Internet access
Photo: Mikhail (Vokabre) Shcherbakov from Moscow, Russia, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Internet access has become a basic need for many travelers. You may be glad to be free of it for a while, but keeping in contact with family and friends can be cumbersome without it. It is essential for most business travellers and for digital nomads who work while travelling. It may also be useful to access Wikivoyage and other travel-related sites wherever you are in the world.
UnderstandTravellers have a wide variety of expectations and expertise regarding the Internet. Some need to be online as much as possible, others not so much.
Access typesAvailability of Wi-Fi, especially free Wi-Fi, varies very much by region.
Accessing emailIn many countries it is easier to use email to keep in touch with friends and family back home than it is to call home regularly.
Security concernsMaking sure no password gets compromised by shoulder surfing, key loggers or other threats is difficult, so you probably want to enable two-factor authorisation (2FA) at any site where you don't log in as Jane Doe or…
Circumventing censorshipSome Internet cafés and Internet providers may restrict access to certain websites based on content.
Filtering junkAs your connections will be slow or expensive, at least from time to time, it may be worthwhile setting up some filtering mechanism, so that you get just the data you want.
ServersFor some travellers, it may be worthwhile to set up a server in your home country or a third country (or perhaps just arrange access to an employer or client's server) before hitting the road.
See also
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Internet access" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: Mikhail (Vokabre) Shcherbakov from Moscow, Russia, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons