The holy grail of mobile technology is to be always connected with
good bandwidth and devices that let us do what we want.
Most of us are only part-way there - about half of us have
smartphones. These let us always be connected to email, the Web, and
more - until we travel out of country and face high roaming fees. And
while convenient, actually working on smartphones is less than ideal -
at least for me.
I can be more productive on a laptop but find those often more bulky
than I want to carry around. And laptops use WiFi to connect - good if
there's a nearby hotspot, but far from always connected. (Yes, I could
share a smartphone's mobile data with my laptop or use another gadget
to connect.)
For the past couple of years, my portable technology of choice has
been one of Apple's original iPad models.
I'm one of the 20% or so of iPad owners who paid a $130 price premium
to get a mobile data-enabled model letting me use a WiFi hotspot when
available or other times connect to a mobile-carrier's data network -
at least when I'm in Canada.
...some hotels promise free WiFi but actually
provide only an hour of free access.
Last summer, I reported that I'd found it easy and affordable to
replace the Canadian SIMs in my iPad and a loaner HTC Android
smartphone with ones purchased from Vodafone Italia. These let me
access the local network - so no roaming charges - and automatically
stopped working after a month. (The trick was to have hardware that was
not locked to a specific service - iPads are all unlocked, but most of
our phones are not.)
This spring, I was in New York City for a week, again with my iPad,
and again wanted short-term access to a local mobile data network. An
AT&T store near my hotel was happy to provide me with a SIM for a
month's service for about $25. More time than I needed, but no problem
- I thought.
I've learned to make sure I can connect before I leave the shop.
Like Canada's Rogers, AT&T provides SIMs that are pre-activated;
when plugged in, software appears on the device allowing the user to
pick a plan, enter credit card information, and get online.
Slick and handy. But AT&T's software required me to enter a
credit card with a US address. No zip code, no service. Sorry.
Apparently, there was no way they could take my money.
Competitor T-Mobile was two doors down the street. It could sell me
a SIM good for a week's service for $10 - a better fit for my travel
plans. Unlike AT&T, its card had to be activated by a salesperson -
who needed to phone tech support to learn how to do it.
But after 10 minutes, I was up and running - as tested before I left
the store.
My SIM card adventures weren't over, however. The micro-SIMs used by
iPads are about the size of my baby fingernail. So I cleverly taped my
Rogers SIM onto the back of a business card I'd picked up at the
AT&T store to make sure I wouldn't lose it.
Smart idea - except I threw the business card away while cleaning
out my wallet. Back in Canada, a $10 replacement SIM and 20 minutes on
the phone to Rogers' support got everything back to normal.
One more travel tip: Hotel WiFi often isn't all you might hope -
some hotels promise free WiFi but actually provide only an hour's
access for free. And even where the promised free connection really
exists, bandwidth can be poor with a router down the hall somewhere
serving multiple rooms.
A portable WiFi router such as Apple's Airport Express (the
newest version, which also supports streaming video, is $89 shipped
from Amazon.com) is worth packing. About the size of a cigarette
pack, it plugs into an electrical outlet and connects to a wired
ethernet network port - often (though not always) found in hotel rooms,
giving you your own WiFi connection. Just don't forget to pack an
ethernet cable! 
First published in Business in Vancouver June 12, 2012 High Tech
Office column.
