Using laptop/mobile devices in Europe

Vishnu, Your best bet for using iPhones, laptops and Hotspots in Europe is to access data ONLY in Wi-Fi areas, which means your "reliable high speed data transfers" will be somewhat limited. While it is possible to access cellular data, it tends to be VERY expensive! I've seen a few cases where people returned from a trip to Europe and found a bill for $35,000 waiting in the mailbox, which was for cellular data roaming. If you're presently using AT&T service, I'd suggest you talk to them about their roaming rates. I believe they offer voice, text and data plans for travel which will reduce the costs. It's possible that your AT&T Hotspot won't work in Europe, as it may not be equipped with the European data frequencies. You may find that data costs in some eastern European countries are more expensive than in western Europe. Happy travels!

In addition to any replies you get here, look at http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/. Ask questions for the specific countries you will be visiting, and don't be afraid to get clarification, as the discussions can get very technical.

The Wi-Fi in some of the somewhat affordable hotel may only work in limited areas of the property such as the lobby, reception areas or specific sitting areas. The hotel may not offer in room Wi-Fi. Or if in room connectivity is offered it may be an extra charge service. It all depends on the property.

Thank you so much for your responses. Much appreciate it.
Vishnu

I think it should be easy to find accommodations that offer reliable, cheap/free wifi. Certain countries also have a lot of free public wifi (Poland for example, Wifi everywhere!). The hotspots work the same way as they do here. I never used it to stream anything or download huge files but checked email, surfed Internet, downloaded movies for flight back home etc. Rarely had a problem.

I was in Austria and Germany this past May and used an iPhone5. I enrolled in Verizon's Global Program, keeping my phone and my U.S. phone number. The cost was an optional $4.99 one-time fee for reduced call rates and $25 for 100 MB of data; text messages were 5 cents each to receive; 50 cents each to send. I made very few calls, but wanted to be immediately reachable from the States. For email and internet, I mainly used hotel wifi with the cellular data on the phone set to "off" and the "fetch new data" in the mail setting switched to "manual" (so the phone would not be searching and pushing emails to the inbox). When the hotel wifi was occasionally out or we were out and about and needed to access the internet, I switched the cellular data setting to "on" (but always had the "enable LTE" turned off since arriving in Europe). I ended up only using a fraction of the 100 MB of data during the trip, but had the peace of mind that if the phone lost a wifi connection and somehow started downloading cellular data, that I would not incur a costly expense. It is also my understanding that once you reach 100 MB of data, Verizon must ask for your authorization to purchase the next 100 MB; therefore, you are protected from those outrageous and unexpected data bills when you return. I was very pleased with this Program, as compared to renting cell phones with U.K. numbers, which I had done on two previous trips. Plus, my employer receives a 23% Verizon discount, which is also in effect for personal expenses, so the Global Plan was actually cheaper than the figures I mentioned above. Lastly, if you don't have a global ready phone, Verizon will loan you one for free if you enroll in the Global Program.

We stayed in Mercure and Novotel hotels in France and Germany last spring. We had WiFi available in our room. I used my Nook reader. We were not trying to use the reader for work purposes. I don't know if you would consider these hotels "affordable". We didn't have any connection availability at our gite in rural southern Burgundy. I didn't bother trying when we went into town. We do not take cell phones to Europe. We either email or buy phone cards. Enjoy your trip!

Much appreciate your responses. Very helpful in planning my trip. Thank you ever so much, all.......Vishnu