Job Discussion Forums

[Qaaolchoura]

I'm curious, I have some family friends who told me that free WiFi is almost unheard of in Western Europe. On the other hand, a friend of mine who went to China told me that he had no trouble getting high-speed internet, but he was with a school program. And he didn't actually say it was free WiFi. Any rate, I'm wondering:

A. Are there any countries outside of North America where you can readily find free WiFi? Or failing that, reasonably cheap Wi-Fi cafes (as I remember seeing in Mexico)?

B. In the countries you've worked in recently, what's the internet situation? Can you get high-speed* internet? Do employers ever provide internet of any sort? If you can get decent internet, how much does it cost?

*by "high-speed" I mean anything better than 56 K

[Glenski]

Those are tough questions to answer.

A. Japan has areas within some cities that have free wifi. Depends on where you go.

B. Mixed. Optic fiber is common, but you can still have dial-up speeds in rural areas.

My employer is a university. At work, we have internet, of course. They don't pay for any at my home, though. Not sure what you meant. It's available in high schools, too, but there are firewalls to contend with for the sake of student security.

[johntpartee]

In Hong Kong, wi-fi is in a lot of downtown cafes; you can just stand on the sidewalk outside of the cafes and pick it up for free; most hotels have it, but you have to register and pay, same thing at the airport. In the part of China I'm in now (Henan Province, 350 miles south of Beijing), nobody knows what wi-fi means. Might be different in the "westernized" cities on the mainland (Shanghai, Beijing, etc.).

[tttompatz]

Korea is the most wired place on the planet.
there are many free wifi hotspots around the coffee shops.

You can often piggyback on unsecured wireless routers if you are that kind of person.

You can get 100Mbs or faster connections in your apartment for about $35 per month (no limits on use).

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In the Philippines you can get a dongle (smartbro) and broadband wireless (in any city) for p999 (post paid account) or about $25. For a no-contract "pre-paid" service on the same system it will cost about p1250/mo for unlimited connectivity (24/7).

You can use the same dongle for 128k wireless anywhere you get a cell signal.
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