I’ve been traveling for two weeks straight and last time I was out this long I came back to a huge iPhone data bill thanks to AT&Ts roaming prices. While I’m happy to pay for 3G data all over the world and am glad that I can just whip out the phone and make a few calls for not too much money, I’ve luckily found a nomadic alternative.
The first and best system I tried was Boingo. Because of their roaming agreements, you can usually pick up WiFi in any airport or Starbucks and thanks to the ubiquity of airports and Starbucks, this makes for about 100,000 hotspots around the world. The service starts at $9.95/month and has been a lifesaver. A few days ago my phone wasn’t working so I whipped out the laptop and Skyped my pick-up at the airport. It’s also great for getting a little work done in the waiting area.
Another service that I’ve tried is FON. These guys sell routers and allow average folks to share their Wi-Fi and make a little money in the process. Thus far I’ve seen fewer FON hotspots around but both services have a “service map” that allows you to pick your locations. If you joing FON, the service is free internationally. FON makes money by selling service a la carte to people who don’t subscribe.
Finally, there are public Wi-Fi hotspots. The best are run by the city in question - Paris’ Hôtel de Ville hotspot was amazing. Just don’t fall for those “Free Public WiFi” SSID. This is the result of a viral “bug” that in many cases spreads itself via Wi-Fi. It seems that under Windows that when you connect to an ad hoc network, the SSID of that network is kept in the memory and the laptop or PC itself begins broadcasting ad hoc connections with that same SSID. It’s not dangerous, but it’s just a time waster.
So, before spending $300 on roaming charges like I did, pop over to Boingo. It could save your life.
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Nomad Contributors
by Chris Stroud / November 19, 2008
Thanks for the Boingo tip! signing up for this tonight
by Travis Campbell / November 20, 2008
Thanks for the tips, I’m out of the USA at the moment, and interested to see how well Boingo works here.
by Zaskoda / November 20, 2008
Global free wifi please, kthnxbye
by John L. / November 21, 2008
AT&T is perhaps the iPhone’s only great detractor — that, and it doesn’t have a nifty tactile touch screen like the new Storm.