The 21st-Century Traveler

Internet Access Away From Home

Without Your Own Computer -- To find cybercafes in your destination, check www.cybercaptive.com and www.cybercafe.com. A hotel without a computer and Internet connection is the rare exception, not the rule. The hourly rate is expensive -- you'd do better at a cybercafe -- and more isolated hotels can charge up to $10 an hour.

With Your Own Computer -- More and more hotels, cafes, and retailers are signing on as Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) "hot spots." Mac owners have their own networking technology: Apple AirPort. To locate other hot spots that provide free wireless networks in cities around the world, go to www.personaltelco.net/index.cgi/WirelessCommunities.

For dial-up access, most hotels offer dataports for laptop modems, and high-speed connection in their business centers. A few upscale hotels have stepped up to wireless connection in guest rooms, but at costs of $10 to $20 per day. Rates vary wildly from hotel to hotel (some even offer free service), so factor the price into your nightly stay if you're bringing your work with you and need prolonged access to the Internet.

Major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have local access numbers around the world, allowing you to go online by placing a local call. The iPass network also has dial-up numbers around the world. You'll have to sign up with an iPass provider, who will then tell you how to set up your computer for your destination(s). For a list of iPass providers, go to www.ipass.com and click on "Individuals Buy Now." One solid provider is i2roam (tel. 866/811-6209 or 920/235-0475; www.i2roam.com).

Wherever you go, bring a connection kit of the right power, and phone adapters, a spare phone cord, and a spare Ethernet network cable -- or find out whether your hotel supplies them to guests.

Cellphone Use

The three letters that define much of the world's wireless capabilities are GSM (Global System for Mobiles), a big, seamless network that makes for easy cross-border cellphone use throughout Europe and dozens of other countries worldwide. In the U.S., T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless, and Cingular use this quasi-universal system; in Canada, Microcell and some Rogers customers are GSM; and all Europeans and most Australians use GSM. If your cellphone is on a GSM system, and you have a world-capable multiband phone such as many Sony Ericsson, Motorola, or Samsung models, you can make and receive calls around the globe. Just call your wireless operator and ask for "international roaming" activation on your account. Be forewarned, however, that exorbitant charges are applied to making and even receiving calls, from $2 to $3 per minute.

There are no phone-rental kiosks in the Panama City airport, and travelers who need to make a lot of local calls and receive international calls are better off buying a phone in Panama. Cellphones that accept prepaid phone cards are as cheap as $30 in electronics stores in Panama City (and come with a bonus of $20 in calls), and phone-card companies have nonstop promotions that double or triple the value of phone cards. Local calls are as low as 10¢ per minute, and incoming calls are free.

Wilderness adventurers headed to remote destinations or cruisers might consider renting a satellite phone ("satphone"). It's different from a cellphone in that it connects to satellites and works where there's no cellular signal or ground-based tower. You can rent satellite phones from RoadPost (tel. 888/290-1606 or 905/272-5665; ww.roadpost.com) or from InTouch USA (tel. 800/872-7626), which offers a wider range of satphones but at higher rates. Per-minute call charges are comparable to roaming charges with a regular cellphone, but the phone rental is $90 or more per week. As of this writing, purchasing a satphone is prohibitively expensive.