Accessing the Internet in Europe

Travelers have any number of ways to check their e-mail and access the Internet on the road. Of course, using your own laptop — or even a personal digital assistant (PDA) or electronic organizer with a modem — gives you the most flexibility. But even if you don’t have a computer, you can still access your e-mail and even your office computer from cybercafes.

Nowadays, finding a city that doesn’t have a few cybercafes is difficult. Although no definitive directory for cybercafes exists — these are independent businesses, after all — two places to start looking are www. cybercaptive.com and www.cybercafe.com.

Aside from formal cybercafes, most youth hostels nowadays have at least one computer you can use to access the Internet, and most public libraries across the world offer Internet access free or for a small charge. Inexpensive hotels often have an Internet terminal in the lobby you can use for free or pretty cheaply, but avoid business centers in the pricier hotels or in international chain properties, unless you’re willing to pay exorbitant rates.

Most major airports now have Internet kiosks scattered throughout their gates. These kiosks, which you’ll also see in shopping malls, hotel lobbies, and tourist-information offices, give you basic Web access for a per-minute fee that’s usually higher than cybercafe prices. The kiosks’ clunkiness and high price mean they should be avoided whenever possible.

To retrieve your e-mail, ask your Internet Service Provider (ISP) if it has a Web-based interface tied to your existing e-mail account. If your ISP doesn’t have such an interface, you can use the free mail2web service (www.mail2web.com) to view and reply to your home e-mail. For more flexibility, you may want to open a free, Web-based e-mail account with Yahoo! Mail (http://mail.yahoo.com) or Microsoft’s Hotmail (www. hotmail.com). Your home ISP may be able to forward your e-mail to the Web-based account automatically.

If you need to access files on your office computer, look into a service called GoToMyPC (www.gotomypc.com). The service provides a Webbased interface for you to access and manipulate a distant PC from anywhere — even a cybercafe — provided your “target” PC is on and has an always-on connection to the Internet (such as with a cable modem or DSL). The service offers top-quality security, but if you’re worried about hackers, use your own laptop rather than a cybercafe computer to access the GoToMyPC system.

If you’re bringing your own computer, the buzzword in computer access to familiarize yourself with is wi-fi (wireless fidelity), and more and more hotels, cafes, and retailers are signing on as wireless hot spots from which you can get high-speed connection without cable wires, networking hardware, or a phone line. You can get wi-fi connection one of several ways. Many laptops sold within the last year have built-in wi-fi capability (an 802.11b wireless Ethernet connection). Mac owners have their own networking technology, Apple AirPort. For those with older computers, an 802.11b/wi-fi card (around $50) can be plugged into your laptop. You sign up for wireless access service much as you do cellphone service, through a plan offered by one of several commercial companies that have made wireless service available in airports, hotel lobbies, and coffee shops, primarily in the U.S. (followed by the U.K. and Japan). Boingo (www.boingo.com) and Wayport (www.wayport.com) have set up networks in airports and high-class hotel lobbies. IPass providers also give you access to a few hundred wireless hotel-lobby setups. Best of all, you don’t need to be staying at the Four Seasons to use the hotel’s network; just set yourself up on a nice couch in the lobby. The companies’ pricing policies can be byzantine, with a variety of monthly, perconnection, and per-minute plans, but in general you pay around $30 a month for limited access — and as more and more companies jump on the wireless bandwagon, prices are likely to get even more competitive. There are also places that provide free wireless networks in cities around the world. To locate these free hotspots, go to www.personal telco.net/index.cgi/WirelessCommunities.

If wi-fi is not available in your destination, most business-class hotels throughout the world offer dataports for laptop modems, and a few thousand hotels in the U.S. and Europe now offer free high-speed Internet access using an Ethernet network cable. You can bring your own cables, but most hotels rent them for around $10. Call your hotel in advance to see what your options are.

In addition, major Internet service providers (ISP) have local access numbers around the world, allowing you to go online by simply placing a local call. Check your ISP’s Web site or call its toll-free number and ask how you can use your current account away from home, and how much it will cost. If you’re traveling outside the reach of your ISP, the iPass network has dial-up numbers in most of the world’s countries. You’ll have to sign up with an iPass provider, who will then tell you how to set up your computer for each of your destinations. For a list of iPass providers, go to www.ipass.com and click on Individual Purchase. One solid provider is i2roam (www.i2roam.com; 866-811-6209 or 920-235-0475).

Wherever you go, bring a connection kit of the right power and phone adapters, a spare phone cord, and a spare Ethernet network cable — or find out if your hotel supplies them to guests. European phone-jack converters and line testers are available from some travel and electronics stores and from catalogues such as Magellan’s (www.magellans.com) or Travel Smith (www.travelsmith.com). Many European phone lines use the pulse system rather than touch-tone, so you may need to configure your dial-up software settings to cope.