Working Anywhere

Get Your Data Card Here

Wireless Moves points out that French operator Orange is vending SIMS and 3G data dongles in airports around Paris.

The Internet Everywhere product is one I've used in France since February on a few occasions. As the WirelessMoves post points out, it is a bit pricey, but for me, to be connected in the vineyards is an added plus.

MiFi Comes To America

As a very happy owner of an unlocked Novatel Wireless MiFi, both CDMA and HSPA version, all I can say is the news of the GSM/HSPA version arriving in North America has to be viewed as great news. This is the most amazing device a road warrior can own.

I own the 2352 which features 900/1900/2100 MHz as I am in Europe so much, but the 2372 is optimized for the USA, likely meaning that it may work on T-Mobile 3G on 1700 Mhz, but no specs are out one the Novatel site to that confirm yet.

Given the lack of T-Mobile nationwide coverage and AT&T's sputtering network until the upgrades are finished, the CDMA versions from verizon and Sprint are likely more reliable for heavy users at present, but if HSPA/3G is what you need, then the 2372 HSPA version is still not a bad option.

I hope to test one when I'm back in the USA.

A Comparison of Three Pay As You Go Mobile Broadband Networks in the UK

Over the past week I've been shifting between T-Mobile (on my Nokia E71) as well as both Three and Vodafone for mobile data.

For ease of use Three and T-Mobile on mobile handsets are simple and easy to deal with, and offer easy to follow pay as you go options for as little as a day with Three, or a week with T-Mobile, or daily where you don't have to do anything at all.

Cost wise, Three is the best value as you can get a 7 GB plan for 25 pounds. T-Mobile isn't that far behind them with a 2 pounds per day plan for what is deemed "fair use"but they cap it at 3GB a month and you're not supposed to use it for VoIP, making Skype a non-starter.

The most expensive service comes from Vodafone, at 15 pounds per gig. You also get the best and only HSUPA network in the London area. Hands down it's the best 3G experience I've had, rivaling my Verizon experience in the USA on the downloads, but smoking just about anything out there except a Fiber connection as the uploads have been as fast as most cable and DSL connections.

Coverage wise, Voda and T-Mobile cover more of the UK, but if London is where you'll be most of the time, then any of these will do, with Three offering the best value for money and Vodafone giving you a true HSUPA experience.

Banks And The International Business Traveler

I have just spent the better part of ninety minutes contacting a series of financial institutions to notify them that I'll be out of the country for the next week on business. This is an exercise that I do each and every trip and it's getting OLD.

Wells Fargo takes the cake for the most technology lagging of the bunch. This wasn't a surprise, but their CTO is too chicken to talk to a customer despite requests from my private banker and even a request via their PR team to hear how things can be made easier for everyone. Why? They have over 90 products spread across some 15 or more platforms, and as a business and personal customer, and one who uses a number of their services, I need to notify multiple departments (or have my private banker handle it) each time I leave the USA because as of the 1st of the year, a blanket notification stopped being any good for them. Once I made a payment to a vendor from Madrid, then another from Valencia and Wells Fargo FROZE my access for over 24 hours....and the excuse was "our departments are different" even though they had been notified, but only one department.

Next was Bank of America. It seems their systems were down for weekly maintenance (have they heard of redundancy in the banking world?) and as of six months ago, paper and pencil were banned for security reasons, so that card is not going to get used until I have a word with them tomorrow (like I have nothing better to do on a business trip.)

On the other hand, AMEX was a breeze, telling me that as a valued cardmember of many years my profile is such that their security features can detect the patterns and I'm all set. WOW...

Here's the rub. The banks all have online systems, yet not a one has an International Travel Notification engine. To me, and I bet any other global business person that's an easy notification system, the same way services like Do Not Disturb work with Google Voice and CallVantage or a service like AwayFind handles your notifications by email.

It's just technology and security has to stop being the excuse for not doing things that are for the convenience of the customer and the overall business.