Mobile Internet Access

[jackie]

Sorry, Girls & Guys, I have another question........ does anyone have any experience of using a mobile internet dongle abroad??

My friend has an Orange Everywhere dongle, and we are hoping to be able to use it in Europe whilst we are travelling in Sept/Oct.

Thanks again,

Jackie

[daddy12340]

Hi Jackie,I am going to France on Sunday.I have a T-mobile dongle.I popped into our local t-mobile shop to ask if my contract covers me for europe.The answer was no and it would be very expensive to use it in france,about £1.50 a megabyte,so i'm leaving mine behind.I hope that helps,Brian.

[jackie]

Thank you very much for your reply Brian. I have been told that the best thing to do is go into 'Starbucks' Coffee shops, and for the price of a coffe they give you a code to enable access to their wifi. But as yet I haven't checked out if there are many Starbucks on the continent. So todate, this is the best option that I have come up with.

Jackie

[geonomad]

McDonald's is the easiest place to connect in France. I would say about 75% now have open WiFi. No purchase necessary. No time limits. Some of them shut down for the night and others are on 24 hours. Most of the time the connection is good enough to make Skype calls. Sometimes it is a bit slow. Usually I can connect from the parking lot. Sometimes you have to go inside.

In other countries, the deal varies. In Switzerland it is open and free, but limited to 30 minutes a day. In Germany and Austria, you have to register and pay (in Austria it was exorbitant). In Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia it was open like France.

Many towns provide WiFi at the tourist offices. Usually free. Slovenia and the Baltic are great for that. Libraries often have open WiFi and you can sometimes park outside.

My favourite towns are the ones with WiFi parking places. Areas of town marked with a blue @ sign, indicating an open available signal. Quite a few in the Baltic, but haven't seen them elsewhere.

A high percentage of campsites also have WiFi available.

Even some museums provide WiFi. The sign in the picture is at Kolga Manor in Estonia. This is a tiny village with a museum and one place to eat, but open WiFi.

[jackie]

Wow, thank you very much for this comprehensive information.

Jackie