Traveling to Italy... what's the best way to handle email and internet?

[Charlie98]

My family is headed to Italy in July... although I have traveled extensively in the US, I've never traveled internationally. Because I have to keep tabs on my business at home, I'm trying to find the best cost effective solution to keep connected; I may or may not be somewhere where 'free wifi' is available, etc.

Stuff:

I have an iPhone 5 with ATT service. They have an 'international' plan, but it looks pretty expensive for what you get... but I don't really know, comparatively speaking.

I don't plan on taking my laptop... using my phone and wife's wifi iPad pretty much exclusively for just email and the occasional web browse, although I may have to use TeamViewer to log into my PC at home.

Someone told my wife about renting a 'wifi hotspot' when we get there, but I don't really know how that works or if it's something readily available.

We will not be in the big cities like Rome or Milan, rather out in the boonies a bit (Roana, Asiago, etc.)


All you world travelers out there... fill me in on the straight skinny. What works, what doesn't? Any other hints on what to do or look for...?

 

[GTaudiophile]

I have the T-Mobile Simple Choice Plan. At $65/month, I get unlimited text, unlimited (throttled down but acceptable) data, and $.20/min calling in 100 international countries. If AT&T has something similar, you could enable it, even for just a month. Or perhaps they have a service add-on that does the same thing for one month?

TMO also allows me to add to the service above, whereby I get higher speed (3G/LTE) data and tethering while abroad.

You could also consider a data-only roaming plan if available.

Otherwise, put your phone on Airplane Mode and only activate WiFi. But in my experience in Europe, you will be limited to hotels, internet cafes, Starbucks, etc. I tell people that Starbucks is your friend when abroad: free, clean bathrooms, free WiFi, etc. Of course you won't find these in the boonies but sometimes your standard mom-and-pop cafe offers WiFi too. Hotels on average should not be a problem.

You can also look into getting a 3G/LTE USB dongle for a laptop that gives you data over the cell network. These typically run like 30 € or so.

You can also consider buying a pre-paid SIM card. This would require an unlocked GSM phone that supports that appropriate frequencies.

 

[blairharrington]

My family is headed to Italy in July... although I have traveled extensively in the US, I've never traveled internationally. Because I have to keep tabs on my business at home, I'm trying to find the best cost effective solution to keep connected; I may or may not be somewhere where 'free wifi' is available, et

I've been to Italy the past 3 summers.

I need to know if your iPhone 5 is unlocked? If not, can it be? (Are you out of contract?)

 

[Charlie98]

I've been to Italy the past 3 summers.

I need to know if your iPhone 5 is unlocked? If not, can it be? (Are you out of contract?)

It is not...

 

[blairharrington]

It is not...

Are you out of contract? How long will you be in Italy?

 

[Squeetard]

I'm self employed. When I travel I check in once in a while via hotel wifi. If you need to constantly be in touch for your business you are doing it wrong.

 

[JAG87]

Get your phone unlocked from ATT on a third party, and when you get there, go to a Tim/Vodafone/3 or Wind store and get a SIM card. Data is cheap there, with $10 you can get 2 GB of data. Wind is cheap but be careful, their 3G network can be super slow. Remember that with a new SIM, your phone number will change. So if you're expecting to keep in touch through iMessage, your contacts will not be able to text you, and you will be sending out of a weird italian number.

You can also do the hotspot thing too, but then you will have to pay for a Mifi device, and those are usually around 100 euro. I don't know who would rent you one. And that's another battery you need to worry about keeping charged.

 

[bigrash]

FYI, not sure if you're staying at hotels, but when I was there last month, the hotel wifi really, really sucked. And these are different hotels that I stayed in different cities.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Buy a SIM card from Tre or Wind. I used Wind (unlimited data for 10 euros a month) for 6 months and it was great.

Also don't buy these at the airport. They'll rip you off. Wait until you get into the city.

 

[ponyo]

Get your iPhone 5 unlocked. AT&T won't unlock it unless it's out of contract but you can pay for third party unlock service. I paid ~$20 to unlock my wife's iPhone 5s on eBay. Then buy a prepaid simcard when you get to Italy.

 

[Charlie98]

Are you out of contract? How long will you be in Italy?

No, still in contract. We will be over there for 2 weeks.

You can also do the hotspot thing too, but then you will have to pay for a Mifi device, and those are usually around 100 euro.

My wife keeps suggesting that.. but for $120 I can get a 30-day international plan from ATT.

I'm self employed. When I travel I check in once in a while via hotel wifi. If you need to constantly be in touch for your business you are doing it wrong.

As am I... except I am the only employee... so if I'm not there, there isn't anyone to answer the phone, and I am in the service industry.

FYI, not sure if you're staying at hotels, but when I was there last month, the hotel wifi really, really sucked.

...then that won't be much different than most of the US hotels... That's kind of why I'm digging into this, I don't want to get to our hotel (and we will be staying at the same hotel in Roana for a week...) and find they have crappy wifi.

Get your iPhone 5 unlocked. AT&T won't unlock it unless it's out of contract but you can pay for third party unlock service. I paid ~$20 to unlock my wife's iPhone 5s on eBay. Then buy a prepaid simcard when you get to Italy.

A lot of you are suggesting this... what's the downside to unlocking the phone outside of ATT? Sorry for the noob question, I'm new at this whole thing.

EDIT:

Remember that with a new SIM, your phone number will change. So if you're expecting to keep in touch through iMessage, your contacts will not be able to text you, and you will be sending out of a weird italian number.

AH! That's the downside... and not acceptable unless I can take incoming call at my original number (which I can't, if I'm understanding the process correctly.)

 

[blairharrington]

If you need to take calls to your original number I believe your only option is to get an international plan with AT&T. Using a local SIM would be cheaper but you need to unlock your iPhone and use a local Italian number.

 

[elitejp]

Im in asia and wifi is just about everywhere, more so than the usa. Europe is probably similiar to the usa so this is what I do when I travel back to america but need to keep track of my business here in china. be sure to rent a hotel that offers wifi. many offer internet but not wifi. Try coffee shops or other small cafe type places for free internet and good cuisine. I never worry about calling as most evrything is done through social media apps. Im in asia so we use wechat. I never never call home (from asia to america) anymore. rather I use the app thats gives me clearer quality through wifi without the half second delay you get from a normal call. So when travelling my phone is set to airplane mode and all contact is made through wechat. Simple and free.

 

[Crono]

This probably doesn't help now, but for the future you could use a Google Voice/Hangouts, Skype, Viber, etc number and give that out to everyone. That way whenever you travel you can always just use the app on any phone or internet connected device. If you buy a cheap unlocked international Moto E/G (or even a dual SIM variant of a Lumia 640) phone you'll also have the option to just buy SIMs with cheap prepaid data plans wherever you go and pop them in the phone. You can also use the phone then as a mobile hotspot. It's potentially cheaper and certainly more useful than buying a hotspot + service. It also never hurts to have that as an extra phone, even if you just keep it in your hotel room or in a bag.

It's almost always cheaper and better to get local service than to buy a package from your carrier.

 

[soccerballtux]

man, I got so many spam emails after using one of those hourly PC rental services

 

[Charlie98]

Well, I don't really plan on traveling internationally very often... I'm almost 50 and this will be my first time.

The idea that I would have to go to my customers and give them a new number or some other information is... well, if not impossible, then perhaps unwise. Some years ago I switched internet carriers (from TWC to ATT) and it took almost a year to get everyone on the same page... ...so I'm not anxious to do that again.

All this really boils down to is ease of use and cost... and it's looking like my ATT international plan might be my best bet. For $120 I get calls at .35/min, unlimited texting, and 800mb data (which doesn't sound like much, but I hardly ever tap 1GB in a months normal use.)