Hmmm. Every single hotel / motel I have stayed at ever has wanted extreme rates for the use of their broadband. $10 - 20 per day seems to be typical for a lot of places.
If they are just checking emails, then the Vodafone prepay option is pretty good. Get a Nokia/whatever 3G phone and connect it to the laptop using bluetooth (free) or buy a USB cable for $10 on TradeMe. Get a Vodafone prepay simcard - $30 (or whatever they charge now). The default plan gives you 10Mb in a 24 hour period for $1. You only pay for the days that you actually use it, so it's ideal if you are a light user or won't be logging in every day. If you go over the 10Mb then Vodafone will screw you over, but unlike the plans the potential for damage on Prepay is capped at whatever prepay credit you have available. So topup small amounts at a time and it shouldn't be a big deal. I used this system myself for a week or so in Dublin (except it was 1 euro for 50Mb) and it worked out pretty well considering. The advantage of this system is that there is generally good coverage, it's not expensive to setup, and makes good use of gear that they might already have. 10Mb is heaps for email and checking the bank balance, but they won't get far uploading photos onto Facebook. If you do decide to go the dial-up road, make sure the laptop has a modem - most don't these days so you might need to buy a USB external modem or PC card. Harvey. Kent Parker wrote: > My experience of mobile internet is that, from speaking with telco > salespeople a couple of years back, is that mobile internet is no > faster than dial up so there is zilch benefit and they may as well use > dialup in motel rooms. Also, most motels offer broadband connections > at hourly rates. > > I would ask the telcos what speed they can deliver on mobile > broadband. It may have improved since I asked. > > On Apr 23, 5:31 pm, [email protected] wrote: > >> Hi everyone, >> >> I've just been doing a little research on behalf of my parents, who are >> arriving in the country in a month and travelling around. They'll have a >> laptop with them and were looking at options for broadband. Seems telecom >> and vodafone both have options for mobile broadband that cost a few >> hundred to set up and aren't cheap after that either. I might just >> recommend they go for good 'ol dialup through say orcon at $15/month (if >> they pay for 3 months). Any other ideas for relatively inexpensive ways to >> get connected whilst on the move? They'll be in Auckland and Christchurch >> most of the time, with the odd trip elsewhere.. For mainly email checking >> in places where they'll likely be able to find a phone jack, I'd say >> dialup is probably the most sensible option aye? >> >> Cheers >> Matt >> > > > -- Harvey Kane Ireland: -Dublin: +353 1 685 4485 -VoIP: +353 76 615 4707 -Mobile: +353 87 240 7735 New Zealand: -Office / Mobile: +64 9 950 4133 Email: [email protected] If you need to contact me urgently, please read my email policy www.ragepank.com/email/ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ NZ PHP Users Group: http://groups.google.com/group/nzphpug To post, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
