Email on the Road

As mentioned many times on this site email is our preferred method of communicating. In our case it also seems to be the most cost effective as you can send the same message to a dozen friends for no extra cost that emailing just one. If this is all new to you it is a wise move to get connected to the Internet at home at least six months prior to your extended trip, and become totally familiar with how it all operates - it is NOT difficult. Internet access on the road is fairly easy and is in fact getting more accessible every day as more and more of us start using it regularly.

Internet cafes can now be found in many towns and as stand alone "kiosks" in major shopping centres. A word of warning here though - these are usually the dearest to use - $2.00 for 10 minutes. The cost in an Internet Cafe is $2 to $8.00 an hour. You can however get free access in most public libraries.

SETTING UP EMAIL ACCOUNTS

You do have to do a wee bit of preparation before you leave. Best to start by asking your own ISP how they suggest you access your account whilst on the road. You might find it easier to change ISP's as smaller ones will not operate in the country for the cost of a local call. Using say the search engine Google type "free email accounts". This yields a choice of dozens - quiet bewildering. We suggest you select a major player such as Yahoo or Hotmail. Don't forget to print out several copies of logging on details, the web address and most importantly your password. We used Yahoo for a couple of years overseas as it is pretty advanced, so as well as getting mail addressed to our Yahoo account we could also retrieve mail from our normal accounts at home. We wont list the nitty gritty details here on exactly how to do it as these instructions tend to change. If your friends at home tend to send you lots of pictures and large attachments it is extremely prudent to let them know not to do this whilst you are away, as this can cost you money on the move. Talking about money, using this method you do have to compose replies online and you don't get to keep your email in your own computer. You can of course print it out for an additional fee or do what we do - just "forward" it to our home email address for when we return. You can also "store" it with the service, but the space they allocate is usually under 5 meg. Recovering your email is extremely easy and requires no special skills. You do need to practice at home though!

Tip:- Some email address providers such as Hot Mail DROP YOU OFF THE LIST if the account is not used for a month. We feel safer using our own normal email addresses and accessing them as outlined above. It is a very good idea to PRACTICE retrieving email remotely for a few weeks before leaving home.

WHY TELSTRA IS THE BEST BET

Having an account with Telstra Bigpond in our view is the best possible option for those on the road a lot. They have special pages similar to Hotmail etc. where you can redirect your email whilst on the road. This lets you sort out your email onscreen before downloading and even send them on to another mailbox. It dovetails well if you have a laptop as the dial in access number is a local call ANYWHERE in Australia - 0198 308 888. If you are a Telstra Mobilenet customer and you want to use your laptop (see further down this page) you can save on call costs as you are automatically entitled to use their Mobile Internet plan on a pay as you use method - no monthly charges are involved, just the call costs. Putting this in plain English you do NOT need an ISP account with Telstra or anyone else. To access with CDMA just phone #777 and for GSM/CDMA 0418707638. Calls to either number are charged at 22c Flagfall, 16.5c per 30 seconds 7.00am - 7.00pm Monday to Friday, 8.25c per 30 seconds all other times, charged per second. You will possible find that these rates are cheaper than your present mobile rates unless you are a heavy user. You DO need to set up for this and the instructions are on this Telstra page. This is fairly straight forward. You do not need a password for the 0418 number but YOU DO for the #777 one -

Username: qncuser
Password: ssqnc

Interestingly the Baud rate for CDMA is 19,200 and GSM only 9,600. GPRS runs at 57,600. Just summing up this section as it is a bit confusing! If you DON'T have the internet at home and use a suitable Telstra mobile phone you can access the internet and receive and send emails just for the call costs listed above. If you want to access the internet at home or via a landline then you need an ISP account. Most people will need both but the point is you can get away with just one if you compromise.

INTERNET CAFES

So what happens in an Internet Cafe. Well for starters you can surf the net. You might well ask why on earth would you want to do that? Easy - research and failing memory! You remember months back reading about that fantastic beachside almost free camping area called Cleaverville on Marc's site, but for the life of you can't remember how the heck to find it and it's not on any map you have with you. Within a minute you have the info back off the Internet and most cafes allow you to print hard copy for around 20 cents. Similarly if you belong to the CMCA and want to look up that elusive free camping stop just find a cafe!

Lots of Visitor Information Centres are realising the value of the Internet and many offer very cheap connection rates. The first to start this was Goondiwindi - wonderful initiative. Let's hope it spreads like wildfire. Don't forget that just about all municipal libraries allow FREE internet access. Usually you have to book a time in advance particularly in school holidays.

USING YOUR LAPTOP

Most late model laptop computers come equipped with a modem as standard. So all you have to do is borrow someone's telephone or fax line. This allows you to a few things you can't do in an Internet Cafe such as have messages written up in advance or even update your web page if you have one. You will need to carry a modem cable with the two types of connector which are in use in Australia. The modern RJ12 is the little square clear plastic connector. The other older type is the large square yellow three pronged connector which plugs into a similar wall socket. Dick Smith Electronics has adaptors which allow you to convert from one kind to the other. Whilst there, it is a good move to pick up a phone double adaptor. A very good source for mobile phone accessories with very fast service is Genuine Mobile Accessories - 1300 662 111 or on the internet at www.gmashop.com.

USING A PHONE LINE

Unless you use Bigpond as outlined above, it can be a little embarrassing using a friends phone line as it is a real pain trying to find out the cost of calls. Remember many internet connections could be STD. We always use a Telstra Telecard and this allows us to charge the calls to our own domestic telephone account - extra fee though. You can save on STD costs if your Internet Service Provider has local dial in numbers - called POPS. Providers such as Ozemail, Bigpond and Optusnet are the better choices but we remain convinced that overall Telstra is the best possible choice. We have noticed many motorhomers use a website to keep family posted about their travels. Learning how to do this using simple programs such as FrontPage Express is easy once shown and uploading the new files only takes a few minutes as it only updates files you have physically changed.

USING YOUR MOBILE

Pictured above is a system we used for 18 months - it worked quite OK (in fact it still works on GSM and we still use the phone). Now don't get too excited about this as it is not a cheap option. It is possible to use your mobile telephone for connecting to the Internet. Several major brands now offer kits as optional extras for their mobile phones. It's all a bit of a conspiracy as you need a different cable for different makes. Lots of traps here also. Our initial enquiries were made with Harvey Norman - total disaster as we couldn't find a knowledgeable salesperson! We then tried Clive Peters in Melbourne. Absolutely fantastic as there is no doubt we would have gone mad setting this system up. You need to make sure that the computer, the phone, the data software and your ISP service are all compatible. Obviously the call cost is higher using a mobile phone as all mobile calls are long distance. Once again only ringing in cheaper rate times the costs can be contained within reasonable limits.

Competition in the mobile phone market has given rise to new opportunities to negotiate good deals but this area does need a lot of thought before signing up. We ended up using a low end Nokia phone - on a free basis, a Psion Revo and an infra red Travel modem. We like this system as it was all run on battery. The downside was it wouldn't work with our Toshiba or Sony laptop OR our home computer which ended up making it a very dear modem - $500.00! Now quite a lot happens in 18 months as a thing called WAP has now come on the scene. Looking at ads it seems like the real wonder drug. Sadly it isn't! We got sucked in and bought one. What they DON'T tell you is you only have a window of 90 seconds to type your message - impossible for most of us oldies. Other problems are you can't do any time and cost saving things like copying messages.

NOTE:- Many salespeople seem to think WAP is the same as getting email on your laptop. It's not! You need DATA ENABLED to get email on a laptop. Data enabled means that your phone has a BUILT IN modem.

OUR CURRENT SYSTEM

First up you need a CDMA phone simply because it works in more country areas. As we write this there are nine CDMA internet enabled phones on the market (according to Telstra). It is a nightmare area and most resellers truly haven't got a clue, so you need to do your own thorough research. Even dealing with Telstra direct on the phone is no guarantee that your system will work! Once you have narrowed down to say two models please ring the MANUFACTURER and ask a zillion questions! We spent hours researching a Kyocera 2135 as it allows concurrent use of an external antenna and the data cable. It was superceded on the day we ordered it so we pulled out! In hindsight we have have been better trying to ferret one out as we had no idea how hard it is to get aerial/data to work together! A very frustrating pastime and not a pleasurable buying experience. In a word stressful! A very popular current unit is the Kyocera 3035 and the LG-800 used to be the preferred choice before it was dropped!

Top cable is the data cable. Below it is a serial to USB adaptor cable. Neither needs power.

We ended up with a Samsung N171 - $399.00. (www.samsung.com.au) Now the big problem is most phones all come with loads of gear you just don't need or for that matter understand - voice dialing, computer games, schedulers, vibrators, changing backgrounds etc. We could find NO simple phone on the Australian market! We went for the Samsung because it had a small flap over the keys to stop "funny" things happening when it's in your pocket. We recently had a disaster when one phone was on forwarding all calls unbeknown to us! To use the N171 with your laptop you need a Samsung N171 data cable. We got this from Telstra via Cellnet and it came overnight - $75.00. No software needed - just plug it into your phone and your computer sees it as a 19.2 kbs modem. (this figure came from Cellnet) Sadly the cable comes with ZERO instructions and there is NOTHING on the Samsung site - in our view a very poor show Samsung! What you have to do is tell your laptop that you wish to use another modem. This is really beyond most users so the best bet is to ring the Telstra help line and let them walk you through the installation - this might be why Samsung say nothing! The help lines to use - 133 933 and 125 111. We did it in 10 minutes on our own, but we have grown up with this technology and XP further confuses the issue. Would you believe our Revo took a week to set up! Interestingly Windows XP is not clever enough to recognise that your phone is another modem. Once you have the modem set up it is a good move to make a short cut on the desktop.

We left our main ISP landline account as the default so if we do nothing it simply dials Telstra. Just click on the Outlook Express icon and your phone will dial your ISP. Totally painless! You can if you wish surf the net but it will be at 2/3rds slower than home. You will find that very few outlets have data cables in stock! Technical help via email from Samsung is four hours but we found the detail lacking and we have a fair idea of what we are doing. Telstra do have help lines and they will "walk" you through setting up your phone and laptop - start by ringing 125 111 but remember this is NOT a free call if you are using your mobile so it is best to sort everything out whilst at home with access to a landline. It gets "sticky" if your ISP is not Telstra. In summing up there is a fair bit of messy around to get this working but once you get it right you wont have to worry about it. Those with Macs will have even more problems!

The photo above left shows what the phone displays whilst you are online. It gives the Baud rate and shows the transmission details - handy if you think everything has gone to sleep. The photo at right above shows the Samsung plugged into the serial port of a Sony laptop. Don't forget that charging starts the second you press connect! Time online is shown on the phone display which is very handy as we all know how easy it is to get carried away on the Internet.

NOTE:- At present the only company with USB data cables is Kyocera. Samsung only have serial so if your laptop doesn't have a serial port (it is afterall DYING TECHNOLOGY) you will have to buy a USB to serial converter - $75.00. We find this bizarre, as aren't phone manufacturers cutting edge technology??? Data cables have come right down from $300.00 18 months ago. Our satellite phone cable though is still $345.00 - ouch!! You will need a driver disk for all USB cables - your laptop sees the cable as another hard drive. Serial cables do not need drivers. It is important to understand that your mobile phone does NOT use the modem built into your laptop so please don't try to plug it into the phone socket! USB to serial converters will always come with a driver disk. This all sounds fairly heavy stuff, but once you have set it up all of these things are transparent and will not cause you problems.

INTERNET ACCELERATORS

This is a Telstra initiative and yes it really does work. Nothing actually happens to your phone, but when logging on you nominate if you want it to operate. The extra speed comes from compressing the graphics still further. This degrades quality but the text remains the same. You find you use both methods - normal and compressed but it can save you a lot of air time whilst still giving you a "satisfactory" Internet "fix"! Telstra have done an absolutely marvelous job of explaining how this all works and you can download the instructions in a 691 kb PDF or view them onscreen. This is all FREE by the way. Make certain that you put this special address in your bookmarks - http://setup.speedwise.com. Please don't click on this link now as it WONT work unless you are using your mobile. Remember you MUST click on APPLY for any changed settings to work.

Caution:- If you have multiple accounts on your laptop these settings will override all others. This is no big deal as you simply turn off acceleration when you are using a landline. In our case we use three accounts and have no problems.

TIP:- Try setting the colour to black and white. This setting is rather clever in that it intelligently selects one colour to display the graphic. Text remains in colour so you can still see links. This is the fastest mode you can use on a mobile connection. Another good trick is to use colour, download quickly each page you want to view and then SAVE and drop offline. You can then view the pages at your leisure off line simply by clicking on the saved files (they will have an Internet Explorer icon at the start of the file name).

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR PHONE IS STILL ON CONTRACT

Well this is not the problem you first might think! Say your present phone wont work with the internet and you still have 18 months to go and you want to go round Australia like now! All you do is buy your new phone outright and transfer your old account to the new phone. As it will be CDMA there is no Sim card problem either. This costs nothing and only takes 5 minutes. It is best to do it at a Telstra Business Centre. You get to keep your old number and your old phone. You can sell it if you wish at the end of the contract period. Telstra don't advertise that you can do this, but it is handy and can get you out of a jam if your phone is stolen.

AERIALS

If you can afford the extra cost, adding an aerial gives a real boost to your reception possibilities. Like everything else mobile there are problems. With most phones you cannot buy an external aerial which allows you to plug into your phone and use the data cable at the same time.

The way around this SEVERE limitation is to buy an in car hands free kit - $300.00 to $450.00. Places to ask include Dick Smith, Cellnet and Genuine Mobile Accessories. Sometimes going to a communications installer can save you heaps as they have the know how to make you up just an aerial. The aerial bit only costs around $27.00 it's the lead and plug that seems to be overpriced to blazes. To fit an external aerial to some phones requires you to remove the existing aerial. Our satellite works this way! The photo above is the cable that plugs into the bottom of your phone and into an external antenna. Unless it has a slot in the side you can't plug in a data cable at the same time. Some data cables have an aerial socket on the side. It could pay you to ask about this BEFORE you buy and get assurance that all the bits are available in Australia! It is preferable to pick up the complete kit at the same time. We have waited ages for vital components to come in on back order.

POCKETMAIL

The cheapest way to send and receive emails on the road would have to be PocketMail. Lots of A'vanning non-technical caravanners use one of these as you don�t even need to own or know how to use a computer. You do have to be in mobile phone range to send and receive emails or have access to a landline. The photo below shows the size is quite small yet unlike most mobile phones, the keyboard is large enough to see easily.

BUYING AND ACTIVATING - The cost is $149.00 to $199.00. Yes this is very old technology, but it is very easy to understand, and you don�t have to mess with the thing to coach it into life. After buying one you can �activate� it by ringing 1300 65 99 77 or by going to www.pocketmail.com.au.

SENDING AND RECEIVING EMAILS - To use your PocketMail you dial the Australia wide send/receive 1300 13 55 66 for the cost of a local call. Next as soon as you get the Welcome to PocketMail greeting, hold the backside of the Pocketmail up to the phone as it is an acoustic device. You DO need a mobile or ordinary phone to get it to work. It does NOTHING on its own, but you can compose and read your messages at ANYTIME away from the phone. The device will hold 294 individual messages.

PLAN COSTS - It costs $21.95 a month for unlimited use. You can save money with this if you are an occasional user otherwise you would be better off going for an annual plan at around $16.63 per month. They also have �Lite� plans which allow 15 emails a month and extras at 39 cents per message for $12.95 per month. Dialling in when using a landline (public or private phone) is only the cost of a local call. Using your mobile, costs exactly the same as using your mobile for a voice call, so this is more expensive. The keyboard is very easy to use and the letters easy to see and find. The screen is also a good size and it folds in half to fit into a large pocket. There is a non-standard download socket which we have not tried. You will find that your children and friends tend to keep in touch with you much more using email as it involves them with just about zero cost and it takes no time to whip off a two line message. An email from home can be sent at anytime even if you are out of range and be received as soon as you find a phone etc. Don�t forget that if you have a Palm Pilot you can buy a wonderful little accessory from PocketMail. It clips on the back and allows you to send and receive emails on your Palm Pilot!

ATTACHMENTS - One of the biggest problems with receiving email on the road is being sent large attachments. This is because of the low data transfer rates. Some systems allow you to select which emails you wish to download. Your PocketMail will NOT receive attachments at all. Instead they go to the PocketMail website where you can retrieve them at anytime from an Internet Caf� etc. Messages are capped at 4K each.

CDMA WARNING - If you want to use it with your CDMA phone it is a wise move to try before you buy, as some aren�t compatible due to different rates of signal compression. We strongly suggest you take your CDMA phone with you when purchasing and actually try it! We contacted PocketMail in the States and they told us that they expect to have the CDMA problem completely resolved by the end of 2002. Incidentally their response time was under 4 hours! Impressive!

USING PHONE CARDS - Be aware that Telstra phone cards cannot be used to access the 1300 PocketMail access numbers. This is not a PocketMail problem but one of Telstra�s making! Just have a pocketful of 20 cents ready!

NOTE:- As the Telstra Easymail service closed on 1st May 2002 we have deleted all information on this service. Most users have transferred to the PocketMail service.

EMAIL BY SATELLITE PHONE

You can easily receive and send email and faxes on your Motorola 9500 and 9505 satellite phone (on Telstra Iridium network) and several other units on the other two networks. The only drawback is initial cost PLUS you need to pay twice for the internet service - with Telstra for instance it is an extra $24.95 per month. The speed is marginally faster but things like data cables are horrifically expensive as they aren't a high volume product.

GPRS

As we write there is yet another technology just starting to emerge called GPRS. This is a sort of broadband for digital phones and for those used to broadband it seems to work exactly the same, in that you can still make voice calls without having to close the session. It is "on" all the time and you only pay for the actual data you receive/send and NOT the airtime. Our advice is to sit back and wait and see what happens as it could be another "Beta" video tape as at present it ONLY works on the GSM network which means it is not really suitable for those touring outside the main cities where CDMA is the best option. The big advantage though is as it's always on you are notified the second an email is received. The WAP component also works continuously.