Machka 

Here in Australia, you get a USB stick that accesses the internet ... and you pay for a plan of your choice, of course ... and then you can access the internet almost anywhere throughout Australia. You could be in a tent in the middle of nowhere and have a chance of accessing the internet. There are some places which are so remote you won't get any sort of internet or mobile phone access, but the coverage is pretty good.

Same in the UK. We picked up a stick each for the 3 weeks we were there in 2012.

In Europe and Japan we were able to find free or inexpensive internet all over the place ... we'd communicate by email or skype.

Zedoo

I missed the obvious. We can hire people on bikes to deliver messages.

Dahon.Steve

I'm thinking there's going to become a day where Wifi is located on every other block like telephone where 40 years ago. When that happens, why would you want to use your minutes on an ordinary or prepaid cell phone anymore?

I'm thinking of Tracphone in particular because they give you so many minutes, double even triple the amount once you purchase a new phone. However, this could become a thing of the past now that they have Android phones where an App like Twitter or MagicJack eliminates the need to make a minute consuming voice call.

Roody

I'm writing this on stolen wi-fi. The repairman can't come to fix our Internet connection until tomorrow, so I'm using a weak signal from somebody nearby. It only seems to work from one spot in the house. I would not want to rely on stolen and free wi-fi all the time for phone data service.

Roody

Are you making a point, or just delivering random messages?

Roody

Years ago, many cities were talking about providing regional wi-fi but AFAIK, all those plans were dropped. Google has talked about providing global wi-fi via thousands of free-floating balloons in the stratosphere. I don't know where they stand with that now.

I don't predict much improvement in Internet access in the US. The industry is dominated by huge monopolistic corporations. They are largely unregulated and uninterested in major new development investments. It's just another failure of unregulated capitalism, IMO.

Spld cyclist

Sounds like you got Aircards. They are a type of modem that (I believe) uses the cell network for internet. A few years ago, my wife got one from her work with unlimited data. It worked extremely well, even where voice cell reception wasn't very good.

Machka 

I'm talking about this:
Mobile broadband devices - Vodafone Australia


You plug them into your laptop and have access to internet just about anywhere in Australia.

The same deal is available throughout the UK too.

Vodafone is one company that has these, but there are others as well.

Rowan

The reason why we didn't get the USB sticks in Europe is that the laws are quite stringent for identity. You have to have a local address to purchase a stick, even from a supermarket, and have proof of that address. Obviously, as tourists, we didn't have that option. The costs also can be very high, even the Vodafone service was somewhat more expensive than I had expected in Britain.

One of the reasons why we stayed in more hotels than we had planned was because wi-fi access was provided, usually as a free service, although more often than not we had to pay at other places.

Canada also has proved to be somewhat more problematic than I expected using a USB modem stick for access to the phone network. I found only one provider several years ago. I've come to the conclusion that Australia is actually quite advanced compared to North America with its wireless internet access features.

Still, if you are voracious users of the internet as we are, access is something that should be considered seriously if travelling.

spare_wheel

Definitely the best deal if you have 4G wimax/lte coverage. My galaxy sii is rooted and hacked so that i can use it as a 4G hotspot for free. I'll be sad when they shut down wimax and I have to get a new phone.