Europe - internet cafes or wi-fi (with an eeepc)?
 

Is Wi-Fi a common facility in the Central-EasternEuropean/Balkan countryside these days. I ask as i'm contemplating buying an eee pc for my 3-4 month Euro-jaunt this summer, or is the Internet Cafe common enough to suffice for light-usage.My more recent travelling has been Asian so the current state of Internet access in rural Europe is sketchy.
:confused1:

in czech republic you will find a lot of free wifi hotspots, in big shoping malls in cafeteria, or every KFC have free wifi, its no problem to find it

Well all McD's in France seem to have free wifi now, and the good thing is, you can buy yourself a beer sit outside on their terrace and surf to your heart's content, thus minimising the whole McD experience.

McD's, now that IS a mixed blessing - is Starbucks so equipped as per here in Blighty?
:mchappy:

Starbucks, the Beverage of Beelzebub? I think there's only about four in all of France!!!

Stroll on... you're right! Seems that World Domination doesn't include out French friends - but McD's, i don't know if i can suffer that except under duress.
:thumbdown:

Ah but don't forget in France to go with your Royale with Cheese, you can have http://minmaster.com/colombia/gif/beer%20smiley.gif. Suddenly it gets more attractive.

hang on hang on ..... in McDs in France you can buy beer!?!?!! Why wasn't I told! This is a disgrace!

also - Starbucks here in the UK - you have to pay for the wi-fi.

m

Indeed you can and I've also learnt that their Wifi seems to spread a good few hundred metres from the building, so as it's completly free, you can use it without being in there, just buy a coffee and surf on.

That's a very useful thing to know.... the wi-fi bit I mean... not the beer bit.

Also available at most if not all Marie's in France:thumbup1:

John

which eee pc are you looking at? I'm considering one (900 linux, 8.9", 1024x600 res) for a piece of 'mobile' work I've got coming up. just wondering if you've used one already, or are just thinking about it?

cheers

Not a great business
 

One could deduce that investing in an internet cafe enterprise in Europe would not be a good idea: they should be going the same way as the video/dvd rental shops.

How often do you need to get online?

We did Germany, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria (plus the Baltics) last year. If you're camping, then the camp sites owned by the dutch (normally mentioned on the Alan Rogers website) normally have wifi or computers you can use.

Haven't heard that name for some years!!
 

Ye Gods, there's a blast from the past!

His guide books were pretty good for finding a good pitch for a tent with excellent amenities across Western Europe, although they were mainly directed to caravans and the like IIRC.
Alan Rogers (camping - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The further west you go, the more caravan based the Alan Rogers recommended camp site are.......

At Bran in Romania - the roof tents (which included us) outnumbered everything else (in fact, I can't remember there being any caravans!)

Anyway, back to my original post! Been boffing around France+Italy for a while now and i've seen less than a handful of Icaffs here (5Euros/30mins in Monaco:eek3:), so getting travel info has been a real pain - but here in Rome it's more accessible and heaps better value. Should've bought an eeepc...

Libraries
 

Almost all French towns and a lot of villages have a library where you can access the internet for free, although sometimes you'll have to wait around for a free PC and sometimes you may even have to book when you first arrive.

But if you can get by well enough to say "me travelling biker need check e-mails and HUBB" then perhaps they'll be so interested you'll get to use them quickly and maybe even get a cup of coffee.

I'm going to travel for two weeks in Europe too, so I was highly recommended to try MTXConnect data-only sim card
It's seems being easy to use, fixed prices per day or per Mb, so I've just ordered it via their website

I was riding in Europe for 3 months without a phone or computer. I relied on internet cafes for phonecalls and uploading pictures.

It is possible, but only for light usage. You can find internet cafes only in big cities or backpacker destinations. If a city has immigration from Africa/Middle East (lower income, high need for international communication) or it has a large number of hostels, there will be at least a few cyber cafes. Many backpacker hostels also have computers guests can use (or at least know where a cyber is). I would google the next city's cyber location at the end of my hour. Normally 1-2 euro per hour, occasionally up to 3-4.

Libraries also work, but they have unusual hours and you will normally have to sign-up before they let you on. They are free though, and you can find them even in small towns.

I generally got online once per week.