Accessing internet in many european countries (help a newbie)

Jameson

Hi, I'm doing some research for some friends who are planning to travel europe indefinitely in a campervan. They are an oldish couple and not very tech savvy, and from what I can gather, watching eastenders via bbc iPlayer, and emails will be their primary uses.

Having done a bit of googling I'm pretty sure tethering a smart phone to their laptop will be the easiest way, (maybe not the cheapest though?) with them buying prepaid cards in each country, but I have a few questions that I'm hoping some kind soul will be able to help me with.

1) What kind of phone should they get and unlock- is the iPhone or an android the way to go, or is a smart phone even necessary? I believe they will need at least 3G for streaming videos.

2) Is it just a case of me researching the best data costs from the operators page, (For example I know they will be going through portugal, where it seems 'Optimus' is the best option in terms of data costs.) Then all they have to do is find that card in a shop, put it in the phone and job done?

3) I believe that certain operators charge extra fees for tethering. How will I/they know what these charges are?

4) Is there an altogether simpler/cheaper option than what Im suggesting? Surely businessmen travel all over europe and have mobile broadband wherever they go!

Any help in this matter would be much appreciated. I will pick things up quickly as I'm fairly tech savvy, but not being much of a mobile broadband user myself it's all quite new to me .

	(#1)
Jameson (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 1 Join Date: 04 May 2011 Country:	Accessing internet in many european countries (help a newbie) - 04-05-2011, 17:40 Hi, I'm doing some research for some friends who are planning to travel europe indefinitely in a campervan. They are an oldish couple and not very tech savvy, and from what I can gather, watching eastenders via bbc iPlayer, and emails will be their primary uses. Having done a bit of googling I'm pretty sure tethering a smart phone to their laptop will be the easiest way, (maybe not the cheapest though?) with them buying prepaid cards in each country, but I have a few questions that I'm hoping some kind soul will be able to help me with. 1) What kind of phone should they get and unlock- is the iPhone or an android the way to go, or is a smart phone even necessary? I believe they will need at least 3G for streaming videos. 2) Is it just a case of me researching the best data costs from the operators page, (For example I know they will be going through portugal, where it seems 'Optimus' is the best option in terms of data costs.) Then all they have to do is find that card in a shop, put it in the phone and job done? 3) I believe that certain operators charge extra fees for tethering. How will I/they know what these charges are? 4) Is there an altogether simpler/cheaper option than what Im suggesting? Surely businessmen travel all over europe and have mobile broadband wherever they go! Any help in this matter would be much appreciated. I will pick things up quickly as I'm fairly tech savvy, but not being much of a mobile broadband user myself it's all quite new to me .