What Do You Do For Internet While Traveling?

I use a Clear Spot 4G+, which uses 4G, & if there's no 4G, drops down to 3G. 4G is unlimited usage, which I call "buffet-style" all-you-can-use, but the 3G has a 2 GB cap on its usage - go over it & you pay a nickel a MB.

I use it in conjunction with my 4G iPod Touch with the Skype app, which I've purchased an incoming telephone number for a year at a time for $60 + unlimited Canada & US calling for $30 for a year at a time & it's like I've almost got an iPhone for $90 a year + the monthly Clear charge of $50.

I don't think Clear is offering this device any longer though. Unfortunately, it appears that their Clear Spots offered are strictly 4G only, where the "+" in the device's name indicated that it could drop down to 3G if there was no 4G available. I recommend a mobile device that can drop down to 3G, as the rural areas have not been wired for 4G as of yet.

Clear's URL for mobile devices is currently:
http://www.clear.com/devices/spot

If you've got a laptop with USB port(s), they've got the "CLEAR 4G+ Mobile USB Series S" located at the URL:

http://www.clear.com/devices/mobile

that has both 4G & 3G capabilities.

I hope that helps.

I like using my Droid cellphone (Verizon) to tether my laptop.

All the hotels that we stay in have free wi-fi. My phone has unlimited data. When we get to where we are going family and friends all have wi-fi. This allows me to check e-mail and update my poi files.

I have done a number of things. Right now the work laptop I take with me has 3g built in. I try not to use it much. Wifi or wired at the hotels if available. Don't use it on the road unless in the passenger seat... (Its hard to drive from the passenger seat sometimes though!)

I have "stolen" wifi a number of times (don't tell).
At the inlaws a number of years ago no connection so I headed to the library - not open - sat in the car and stole wifi from a business that did not have there wifi locked down. (I needed the connection for work not just to browse the net)

Now if I go to the inlaws for any length of time I take a spare wireless router with me and tie it to there wired internet...

I really hate it when the hotel/motel wants to charge for wifi or wired. Funny thing is its usually the hotels that are expensive to begin with and will not give up free internet.....

^ that is true, I always book hotels/motels on our roadtrips using expedia or orbitz. they have good search engines with sorting features.
I usually take only palces that offer free parking, free breakfast and free wifi (wired only if no other option nearby).

I had the best luck with La Quinta, Best Western and Econo Lodge for those features included for free in already low stay price. Microwave and fridge are sometimes there and some other times not hehe.
their rooms quality is not bad, surely it's not Hilton, but at least it's waaay cheaper and all I need is for free

anyways, if all fails, there is always droid tethering which works great too, even on the move (e.g. on interstate in car).

I have a netbook for when I travel, which isn't a lot compared with others. I use it to check email while on the road, depending upon free WIFI most of the time.

There is always Boingo for $9.95 a month if you want more choices. If I'm going to be traveling a lot in a given period of time, I activate it. Just remember to deactivate it when you're not going to need it for a few months, unless you don't mind having a $9.95 charge each month for nothing!

Here's a question: why is it the "budget" hotels/motels offer free wifi and the high-priced, "luxury" places charge for it? For what they're charging per room, you'd think they could afford to throw in free wifi. (There are deals available, but you have to look for them.)

Looking forward to getting out of Texas for a couple of weeks this summer!!!

When we get to the hotel, the kids use their laptops over the hotel's wifi and I use my iphone. If there isn't anything to watch on the local tv channels, I would watch Netflix over the internet. We all use the data plan on our smart phones if we need to get on the internet while in the car, but for the most part we haven't seen the need for anything special. I am looking at getting the next iPad 3.

Im in a Guesthouse Inn & Suites, with my notebok, and they have the best free wifi I have ever seen at any hotel! It's very easy to connect to, and I'm measuring download speeds of over 3-meg. That is only 1/10th of what I get at home... but it's about 20 times what I've personally seen to be par for many hotels.

Wow, that is way better than what I was seeing at a Super-8!!!

Free Wifi hotspots along the route, rest area will serve me well.

A while back our home line dropped for a WHOLE MONTH! As I work from home frequently, I therefore had to drive to a local hotspot, grab all my emails, send whatever was waiting to go out. And the drive home. My wife thought it was a great plan, cuz I was bringing fresh breakfast every day - want a croissant ?

Then I'd use my smartphone over our neighbours' wifi (with their agreement) every hour or so, to check if anything urgent required me to drive again to that hotspot. All I had to do is go sit in a separating hedge, and synchronize - I told them I didn't want to go sit on their terrace all the time...

This got me thinking about, yes, my upcoming vacation in beautiful Corsica.

We have a touristic business, so we need to check email as often as possible (don't all professionals do that, I sometimes wonder...).

Last year was a real pain on that level, cuz free Wifi is getting hard to find - there's a law now in France that requires you to use secure Wifi only.

After using the cell phone solution, I decided I might as well take the step forward, and use more technology. So I went to my cell provider, and changed to an unlimited data plan and a new phone.

I spoke with the salesman, and he recommended the Blackberry, because multiple email accounts is soooo easy to manage on those (also didn't want any fruits in my home, if you know what I mean).

Setup was indeed a breeze, and it can easily communicate with our Linux machines at home - PC and netbook.

So I'm now very happy, my seven email accounts are checked even more frequently, the keyboard of the 9800 Torch is a great addition to the touch screen.

In fact, the only problem I really faced, was to find a suitable holder for the car. Until I discovered a brand named Brodit - it's a scandinavian company. Those babies are specific to the phone you use, and ours was installed in the car in about five minutes ! I'm not making a sales pitch, I'll even let you find them yourselves if you want to get one - just confirming that they are excellent and practical, even with a slider keyboard.

So in about one month we're headed for the Island of Beauty again, to the beaches of Balanina - between Isula Rossu and Calvi. We have the 205T with the new non-slip holder from Garmin (tested last year, works GREAT), and we now have a communication solution. I can't wait to be there !!!!!

Heck, I'll even be able to post on POI Factory !

On travel in an urban environment, I just use my phone. I try to take advantage of free wifi where available as I don't have a great data plan. Being able to look up restaurants and things to do is a great convenience.

When traveling to a place without wifi or 3G, I do without until I return!

We take a netbook and now we can add a tablet.

I stay away from it all and enjoy the isolation.

I have a Touch and a netbook. I use free wifi at micky D's or the hotel.

Use my Samsung cell phone $10 a month data plan.I can Instant Message my daughter with updates, take cell phone photos and text them.

Looking to get an iPhone as soon as Apple unveils their new one in Sept. and get the last year's version for a discounted price. (I hope.)

P.S. I'm canceling Netflix in Sept. due to their decision to make me pay double for what I'm getting now.

Got a tablet now to use when travelling. Plan to use wifi locations using the file on site as needed.

I'm using an android tablet with wifi. I'm also using the wifi location POI file stored on my Garmin. I'm 2500 miles into my summer drive and don't get the laptop out of the trunk unless I'm staying somewhere for several days. I've not had a problem finding wifi locations and have not had to go out of my way to find them.

The Verizon wifi card works great. I use it for my laptop that I take with me. If staying in hotels, they usually have wifi and I will use my iPad II to connect.

When is Free and when is not?

Half of the homes in my neighborhood that have WIFI are not "locked" password protected; I assume is like that anywhere you go.

Many businesses don't advertise Free WIFI but are not protected, are we to assume it is OK to connect?

What do you “lawyers” out there have to say, should it be treated like an unlocked house where you should not enter without permission or should we assume they left it unprotected so anyone can use it?

Take my laptop and use the free internet.

My wife is a Doctor and when we want to get away on a Fri. she just tethers her iPhone to her laptop and finishes her notes and charts on the road. While there is plenty of free wi-fi out there but it seems most premium hotels tend to charge for wi-fi some charge by the device which is crazy when so may things are connected these days. but they allow free access through the data port. I have used 2 ways around it. One was using an Apple Air Port Express ($99) plug it into the data port and create a wi-fi network in about a minute. The other method is using the built in ability of most modern laptops to create a wi-fi network using the laptop as the router, the disadvantage to this one is your laptop being leashed to the data port.

Many businesses don't advertise Free WIFI but are not protected, are we to assume it is OK to connect?
In some places it may be illegal to connect to an unprotected WiFi site. Some WiFi site owners may consider it trespassing. The devil is in the details, which an out-of-towner may not know. I once parked outside of a business (in Petoskey Michigan) using their WiFi (for which I had paid a subscription fee) and was accosted by the local police about what I was doing parked in front of the store at 0100. They let me alone once I explained what I was doing there.

After doing some research it found out that it maybe more serious than I thought.
In some areas it could be a third degree felony. http://bit.ly/eeQXII

I usually tremble and shake.

hahaha! LOL! regulations are sometimes simply not fit for reality ...

I used to often take unprotected WiFi from many places like residences, businesses, hotspots, hotels, etc... if I need it and it's there then I just take it. catch me if you can

My wife brings her netbook, usually we can't connect to any of the weak free wifi spots, so she tethers off my Droid, that's all I need to check email, etc. And it's suppose to be vacation, so why do we need the computer?

I think there is no such thing anymore as internet-free vacation

we do the same thing, every time ...

I've weaned off using the net while away, unless I'm expecting some important email. The rest can wait til I'm home again.

If it's really critical, people can call me!

I agree with you. No computer just my old cellphone. If the phone rings it's a family member. Better be an emergency.

Was just in a Quality Inn and actually saw 8-meg download speeds on their free wifi!!! Best I have EVER seen at ANY hotel!!!

That's the best I have ever heard of!

Just returned from a 10 day vacation in the Black Hills. We had a remote cabin about half way between Sturgis and Rapid City. It had a phone, but no Internet service, no cell signal. After the initial shock and withdrawal symptoms, it was kind of nice not being interrupted or feeling guilty about "not checking in".

I am on the road constantly for work, generally three to four nights a week away from home. I make great use of the hotel wifi services when I'm done for the day but during my travel, I make use of the businesses with free wifi poi file. It is rather handy to show me locations with free wifi that I can use. If I'm in a remote location with no free wifi, my blackberry can connect to my laptop to provide me with internet as long as I have cell service. Granted, not always with 3G or 4G speed but even so, still decent enough speed for general web and e-mail.

must try this sometime

You got that right!

When I travel, I don't access the Internet. I don't want to. (that's just a longer leash to fix crap on my vacation...my time!) I cringe when my phone rings.... My next vacation will be a week in a cave.

Camerabob, you would like the cabin in the Black Hills where I took my vacation in late July. It was very remote, had a phone, but no cell signal and no Internet service. You can Google it ... Big Elk Cabin, highly recommended.

I use my Droid X Smartphone, with it I can download and watch movies, read email, cheeck my calendar, etc. My wife checks her email on my phone also.

free wifi when available...

As an OTR drider I use a laptop as part of my work. and I have tried them all. my phone is with ATT but they have the worst WIFI networks. Has a good WIFI network but I was down more then I was up I had to fire them. I now have verizon and there MIFI unit for my truck. As of now this one is working well.
jolleyr

I use an Apple Express router in the hotel, make my own mini-wireless network so I can have my computer and iPhone accessing the 'net.

I also carry an Apple Express for that reason. I also exercise great caution and only do banking, webmail, etc, with HTTPS: (SSL). I also try to make sure I'm connecting to a real access point and not a spoofed one. I've seen those in places like the Denver airport where someone had a "FREE AT&T NET" network running last time I was through there. It was not the official Denver wireless net.

Traveling by air? Airport VIP lounges usually have great WiFi service. You don't need to get in per say, just get close enough.

Now I have seen over 10-meg download at the same place!!!

I bring my laptop with Verizon aircard, HP Touchpad, and my Smartphone. Yeah -- I guess I'm pretty wired. Laptop for hardcore web searching/email checking, Touchpad for light stuff when I don't feel like unpacking the rig and wifi is available, and phone when I'm on some excursion.

> Sidejacking, and very easy for anyone to do,
> including you!

... and easy to avoid, buy using https (not http).
Pretty much all the email and social sites permit
https

Firefox users can use the HTTPS Everywhere plug-in
from the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere

I just realized that the POI-Factory site isn't https, someone could be sidejacking my account now as I sit in Starbucks! Misery for all if the hacker starts writing advice on my behalf.

When we vacation, I have an iPod which only gets internet through wifi. So if I have to use the internet, for what ever reason I try to find the nearest McDonalds to get on-line. We also use the hotels where we are staying for the night. But when we're on the road it's McDonalds that we look for. There are other restaurants that have wifi but none are as common and close to freeways as a McDonalds. I also like to use Google sms on our cell phones to find the nearest McDonalds or any place to get an address to type in to the GPS. I use Google SMS all the time, not just for vacations. It's free on your cell phone and very easy to use, to find addresses. Once I have the address I type it in to the gps and go. If you don't have google sms on your cell phone and would like to use it. Here's what you can do: First I put the Google SMS number on my address book in my cell phone. The number is just simply spell google with or without the e on the end. So the number will be either 46645 or 466453 either number will work. Like I said I put it into my address book in my cell phone and it's there when ever I need an address for my gps. Here's how I would put in the info in my c-phone to find an address, For example: McDonalds Wytheville VA
That's all you need to enter, no commas just a space between the words actually I don't think you have to use capital letters but I do, you just hit Send and it will find the address for you like: McDonalds in Wytheville Virginia, this will find almost any business address you are looking for but it's not 100% all the time, some times it will act goofy, some times it's because you misspelled a word or didn't enter it right. SMS can even do much more than this. Just google it in and find out. I did a google search on it again and I see the number has changed from the above numbers I gave, but I use 46645 and it still works for me!

Both are good bets between lodging locations for wifi. Cellular 3G, where available will get quick email checks and internet searches done.

One recommendation if you are using any internet connectivity (wifi or wired) away from home (and away from your WPA2 secured access point, with a random, strong password) is to use a VPN. Connecting to a VPN at your home, using a commercial VPN service (some offer a free level), or using a VPN on your own Amazon server, will provide a reasonable level of security, and I would feel comfortable conducting financial transactions with a VPN in place. Lifehacker has information on VPN's.