When I signed on for my TMobile Wifi account, I figured one of the benefits of paying their monthly fee would be that not only are there Starbucks and Borders wherever you go inside the USA, but TMobile is this giant international firm so I'll find TMobile hotspots everywhere I go. And, indeed, Amsterdam has them. But my username doesn't work! Instead, I need to log on as a "TMobile USA" customer and pay some additional roaming fee. Multinational capitalism is really letting me down. Even worse, the TMobile hotspot appears to be emanating from the McDonalds' across the street, and there's probably some poor American sucker in there right now who bought an AT&T account because they have AT&T in McDonalds (and Barnes & Noble) in the US and figured it'd be a good international play.
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Naomi Klein Was Right
30 Nov 2007 11:16 am
Comments (10)
oops that first link got copied as the 17-page pdf I referred to later,SORRY to anyone
who ended up loading it without wanting to. My first link was supposed to be HPCompaq built-in wireless page here
I've been in about 15 airports in the last six months, always with a laptop, and it's interesting how each airport has its own cute little wifi program they want you to sign onto, when the obvious appeal to a traveler would be a one-time, one-charge, pan-airport system that would always work everywhere. But that's never going to happen, idiots.
T-Mobile is horrible. I bought a T-mobile tri-band phone in the States before moving to Europe. I used it for a while in Luxembourg with a local chip there, then initially with that same SIM card when I came to Germany. Once in Germany, I got a T-Mobile chip, but it wouldn't work in that phone. It worked in any other phone, but not the one from T-Mobile.
And the company's counterpart for land-lines in Germany, T-Com, the other big descendant of the Post communications privatization, is another piece of work. Getting a phone line installed takes at least a month, with all kinds of attendant fiascos, and then it's about another month to get internet access. Blech.
I've been in about 15 airports in the last six months, always with a laptop, and it's interesting how each airport has its own cute little wifi program they want you to sign onto, when the obvious appeal to a traveler would be a one-time, one-charge, pan-airport system that would always work everywhere. But that's never going to happen, idiots.
I bought a USB modem a few months ago in hopes of getting around that. Haven't tested it out in any airports yet, but I'm extremely happy with it otherwise.
This post makes me wonder how or if the USB modem will work if I go overseas.
what did naomi klein say about it?
Two words - wireless broadband
I've given up completely on hot spots - even when I'm in one.
They work overseas, too.
Someone ought to write about why Naomi Klein is only a figure of ridicule among liberal and Democratic Party-affiliated bloggers. Even the kookiest conservatives get more serious engagement than Klein does, even though Klein's books and articles are well-argued and thoroughly well-researched, whatever one might think about her conclusions.
Everytime I read Matt taking another cheap shot at Naomi Klein I have to check the address bar to make sure I didn't somehow stumble onto powerline again. It seems like he just assumes that everyone doesn't like Naomi Klein and he doesn't even have to even explain what exactly he disagrees with in her articles and books. Too much time in the beltway maybe?
Try an aggregator that contracts with many internet access providers, worldwide, like IPASS. I've used them in Europe, and it really works.
Comments closed December 14, 2007.
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Heads in the Sand
I am dealing with some of these issues right now, though not the international ones. I thought I was buying onea these HPCompaq laptops with the air card built in, but that's not what I got so I had to research, both on the net and phone calls of the type asking for "your manager" what the story is because the Geek Squad and your usual Verizon desk clerk was clueless, had never heard of the program. Just sharing what I have learned therewith. Just like with their phones, Verizon cellular, which is CMDA,(therefore not Europe,) has the benefit, when there is no reception available, of jumping to roaming a national anlog network for dial-up access. BUT I learned via getting someone from Verizon who actually knows something on the phone, that when it does that, it notifies you that you are going to be charged roaming, 25 cents a minute, that it's extra on top of your $59.95 per month, you are prompted that you are switching. It's still a nice thing to have, say you are in some rural nowhere, with no Verizon cell towers, you can get still get dial-up internet with their service, but it's not included in the monthly wireless access fee. I believe it's something only CMDA can do. Of course, that's no good for Europe.
BTW This pdf is good on why you might want an air card built into your next laptop instead of getting a plug-in. Verizon is pushing this for small business, see here. It's better upload and download.
As for the roaming, I get an inkling from trying to help my greatest gen. father right now on his grand lifetime cruise of South America figure out a way to communicate with us without paying $7.95 a minute for shipboard calls. He has a Verizon cell phone, they finally told us calls would be $2.95 a minute via roaming other services, but that he could still send and receive text messages for only 15 cents each. (Hence, he quickly learned how to do texting which he had been avoiding. Never underestimate the motivation of saving money for a Depression baby!)
I think that the roaming, they all do it when you are away from whatever network you pay for, BECAUSE they have to pay another company to use their equipment. Whoever makes the best deals with competing companies will be the ones to end up offering you the best service everywhere at low cost.
But as far as getting some knowledgeable customer service about all these sort of things: FAT CHANCE. Everything is all up in the air right now and if you do some research on the net you will be surprised at how little the "experts" or consultants or salesman you might deal with know about this stuff. You don't find out about the complicating factors until you need the service and they are changing services and rules fast and furious everyday, it seems.
Posted by artappraiser | November 30, 2007 12:23 PM