internet access while traveling in Italy with netbook

Jane, I think you are confusing two different things. Netbooks are wifi enabled, but there is no SIM card. (SIM cards are what you put in cellphones.) You might mean something like an air card, which is basically a stick that plugs into a USB port on your computer and allows you to pick wifi signals anywhere. Netbooks aren't "locked" but you would have to buy an air card in Italy so that you are using a local network. My netbook is an Asus - it has worked great everywhere that I have tried it.

Thanks for the replies. I have more questions. What is vodaphone mifi and where do I buy it (here before I leave or when I arrive in Italy)? Can I buy a pay as you go type service for the 2 weeks I will be there? Nancy, I have actually seen some netbooks advertised that have sim cards. I started researching it when I read that the 3g ipad has a sim card. So how do you get mobile internet service with your Asus netbook when you are overseas? Thanks, Jane

I just use hotspots, either at a public location like a McDonalds/Starbucks, library, or a hotel (some offer wifi in the lobby - you don't have to be staying there). I don't use an air card. If you wanted a Vodaphone air card you would get it once you are there.

A few telephone providers sell netbooks with built in G3 (GSM?), but they are locked. I know T-mobile is one, but I doubt if they would convert it for T-mobil in Europe (and I don't know what G3 is available in Italy).

Last August I used my netbook on T-mobil's network (through Pennymobil) in Germany. I bought an unlocked ATT "webstick" (USB modem) here in the US, then bought a SIM at Pennymarkt in Munich. I had to call one number to activate the SIM, then another to convert it to data.

Mifi is a GSM modem with a Wifi router. It's good for connecting multiple computers to a GSM network, but unnecessary for one computer.

Jane,

Finding a Netbook with a built-in Cellular Air Card is probably not the best option. You'd first have to ensure that it was equipped with the necessary European frequencies (which is less likely in a Netbook than in a Cellphone). Data frequencies are different than those used for voice calls. Also, data roaming can be horrendously expensive so that's another concern.

AFAIK, Cellular Air Cards are only supposed to be available to "local residents", as these are typically offered on a contract basis rather than PAYG. I believe that was Lee's experience with the plan he used (but he'll have to confirm that).

It will be far more realistic (and probably cheaper) to plan on using only Wi-Fi for net access at Hotels or Coffee shops.

Happy travels!

I don't know about Italy, but I was able to buy a USB aircard (or data stick or whatever other names it is called) on a pay-as-you-go plan in the U.K. Both were relatively inexpensive and the USB device had the frequencies to work in the U.S. so I could use it when I returned home. I used it many times when I was not near a wifi connection.

Now I have an unlocked Nexus One phone that acts as a mobile wifi hotspot so I could use that instead and just purchase a prepaid SIM on a future trip with a prepaid data package (usually a certain number of megabytes of use for a set period of time).

Unless it's absolutely imperative that you have internet at all times, it seems that just finding a hotspot would be much less trouble and expense. In a lot of places it's completely free. In others you get a certain amount of time free if you purchase something. I haven't had to buy anything but my netbook - no prepaid data plans, no SIM cards, no air cards - and I've always been able to find internet access when I wanted it.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I still find it a very confusing subject. Relying on wifi spots is certainly an option. My concerns with that are 1) I don't think the agriturismo where we are staying provides it, 2) it seems like the times when we would most likely need the internet access is when we are on the road and 3) I have been reading some forum entries about disappearing wifi internet cafe's in Italy. But it does sound like a major challenge to get 3G access for internet in another country. I see some replies that people had success in the UK but I don't want assume I would be able to replicate that in Italy! My final thought, is McDonalds really that ubiquitous in Italy? Thanks, Jane

is McDonalds really that ubiquitous in Italy?

There are 400 outlets in Italy. I highly recommend the new McItaly burger made with ingredients from Italian farms, and endorsed my the Minister of Agriculture.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/28/mcitaly-burger-mcdonalds_n_440430.html

The remote little casa rural where I stayed in the mountains of northern Spain had wifi, as did the restaurant next door. You really shouldn't have a problem in Italy.

1) Have you asked if they have it where you are staying?
2) When you are on the road is when you are most likely to encounter places where there are hotspots.