wi-fi/internet connection on the road

[adrenalinefx]

Wonder if anyone can help- looking at possibilty of connecting to the internet whilst we're away this summer. France, Italy and Spain.
What are the best connection/servers?
Best prices?
Just need it for general email and blog page use
How do we go about setting up accounts etc.?

 

[scotjimland]

Hi

Most affordable way is to use WiFi either on camp sites or local hot spots, using G3/GPRS is mega expensive unless you buy a foreign payg sim card with data allowance, I've not found one yet but that's not to say they don't exist ..

 

[jhbgaiem]

WiFi in Europe

I have a little usb stick Signal detector made by Edimax. It finds hotspots for me and gives me the name of the server, whether its open or secured and the type of security used. I bought it in the UK.
I also recommend campers a Belkin wifi phone with a skype account. The cheapest ever international calls
When I find an open hotspot, I can send my mail.
ps there maybe legal issues here but I dont know. It works great in Spain.

 

[Geo]

1st trip to France totally green, I didn't activate roaming on my mobile, I also had the £1 a day T Mobile sim,
Foolish chap that I am I logged on to the net viewed two pages of the forum and logged off checked balance (pay as you go) it cost me £34.00 NOW that ought to be illegal
PS don't tell anybody about this I'm embarrassed enough:Blush:
Geo

 

[Enodreven]

Hi,

Has anyone used/signed up to FON, it seems like a very sensible idea, not to sure about the charging for a connection but the free reciprocal use idea looks promising and it appears BT are allowing BT users to get involved, so the idea could spread

FON

Brian

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[vanessa]

Sounds like a good idea!

I'd always avoid downloading info via my mobile, it (as already shown!) gets very pricey indeed!

In France, most towns have a library with some internet access (how much varies from place to place; may be just 1 PC, may be a dozen or more) ... look for signs to the "biblioteque". Also, more stop-over sites are getting Wifi, either to include in the price of overnight stops or for not a lot extra.

 

[Diabalo]

With a decent directional WiFi aerial you can pick up un-protected access connections from up to 2 miles away and piggy back someone elses connection. I know folks who do but it ain't exactly leagal

 

[johnsandywhite]

With a decent directional WiFi aerial you can pick up un-protected access connections from up to 2 miles away and piggy back someone elses connection. I know folks who do but it ain't exactly leagal

:Cool: I have a Parkervision Signal Max that works up to around 1 mile. I use it for our Dutch friends in Altea to access a Free connection as above. I have used the same in the UK. Easy Wifi Radar can be a help:-

Easy WiFi Connections

 

[wilse]

Hi


You can use the three USB modem in Italy, on PAYG, costs from £10 for 30 days/1Gb up to £25/7Gb.

This can be used in Spain and France, but you are subject to roaming charges.

Link Removed

hth?

I'm trying to find away to cover France and Spain from my truck, but it seems impossible unless you hand over £95 per month to Vodaphone.

wilse

 

[Parcverger]

We offer free WiFi access (suggesting a donation to our charity fund, that's all) for all visitors to our site in the Limousin. It's designed around RV's and motorhomes, open all year - see Welcome to Parcverger Limousin for further information.

Why not come and visit us on your tour?

Bob and Di

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[scotjimland]

We offer free WiFi access (suggesting a donation to our charity fund, that's all) for all visitors to our site in the Limousin. It's designed around RV's and motorhomes, open all year - see Welcome to Parcverger Limousin for further information.

Why not come and visit us on your tour?

Bob and Di

Hi Bob

will more than likely pop in next month on our way south ..

Jim

 

[John S]

Makes you wonder how we ever managed to go on holiday without a phone and the internet when we were young !!!!!

Leave it all behind and enjoy me thinks!!!!!!!

 

[vanessa]

Personally, I agree with you, John, although I think it does depend if you're going on holiday, or if it's a way of life, I guess. And how long you're away for ... 2 or 3 months without being able to check on certain things might be too long ...

However, we like to provide a service for our guests, so have internet access available. At present this is "only" via our own PC, as we have such a slow broadband access that it'd struggle with more than one PC attached to it at once; we're hoping this will improve soon, so we can offer WIFI for those who want it.

 

[Wortle]

I was trying to find internet access last year and had gleaned information from the net that most Macdonalds in France have free wifi for their customers.
We only found one Mcdonalds to try at a point when we needed it and it was shut...there was no visible signal outside.

 

[0zzy]

wifi

hi we have just returned from spain/france .
we used mc donalds, all mc donalds have wifi. but most in spain are cryped (which means: you need to buy a coffee and ask for wifi (wiff-ee) and they then give you a 30min card with a user name and password.
or go to a camp-site once every 7-10 days when doing the washing and pay 5 - 8 euros for 24hrs.
hope this helps.
0zzy

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[Losos]

Have been looking at various methods of accessing the net while on the move. At the Peterborough MH show I saw a demonstration of the satellite system, seems the perfect answer to me, 100% access wherever you are and TV thrown in as well ('tho not simultaneosly) There's an annual subscription charge which works out at 25 pounds a month.

Does anyone on here have this type of internet and can they tell us about it.

 

[motorhomer]

Last autumn we had 3 months in france and spain. Internet access was a bit variable, but we managed OK as follows:

Many (but not all) sites have WIFI, sometimes only in the bar area (no problem there!). Some are free, some a nominal charge eg 1 euro per 24 hours. Some were 4 euros per hour. Even this varied in that in some it was for an hours use which could be split up across many sessions, the worst were for one session of up to an hour.

In France many town halls provide free internet access on their equipment. (but its tricky because french keyboards are not the same as ours).

Also I disagree with the gprs / mobile phone comments. I have a vodafone contract mobile. I found that using the phone connected to my IPAQ just to check e-mail was cheap, usually about 70 pence. I use IMAP with googlemail, this just downloads the headers and you can download which messages you then choose. I did this when WIFI was not available. I would not browse the internet in this way, however.

So we managed pretty well without too much cost, just with a bit of perseverance on occasion.

Next time we go I am going to try the FON network aswell. We have just got BT broadband and it includes some time on FON as well as BT openzone. So it gives another choice.