Mobile Internet In Europe?

walmergreen

I asked the Three guy how to access an ISP in the UK via an 0845 number to download a few emails whilst in France using a handheld computer connecting via the mobile phone. He said it would cost £1.60 pm to download data via an international call. Hmm! As the cost for calls is now capped at 25P per minute for outgoing within the EU, and 10p per minute incoming within the EU.....this seemed a bit heavy. My experience of using the phone internet is that it is very slow and if it does actually work, the extra time involved just racks up per minute charges. I talked to AOL about their international access system but this works out at £2.50 per hour, and I presume on top of any operator charges.

Apart from using internet cafes etc, does anyone know of an acceptable method of accessing the internet without paying 'rip off' charges whilst in the EU? I'm thinking of anyone who might have knowledge of purchasing a local sim card, and using a local ISP to overcome the ridiculous charges involved.
Grateful for any info
Cheers
Alex

Mac2308

if you have a wi-fi card for your computer then I'd suggest a free access point like McDonalds or similar. There are quite a few places that give free wifi but it depends where in france you're going.

walmergreen

Yes McDonalds I had heard that they were offering a free wireless access. Might have to eat a burger though
Cheers
Alex

agsnu

You can't just dial an 0845 internet provider over a mobile phone... That's not how it works. (A traditional landline modem needs to be connected to copper wires, mobile phones can't transmit the same signals.)

In fact, "dialling" an internet provider from a mobile phone is generally not used any more - CSD (circuit switched data - where you basically have a circuit (like a call) set up and are billed per minute) is ridiculously slow.

Mobile phones normally use packet data - either GPRS (2.5G), WCDMA (3G) or HSDPA (3.5G), where you are charged on a per-kilobyte basis rather than a per-minute basis. This is why mobile data has historically been so expensive in comparison to landline dial-up. European data roaming costs have not been capped by the EU yet.

walmergreen

Thanks for that. Perhaps I should have said emails rather than internet. I use an elderly Psion to access UKU.co.uk via dialup to an 0845 number. Downloading all emails to the computer in about 3 minutes to be read offline. Works well as I don't have to 'go somewhere else' to download the emails, and it keeps me in touch with the customers. In many cases, £££'s cheaper than using the hotel phone to access the internet.

Equally, whilst the EU capping in not in place until later this year
<I believe>......Three have put it in place already. I have also tried the new system from Three using a dongle, and it returns a better speed than my landline system. However, the signal is not reliable as I live more than 1 mile from the nearest aerial. Equally, not available in other countries at an economic price unless you are connected to the Three system in other countries.

I had heard that semi permanent retirees living in Spain and the rest of Europe were tending to purchase a local SIM card and use the nearest provider in that country. Just wondered if anyone had any info, in particular the pitfalls.
Cheers
Alex