# Internet In Europe



## biggirafe (Jan 9, 2010)

I'll be travelling in Europe this year and would like to have easy access to the internet. So far I have concluded that there are the following ways of connecting, 


Free WiFi Hotspots such as MacDonalds
Pay for WiFi Hot Spots such as on campsites
use a mobile phone and get a 56k connection
use a mobile phone and get a 3g connection
use a usb dongle and get a 3g connection

what I'd like to know is whats the cheapest way to get a connection using a mobile or 3g dongle. I've read lots on this and TBH the info seems to be patchy, I do know because we provide dongles at work that the costs in Europe can be atronomical, last year I used my Vodaphone dongle at a customers site in Holland and ran up a £300+ bill during 1 days work  turns out I connected to an unapproved network not the approved one 

I'm sure those of you who travel a lot in europe know the best and cheapest way to do this


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## Guest (Jan 9, 2010)

I also am keen to see how to get cheap internet without Mcdonalds or an Internet cafe.
Just seen a couple of sites for cheap mobile calls and free inbound calls.
See here, might be interesting to you

What's an International SIM Card? : SIM4travel

and here

https://www.worldsim.com/Default.aspx


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## runnach (Jan 9, 2010)

Well Big G, It is a hunch, and I cant prove it but I think this might be the way.

I have a 3 g dongle for the UK , but as soon as I require roaming ? on a French network etc...I get caned.

Wi FI on campsites as a rule is exhorbitant a  profit centre for the owners

I will be stopping in France for a while so I intend to buy a 'french' dongle.

It has occured to me not possibly as practical for yourself although perhaps the cheapeast solution if you park up in Portugal for a few months.

Tourist information office btw often have free internet, but the keyboards are not qwerty.

I too am interested in the answer to this one, from those members located on the continent

Channa


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## Guest (Jan 9, 2010)

Check this
Orange mobile broadband in France - how to Forums


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## biggirafe (Jan 9, 2010)

channa said:


> Well Big G, It is a hunch, and I cant prove it but I think this might be the way.
> 
> I have a 3 g dongle for the UK , but as soon as I require roaming ? on a French network etc...I get caned.
> 
> ...



I too am thinking that getting a dongle once in France is the best option, does anyone have any info on the tarrifs and where you buy them in France? we were there last year but I can't remember seeing  a mobile shop of the sort we have in the uk.


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## guerdeval (Jan 9, 2010)

Yes there are just the same type of phone shops as we have here, I have a '3' dongle too but its the same model as orange or probably vodafone or O2 (but thats just a guess), so, I would guess if you bought a sim in France or Spain and put it in your UK dongle it would work.  If anyone wants to try this cheaply I bought a '3' dongle and sim when we returned to the UK last April with 12gig? prepaid, we found a house in August so the dongle is now unused with over half the credit still unused, it must be used before April when it expires so first £40 secures. pm me.


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## biggirafe (Jan 9, 2010)

guerdeval said:


> I have a '3' dongle too but its the same model as orange or probably vodafone or O2 (but thats just a guess), so, I would guess if you bought a sim in France or Spain and put it in your UK dongle it would work.


Thanks for the shop info, I guess I was not really looking when we were last in France.

Unfortunatley just like telephones USB dongles are locked to 1 network, so if I took my Vodaphone dongle and put a French Orange sim into it it would not work, But you can unlock them with software on your pc to make them network free.

The big issue I have heard is that the french want french ID when you buy a phone or sim card, I guess they do in the uk as well ? Can anyone confirm this?


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## barryd (Jan 9, 2010)

France is a nightmare and there is no cheap way to do this anymore.  There used to be a Mobicart sim that was reasonable value but it doesnt exist in the format it was.  Now I think its almost as expensive as using your vodfone UK dongle £10 per day.

Other countries are better but you have the issue of getting different sims.

In the end I didnt use my dongle but connected my UK vodafone phone and connected to the very low bandwidth webmail.  This meant I could keep in touch with business emails every couple of days and the charges were minimal as it was just text but as soon as you start browsing it goes mental with the charges.

The only solution I am now considering is a RepeatIT directional wifi antenna.  HAvent got one yet but it will bring in wifi signals from several miles away so hopefully you will find a few unsecured ones and of course it will work anywhere without having to buy sims in each country

Cheers
BD


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## biggirafe (Jan 9, 2010)

barryd said:


> The only solution I am now considering is a RepeatIT directional wifi antenna.  HAvent got one yet but it will bring in wifi signals from several miles away so hopefully you will find a few unsecured ones and of course it will work anywhere without having to buy sims in each country
> 
> Cheers
> BD



Good idea, plenty of people don't make their connection secure. there are 3 around me at home. 

Have you looked at Satalite?. I have but they all seem to be quite pricy but having said that you could also use it as your home connection as well, the isseu as I see it is that you need a phone line therefore mobile for the uplink.


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## guerdeval (Jan 9, 2010)

A motorhoming pal of mine has satellite broadband in his truck and he thinks its great, it also doubles as a normal TV dish but not at the same time, its a German system, the dish remotely finds the satellite somewhere over Eastern Europe and the reception is great even in Portugal and Spain, the downside is cost but he uses it for business so worth it to him, I think its about £1500 a year up front plus the equipment.


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## barryd (Jan 9, 2010)

biggirafe said:


> Good idea, plenty of people don't make their connection secure. there are 3 around me at home.
> 
> Have you looked at Satalite?. I have but they all seem to be quite pricy but having said that you could also use it as your home connection as well, the isseu as I see it is that you need a phone line therefore mobile for the uplink.



And there are ways even if it is secure (he he he) not that I would do anything like that of course and neither would you despite us both being in the IT industry, oh no!

Alden do one I think for £4K and I know someone who has one but the subscriptions are quite expensive.  However they double up as a TV jobby.

I am a tad reluctant to add more space age stuff to the roof along with the Camos and the main reason is that I am hoping that the phone companies will get their act together and provided cheaper 3G EU wide connections.

I hope your more succesful at finding a solution before you go than I was and I would make it a priority as the Internet is crucial to your trip.  We missed loads of stuff through lack of info and next time it will be sorted.

Cheers
Baz


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## BillyB666 (Jan 9, 2010)

Most librarys & Tourist infos in Europe were free when we we out. plus it's normally pennies for an hours worth at most internet cafes.

B


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## TishF650 (Jan 9, 2010)

Couldn't agree more Barry. When will the phone co's get there act together?

It depends what you are looking for. How often do you need it and for how long? How much would you like it considering current home use? And how secure do you need it to be? Would you like Skype for instance?

Satellite internet access is expensive but only in the installation cost you can get access after that for about £50 a month.

Yes we're the ones Barry is referring to BTW!  

Tish


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## Norris (Jan 10, 2010)

barryd said:


> The only solution I am now considering is a RepeatIT directional wifi antenna.  HAvent got one yet but it will bring in wifi signals from several miles away so hopefully you will find a few unsecured ones and of course it will work anywhere without having to buy sims in each country
> 
> Cheers
> BD



Only problem here is that my laptop has the wireless built in so there is nowhere to connect a signal booster to.


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## biggirafe (Jan 10, 2010)

Norris said:


> Only problem here is that my laptop has the wireless built in so there is nowhere to connect a signal booster to.



You would need something like this
High-Gain USB Wireless Networking Adaptor : Wireless Cards - USB : Maplin


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## barryd (Jan 11, 2010)

Norris said:


> Only problem here is that my laptop has the wireless built in so there is nowhere to connect a signal booster to.



It doesnt matter.  The Repeat IT and other devices similar plug into the USB port (they are USB powered) and they dont boost your laptops wifi but bring in their own.  When I get round to it I will road test one and report the results.  

The Vodofone Dongle I have which boasts the best coverage in the UK is rubbish down here.  From leaving Yorkshire on 21 Dec, going to Hayling Island, Isle of Wight and right along the south coast to Cornwall I have only had a 3G signal once near Exeter.  I have always had a connection but a 56k 2G connection which is crap.  Takes 2 hours to compile a list of places to stay and go rather than 20 min on 3G.

It is clear to me though that having the internet (despite the speed) is perhaps the most crucial thing to an enjoyable touring trip almost (but not quite) as important as remembering to bring the lovely Mrs D so it has to be sorted!

Cheers
BD


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## biggirafe (Jan 11, 2010)

barryd said:


> The Vodofone Dongle I have which boasts the best coverage in the UK is rubbish down here.  From leaving Yorkshire on 21 Dec, going to Hayling Island, Isle of Wight and right along the south coast to Cornwall I have only had a 3G signal once near Exeter.  I have always had a connection but a 56k 2G connection which is crap.  Takes 2 hours to compile a list of places to stay and go rather than 20 min on 3G.
> 
> It is clear to me though that having the internet (despite the speed) is perhaps the most crucial thing to an enjoyable touring trip almost (but not quite) as important as remembering to bring the lovely Mrs D so it has to be sorted!
> 
> ...



Hi Barry
I have Vodaphone you probably have tried this but with mine I switch the setttings to '3G only' and it will ignore stronger 2g signals and sometimes gives me a poor 3g connection which is better than a good 2g connection. I've been sat on the roof of the van before now 

TBH I think I'm the same whenever I want to get any information the first thought is 'I'll google that' 

But working in IT I do find it quite stressful not been able to get internet, Nicole gets quite anoyed as I get obsessed with finding somewhere I can pickup a signal.

If we can't survive without internet we should seek help


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## Kontiki (Jan 11, 2010)

I think there are some systems like BT FON where you share your internet & in turn you can share other peoples internet. Most rely on you having an internet fixed line but I think that they are throughtout the world.

France I always find difficult finding unsecured connections, Germany & Belgium are much easier. If you are looking to piggyback on an unsecured system then housing estates or blocks of flats usually are easy to find unsecured wifi. Portugal we found wifi almost everywhere, many tourist information had internet you could use & if you ask they will give you a logon ID & password to use your own PC. I have a couple of USB wifi dongles, I find I can pick up signals from much further away with these Poor Man's WiFi"WIFRY","WOKFI" or "WOKTENNA" 

There are always plenty of interenet cafes where you can use your own equipment, but you should always take care with these. Use your judgment if you are accessing your bank details etc. but if you are just sending emails or browsing the web you should be ok. Found in Spain that we could get online for about 1 to 5 euros an hour. Many campsites also have wifi but these can sometimes be extortionate.


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## biggirafe (Jan 11, 2010)

Kontiki said:


> I have a couple of USB wifi dongles, I find I can pick up signals from much further away with these Poor Man's WiFi"WIFRY","WOKFI" or "WOKTENNA"



 I like the site, I don't feel so silly now having a WOK strategically placed behind my Access Point in the house so that I can work in the van at full power and not send a signal into the neighbours house 

I've been looking at this site
at danets, we enhance your wireless experience: YAGI WiFi antenna
They seem to have some good kit thats well priced.  

As you say a USB Wifi connection will be better than built in and with a roof arial its going to give you a much better chance of getting onto a network, Not too sure I want more holes in the roof though 

As Barry said I don't worry too much about a network being 'Unsecured' there is plenty of software out there that will get you onto a secure network. Not that I would actually do it but being in the industry its important to know about these things


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## runnach (Jan 11, 2010)

A couple of other sites that you IT guys can make sense of and perhaps explain if worth exploring.

Devicescape Wi-Fi | Home

and the better one apparently ?

FON

3 euros for a 24 hour pass.


I too wouldnt piggyback even unsecured sites without authorisation, one or two people been in bother so far in this country. And I am not sure of how foreign authorities view the practise...essentially it amounts to theft.

Channa


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## biggirafe (Jan 11, 2010)

channa said:


> A couple of other sites that you IT guys can make sense of and perhaps explain if worth exploring.
> 
> Devicescape Wi-Fi | Home
> 
> ...



Hi Channa
Both of these look usable, The devicescape looks to be totaly free which can't be bad 
The FON network is bigger as far as I know but you do need to buy one of their routers about £80.I might be wrong but  I do not think you can just be a free end user. 

The downside with both of these is you need to be in a Hotspot to connect to the internet and you need to know where those hotspots are. But if they are added to an arsenal of free tools then why not? 

I've looked on their maps and there are hotspots within 1 mile of me in Gloucester if its the same in Europe then they could be ok but you would need to plan ahead to be in places with a hotspot and ensure you have POI's so that you can get to a hot spot, having said that if you couple this with a High Gain Antena then maybe your onto a winner


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## Pioneer (Jan 11, 2010)

Hi Biggarffe,

Whilst travelling Europe a few years ago, we found no problems for unsecured wifi in Northern Europe, Scandanavia, most villages, schools, collages, universities, if you sit outside, log on. I also used yahoo messenger to talk to friends and family (free). Hotels only to pleased to allow you to logon in the reception area, have a beer or coffee while logged on, just ask, if you don't ask you don't get
Some unsecured wifi available throughout Germany, Belgium, Holland, but then it gets harder and harder to find as you travel south to Spain, Portugal.
I found signals available in Austria and Swiss, at collages and Uni's.
I think Mcdonalds was about 5-6euros for an hour? at the time. Rip off!
If you have good anti virus software installed you should have no problems.
For the mobile I use a Portugese sim on vodaphone, cheap as chips on calls, but not used for a while now so may have changed the tarrif, soon as I get through the tunnel, swap sims over and pay your money.
I am now with BT and Fon, so will be trying this system out sometime in the near future. 250 mins free/month.

Regards,
Bill.


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## guerdeval (Jan 11, 2010)

In France there are many free wi-fi spots that you just stumble across, mostly bars and hotels ,you have to suffer the adverts popping up every minute or so, if you're in Huelgoat, Brittany there are 3! , hopefully typical of most small towns by now.


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## biggirafe (Jan 11, 2010)

Pioneer said:


> I am now with BT and Fon, so will be trying this system out sometime in the near future. 250 mins free/month.
> 
> Regards,
> Bill.



Hi Bill
Thanks for the info.

Fon looks very good if you have an account, they started in Spain so spain coverage should be very good, let me know how you get on please I might just invest in this myself


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## AndyC (Jan 11, 2010)

*PeekFon*

Don't know much about it but this might be of interest for those who just need email access in Europe: PeekFON mobile email everywhere

AndyC


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## t&s (Jan 11, 2010)

*3g for me*

for the laptop a 3g dongle 
one seperate one purchaced in each country you visit is the cheapest way we found 
available in most hypermarkets or the like or local phone shops
atach directly to your laptop away you go no need to connect to the phone. 
for the mobiles we use tesco mobile abroad and find it works well everyehere we have been


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## maingate (Jan 11, 2010)

Maybe I am a bit out of date here but when we were in Spain etc. on holiday, we bought a phone card from a local shop and used public phone boxes.

Is this no longer an option or just too old fashioned? It used to work out fairly cheaply when ringing home.


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## Norris (Jan 11, 2010)

biggirafe said:


> If we can't survive without internet we should seek help



You could probably get help online!!


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## barryd (Jan 11, 2010)

maingate said:


> Maybe I am a bit out of date here but when we were in Spain etc. on holiday, we bought a phone card from a local shop and used public phone boxes.
> 
> Is this no longer an option or just too old fashioned? It used to work out fairly cheaply when ringing home.



Go to Bed!

I heard about Fon.  Never once  saw a signal in France from one though.  The issue I have is that we often (as do many I guess) find ourselves in some wild spot or Aire out in the sticks.  You are seldom parked for the day / night in a town centre where you may pick up a wifi point.  I found that if I had to do a job which required remote access to a PC in the UK it meant either jumping on the bike and driving to the nearest wifi spot or going to a Ti  or internet cafe.  

This trip we are on has proved that the internet is invaluable and despite it being mainly slow it has made the trip better and thanks to tracking the weather possible!  

I am going to crack this and will start with the wifi RepeatIT antenna which I Will road test and report back.

BD


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## biggirafe (Jan 11, 2010)

barryd said:


> Go to Bed!
> 
> I heard about Fon.  Never once  saw a signal in France from one though.
> I am going to crack this and will start with the wifi RepeatIT antenna which I Will road test and report back.
> ...



Hi Barry
Have a look at this, I suspect the reason we can't see the signals is because they are not broadcasting their SSID, there are flipping hundreds of access points around me, I've been reading up this afternoon pretty much every BT wifi basestation is now FON activated.
FON Maps

I think if you coupled a FON account with a powerful USB wifi card and exterior arial or directional arial you would be onto somthing useful without spending a fortune. Joining is just a case of buying the base station about £39 quid at the moment. 

What I'd like to know is when I'm travelling how long can I turn off my base station and my FON account stays active?


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## runnach (Jan 11, 2010)

biggirafe said:


> Hi Barry
> Have a look at this, I suspect the reason we can't see the signals is because they are not broadcasting their SSID, there are flipping hundreds of access points around me, I've been reading up this afternoon pretty much every BT wifi basestation is now FON activated.
> FON Maps
> 
> ...



Well come on then that man ....gave you a lead share how we do it without sharing a shower with strange men !!!

You know you would miss my teasings !!!

Channa


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## dorset boy (Jan 11, 2010)

*wi-fi*

If you use free wi-fi be carefull of hackers and keep your lap top empty, I carry all my work/info on a portable drive.

Phone home? just use Skype, cheap and easy and free pc to pc.

rgds Mike


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## maingate (Jan 11, 2010)

If anyone will be doing online banking abroad then HSBC has a good system.

They issue a dongle that randomly generates a passcode which is effective for a short period and will be useless to hackers.

barryd,

I know something that you do not and you will not be happy when you find out.


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## biggirafe (Jan 12, 2010)

channa said:


> Well come on then that man ....gave you a lead share how we do it without sharing a shower with strange men !!!
> 
> You know you would miss my teasings !!!
> 
> Channa



Joining is just a case of buying the base station about £39 quid at the moment. 

Thats it Channa go to the website for FON as far as I can see you buy a base station then plug it into your broadband conection at home. I would expect that they will also send you some software that will enable you to connect your laptop to any other FON base station that you are near to. So when you travel about its just a case of looking at their map and parking near a base station. From what I can see you do need to plug the base station in to activate the service.

FON Maps 

In short your base station will allow other people to securely use your broadband conection and you can then use other peoples. From what I have read you can decide how much of your broadband you share and its done in a secure way so that people using your connection can not break into your network, we do a similar thing at work so that we can have multiple networks using the same infrastructure.

FON

Using their map I can see plenty of people are sharing all over europe. If you were to use a big arial on your van you will get signals from further away, just like having an arial on the roof of your house opposed to having a small one on top of your telly.

I have not used this service and can only tell you what I have read on the internet, I am an IT manager so I can say the idea is very very good and the number of base stations seems to be very large, they have a tie in with BT in the UK and all BT base stations now have FON built in. But you do not have to be using a BT Connection you can plug the base station into any connection.

Like all WIFI you do need to be in a hot spot which if you think about your own WiFi at home is often only 20 - 40 feet away from the base station but with so many BT connections in the UK this should not be difficult. Looking on their map it would seem this has really taken off in Spain and France.

With the map page I have found you sometimes need to press F5 to get it to load properly, then zoom into your postcode I was surprised to find that I am surrounded by FON base stations, I think they must be BT Broadband users who have FON activated basestations, its automatic with BT now unless you choose to opt out

FON Maps


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## barryd (Jan 12, 2010)

The Fon server seems to be playing up right now but if your right Mark that they are everywhere then as you suggested coupled with a good antenna then this is another option and for £39 its worth a go.  I could get one for our office and try it along with the antenna.  If it dont work then ill just flea bay it or stick it in room 101 (the garage of junk)




maingate said:


> barryd,
> 
> I know something that you do not and you will not be happy when you find out.



Ok then Ill bite.  Out with it paingate.

BD


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## biggirafe (Jan 12, 2010)

barryd said:


> The Fon server seems to be playing up right now
> 
> 
> in room 101 (the garage of junk)
> BD




Morning barry, must do some work soon 

FON server is good for me, 

Room 101, yes I had one of them, 20 years worth of HiFi kit and odds n sods that I had bought for pc's over the years, we've been clearing it out, about £2,500 made from flee bat so far. 

Nicole scoffed when I got my old LP's down. She stopped laughing when a Jimi Hendrix LP hit £30 quid in about 4 hours


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## barryd (Jan 12, 2010)

Dont think the contents of our garage will fetch that much!  Well actually it might as there is the 11ft dingy and outboard I bought when we got the van and used once, theres a windsurfer in there somewhere and an antique sowing machine.  hmm.

At least you have some work to do, so far this year I have flogged a monitor and appart from a bit of support work and a job lined up for next week, naff all happening.  Which is great as work gets in the way of my MH life!

Cheers


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## biggirafe (Jan 12, 2010)

biggirafe said:


> Joining is just a case of buying the base station about £39 quid at the moment.
> 
> Thats it Channa go to the website for FON as far as I can see you buy a base station then plug it into your broadband conection at home. I would expect that they will also send you some software that will enable you to connect your laptop to any other FON base station that you are near to. So when you travel about its just a case of looking at their map and parking near a base station. From what I can see you do need to plug the base station in to activate the service.
> 
> ...



Further to this post I have spoken to another IT manager I know who uses this service. A few things he clarified

If you unplug the base station at home you will not be able to login to someone elses base station. So no good for fulltimers unless you know someone who will house your FON base station for you.

The speed you allow other to connect to your base station denotes the speed that you can connect to another base station, so if you are tight and only allow a slow connection at home for others that is all you will get when you are out and about.

The FON base stations are quite a weak signal so you do need to park quite close to a lot of them to get a good signal. A decent arial on your laptop does solve this.

Anywhere that has BT Openzone now allows you to connect, so this is a lot of motorway service stations and coffee shops.

He has no complaints and uses it a lot when out and about


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## runnach (Jan 12, 2010)

biggirafe said:


> So no good for fulltimers unless you know someone who will house your FON base station for you.




This is starting to make sense casting my mind back, when I first went full time.

When I had a house I had bt broadband, But because I no longer owned a land line I had to terminate the service.( cost me a lot of money too)

So in your case,futureintentions, if you donate the box to someone trustworthy, and offer their address for all intents and purposes as your new residence. ( for example I use a parental address for bank accounts insurance etc) there is no reason why you couldnt use the fon network.

You in effect provide them with free broadband, they pay for calls outside the monthly allowance.So two for one as if were.

£25 -£30 per month assuming no hidden roaming ? charges, Sounds aperfect solution to me.

In my case I still think it is the dongle idea.

Channa


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## barryd (Jan 12, 2010)

Well thats not an issue for me as I live in the middle of nowhere so would gladly share full bandwidth as nobody will want to use it and when I am away I always leave the aDSL line on and connected anyway.  If I full time I will just register or give the box to my sister (she wont know what it is anyway).

Bit worrying about the signal being crap but only testing with the wifi antenna will show if it works.  BT Openzone I have picked up.  Are you saying if your a FON member you will be able to login and use it?  Are there any others in say France you can log into.  I remember picking one up all the time in France in most towns but I cant for the life of me remember the network.  There may be loads of options for subscription wifi.  Just needs a bit more exploring.

Not sure how to mount the repeatIT unit.  I think it will work inside the van but clearly would be better pole mounted outside.  You couldnt really drive with it though.  Ideally I would like it mounted so I can turn it from inside the van and point it in the general direction of say a town a mile away.  Dont really want to be hanging wires out of the window.  Problem is I can sort out IT solutions but I am crap at drilling holes and stuff.

BD


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## biggirafe (Jan 12, 2010)

channa said:


> This is starting to make sense casting my mind back, when I first went full time.
> 
> When I had a house I had bt broadband, But because I no longer owned a land line I had to terminate the service.( cost me a lot of money too)
> 
> ...



As barry says for me it will cost nothing more than buying the FON box you don't have to have a BT broadband connection you can just buy the box on a one off £39 and plug it onto any connection

When we go away I'll plug it into my dads network at his house. No monthly charge for me at all.


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## maingate (Jan 12, 2010)

Patience barryd, all will be revealed.


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## biggirafe (Jan 12, 2010)

barryd said:


> Well thats not an issue for me as I live in the middle of nowhere so would gladly share full bandwidth as nobody will want to use it and when I am away I always leave the aDSL line on and connected anyway.  If I full time I will just register or give the box to my sister (she wont know what it is anyway).
> 
> Bit worrying about the signal being crap but only testing with the wifi antenna will show if it works.  BT Openzone I have picked up.  Are you saying if your a FON member you will be able to login and use it?  Are there any others in say France you can log into.  I remember picking one up all the time in France in most towns but I cant for the life of me remember the network.  There may be loads of options for subscription wifi.  Just needs a bit more exploring.
> 
> ...



Yes from what i read BT Open Zone and FON can use each others networks
News article - News - BT Openzone

I'm not sure what FON would show up as in Europe and that bit I'm trying to check but they are definatley there as they are a spanish company and also BT Openzone has a pretty big presence as well. I can see me spending money before this day is out but I want tocheck out some French users before I spend any money 

Yep same here I'm not happy drilling anymore holes, it took me 2 weeks to pluck up the courage to drill the hole for the Solar Panel. I'm looking at mounting an internal arial inside the wardrobe as high as possible. I don't think your better half would be happy with a 14 element arial hanging from the ceiling on a rotating base


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## Nolly (Jan 12, 2010)

Braved the snow today to try and find the best solution for an internet connection for tourists in France.
 Carrfour were the most helpful where you can buy a cle internet 3G+ Sans engagement for 69€ with a 40€ refund from SFR. 3hrs connection is included in the price. Then you buy as you surf. 1hr 7€, 3hrs 16€, 8hrs 26€,15hrs, 39€ Each one is valid for 15 days. Or you can buy 1 day (24hrs) for 9€ which will be only valid for the day.
A French address is not needed.
Hope this helps


----------



## biggirafe (Jan 12, 2010)

Nolly said:


> Braved the snow today to try and find the best solution for an internet connection for tourists in France.
> Carrfour were the most helpful where you can buy a cle internet 3G+ Sans engagement for 69€ with a 40€ refund from SFR. 3hrs connection is included in the price. Then you buy as you surf. 1hr 7€, 3hrs 16€, 8hrs 26€,15hrs, 39€ Each one is valid for 15 days. Or you can buy 1 day (24hrs) for 9€ which will be only valid for the day.
> A French address is not needed.
> Hope this helps



Very helpful, thanks for the reply, looks useful please let me know how you get on with finding 3g connections in France


----------



## maingate (Jan 12, 2010)

I do not know if it will be suitable, some time ago I came across an aerial that clips on to the wing mirror. It was not that expensive either.

You will need to google it to check.


----------



## runnach (Jan 12, 2010)

Nolly said:


> Braved the snow today to try and find the best solution for an internet connection for tourists in France.
> Carrfour were the most helpful where you can buy a cle internet 3G+ Sans engagement for 69€ with a 40€ refund from SFR. 3hrs connection is included in the price. Then you buy as you surf. 1hr 7€, 3hrs 16€, 8hrs 26€,15hrs, 39€ Each one is valid for 15 days. Or you can buy 1 day (24hrs) for 9€ which will be only valid for the day.
> A French address is not needed.
> Hope this helps



Very helpful, but a tad expensive compared to dongles here...I think 

Channa


----------



## barryd (Jan 12, 2010)

My thoughts as well Channa

7 Euro for 1 hour!!  Why is it so expensive in France? I get 3GB on my Vodafone dongle which is tons and tons of usage in the van for £15 per month.  Unlimited usage on my mobile as part of the contract as well.  I would be more than happy to pay double that for EU use but nobodys listenting!

Either mobile broadband is not popular over there or people are paying through the nose for it.  I suspect the former as from my experience the French we met arnt exactly wealthy and dont like wasting money.

BD


----------



## runnach (Jan 12, 2010)

I certainly think if the hi gain antenna mentioned and the fon system is as good as it seems....the way to go !

I think I may too part with money and get my Mum and Dad to fit the box, On their system.


Channa


----------



## barryd (Jan 12, 2010)

Lets keep the post going and share our findings.  I will definatly get the RepeatIT antenna and report on its performance and probably the FON thingy too


----------



## Nolly (Jan 12, 2010)

I agree, and as a resident in France if i was going down this road I would opt for the unlimited internet use by sighning up for 24 months with orange or SFR @ 29.90€ per month.
For this a French address and French bank account are needed. Not much use for tourists I guess.
We,ve had good feedback from people of all nationalities who holiday on the French canals about the free wifi conections available and they have a limited scope being confined to the waterways.
We hope to head down to the med as soon as the weather breaks and we will be trying this out.


----------



## Nolly (Jan 12, 2010)

barryd said:


> My thoughts as well Channa
> 
> 7 Euro for 1 hour!!  Why is it so expensive in France? I get 3GB on my Vodafone dongle which is tons and tons of usage in the van for £15 per month.  Unlimited usage on my mobile as part of the contract as well.  I would be more than happy to pay double that for EU use but nobodys listenting!
> 
> ...


Sorry guys you asked the question so i thought I would get the answere straight from the horses mouth. I think the free wifi connection is the way to go, Hope to give you some feedback in a week or 2.


----------



## biggirafe (Jan 12, 2010)

Nolly said:


> Sorry guys you asked the question so i thought I would get the answere straight from the horses mouth. I think the free wifi connection is the way to go, Hope to give you some feedback in a week or 2.



Actually I don't think its a bad way to go as an emergency back up, spending 7E every 15 days to ensure you have access when you can't get onto a wifi connection is not that bad a deal. You can do a lot of surfing in 1 hour and also can top up again if needed. 

From memory if you fail to topup a prepay dongle thats not a problem as when you try to connect they will take you to payment web page where you can then top up. Can anyone confirm that?

I agree with the guys that as an everyday connection it would work out expensive if all you do is email and upload a few photos to a blog each day. 

Do you know Nolly can the sim be put into a phone and used to make standard calls if needed?


----------



## barryd (Jan 12, 2010)

biggirafe said:


> Actually I don't think its a bad way to go as an emergency back up, spending 7E every 15 days to ensure you have access when you can't get onto a wifi connection is not that bad a deal. You can do a lot of surfing in 1 hour and also can top up again if needed.
> 
> From memory if you fail to topup a prepay dongle thats not a problem as when you try to connect they will take you to payment web page where you can then top up. Can anyone confirm that?
> 
> ...



But bear in mind Mark that if you havent got a 3G connection you can spend ages on a 2G trying to find the info you need.  On this trip our connection has always worked but is crap and slow most of the time (Thanks for the 3G tip by the way it works here).  Just compiling a list of CL's or wild spots for the next part of the trip can take a couple of hours.  Still ok as a backup though I suppose.  It would be so much better if you could buy say 3GB of usage for say 30 euros.  That would easily last a month or so.  much better than time allocated units.

Thanks Nolly for your info its greatly appreciated to have someone actually in France giving us info from the Horses mouth as you say.


----------



## Nolly (Jan 12, 2010)

biggirafe said:


> Actually I don't think its a bad way to go as an emergency back up, spending 7E every 15 days to ensure you have access when you can't get onto a wifi connection is not that bad a deal. You can do a lot of surfing in 1 hour and also can top up again if needed.
> 
> From memory if you fail to topup a prepay dongle thats not a problem as when you try to connect they will take you to payment web page where you can then top up. Can anyone confirm that?
> 
> ...



Thanks for that bit of positive response, you obviously realise that with a short or no contract its difficult to get a competitive tarrif. I dont think its such a bad deal short term as you can also juggle it with the free wifi conections avaiable. Also remember you have 3hrs conection with the purchase.
 In answere to your question I am not sure but will find out for you.
Cheers.


----------



## biggirafe (Jan 12, 2010)

barryd said:


> But bear in mind Mark that if you havent got a 3G connection you can spend ages on a 2G trying to find the info you need.  On this trip our connection has always worked but is crap and slow most of the time
> 
> It would be so much better if you could buy say 3GB of usage for say 30 euros.  That would easily last a month or so.  much better than time allocated units.



Agreed paying for 3g and then only getting a grps connection is bloody annoying  expecially when you can see other 3g networks are available but can't connect. I wonder if unlocking the dongle allows you to do that Hmmmm 

Yep your right about gb's


----------



## runnach (Jan 12, 2010)

barryd said:


> .  It would be so much better if you could buy say 3GB of usage for say 30 euros.  That would easily last a month or so.  much better than time allocated units.
> 
> Thanks Nolly for your info its greatly appreciated to have someone actually in France giving us info from the Horses mouth as you say.



I agree thanks Nolly from our correspondant in France.

Here I pay, £15 for 3gb, on a 3G dongle, it seems on face value the French tarriffs differ significantly.

Channa


----------



## Nolly (Jan 12, 2010)

I have just googled "free wifi in France." Found "JIwire global wifi finder".
They say that there are 26272 free wifi sites in France alone. Just click onto the region and then the towns for the location of each site. Could be useful me thinks.


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## Nosha (Jan 13, 2010)

*BT Home hub - FREE wi-fi*

I've just changed from Orange to BT with their free Home up, if you then open up the free port on your hub, this then gives you 250mins of FREE wi-fi a month through anyone elses hub.

It's linked in with FON network which covers Europe, I checked the map of France and there's quite a bit of coverage, certainly it will cover where we are going later this year.

Take a look via BT: broadband, TV, phone, home & business  and the FON network coverage.


----------



## maingate (Jan 14, 2010)

Hi Biggirafe,

If you go to Motorhome Facts, there is a big thread on Long range WiFi Aerials. You might pick up some useful info.


----------



## barryd (Jan 15, 2010)

Not a good sign regarding FON on here.

Fon Wifi Forums


----------



## biggirafe (Jan 15, 2010)

barryd said:


> Not a good sign regarding FON on here.
> 
> Fon Wifi Forums



 doesn't sound hopeful. I think that I'm going to order a nice big ugly roof ariel first and see what networks I can then see which I could not before having it.


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## barryd (Jan 15, 2010)

biggirafe said:


> doesn't sound hopeful. I think that I'm going to order a nice big ugly roof ariel first and see what networks I can then see which I could not before having it.



Yes me too.  Want to go for the RepeatIT but I need to work out the best way to mount it.  Dont really want wires trailing through the windows but may be the only way.  

I did wonder about siting it on the top of the ladder and then just trailing the USB lead through the badly fitting garage doors and up behind the rear loundge seats.  Obviously talking it down when we move.  What do you think?

Going to order one when I get home which will now be Sunday!

BD


----------



## biggirafe (Jan 15, 2010)

barryd said:


> Ybadly fitting garage doors and up behind the rear loundge seats.  Obviously talking it down when we move.  What do you think?
> BD



Well mine were badly fitting I managed to fix mine and stop em leaking. It would work but not sure whether they are built for being driven into the wind at 70mph 

As the van is fibre glass you have got to wonder if there is a need to mount it outside and gain maybe 1 foot over having it in say the top of the wardrobe. then maybe if you are parked for a few days put it outside.

You could almost do with a usb port being fitted outside somehow, have you looked at boat sites as they have some pretty good outdoor connections and lifting covers for this type of thing, deapth finers and cockpit equipment needs to be plugged in and then stowed later after use.

If you are worried about the holes and fitting on the roof come and park on my drive I've done a few now 

Added a bit later

Here you go
http://www.indexmarine.co.uk/pages/wtrprfconns1.htm


----------



## Kontiki (Jan 15, 2010)

Had a play around tonight after looking at the fon hotspots shown on the map I have a few around me. With just my internal wifi I can see my network & my neighbours. I plugged in my wifi dongle using an extension USB cable, in fact I have 2 wifi dongles (not bragging I had one the daughter lost it got me to send for one to replace it & bought herself one then when the wife was helping her tidy up she found it ) If I plug them both in I can connect both of them to the same or different wifi connections (it used to be possible to connect a couple of modems 'shotgunning' to increase the overall speed) not sure if there is any benefit to doing this. 

With the extra wifi I can see about a dozen wifi spots & at least one BTFon. I connected to it & got the start page where I could buy a day/week or month pass.


----------



## biggirafe (Jan 15, 2010)

Kontiki said:


> Had a play around tonight after looking at the fon hotspots shown on the map I have a few around me. With just my internal wifi I can see my network & my neighbours. I plugged in my wifi dongle using an extension USB cable, in fact I have 2 wifi dongles (not bragging I had one the daughter lost it got me to send for one to replace it & bought herself one then when the wife was helping her tidy up she found it ) If I plug them both in I can connect both of them to the same or different wifi connections (it used to be possible to connect a couple of modems 'shotgunning' to increase the overall speed) not sure if there is any benefit to doing this.
> 
> With the extra wifi I can see about a dozen wifi spots & at least one BTFon. I connected to it & got the start page where I could buy a day/week or month pass.



Good work, certainly proves the idea that using external wifi is the better way to go, I guess you will be taking one and a usb cable with you in the van from now on


----------



## ajs (Jan 15, 2010)

.

 i've been following this fred...still havn't clue wtf your all onabout 

 retards
aj


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## Kontiki (Jan 15, 2010)

Whose 'Fred'  Next you'll be saying you don't play with your dongle.

My old laptop didn't have wifi & so I first bought a usb dongle down in Spain. I started messing about with the wifi on the end of a cable, used to stick on the large wind up Heki skylight & it was suprising what you can pick up. They only cost a tenner or less & can dramatically increase your wifi. If you are only using the internal wifi on your laptop you are sitting inside an aluminum box (not good for getting signals) I noticed the difference to our old van which was GRP which gave much stronger signals.


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## ajs (Jan 16, 2010)

Kontiki said:


> Whose 'Fred'  _*Next you'll be saying you don't play with your dongle*_.
> 
> .



.. i employ peeps to do that for me 

 regards 
aj


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## biggirafe (Jan 16, 2010)

Kontiki said:


> Whose 'Fred'  Next you'll be saying you don't play with your dongle.
> 
> My old laptop didn't have wifi & so I first bought a usb dongle down in Spain. I started messing about with the wifi on the end of a cable, used to stick on the large wind up Heki skylight & it was suprising what you can pick up. They only cost a tenner or less & can dramatically increase your wifi. If you are only using the internal wifi on your laptop you are sitting inside an aluminum box (not good for getting signals) I noticed the difference to our old van which was GRP which gave much stronger signals.



If you fancy spending some money then look at things like this
Faculty-X Homeplug WiFi & Wireless Antenna Systems

or

http://www.faculty-x.net/8db long range usb antenna.htm

or

+30dBm NextG USB-Yagi High Power WiFi Antenna Ubuntu W7 on eBay (end time 16-Jan-10 19:16:44 GMT)

These will pull in WiFi from a serious distance, we use similar to this to connect warehouse over quite long distances on industrial estates when we need to install networks without the expense of using BT landlines


----------



## barryd (Jan 16, 2010)

biggirafe said:


> As the van is fibre glass you have got to wonder if there is a need to mount it outside and gain maybe 1 foot over having it in say the top of the wardrobe. then maybe if you are parked for a few days put it outside.
> 
> You could almost do with a usb port being fitted outside somehow, have you looked at boat sites as they have some pretty good outdoor connections and lifting covers for this type of thing, deapth finers and cockpit equipment needs to be plugged in and then stowed later after use.



So do you reckon the device will work as well in the van as out?  Presumably height is an advantage but I guess the only thing to do is just get one and try it.



ajs said:


> .
> 
> i've been following this fred...still havn't clue wtf your all onabout
> 
> ...



Dont worry your little shiny head about it.  When we have found a solution to get free internet in your van every where we will gladly sell you it.

BD


----------



## biggirafe (Jan 16, 2010)

barryd said:


> So do you reckon the device will work as well in the van as out?  Presumably height is an advantage but I guess the only thing to do is just get one and try it.
> BD



Morning 
Well fibre glass won't stop the signal, your right of course the higher the better, but if you are going to bolt it to the ladder then you are only gaining a foot +  a hole in the van 

If you trail a cable down the van and in through the door you might need an extention will the power drop make a difference, I take it these are self powered from the usb port so perhaps this could be an issue. 

As you say 'trial and error', try it inside the wardrobe first and see where you go from there


----------



## ajs (Jan 16, 2010)

biggirafe said:


> As you say 'trial and error', try it inside the wardrobe first and see where you go from there




tried that 1 once.... he found us 

 regards 
aj


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## NicknClair (Jan 16, 2010)

It is a difficult one when it comes to the best way in using internet abroad. Satellite is by far the most reliable, as you have to plan your route around WiFi use if you depend on it. This can then reflect on the true nature of wild camping.
I can quote quite a few people that do both (Satellite and Wifi), but each with their own different circumstances, more important is the length if time you are spending in the van, this will have a big effect on which option you take. From speaking to customers, people whom spend alot of time in their vans or are working from home normally bite the bullet and purchace satellite as it also provides TV. Customer's whom are just on stop gaps will use WiFi. There are a few people that use dongles but whilst 3G and GPRS (these are the terms for the technology used) are still patchy, that comes with it's own set of problems for people whom really want to travel around.
Bottom line is this.................. if you want reliable and stable internet anywhere, satellite is the answer. I you want cheap Wifi, but be prepared to plan your route if you depend on it! Dongle I don't consider as a cheap alternative as over a long period of time, you still are paying for it (whether it be contract or PAYG). This I know as my Blackberry Phone uses both Wifi and GPRS/3G on orange, but had the shock when I got home and saw the bill! Won't be taking it again, will use the wife phone for calls!


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## barryd (Jan 16, 2010)

nickjvanbitz said:


> It is a difficult one when it comes to the best way in using internet abroad. Satellite is by far the most reliable, as you have to plan your route around WiFi use if you depend on it. This can then reflect on the true nature of wild camping.
> I can quote quite a few people that do both (Satellite and Wifi), but each with their own different circumstances, more important is the length if time you are spending in the van, this will have a big effect on which option you take. From speaking to customers, people whom spend alot of time in their vans or are working from home normally bite the bullet and purchace satellite as it also provides TV. Customer's whom are just on stop gaps will use WiFi. There are a few people that use dongles but whilst 3G and GPRS (these are the terms for the technology used) are still patchy, that comes with it's own set of problems for people whom really want to travel around.



You might be right about satellite but I think I will explore the Antenna route and test it first.  £100 as apose to £4000 plus £50 per month.  If it doesnt work or proves to be a pain then maybe this is what we will have to do.


----------



## NicknClair (Jan 16, 2010)

Totally understand with your comments barryD, you can get a unit for about £3300 fitted mind and the tarrifs can work around your use of the motorhome.
Have a look;
IPcopter - mobile internet communication


----------



## coolasluck (Jan 16, 2010)

We will be full timing in about 5 years time so will be interesting to see if technology alters in this time.Probably sattelite for me for the tv,but with regards to the price,lets just see how things pan out.


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## NicknClair (Jan 16, 2010)

coolasluck said:


> We will be full timing in about 5 years time so will be interesting to see if technology alters in this time.Probably sattelite for me for the tv,but with regards to the price,lets just see how things pan out.



A valid point to make, I think the only thing that will be cheaper is tarrifs on the satellite rather than equipment. This observation was made when a certain manufacturer didn't include a package when the equipment was installed, and left the customer to decide what was best for him/her.

Good luck with the 5 year plan


----------



## barryd (Jan 16, 2010)

What is frustrating is that we all carry the 3G dongles around with us in the UK, pay £15 per month and they work nearly everywhere.  The technology is all over Europe but the providers cant seem to get together and provide an EU wide package.  Vodafone managed to waive there passport charges in June, July and August for phone calls which meant I could call all over Europe and just use my normal UK contract minutes.  Brilliant, but it didnt include data.  If they can somehow do this so we can simply use our dongles at a set tarrif anywhere then problem solved, for ever!

Is there anyone out there in the telecoms industry that can explain why they are reluctant to do this?

It cant be because they are creaming it in when people connect their dongles abroad because as far as I am aware nobody is daft enough to use them outside the UK so we arent getting connected and they arent making any money from us.

Perhaps this will be the next stage over the next 5 years.  EU wide tarrifs?  Wont hold me breath!


----------



## NicknClair (Jan 16, 2010)

barryd said:


> What is frustrating is that we all carry the 3G dongles around with us in the UK, pay £15 per month and they work nearly everywhere.  The technology is all over Europe but the providers cant seem to get together and provide an EU wide package.  Vodafone managed to waive there passport charges in June, July and August for phone calls which meant I could call all over Europe and just use my normal UK contract minutes.  Brilliant, but it didnt include data.  If they can somehow do this so we can simply use our dongles at a set tarrif anywhere then problem solved, for ever!
> 
> Is there anyone out there in the telecoms industry that can explain why they are reluctant to do this?
> 
> ...



If only!!!! The main problem I had with my Blackberry phone (along with some other internet phones), is that it automaticly access's the internet to check for updates and emails on it's own, so you end up paying for that as well, hence why mine's staying at home!!


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## biggirafe (Jan 16, 2010)

nickjvanbitz said:


> If only!!!! The main problem I had with my Blackberry phone (along with some other internet phones), is that it automaticly access's the internet to check for updates and emails on it's own, so you end up paying for that as well, hence why mine's staying at home!!




Hi, with my Blackberry you can turn off the bits you don't want or need when you are abroad, You should check out the settings. I always turn off my work email but keep my phone, my boss or customers can text or leave messages for me then if its an absolute emergency. But its quite useful to have the BB just in case


----------



## defitzi (Feb 21, 2010)

*defitzi*



***** said:


> I also am keen to see how to get cheap internet without Mcdonalds or an Internet cafe.
> Just seen a couple of sites for cheap mobile calls and free inbound calls.
> See here, might be interesting to you
> 
> ...



I have no shares in this but I have found my o2 with a 10 quid roaming addon as cheap as they come tho I still use cheapies (ask what's available in service stations) as well -like ORTEL in Belge and Auchan in France . Beware tho'- Auchan, tho' it's s'mkts are very very big, is not as widely spread as some others and a bit sparse in the lower half of France! But that being so-it is quite good value-for fones and 8 houirs 3 g is 25 euros AFTER bujying the dongle IF U can do so...see Normas's posting re roaming.


----------



## defitzi (Feb 21, 2010)

*defitzi*



biggirafe said:


> Thanks for the shop info, I guess I was not really looking when we were last in France.
> 
> Unfortunatley just like telephones USB dongles are locked to 1 network, so if I took my Vodaphone dongle and put a French Orange sim into it it would not work, But you can unlock them with software on your pc to make them network free.
> 
> The big issue I have heard is that the french want french ID when you buy a phone or sim card, I guess they do in the uk as well ? Can anyone confirm this?


yup-they do. But give themn any address and they'll probably take it. Your guarantyees won't work of course, as any post will be sent there etc. good idea is use the address of hotel (I use boatyards and/or marinas on rivers or canals).   Ifg U want to be tricky invent a boat name -tghen any b umpf will arrive at boat lace, they hold/do nopt hole and uncollected-they trash. Or they look-ah, not one of ours based here-and trash immediatly which is very nice for people cruising who have given friends that address pending their arrival!  Similarly, campsite address will probably work but iof one says no then try the next sales place and so on....generally speaking french shopkeepers are rapacious and want the sale-not the fiddle-faddle!


----------



## defitzi (Feb 21, 2010)

*defitzi*



ajs said:


> .
> 
> i've been following this fred...still havn't clue wtf your all onabout
> 
> ...


har-har har har totally lost but fascinated!


----------



## defitzi (Feb 21, 2010)

*defitzi*



barryd said:


> What is frustrating is that we all carry the 3G dongles around with us in the UK, pay £15 per month and they work nearly everywhere.  The technology is all over Europe but the providers cant seem to get together and provide an EU wide package.  Vodafone managed to waive there passport charges in June, July and August for phone calls which meant I could call all over Europe and just use my normal UK contract minutes.  Brilliant, but it didnt include data.  If they can somehow do this so we can simply use our dongles at a set tarrif anywhere then problem solved, for ever!
> 
> Is there anyone out there in the telecoms industry that can explain why they are reluctant to do this?
> 
> ...



Simple dear watson: they ARE & THEY OWN the whole works abroad too- so pay the piper or kick him arse first out the window and eat lots of Macs or wherever U can get wifi FREE- free IS improving allthetime across Europpe but too many still see it as an axtra ration of dollally instead of an attraction to customers!


----------



## runnach (Feb 21, 2010)

BG, they deffo dont want POA in the UK I have had to buy two dongles I damaged the first one ( well the dog did). I found Staples the best place £65 but 3 gb come pre loaded.

As for addresses abroad, as Defitzi says great if you are on a site you can get things posted there.

However if you are wilding permanent still not a problem, Visit the local post office and ask if they do' Agence Postale' it is  basically their address with your name and Agence Postale on the address of the envelope.

Turn up with your passport as proof of Id and off you go.

I got a UK tax disc sent this way, ( via my parents)along with other correspondence.

Channa


----------



## defitzi (Feb 21, 2010)

*defitzi*



barryd said:


> What is frustrating is that we all carry the 3G dongles around with us in the UK, pay £15 per month and they work nearly everywhere.  The technology is all over Europe but the providers cant seem to get together and provide an EU wide package.  Vodafone managed to waive there passport charges in June, July and August for phone calls which meant I could call all over Europe and just use my normal UK contract minutes.  Brilliant, but it didnt include data.  If they can somehow do this so we can simply use our dongles at a set tarrif anywhere then problem solved, for ever!
> 
> Is there anyone out there in the telecoms industry that can explain why they are reluctant to do this?
> 
> ...



DeFitzi   
Simple dear watson: they ARE & OWN the whole lot ab road too- so pay the piper or kick him arse first out the window and eat lots of Macs or wherever U can get wifi FREE- free IS improving all the time across Europe but too many still see it as an axtra ration of dollally instead of an attraction to customers!


----------



## barryd (Mar 26, 2010)

*Wifi Antenna update*

Hi All

I finally got round to ordering the RepeatIT Wifi Antenna from here Faculty-X Homeplug WiFi & Wireless Antenna Systems After shelling out over £2500 for a new axle I didnt feel like buying anything else for a while!  However its hopefully going to pay me back (its a business expense anyway)

At Easter I will be going away to France for a month so will perform a proper trial and report back but initial tests look promising.  Just pointing it out of the window in the house (inside) in either direction picks up pretty much all the wifi routers in the village (about 20).  Quite a few BT Openzones and a couple of Fon sites but of course Im not a member of either. 

It comes with a mounting kit so it easily goes on the top of the rear ladder on the van.  Im going to leave the mount fixed to the ladder and its just one bolt to hand tighten onto the antenna when on site.  Or I may just point it through a dinette window.  Its free standing so I can do either.

I drove to the next hamlet about a mile away and slung the thing on the roof of the car pointed loosely back towards my house.  I picked up 3 signals.  Its not a good test though as our houses have very thick stone built walls and many locals struggle with wifi within their own houses.  (They have been watching me with interest driving around with things sticking out of the van and the roof of my car).  Ill probably be accused of being a witch and burned.

The software can be a little tricky to understand as it takes over from the standard Windows wifi connection chooser but its easy to change it back.

I also downloaded some software called Easywifiradar which scans for open systems automatically and logs you in.  So far it managed to log me into a BT openzone which isnt too helpful as you have to pay.

So next stop France.  Im hoping there will be free stuff to connect to without needing passwords but if anyone knows of any popular subscription services I should know about before I go I would be interested.  Also if you have any passwords etc or login details for any you wish to share with me purely for research purposes of this review then I would be grateful.

Cheers
BArry


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## biggirafe (Mar 26, 2010)

Sounds good, if you get fed up with it chuck it in this direction 

I would by a phone base station I think it will give you access to Fon and BT Openzone points and is a 1 off payment. Pretty sure that in France they have a similar setup with the french equivilent of BT. But check it out.


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## AndyC (Mar 26, 2010)

biggirafe said:


> Sounds good, if you get fed up with it chuck it in this direction
> 
> I would by a phone base station I think it will give you access to Fon and BT Openzone points and is a 1 off payment. Pretty sure that in France they have a similar setup with the french equivilent of BT. But check it out.


Yes, FON operates in France, however someone I know who is touring there reports that many of the indicated FON spots seem to be turned off when he's tried to find them. He's had more luck with open WiFi access. FON is not to be relied on, I think.

AndyC


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## firefighter (Mar 26, 2010)

*good stuff!*

I love this thread 'cos we're going to italy with van for a month in may and I quite like my internet (Kinda like a security blanket) I've been doing all the research stuff on line and pretty much came up with what everyone else has. I think having looked at it I'm gonna see what's available when I get there as it would appear to be quite expensive to buy or get involved in a product in this country and use it abroadshire!


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## Nolly (Mar 27, 2010)

Try www.mappy.fr or.uk Put in your route and click onto wifi hotspots on the left hand side. It will then give you their locations and if they are free or payable.
I was amazed at how many mcdonalds (which I found to be free) that it's possible to log on just by sitting on the carpark, and I have a bog standard laptop with no gadgets.


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