Internet access in Europe

[cmcardle75]

Hi everyone, Was just browsing until I saw this post. Signed up so here I am. I'm currently in Limassol,Cyprus and like many places there are a lot of internet cafes which I use all over Europe. There's really no need to buy any special equipment. You just need to organise yourself beforehand to get everything done but you soon get used to your own system of work.

This is what I do because I tend to use the same limited number of web sites for about 80% of my internet time. These are all bookmarked at the top of my page for instant access.

'Internet Cafes' don't mind if I bring laptop with wifi, I also bringA large 2TB usb3 hard drive. I pay about one euro for each hour for FAST downloading. I stay for a few hours at a time.

Write all your emails and save them as drafts in a folder for the task. Another folder previously set up absorbs all your spam-free downloads. These are sent/received first.

I have software that can download whole websites or specific sections of a site. Over time I have about all the websites used regularly on my HD's. When I do download updates they take just a couple of minutes (often less) to bring my files up to date. There is software available that downloads videos and stuff very quickly - 2-3 minutes at a time. I can download most websites (or a movie) in about 6-12 minutes (others will take more certainly) and then take my time researching it at my leisure and the thing works off line just as if it was being downloaded. I'm not talking about Facebook here of course!
So with all this done beforehand when I do get to a cafe I spend most of my visit researching the 20% of websites not on file already. I use duckduckgo.com not google for my searches.

Odd times I use software to download a whole series of movies at a time. I don't download it all at once (last example was Series 1 & 2 of 19 episodes 0f the 'Vikings' 17.5GB). Downloaded in part. Move off to somewhere else. Arrived there to resume downloading from where I left off. I think 3 visits it was all done.

That all sounds like far too much time and work! I just want internet, wherever I am. I also want it to work whilst driving, as it keeps the kids quiet. €3 a day on EuropaSim will be my method. I particularly like the way you don't get fined for exceeding the daily allowance. The kids managed to pull down 1.7Gb in a single drive up to Yorkshire (on a three PAYG) despite being told no video streaming. I'd much rather it just stopped than charged me £300. This way, we might even be able to watch a BBC programme in the evening on SD if it hasn't been hammered during the day.

 

[tambo]

All that beautiful scenery and you want to watch TV .....and Internet

Sheesh

 

[Snowbird]

Things have moved on in leaps and bounds since this thread was started. 3 have opened up there network in France allowing home tariffs there, so all you now need is a PAYG 3 sim and you get the same deal as you get at home both with wifi and phone. Am told this will be extended throughout Europe in October.

 

[tambo]

Things have moved on in leaps and bounds since this thread was started. 3 have opened up there network in France allowing home tariffs there, so all you now need is a PAYG 3 sim and you get the same deal as you get at home both with wifi and phone. Am told this will be extended throughout Europe in October.

That's quite useful do you know if that works on any 3 dongle?

I use a 3 dongle on my laptop at home as i don't have home broadband etc I'm were just heading off for our french trip and if it will work in france that would save me having to pay EE's ridiculous roaming charges....i don't plan to use Internet much but would be handy for looking up the odd helpful post on here

 

[Snowbird]

That's quite useful do you know if that works on any 3 dongle?

I use a 3 dongle on my laptop at home as i don't have home broadband etc I'm were just heading off for our french trip and if it will work in france that would save me having to pay EE's ridiculous roaming charges....i don't plan to use Internet much but would be handy for looking up the odd helpful post on here

As I posted in a thread the other day, as from 1st July 3 have extended there home coverage to include France at the same rate as you have at home, both on there wifi sim and phone sim. Its here on this thread and am in France using both myself.
http://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/3-works-great-in-france.88782/

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[tambo]

Brilliant im glad we hadn't left yet ( she's doing her hair )

Il chuck laptop in the van

 

[Louisecm]

Hi everyone,

My partner Dan and I are travelling around Europe in our mh and really researched what internet option would work best for us. Of course the most important factor is your situation and what you need, so what works for us might not be best for everyone!

We've been to 15 countries so far (with plans to go to a few more) and Dan works online, so it is really important for us that we have regular internet access everywhere we go. We also wild camp as much as possible or stay at aires rather than campsites so knew we couldn't rely on free wifi all the time. On top of that we are on a budget so couldn't shell out for anything like a satellite system and didn't want to be locked into a contract.

As such we decided to buy the Europasim and a mifi device. Mifi device we picked up at an electronic store for a reasonable price and made sure it was unlocked so the Europasim would work (eg if you buy a mifi from Vodafone it is locked to Vodafone sims as far as I understand).

It's been working really well for us and we love that you only pay for the days you use - so if you want to use it everyday you can or if you just want to check mail once or twice a week you won't be spending that much. It's also worked in every country we've been to except Montenegro (There are a few other countries that aren't included but overall Europasim has very impressive coverage). I will say that dealing with customer service from Europasim is a pain but it's a great system overall.

Just wanted to share my experience and hope it helps. There are a lot of other options though and we have spent some time comparing them all on our website. If you'd like to have a look at our comparison post (I believe it is very comprehensive) please visit www.Voyager-Europe.com

 

[oldun]

What speeds do you get with satellite systems? Recemtly on board a cruise liner the speeds were a little bit better than dial-up.