Connecting to Internet with mobile phone in U.S., Paris

Connected to Intenet with mobile phone at Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris

My new Motorola RZR (v3) mobile phone has many features I like. By far my favorite is the ability to connect to the Internet when traveling. It comes in particularly handy at airports that don’t offer free Internet access. I have successfully connected to the Internet using this feature at several U.S. airports including Atlanta, Dulles and West Palm Beach. West Palm Beach offers free Internet access but I wanted to see if I could connect with my mobile phone.

To take advantage of this nifty feature we signed up for the T-Mobile GPRS “World” program which allows unlimited access to the Internet with the cell phone for a flat monthly fee. I tried to connect in South Africa but was unsuccessful. Despite repeated calls for assistance to T-Mobile and more than 4 hours on the phone with them we were never able to figure out why I couldn’t connect.

In between flights at Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris recently I connected to the Internet using my RZR. I followed the same steps to connect from my laptop computer that I follow in the U.S., using the software that came with the phone. It worked like a charm, easily and quickly. The only down side was that the “World” program only covers the U.S.  Additional fees apply outside the U.S. My short cyber excursion in Paris cost $127!

Hopefully they will come up with a more affordable plan for international access in the future. In the meantime, it’s still great to get online easily to deal with work issues with my mobile phone within the U.S.