Image by Thomas Hawk
Remember the last time you found yourself staring at that little download bar and resigning yourself to waiting another 4 hours and 23 minutes for it to complete?
If you do, then you’ll know how important a decent (read: reliable, stable, fast) internet connection is to a location independent professional – or for that matter, anyone who travels regularly and needs to remain connected on the road.
A very common question I’m asked & I see asked in the Clubhouse & on Twitter frequently is this:
What’s the *best* way of connecting to the internet whilst I travel the world?
Unfortunately, there’s no universal *right* answer since every country is different and people’s definition of *best* also differs (cheapest, fastest, stablest etc.) but this guide is intended to give you a comprehensive overview of the options you may have available in many of the places you’ll visit and enable you to decide which ones might best suit your needs:
Connectivity Options
The following connectivity options are typically available in most countries you’ll visit – although there will of course be a few exceptions…
Internet cafes
The ubiquitous internet cafe can be found in the strangest of places (on a beach in Belize, 7 years ago was perhaps my strangest internet cafe experience). These will vary from a single computer in the corner of a shop to rows and rows of gamers all engrossed in their respective cyber worlds. The best kind are those that have wi-fi which works in the cosy cafe just down the road. You can find a global directory of them here.
Co-working/Alternative Offices
Another option for the location independent professional is a co-working space. Perhaps the most well known of these is a Jelly – a “casual working event…[which has] taken place in over a hundred cities where people have come together (in a person’s home, a coffee shop, or an office) to work for the day.” You can find the nearest Jelly to you on their wiki.
Of course, you don’t have to start or attend a Jelly on location – you can make the nearest coffee shop with free wi-fi your alternative office for the day or if you need a more formal work space, many cities have flexible office space to rent, sometimes by the hour, half day, day or week.
Cellphone data connection
This doesn’t provide the fastest of connections but is fine if you desperately need to log on but don’t have any other options available. You will of course need a phone which can act as a modem and a means of connecting it to your laptop (unless you access the internet on the phone itself) – usually via a cable or bluetooth.
3G USB Modems
A 3G modem is a very good option for connectivity on location. They usually take the form of a USB widget (or sometimes a PCMCIA card) which can be plugged into your laptop – you can usually get them from a local cellphone provider. Things to be aware of if you go with this option are:
- Data plans available – in order to connect, you will need to purchase a data plan. For most location independent people, a pay-as-you-go option is preferable instead of any sort of contract.
- The amount of data you need – some plans are advertised as “unlimited” but this is rarely the case. Confirm any limits on data (both download & upload limits) attached to your data plan – 3GB per month limit is common but this should be just about enough for an average-to-heavy internet user.
- The cost of the USB modem itself – for pay-as-you-go plans you will often have to pay for the modem (it won’t come included with a data plan). If you’ve already got a modem, it may work with a local SIM card so it’s worth checking before you pay out for another one.
- Even though they’re touted as 3G connections, it’s worth noting that you’ll only get 3G speeds in a 3G-enabled area. When you’re not, the modem will revert to whatever data connection it can find (which may be no better than the one you get on your cellphone).
Note: If you’re in the US, you’ve got an even better version of these which is Verizon’s Mi-Fi service, a device which creates a small personal wireless hotspot via 3G enabling you to connect a number of devices wirelessly to the connection.
Local wi-fi services
In some countries, you’ll find a local, city-wide wi-fi service that works in a similar way to the global ones below. You don’t need a 3G or other modem to find these, you can simply pick them up on your laptop, fire up your browser and be taken to the wi-fi service’s home page to buy a bundle of data. An example of this is the Skyrove service in Cape Town.
Global wi-fi services
There are a number of wi-fi networks which operate internationally – these include Boingo, iPass & T-mobile. Both of these operate either on a subscription basis or you pay a one-off fee for access to the network.
I know a few LIPs who’ve thought they may be able to use one of these as their primary and only means of staying connected whilst globetrotting only to be very disappointed by the experience (and this includes us when we first started) – here are a few things to note, if you plan to do this:
- If you subscribe to a T-mobile service in your home country, you will likely be charged roaming rates if you access the internet using this subscription overseas so check your plan & confirm international access & rates before assuming it’s included.
- On Boingo, we found many hotspots are designated “premium” locations which means you end up paying per-minute charges on top of your subscription.
Software & Online Services
VOIP services – like Skype, Jajah and Google Voice. Mashable has a list of VOIP tools here.
Free wi-fi finders – like WeFi, JiWire help you locate global wi-fi spots around the world. Mashable also has a list of tools here.
VPN & Security tools - surfing on wi-fi connections, especially free, unsecured ones doesn’t come without its risks. Tools like StrongVPN & Hotspot Shield can minimise the risks enabling you to surf more anonymously & securely.
Equipment
iPhone/Tri- or Quad-band Smartphone/Laptop/Netbook - your tool of choice to connect will largely determine the options you go for. It’s worth noting that many of the connectivity services above have mobile versions suitable only for a smartphone/mobile device.
Charger & Adapter - easy-to-forget, sometimes impossible to replace (try replacing a Mac power cable on a tiny Caribbean island), your device’s charger is obviously a must-have along with at least one global, surge-protecting adapter.
Cables & laptop lock - it’s useful to carry a long-ish ADSL/LAN & a normal dial-up cable with you and, if you plan to work from internet cafes/cafes/bars, a laptop lock so you don’t need to pack everything up whenever you want a bathroom break.
Local/Global SIM cards – we carry a number of SIM cards with us – usually local ones for the location we’re in so we can give it to friends we make & keep in touch more easily/cheaply whilst there. Plus we carry a SIM card/basic mobile phone service from ‘home’ with roaming enabled for times when we may not have a local SIM card available but still need to get in touch with somebody.
Travel wi-fi router - these devices enable you to take a cabled LAN connection and create a wireless network that enables multiple devices to share the one connection – great for expensive hotel connections.
Thanks! Really useful stuff! I just spent a month in the USA and found that most cheap hotels and motels offer free high-speed wif-fi. It was only in Chicago, in our most expensive hotel, that we were required to pay for the connection. I didn’t find any pay-as-you-go 3G data plan options in the USA – do you know of any?
Cath
Great guide, been waiting for comprehensive guide like this. Shame that Boingo charges those extra fees, because I was really intrigued by that service. I’ll still give it a shot when I start traveling though.
I’ve had the same experience as Cath when staying in the US. However, instead of paying for access, I just use the free business centre, usually open 24 hours a day. Since most of my stuff is accessible online, that works very well.
Great round up of options. As full time traveler’s in the US, we rely on a 3G datacard from Sprint and a back-up option of tethering via our iPhones. We also have a wifi router that the datacard can plug into, giving us a mobile hotspot.
Additionally, we have a Wilson cell phone repeater system built into our trailer – which allows us to be much more location independent :) Just the other day we were camped along the banks of the Colorado River in Colorado. Without the booster system on, we had no signal. With it on.. we had enough bandwidth to answer work e-mails and such.
Another options that some of our location independent professional nomadic peers use is a satellite uplink. Which gives them the ultimate in location independence – as they don’t even need to worry about being in cell phone tower range. We’ve thought about it.. but it’s a lot of cost and equipment, and we’ve been able to have a lot of flexibility with just using cellular data and borrowing the occasional wifi.
– Cherie
Great list! We started out with a Star Duo satellite system that let us connect 24/7 and is the cheapest way to do satellite on the move in Europe.
It had its advantages and disadvantages as each method does.
We decided to save more money and just use free wifi in Europe, Morocco and Turkey and that has worked quite well. We also do not mind being unplugged some as we travel, in fact enjoy that.
When at a primary base ( like our rental home in Spain in the winter) we usually use high speed cable.
My friend Bill, used a tiny satellite that fit easily into his backpack when he went around the world ( vlogging it) and could be well connected ANY where in the world, including very remote places in Africa.
Sounds great, but the price was too high for us. Might be worth it to others.
What works in the US, is VERY different to what works elsewhere in the world.
Many libraries, cafes and almost all Mcdonalds have free wifi in Europe. Wifi quality can vary GREATLY.
I am at a nice cafe/hotel in Vienna now writing this and it is excellent as it was in our campsite in Cinque Terra. BUT we have also run into some HORRIBLE wifi even in places like London or Germany.
If you depend on free wifi, you just never know. Do make sure you always use a VPN.
By the way, we are selling the Star Duo system if anyone is looking for such ( they are hard to find and must be bought second hand now as they no longer make them sadly).
Great list. Perhaps a few additional helpful tips… (1) Check out http://www.igo.com for their transformers that allow you to charge several items simultaneously from outlets, car and plane plugs. Saves on multiple cables and plugs. (Warning: don’t forget a step-down CONVERTER if your electronic equipment is 110V and you are traveling to a 220V country. I fried an iGo transformer which does not incorporate a step-down.) (2) The Internet cafes listing only shows a few in Bangkok. In fact, they are everywhere, generally very inexpensive, and most have wifi, so you shouldn’t need a cable. Good luck, fellow LIPs!
Great article! Another option I used once in Vienna was fon through http://www.fon.com I don’t know how universal it is – it seems quite widespread in Europe. It was certainly cheaper than the hotel I was in. I didn’t use the router you can buy from them, just a hot spot. It would be interesting to know if others have an experiences of this option.
Thank you so much for this helpful post.
As we live in the islands, we are out of touch with a lot of things and find your blog very informative.
We are living & working out of our sailboat which is currently anchored in St. Martin in the Caribbean. We have wireless internet aboard (company=Scarlet) which is working fairly well, but when/if we have problems we dinghy over to MacDonalds and use their free wifi.
For phone, I have a Skype number that is forwarded to our local cell phone.
We also have a waterproof Engenius Wifi Bridge with PoE that we can hoist up to get a good signal.
We will be sailing off to other islands this summer and hopefully find a workable solution wherever we may be.
Next year we plan to sail to Europe which we hope will not be too challenging internet-wise.
We have a satellite phone but GlobalStar is pretty iffy and we’ve never used it for data.
Internet cafes are great and we really appreciate them, but it is so much better to have 24hr access aboard the boat… although it doesn’t leave much time for snorkeling :)
Thanks again for your wonderful & helpful posts.
Sheila
Whilst it is true that one can roam around on all these services, it may be worth highlighting that once you step outside your home country, services such as 3G become prohibitively expensive.
Even though my laptop has 3G built in, when I am outside the UK, if my iPass account does not do the job, it’s often still cheaper to pay the extortionate rates the hotels charge for internet rather than even think about firing up the 3G.
On Aug 11th, Soultravelers3 posted to always use a VPN when using free wi-fi. What is that?
Thanks everyone for adding your tips & information…
@Jamie – VPN = virtual private network. It is often used as a security measure whilst surfing the internet using wireless, unsecured or unknown networks.