wifi availability and cellular data plan info? Really need help from someone with experience!!

[burchbagg]

So I'm going to join my mother for half of the camino walk but need to figure out some things for work.

First, my ideal would be to have a cell phone that I can check and respond to emails on at any point in the day if needed. I don't have an interest in being tied to the phone for any reason, in fact i'd prefer the contrary, but I do have to make sure periodically there aren't any fires to put out. I'm from the US, and with AT&T, but their international data plan isn't sufficient, not to mention expensive ($24 for 20mb or $200 for 200mb). Does anyone have a suggestion as to how to get a reasonable data plan when traveling internationally? I'm open to buying something out of Spain if needed.

Secondly, due to likely need to download files (adobe, excel, word) and possibly r run applications (like a flashdrive sync programs that will have my work files on it), i'm not sure a computer at an internet cafe, or other will work (because of their security blocks), so I'm considering buying the lightest, smallest laptop computer that I can use a flash drive with. But, i'm not sure if there will be any access to Wifi. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge with any of this?

I sure would apprecaite any help or advise you can give on any of the above.

Thanks!!

Burch

[HuskyNerd]

Hi Burch ~
I'm feeling sad for you that you have to work and walk, an unfortunate combination that frankly makes me wonder if the Camino is for you. Sorry, it's just that the long contemplative walks, devoid of "putting out fires" at home, are what make the Camino a meaningful experience. I'm getting the sense that you'll be constantly peppered with e-mails and won't really be "away" and am worrying in a codependent way that you'll drive your mother crazy by being the plugged-in son while she's being the unplugged mom. I have done e-mail in different ways and found it a very mixed blessing: I stay connected, but breaking the connection is what's best for the soul.

A couple of points from an American ATT customer:

1. I walked half of the Camino with an iPhone 3G in 2008 and used only the 3G connection for data (found very little WiFi). At the time, ATT was doing a $100/mo unlimited international data plan, which was plenty ample for the few emails I was willing to download and read. Not sure what happened to that plan, but you might consider not downloading large files via 3G and instead waiting for WiFi hotspots for those.

2. There is now an increasing amount of WiFi on the Camino. Last August I walked the last 1/4 of the Via de la Plata to Santiago and found that most Bar/Cafes now have WiFi and were happy to give the password to customers. I had brought my iPhone 4 to Spain thinking I'd use it for the occasional WiFi and not even sign up for an international plan, and that worked for me just fine, again for the occasional e-mail I was willing to download and read. So my iPhone was essentially a tiny WiFi computer and that was it -- no cell plan and I was in "Airplane" mode the whole time.

3. You have to understand that there are long stretches of the Camino where there is no cell access of any kind or where it's very iffy and weak, much less any ability to "check and respond to emails on at any point in the day if needed." I'm thinking, for instance, of the stretch between Villafranca del Bierzo and Portomarin: few towns, mountainous terrain, quite remote, little cell signal throughout much of it. So don't be surprised if you're walking and wanting to check e-mail and simply have no cell signal.

Hope this helps. Oh, I'm going to delete your duplicate post on the same topic. No need to double post on this Forum. All the best ~

HuskyNerd

[geraldkelly]

Hi Burch

I nearly cried when I read your message. I hope they're paying you well. Sometimes I envy our ancestors who worked in the fields all day or down a mine and in the evening they went home and forgot about it until the next morning!

Anyway, on this thread Roncesvalles there is a detailed discussion of SIM cards (scroll down a bit).

Also, I second HuskyNerd's comment that (unfortunately) WiFi is becoming more and more common on the Caminos allowing people to walk the Camino and miss the whole experience because they never disconnect from the terabytes of bullshit we call modern life.

I'm a one text a day man: "I'm still alive", "Everything's grand here", "Very hot today", "Got really drunk yesterday", etc.

Anyway, good luck! I hope your mini-laptop ends up in a dust bin (trash can) someplace around Pamplona!

Ger

[Covey]

As an IT Consultant I have cupboards full of all the Big Boys Toys one could ever wish for. I have laptops, mini note books, smart phones and virtually every Nokia phone ever produced.

Normally, when I walk the Camino I remove the SIM card from whatever all singing all dancing smart phone I am using at present and insert it in one of my trusty Nokia 6310i phones, tell my sons I will switch the set on every other day to pick up any text messages from them, and send them a text telling them where I am. I am firmly in the "GeraldKelly" camp of saying "Arrived Burgos, all is well" and then switching off the phone for the next 48 hours.

Last year I took my new Nokia E72 with sat nav et all, loaded up my music, loaded up the latest maps of Spain and a Nokia app called Tracker. Tracker is clever in that it uses the satnav to plot my days walk, and when I take a photo with the phone camera, marks it on the map. I can then upload my days progress to a website. I get all the stats as to average speed, paces per minute etc etc.

Well, the theory was good, but the damn phone kept beeping and burping at me all day, it told me I had walked 35kms when the guide books said the path was 21kms, and the music quality was not as good as my ipod nano. AND, the phone wanted to be recharged every night.

My Nokia 6310i only needs a charge every 10 days and is so old that nobody would want to steal it if I left it lying around. My iPod lasts me a week if I listen to soothing music for an hour in the evenings.

This year I am off to Lisbon to walk their Camino to Santiago and I shall take my very basic Nokia 6310i and revert to a non-technical Camino of just following the little yellow arrows!

The thought of more and more Pilgrims standing at the top of some hill shouting in to their phone "I'm on the Camino!" is frankly depressing.

[BHinSanDiego]

Like the others here have said and I paraphrase, too bad one has to be tethered to home. Luckily for me I had no reason to be in constant contact with home while on my Camino last summer. However I did keep a blog and send an occasional email using the computers I found in the Alburgues and bars, and that is my reason for adding to this thread, you will find the computer technology in these establishments along the Camino to be of the late 1990 vintage, that is it is pretty much like dial up and takes a long long time for something to upload or download. On the average you get about 20 minutes of internet time for 1 euro.

[burchbagg]

First let me say, I too agree with HuskyNerd and others who see the obvious detraction from the experience. I completely agree. I spend a lot of time in the woods and flyfishing, when it's not hunting season, both of which put me in some of God's greatest places, and the appreciation for them is greatly due to peacefulness, tranquility, and the LACK OF PHONES, computers, cars, etc... so I completely understand and agree. Trust me!! And personally, I hate phones and computers, however they are allowing me to come to Spain for six weeks and maintain a business. And for gifts like that, I have to tolerate them.

And GeraldKelly: Don't cry... it won't be that bad i can assure you! normally i can go days without any issues. thank you for the link. I've been reading about sim cards from spain, just and think i just need to figure out the best way to obtain a data plan with a spanish sim card. I hear the only way to do it is by having a spanish bank account. Have you heard of any other way? As for work, I happen to be the boss and employee...all in one. That being said I'm hiring someone now and hopefully they can be up and running by the time i leave so that this becomes a moot point, but I need to be prepared if not. Fortunately, I don't need to be in my emails that often along the walk. It'll likely be used more in the afternoons after the day's walk, especially now that I know the time difference. But I don't want to gamble on the availablity of a free computer, and if work needs to be done, out of respect for the other people waiting, I don't want to tie up a computer. Yes, having to keep up with work is the curse, but the blessing is I have such a great opportunity to spend six weeks in spain, part of which joining my mother for half of the camino, an experiences she cherishes!

Covey: fortunately i'm not so concerned with texting and talk. I can live without that, and welcome the opportunity! Currently my phone lives on vibrate, and I don't get notices when i get an email. I have to check in. i guess what I mean is I don't have to see every email as it comes in, i just need to check in every now and then (could be twice a day and that's it) to see if anything is urgent that can't wait two days. Do you think an iphone would work wiht an international sim card? I've read that you have to cut them to make them fit since the iPhone 4 takes a micro mini sim or something like that. Thanks for the response!

HuskyNerd: thanks for the iPhone comments. the Airplane mode may be a good option. I wish ATT still had the $100 for unlimited, but not so anymore.


Does anyone have any experience with Data plans through a spanish/international company (using sim cards for data)? with an iphone?

Again, I appreciate any and all feedback you've given or have to give!

Thanks!

~B

[Leslie]

Hi,

I don'thave any idea of data plans in Spain, but I am fairly sure they will be fairly standard with the rest of Europe. I live in Ireland and have phones and seperate data conections for the UK and Czech Republic, each cost me about €20 per month when I top them up - whenever I am there. The phones are much the same, so when it come down to it if you have an unblocked phone it will be fairly cheap.

Re staying conected to files I use dropbox a bit - it syncs with my computers and can be accessed online, I have never had any problems with it and I think I pay about 10 something per month - sorry don't know if £, $ or €. Amazon is also worth looking at - I keep threatening to put this site there, but my tech knowledge is not good enough, but I have used them to backup docs a various points.

Re taking a mini computer, I have a small tosibia mini laptop - not a notebook - notebook is fine for broswing but not if you really have to do anything. My mini goes with me when I don't have access to one of my other machines - I have too dam many of them.

Re doing work along the Camino I suggest that you try to set a bit of structure around it - something like only looking at mails and computer after you stop walking for the day.

When I go on holiday I alway have a laptop with me. I check my websites every morning to make sure nothing has been hacked and all is okay. I have now managed to get this down to 10 minutes asuming everything is fine. Once in the Czech Republic on holiday and I switched on the computer to see a mail from covey telling me this site was down - so it is handy for me, that day it took me a couple of hours to resolve the problem but that is much better than the site being down for a couple of weeks. On holiday I don't reply to email.

Just watch out for the weight of everything, too much weight can make life on the Camino hell. The computer is light but there is also the dam chargers for everything. I want someone to invent a changer that will charge the computer, camera, phones, and anything else I might have - a universal charger, now that would be great.