Comments on: Using Mobile Phones when traveling abroad

By: David

David — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:44:44 +0000

I used local sim card, and calling cards while calling cards in Russia, but it was still pretty expensive and the calls were not of the best quality and kept getting dropped, so I ended up paying for bad service. Now I make VoIP calls using skype and nymgo depending on destination and which works out to be a lot cheaper.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 06:57:32 +0000

True Nick! Even better if you have an unlocked phone. Then you can simply put in any SIM card of any company in any country, as long it’s the same mobile technology (GSM/CDMA). In most countries, prepaid SIM cards are cheap and the way to go for affordable mobile calling, texting and mobile internet.

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 05:19:27 +0000

Some companies like AT&T let you use your own phone is another country for a small fee. Not all the companies do that tho and some change way too much for a similar service.

By: Chris Simpson

Chris Simpson — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:58:16 +0000

Singtel Singapore, Smart Philippines, and Optus Australia are all the same company. Automatic roaming, reload compatibility, no number change.
I have had problems with both Optus and Smart but this automatic feature is brilliant; therefore I stick with them.

By: Jurgen

Jurgen — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:53:41 +0000

Sunnyyeah that’s right, that would be possible but I guess it will be kind of hard to convince so many people to buy a new piece of hardware which they don’t really need, not to mention the technical and legal complications with sharing a single internet connection. I further agree that it would be techie-tourist-heaven, but I don’t really see the business in it…
BTW, how id you manage to go frm Singapore to Australia and back in such a short time?

By: Sunny

Sunny — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:21:00 +0000

I’m not sure how it’s done. My uni campus had the whole area covered with wifi. Is there anyway to do it economically?

My home has a wireless router. And I think with a Meraki we can achieve the same as with an ordinary wireless router. So why not encourage everybody to use a Meraki instead? It works like a wireless router, broadcasting internet around the whole house. Also in this way they can share the unused bandwidth with people within the range of 350m radius. Better, if someone else also has a Meraki within the range, the bandwidth can be broadcast further by another 350m. Is this understanding correct? So, say there is a shop or cafe every 100-350m away in an area, the whole town can become a Meraki town.

By: Sunny

Sunny — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:09:01 +0000

What about 3G? Is it superior to GSM and CDMA in the range? Perhaps the most practical means is for all the shops or homes in a neighborhood to buy a Meraki so that our phones/laptop can always be within the range of 350m from the nearest Meraki. As you explained, we must be within this range to transmit data to a WiFi link. For remote places, perhaps solar Meraki? I suggested this before. This could turn the entire neighborhood into a WiFi town. If everyone would co-operate, it would become a business and tourists heaven.

By: Jurgen

Jurgen — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:13:43 +0000

Sunny, the answer to your first question is: modern phones have many different antennas and transmission modules under the hood e.g. a gsm/umts antenna, a wifi antenna, a gps antenna, a bluetooth antenna and so on. each of these antennas have a different transmission ranges e.g bluetooth up to 10 mt, wifi up to 300 mt. and gsm up to 32 km (all these values are theoretical and you won’t be able to get them in real life).
if you want to try out the wifi transmission power of your phone get yourself joikuspot or joiku light (just google for it) switch it on and try with a second wifi device the distance you’ll be able to cover.
your second question: this mini device unfortunately would always need the high gain power antenna in order to establish the 2-way connection… :-(

By: Sunny

Sunny — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 07:54:19 +0000

Hi Jurgen,
Thanks for your explanations. But I have a question: how do our mobile phones connect to the network? If our phone must also transmit data beside receiving, how can they be so powerful to transmit data so far?

Let’s consider another solution. Do you think Meraki should develop a mini weather-proof Meraki (powered by lithium batteries or solar) that we can carry around (perhaps clip on our backpack or hat) in a Meraki-covered neighborhood to broadcast a mini WiFi cloud around the backpacker while he uses his smart phone or laptop? Such a device should be as power-saving, light and cheap as possible. Since it’s not necessary to create a large WiFi cloud, it needs not be as powerful as the normal Meraki.

So, using this model, we have a Meraki that broadcast up to 8km from a Hostel, and another mini clip-on Meraki we carry with us that connects to this and broadcast a mini cloud around us (radius of 1-3m).

Do you think this works?

By: Jurgen

Jurgen — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:49:50 +0000

Sunny, what I described was basic physics and no company on earth can overcome these natural laws! What Meraki does on their website is mixing different kinds of information on purpose. They clearly state that there range is between 50-350 meters (exactly the same like any WiFi router on the market!) and then they add this stunning 8km figure without explaining it further. Actually this function is meant to work only in repeater modus which means that on the receiving side you need such a device again which on his behalf creates another WiFi cloud accessible and reachable by your smartphone or laptop. This technique is used to deploy the WiFi signal to a distant point which otherwise would not be easily reached by a network cable because of terrestrial problems, e.g. a road, a river or a deep canyon in between point A and point B.
Btw, you can do that with nearly every WiFi-router on the market, the difference to Meraki is only that they are cheaper, not so cute and maybe a bit more cumbersome in installation.