Travel Technology - wi-fi phone question(s) headed to Europe

If I have a quadband wifi enabled mobile phone (which I don't) with an unlimited data plan can I use skype to make free calls from hot-spots while in Europe? can that be done with the iphone? Which phone? iphone, android, other?

Would a Starbucks card work for that too?

Thanks,

You do not need a data plan at all to use a WiFi hot spot. You do need access to the hot spot. Most are not free so that will potentially cause you some issues or cost you some money.

If you have an iPhone, you can use iPass to connect to many hotspots for a flat fee of $10 / mo.

http://www.ipassconnect.com

From there, you can use fring or truphone on the iPhone to make voip calls over wifi.

It even works on the iPod Touch 2nd gen.

I use my Nokia E51 wi-fi phone everywhere. When away from home, I turn it offline so it can't use the cellular signal (just like on the airplane). This model still allows a manual wi-fi connection in offline mode. Nokia uses Gizmo as opposed to SkyPe. It took me a while to get used to the settings, but works great. Note that Gizmo rates are much cheaper than SkyPe too.

The wi-fi internet calls work so great (VOIP quality issues occasionally) that I set my default calling to internet call. Now ANYTIME I have an internet signal, even when at home, it dials an internet call for me.... saving me lots of cash. This works particularly well in wi-fi zones that I've used before (YVR airport, home, and a few hotels that I stay at in BKK) and it connects automatically when I enter their wi-fi signal.

Would a Starbucks card work for that too?

Are you talking about the free time with a Starbucks card? Sorry, the answer is no.

I find that in this country you can often find an open WiFi network (I can pick up several from the office building across the street!), but in Europe things seem locked down tight unless you pay.

You can find free wifi at many cafe's in Euro cities, and a few hotels too. And yes Skype works reasonably well on iPhones if you load Fring on. Same for some Nokia smart phones and HTC.

I'm even using Skype now on my iPhone on the Thalys at high speed!

I'm even using Skype now on my iPhone on the Thalys at high speed!

I'll have to give that a try the next time I"m on the Thalys train!

I've also used my iPhone 3G with Skype (through the Fring app) in Europe by connecting to free wifi. If your hotel doesn't offer free wifi, you should be able to find some in a cafe or similar. I'm sure it's different country-to-country but during a recent trip to Portugal all of the McDonalds had free wifi, so even though I would never eat there, I went to a McDonalds every morning to check my email and make a few phone calls.

I also kept the data-roaming turned off so I didn't get hit with any data charges while overseas.

Here's a funny article about how business people are all of a sudden regular customers of McDonalds in the UK...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/26/mcdonalds-wifi-free

Although there are many sites in Europe which offer free wifi, they almost always require a password to log on. The password is generated by the front desk of the hotel or the staff of the cafe.

It is not quite as easy as parking outside of a McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts/Starbucks in the USA.

I stay at the Le Meridien Montparnasse in Paris often and they have free WiFi in the meeting and restaurant areas. No password needed. There are plenty of other hotels like this. It's true that free wifi isn't as common here as in the US, but it can be found.