communication when on a big trip.

Hi John,We spend 4-5 weeks up at Ningaloo every year and my wife does all the emailling banking paying bills over the internet just using her mobile and it cost next to nothing.We don't use the lap top for that just to down load photos ect .
So i don;t see the need for a ADSL, just my opinion.
Regards
Glyn

Hi Johnny boy,

We always take our laptop and use it not so much for keeping in touch, although if you have wireless software that is always useful, but more for keeping a journal of the trip and for watching DVDs on the odd occasion or when we're rained in for long periods. We also occasionally catch the tv news and, more importantly, the weather (with a USB tuner).

Sometimes you just want to be out there on your own with no contact. But not always, especially on a very long trip.

I'm still working on 'the other half' about an EPIRB - I think I'll just buy one for his birthday - because, like you, we never know exactly where we'll be going and no matter how self sufficient we think we are accidents do happen (and we're not getting any younger). Just make sure you buy a GPS type EPIRB.

I would definitely have one of your mobiles a Telstra Country phone connected to a room top aerial ie approx 1 m above the roof line. In an emergency this setup can give you communications up to 70km away from country towns depending on the terrain. You could also connect your laptop to the phone/aerial.

I would also sign up for Telstra my hour so you can keep in contact with family at no cost for calls within your my hour. Unfortunaterly for some this set up also allow family contact with you, and things you would rather not know about when on your trip.

If you are doing some remote trips on your own, I would consider a Sat phone. With some Sat phone plans, there is no cost for Telstra My hour customers to call you. Not sure if anything happened to me, my wife would use our EPIRB.

Peter

We have both Telstra and Vodophone mobiles and find the Vodophone useless outside of the big cities. Telstra seems to work most small towns.

.

Hi John,
We have been on the road for over 2 yrs now. We are travelling with a 5 and 7 yr old.
I'm amazed at how many times we have been in remote places and no one has had any comms apart from uhf. No sat phone, no epirb nothing. I asked a guy what he would do if something happened. He said wait for someone with a sat phone. Ok I guess if you are not dying.
We carry a sat phone and an epirb. The epirb sits in the pocket on the drivers door. If we have a roll over or a fire it is easily reached. We carry both when we go on hikes ect. This may be over kill but I will only need them once to make it worthwhile. We hiked 4 hrs into a gorge once and I was amazed we were the only ones with communications. What if someone slipped on the rocks or got a snake bite.
We also have a telstra 3g turbo card (using at the moment) We use it to check emails, friday funnies, book accommodation, find attractions and lots of other stuff. If we have mobile service we have internet service. It is very handy. We also have two normal mobiles for general comms.
At the end of the day I hope I never have to use the epirb or sat phone but if for some reason the need arises then we have a better chance of survival.

Hope this helps
Josh

I travelled last year with Next G mobile ADSL. I worked in major towns (as did my GSM phone).

Check out the maps on Telstra

http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile/networks/coverage/state.html

I used the laptop to keep in touch with family and friends.

We chose a Sat phone rather than an EPIRB. In case of a medical emergency, contact would be quicker, and family knew they could reach us if they had an emergency. Several recent threads on Sat phone v EPIRB.

Motherhen

I have used my LG 550 as a modem = downloading to my laptop .... don't use it much so was happy with pay-as-u-go .... for higher use I would get "packets" (data downloads) added to mine

706 Macca "restaurants" around Aus have wireless internet available free of charge to anyone who has a laptop with wireless facility. No purchase necessary, just sit at a table or in the carpark and connect up. 50 Mb download limit per session.
Some caravan parks also have it but most only for clients.

Ian