Internet access on the move

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20873433.post-60328330648186019232007-12-09T10:56:00.001Z2007-12-09T10:56:19.254ZInternet access on the moveIt has been four years since I first wrote about accessing the internet on the move. Interest in the subject is still running high, although from conversations I have I know that a lot of people still find the subject a bit of a black art. I thought an update might be a good idea. If you have wi-fi capability in your laptop or PDA being out of the office no longer means being out of touch. Wi-fi (Wireless Fidelity) “hotspots” – places where you can use your laptop or PDA to connect to the internet at broadband speeds, without a hard-wired connection - are now commonplace. When out and about you can search for a hot spot in your vicinity. Just make sure your wi-fi is switched on and then start your internet browser – it should lock-on to the strongest signal. You then log on using a password and surf away. But the costs can vary. BT Openzone was one of the first providers and I have been using them or the past four years with few problems. One quick tip, if you sign up for BT’s Total Broadband package they bundle in 250 minutes of BT Openzone use a month completely free. Alternatively, you can pay for your access pay by the minute, the hour, the day or take out a monthly subscription for around £25. But BT isn’t the only provider and many hotels and airports offer alternatives – Cloud wi-fi being one of the most prevalent – see <a href="http://www.thecloud.net/">http://www.thecloud.net/</a>. Some cities even have free public wi-fi – I’m proud to say that Norwich was one of the first. It is sometimes flaky, but I have used it a lot. Bristol has it too. You can search for other hotspots in the UK at <a href="http://www.hotspot-locations.com/">http://www.hotspot-locations.com/</a>. In theory you can also connect to other private wi-fi networks that are not secure. That is, that haven’t been set up with a security WEP/WPA password. I would advise that you don’t. Two people in Redditch were recently cautioned for using someone’s wi-fi broadband internet connections without their permission. This is a legal minefield. But what if you don’t have access to a wi-fi hotspot? For many years I have been using my mobile phone to connect to the net using what is known as a GPRS connection. With GPRS speeds are slower than wi-fi and you pay for the amount of data you transfer, typically around £1.50-£2.50 per Megabyte. First, you need a phone with a Bluetooth facility to connect to the laptop. Then you need to make the phone connect to the net. The way you do this will vary from network to network. For example, on Vodafone you make the laptop dial *99#. GPRS is fine for the odd e-mail, but pretty useless for transferring large files. You may also need to check with your operator that GPRS has been enabled. For more details see <a href="http://www.filesaveas.com/gprs.html">http://www.filesaveas.com/gprs.html</a> The next step up involves using a 3G phone or plug-in card, such as the T-Mobile “Web ‘n’ Walk range. The benefits are a much faster data transfer rate. Typical costs for the T-Mobile Flext 20 (which gives you the equivalent of £34 worth of phone calls per month) with web 'n' walk, which offers unlimited web surfing and e-mails, is £27.50 per month. A Vodafone 3G card for your laptop, either Mac or PC, offers you faster speeds than GPRS, but will fall back to GPRS if the 3G network is not available. Typical costs are £25 per month including 250Mb of data, but I suggest you shop around. Orange and O2 have similar schemes. Alternatively, you buy one of the latest 3G phones such as the Nokia N95. These have built-in browsers and e-mail, plus the ability to connect to wi-fi networks. But they are not cheap – you are looking at about £200+ for the phone on a new contract. My favourite is the SPV-700 from Orange which is a full-blown Windows PDA and phone for about £50 on a new contract. I have used my PDA to update websites and upload features from the wilds of Cornwall and Yorkshire and my laptop and wi-fi to do the same from the Norwegian lakes. Sad, I know! I hope this update helps. I find the ability to access the internet on the move invaluable. I think you will too.Steve Nicholshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03564402221894277279noreply@blogger.com