Hi Folks

I am UK based but travel worldwide. I currently use a wireless laptop with a Vodafone PCMCIA data card to access the Internet (although I will use an unsecured wireless network whenever I can find one). Using the data card is very expensive and very slow and unreliable in some countries as it uses the mobile phone networks.

Can anyone suggest a better and cheaper way to access the net on the move. I appreciate that other countries may have a much cheaper solution and it may be that I can take advantage of this.

Any suggestions folks?

Thanks
David

If you define "on the move" as in being able to use internet while youre en route in a taxi or something like that, wireless phone networks are the best option, unfortunately. It is true that more and more Wifi hotspots are being formed everywhere and the roaming agreements among the wifi network providers are getting much better, if you are looking for most coverage for internet access with your laptop/PDA, wireless phone companies (although expensive) can give you the best coverage.

In the USA, Cingular is doing a pretty good job expanding their broadband network, now available in 100+ major cities, although coverage is not as optimal as Verizon. If you're using Vodafone, you probably are aware of U.S. roaming agreements with Cingular/Tmobile.

Sorry I couldnt give you a better answer.

When I say "on the move" I am meaning in my hotel room in different countries worldwide. Vodafone UK charge so very much for data in most countries. I spoke to a guy in Canada when I was there a couple of weeks ago and he suggested that it would be cheaper for me to buy a data card there, I think it was from Rogers, and use that worldwide. He suggested that Cabnadian data charges were far less than the UK. Unfortunately I was pushed for time and could not get to a Rogers store although will have a look on the web later. Just thought I would ask you folks what you know.

Ok. Well, since there is more GSM-based coverage than the CDMA based one in the world, if you were to choose from U.S. carriers it would be either Cingular or T-Mobile, but Cingular seems to offer better set of roaming partners. They have something called DataConnect Global, with two options.

Look:

Cingular Laptop International Roaming Plans

DataConnect Global $139.99 per month.**
Take your laptop with you for all of your data needs when you're traveling outside the U.S.. This plan includes:

* Unlimited domestic U.S. data usage.
* Up to 100 MB of data usage per month in the set of DataConnect Global "Select" countries (on select carriers) (Canada/Mexico + other countries in Europe/Asia are included).
* $.005/KB (approximately $5/MB) overage rate in the set of DataConnect Global countries (on select carriers).
* $.0195/KB rate in all other countries where Cingular currently has data roaming agreements.
* Access to UMTS/EDGE/GPRS where available based upon device capability and network capability.
* One year minimum term required for this plan.
* Currently available in select markets.

DataConnect North America $109.99 per month.**
Take your laptop with you for all of your data needs when you're traveling in Canada or Mexico. This plan includes:

* Unlimited domestic U.S. data usage.
* Up to 100 MB of data usage per month in Canada and/or Mexico (on same select Canada and Mexico carriers available with the DataConnect Global plan) $.005/KB (approximately $5/MB) overage rate in Canada and Mexico (on select carriers).
* $.0195/KB rate in all other countries where Cingular currently has data roaming agreements
* Access to UMTS/EDGE/GPRS where available based upon device capability and network capability.
* One year minimum term required for this plan.
* Currently available in select markets.



This roaming agreement includes the most recently deployed 3G coverage in the world (UMTS - aka WCDMA), so this is a pretty good fit I think. I am not sure which countries you will be traveling to the most, so you probably want to check with Cingular if carriers from those countries participate in Cingular data roaming.

Hope this helps. You can reach Cingular @ 1-888-333-6651.

Thanks, that is useful info. I shall have a look at their site.
David