Hi
Couple in 50%26#39;s from New Zealand
travelling London, Paris, Dijon, Milan, Venice, Rome, Lucerne, Vienna, Prague, Cologne, Luxemburg, Brussels, Frankfurt over about seven weeks by rail.
To keep in contact with hotel bookings and maybe New Zealand any advise what is best and what supplier.
Our last trip in Canada used New Zealand Telecom and cost over $400 roaming calls. Do not want a repeat.
How secure are hotel internet for banking transfers and email?
Thanks
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You might already own a GSM mobile phone. If you are certain it is %26quot;unlocked%26quot; and can accept simms from others telephone companies, you can simply purchase a simm with prepaid minutes for use in Europe. Much has already been written on the forum about cell phone usage and all of its options. A quick forum search may yield much additional information.
Email security is generally not a major concern. Internet banking however is a different situation entirely. If you plan on accessing banking information while traveling, take these few precautions at a minimum:
1. Carry your own laptop; there are many exploits to which you become very vulnerable when using a computer other than your own.
2. Consider wireless internet access riskier than hardwired access; particularly risky are free access wireless sites. Never use such a site to access banking information.
3. Some internet providers allow you to plug your own machine into their networks (using an RJ-45 cable, not a wireless card). Though not totally risk free, this is perhaps the best alternative for accessing internet bank accounts while traveling.
I consider the best way to keep in touch by telephone is VOIP (i.e. skype, Gizmo project, or dialpad). With these systems one pays a nominal fee in advance ($10). Using a headset/mic and your laptop connected to the internet, you can make calls anywhere in the world for pennies a minute. You can even call computer to computer (France to New Zealand for example) for free.
Presently, there are many options to remain in touch with family and friends which do not cost a lot of money.
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2. if you bank uses SSL (which all banks do, basically), Wifi is not really an added risk.
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I fell compelled to point out to anyone using an unsecured wireless network (one not using WPA encryption, WEP is easily broken) that it is really not difficult to slip key logging software for instance onto a computer without the user knowing. While the single socket layer portion of the transmission is probably secure, anything you type, (i.e. passwords, account numbers, URLs) is not and can easily be passed along to a third party completely unknown to the user.
One can never be too cautious. Avoid wireless networks for secure transmissions.
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Has anyone checked on a wireless card purchased in Europe? Seems like this might be a good way to access the internet safely and then us skype or another internet phone.
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