foreigners to have cell
phones and Internet access. Unless you have a government permit (ie you're
a citizen or have some temporary status) mobile Internet is not possible at
reasonable rates. SwissCom for example charges $10,000 for 1GB/data (my
typical monthly Internet usage). My wife uses about 2GB. US Companies that
provide roaming are even more expensive. We tested SwissCom ourselves and
it cost $30 for 5 slow minutes.
I was only able to use Debian in a few places - I'm not sure why but Debian
was unable to connect to some Wireless hot spots while Windows was. I tried
a few different network cards with the same results. I bought a wireless
router repeater which I could connect to.
Bottom line: If you're traveling to Europe with Debian and want Internet,
stay with someone who has it, or stay in a hotel that has a WLAN from a big
name provider. Expect to pay. VOIP is possible but the quality is low - I
recommend a prepaid cell phone and an International calling card if you need
to call North America.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: news [mailto:news@sea.gmane.org] On Behalf Of Jan Schledermann
> Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 2:53 AM
> To: debian-laptop@lists.debian.org
> Subject: Re: Europe
>
> David Johnson wrote:
>
> > We're travelling to Europe for a year and would like to setup a Debian
> > Laptop. For those Europeans out there, what technologies have you found
> to
> > work
> > well? We're currently exploring the high speed wireless cards that
> > include
> > UMNTS, and 3G. Specifically we'll be heading to Italy, Switzerland, and
> > the UK. Any thoughts comments on the best ways to connect to the
> Internet
> > for mobile users of Debian would be great.
> >
> > --David
>
> >From a debian point of view there is no difference between gprs and umts.
> You basically set up the cellphone to do GPRS (as opposed to WAP) and if a
> umts network is available (which your provider allows you to use) it'll
> use
> it. If no umts network is available the phone uses gprs.
> Gprs and umts are paid for by the MB. Wap per sec.
>
> Umts is very pricey. The cheapest solution is a subscription based on a
> minimum MB commitment. I am not sure how easy it'll be to get a
> subscription as a traveller.
> Umts and gprs on a pre-paid-card basis is even more expensive. Assume 2-3
> times more expensive than a subscription with a 10MB monthly commitment.
> If you can get a umts subscription in your home-country, that'll take care
> of the prepaid- vs subscription problem, but, roaming remains very
> expensive.
>
> My suggestion would be, to arm your self with a wireless cardand a utp
> cable and use internet cafes whenever possible. Use the cell phone only in
> an emergency situation.
> There are internet cafes all over the place these days.
>
>
>
> Best regards
> Jan
>
>
> --
> ** Do NOT use the reply-to address. You'll end up in the trash can
> ** Mail me at: jan AT schledermann D0T org
>
>
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