Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

THE 21ST-CENTURY TRAVELER 49
has a Web-based interface tied to your
existing e-mail account. If your ISP
doesn’t have such an interface, you can
use the free mail2web service (www.
mail2web.com) to view (but not reply
to) your home e-mail. For more flexibility,
you may want to open a free,
Web-based e-mail account with Yahoo!
Mail (mail.yahoo.com). (Microsoft’s
Hotmail is another popular option, but
Hotmail has severe spam problems.)
Your home ISP may be able to forward
your e-mail to the Web-based account
automatically.
If you need to access files on your
office computer, look into a service
called GoToMyPC (www.gotomypc.
com). The service provides a Webbased
interface for you to access and
manipulate a distant PC from anywhere—even
a cybercafe—provided
your “target” PC is on and has an
always-on connection to the Internet
(such as with Road Runner cable). The
service offers top-quality security, but if
you’re worried about hackers, use your
own laptop rather than a cybercafe to
access the GoToMyPC system.
WITH YOUR OWN
COMPUTER
Major Internet Service Providers (ISP)
have local access numbers around the
world, allowing you to go online by
simply placing a local call. Check your
ISP’s website or call its toll-free number
and ask how you can use your current
account away from home, and
how much it will cost.
If you’re traveling outside the reach of
your ISP, the iPass network has dial-up
numbers in most of the world’s countries.
You’ll have to sign up with an iPass
provider, who will then tell you how to
set up your computer for your destination(s).
For a list of iPass providers, go
to www.ipass.com. One solid provider
is i2roam (www.i2roam.com; & 866/
811-6209 or 920/235-0475).
Wherever you go, bring a connection
kit of the right power and phone
adapters, a spare phone cord, and a
spare Ethernet network cable. Australia’s
electricity supply is 240 volts,
50 hertz. North Americans and Europeans
will need to buy a converter
before they leave home, as Australian
stores usually only stock converters for
Aussie appliances to fit American and
European outlets. Most business-class
hotels throughout the world offer dataports
for laptop modems. You’ll have
to bring your own cables either way, so
call your hotel in advance to find out
what the options are.
Community-minded individuals
have also set up free wireless networks
in major cities around the U.S., Europe,
and Australia. These networks are
spotty, but you get what you (don’t) pay
for. Each network has a home page
explaining how to set up your computer
for their particular system; start your
explorations at www.personaltelco.net/
index.cgi/WirelessCommunities.
USING A CELLPHONE IN
AUSTRALIA
The three letters that define much of
the world’s wireless capabilities are
GSM (Global System for Mobiles), a
big, seamless network that makes for
easy cross-border cellphone use
throughout Europe and dozens of
other countries worldwide. In the U.S.,
T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless, and Cingular
use this quasi-universal system; in
Canada, Microcell and some Rogers
customers are GSM, and all Europeans
and most Australians use GSM.
If your cellphone is on a GSM system,
and you have a world-capable
phone such as many (but not all) Sony
Ericsson, Motorola, or Samsung models,
you can make and receive calls
across civilized areas on much of the
globe. Just call your wireless operator
and ask for “international roaming” to
be activated on your account.
World-phone owners can bring
down their per-minute charges with a
bit of trickery. Call up your cellular