Mobile internet... experiences from Italy

If you are travelling and not expecting access to Wi-Fi networks in your accommodation, then mobile internet might be a good option. It's certainly more agreeable to work from your laptop than use an Internet Cafe.On a recent trip to a remote part of Sicily, I decided to give this a try, despite only going for one week - was it worth the trouble?

My colleague and I used an existing Vodafone "dongle" and purchased a local SIM card at the earliest opportunity. We opted for the cheapest deal at 20 Euro for upto 15 hrs usage - there were data usage alternatives which might be better for web surfing, but time-based seemed better for email.

On the whole, we found this approach to be probably more suited to longer trips. However, if you decide to use mobile internet abroad, wherever you are going, the following points might help you plan for a better experience:

1. It can take up to 24hrs for the service to be activated, so head directly for your local Vodafone store. Shops in Italy are open late, but if you arrive on a Saturday you'll most likely miss them. Mobile phone shops are often closed Sunday, but check anyway, you never can take anything for granted in Italy.
2. Service activation doesn't always work first time, so get your software loaded and leave your laptop on ready for the text heralding the service is live. If its not happened as planned get yourself back to the shop and ask them to reset the service... then wait again
3. The speed was adequate using Vodafone Italia's GPRS and UMTS services, although UMTS should be faster. The software should direct/switch you onto the best service if there's a choice at your location
4. Beware, if you just dip in-out to check email this time-based deal decremented the first 15 minutes even if you only spent 2 minutes online... and, if you use Outlook, beware you may receive large attachments which will slow you down dramaticlaly and use up your quota fast
5. Try WebMail as an alternative and only open/download what you need, and when you get home you won't to receive all of the junk you've deleted. Remember to setup a signature for your WebMail account and send yourself a copy of email if you want to keep them in Outlook when you get back.

We had these problems and, having arrived late Saturday, the service wasn't live until Tuesday afternoon. In the meantime, we used to local internet cafe which, I must say, was fine. Good equipment, fast internet and a casual hassle-free approach to payment - but, having to go into town to a shop to check your email is a pain.

We also switched to WebMail very quickly because the connection struggled with large eFax attachments. WebMail turned out to be much better than expected and worked an exceptionally well. And, coming back to a clean inbox was a bonus!  

You can contact us via email or phone to ask about any of this if you are planning a trip, or perhaps read about remote traveller support that is available to help you take time out of the office for long periods.

For more ways to help you save time, money and hassle Search This Blog or visit www.office-lifeline.co.uk