Trans Africa - Internet?
 

Hi all,

I run an online business and need to check my emails and handle requests from staff and clients once a day, if not at least once every two days. I'm planning a trip from Cape Town to London via motorbike, but this is a big concern.

I don't have a big budget and need my business alive to fund my travels. I'm not overly excited about stopping in cities all the way; however, do you think it's possible to stay connected on such a trip?

Thanks,
Antony.

Jose and Pilar are on the road in Africa right now.. They work remotely .. I'm sure they can offer some advise..

Get real mate.

{......the rest of my post deleted due to "some odd small penis issue" as per below....}

"Get real... daily addiction"? - Not sure what you're on there.

For people who are employed at a company, and are able to quit or take a leave of absence it's easy enough not to worry about internet. Some people have businesses or have to maintain their livelihoods and aren't so lucky. I know internet is going to be a big issue which is my biggest preventative on doing the trip, and hence why I am asking.

Thanks for your practical response though. I do sometimes get upwards of 50 emails related to work a day and may at times have to send documents or zip files, or even check my online website or acknowledge/send invoices through Paypal. I was wondering what internet capability is like if I were to try and stop at lodges, resorts, camp sites, hotels, cafes etc. or hope to make use of mobile internet. I realize it's probably futile, but seeing my options realistically. It would be up the East Coast.

Otherwise, I'll have to save this trip for sometime in the future when I could afford to be away from the internet for weeks at a time (and believe me, I would love to). The trip should be about the experience, and I really don't want to have to consider going to cities and such unless I have to (i.e. motorcycle repairs).

As you say, perhaps I need to find a way to get someone to help manage it so I can check in once a week.

If you really have to work and be able to go online, you better look at the expensive way of internet over satellite, as backup if the internet connection is down or too bad for working.

Irridum is the way to go, because they also offer a good coverage also of the southern part of africa.

Without an Contract:

1MB costs 6,00 €

With an Contract:

montly 50,00 €

including Data 10 MB


additional per 1MB costs 6,00 €

With an Contract buying the bandwith:

Streaming 64K 6,66 € / Minute

Streaming 128K 11,61 € / Minute

Streaming 256K 17,49 € / Minute

I guess it is better to "rent" an device than to buy one and to have an own contract..

On another website i found values:

Prepaid SIM Cards



I guess that topic need some time to find an offer who fit your needs doh :thumbdown: Conclusion: thats very expensiv.



Much better and cheaper is - to find someone who can do your job while you travel...


Surfy

If you're saying you get multiple emails per day, many of which require quick responses, attachments and/or secure connections….AND you don't like cities, want to travel by motorbike, and are on a limited budget, you're going to hate traveling. Seriously. That's too much.

The only way I can conceive of it working out would be if internet was your sole priority--not game parks, not scenery, not fun motorcycling roads, not culture, not flexible responses to all the wondrous stuff that would otherwise come your way, and certainly not sticking to a budget. Even then, you need to think about the consequences should you, for example, break down somewhere out of reach, have stuff stolen, or encounter routine communications infrastructure failures. Which, I can assure you, you will.

So: you need to think outside the box you've created. Maybe you don't really want to travel in Africa after all; maybe limit yourself to South Africa, where infrastructure and services are better. Maybe there are other ways of getting your work done, other people who can do it for you, or altered client expectations--I don't know, and basically don't really care. But sometimes solutions emerge when you (or one, or we) stop thinking we know what's necessary and start working backwards from the goal instead.

Hope that's helpful. If not, you probably know what to do with it.

Mark

Springbok- Rider:

I am in a similar position to you though I only get 5 emails a day but I find that travelling across africa I can nearly always log on every 4-5 days in some internet cafe and especially the east coast. If you plan to be online everyday then Africa probably is not the place to go, head to Western Europe from May onwards Spain, Portugal and France, even Italy are great places to travel and so much to see

i think it will realy depend on were you are travelling...you said the east....if its east down ..its probley possable every 2 days ( im no expert on the east) in southern you should have no problems...forget about central and west africa

but yes i would be expecting that you would have to be in majour citys most of the time ( apart from southern africa)

Markharf: Not sure what's up with this small minded "I don't care..." "you know what to do with it mentality". There's little point explaining my post to you again as I doubt you have the intelligence to understand it. Either that or you have some odd small penis issue.

Surfy: Excellent post, thanks for that.
Desert Driver & Gazza171: Thanks, you also make good points.

I guess I need to look at getting into a position where I can get away with not staying on top of work for a week at a time. Even doing so, I'd have to consider the satellite phone approach for back up, although you're not wrong on the expense.

I'm South African myself and travelling through Africa is about the experience. I'm just looking at ways to do it with my current situation, or if I realistically need to wait until I'm in a better position. Thanks at least for the helpful comments.

Internet
 

Hello bok
Do a search on the expedition portal
Recall your question coming up awhile back.
One thing I have learned a postponed opportunity sometimes slips away
Good luck
Kp

Appreciate your note of support, but regret you misunderstood so completely. Wishing you only the best.

Mark

Thanks Kp.

We have travelled up the east coast and based on that I would say that the chances of getting usable internet access daily are zero I'm afraid. It becomes more of a case of doing what you can online when you find a good connection. Even places should have reliable internet can let you down because of power cuts, the network going down etc. And often the connection is excruciatingly slow.

Once we REALLY had to get online and arranged a stay in an international hotel in Muzzy, Malawi with the plan to use the internet all night. Checking in I checked the wifi was working, yes, the electricity was OK, yes. I paid for the room (much more than I could afford) and asked to buy a scratch card, something I'd done on numerous occasions when just sitting in the hotel lobby. The receptionist came back to say the scratch cards were locked away and only the manager had the key and he wasn't there. We tried for hours to track some cards down and ended up with only 2 hours internet time. TIA.

Mate, when requesting information I'd suggest a civil tone and ignoring posts that you don't like. The HUBB does have guidelines about being civil to each other and you might end up banned.

There are a lot of hardcore travellers on here, many of whom probably find your question and desired travel conditions blissfully ignorant to put it politely.

If you'd like the combined expertise of us all, perhaps consider how you reply.

I won't be replying to any more of your posts.

Two years ago, with an unlocked smartphone, we managed to get internet pretty much everywhere along the Eastern route. Never went to a net-cafe. The only tricky country was Burundi. For the most part, the data plans are cheap compared to Europe. Usually, it is possible to tether the phone to a laptop via a cable or let it act as a wi-fi hotspot to connect other devices.

The following thread gives you some idea of service providers in each country - no doubt it is even better now:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...n-africa-61131

in the same situation - will need daily internet access to answer emails and manage a business remotely.so based on this post it seems like it will be possible.

When you did focus you for internet availability i guess too that it is possible.

When you dont do wildcamping in the bush, when you stay at villages or cities, buy a simcard in each country also when you dont stay there extended - you should be able to use Edge / Internet Cofees / Wifi to read/send mails. So you have failover possibilities.

Working remotely depends how you work. With citrix and high compressed communication you will hate it, but it may be possible.

Using standard rdp (remote desktop protocol) could not be possible from time to time. Sometimes i need more than an hour to update a blog text only website, at sample - in a wifi.

You will recognice when all people use the internet - when you wait till late in the night - you will get better results. That can happen on the backbone too - so you have laag on 3G AND all other Internetsources in a given country. When you wait till the people sleep, it mostly works better.

Therefore - when you really focus your journey to internet availability - have a look for failover options (3G, Wifi, Internet Cofees). And when you dont have to send a bigger amount of Data (mail, pictures, remote working), i think you can go too.

But dont know if a focus about internet access will let you enjoy your journey that much...

Surfy

Thanks for the useful information Desert Driver. I'm in a position where I will have a permanent part-time job and will need to send work documents by email once a week. It's good to know that I'll probably be able to do that.

We're currently travelling from RSA back to EUR, Internet has not been a problem. Wifi is often available, but prepaid simcards are the way to go. Available everywhere, top up everywhere, have decent reception almost everywhere. and definitely the cheapest solution...

I work and Travel and I am in Africa
 

What I use is my smart phone and a cell phone and wifi it to myself. I have pretty good internet in most places around Africa.

I do the research before I enter into the country to find out the best deal and coverage for that company and get that sim card. Normally the cheapest deal only works in the larger town or cities where are the more expensive ones work all over the place. Africans love their phones it has to work!

On top of that system, you have a few (not many) backpackers with wifi. Or you can go to the larger hotels or a bar to find it. At least one place in the town or city will have internet unless you are up Mt Kilimanjaro!

You will find as you start travelling, that overlanders going in opposite direction will swap sim cards with you. It isnt the end of the world you will get internet!

Dont let other people put you off, working and travelling is possible!