Internet anywhere!

Posted on 19 May 2008 at 10:17

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Again, our reviews and tables show you exactly how much it costs to travel. It's worth following the links we've provided to the operator's price plan pages, as these will give you the exact costs for each country in the world.

Once you've got a plan that suits your travelling habits, you still need to be very careful to make sure there's nothing running on your PC that will automatically start downloading. There was a case recently of a businessman who got a bill for several thousand pounds when an episode of Friends, queued up by his wife for download at home, carried on downloading when he was abroad. Other programs, such as Windows Update, can start to use bandwidth as soon as you plug in the dongle, running up a bill before you even open your web browser.

Mobile Internet is generally very reliable; in fact, you may find you have fewer problems than with regular broadband. That's because the mobile phone network is rarely suffers any outages. The worst problem you'll normally encounter is poor reception, and unless it's at home that this occurs, you can usually fix it by moving around a few hundred yards to find a better signal. The network operators all have coverage maps on their websites, so you can check coverage before travelling. Even if you lose 3G, there are few places left in the country that have no mobile reception at all, so GPRS will keep you connected as long as you don't mind a bit of waiting around.

If you travel to a lot of remote places, though, you may end up with no way of getting a signal. Then it's time to fall back on hunting for a WiFi hotspot or Internet caf?

Get hooked up

As long as you scope out network coverage and keep an eye on costs, mobile broadband is an excellent way to make the Internet available wherever you go. With low monthly costs and simple installation, there's no reason to put off subscribing. Just check the details carefully before signing up.

Author: David Ludlow