internet access in China

joe cole wrote:
Thanks for your answers Daniel, i'm not sure where i'll be going to yet,
it's an overseas posting that i might consider taking up on & it might last
6 months. I might be posted to Liaoning and Heilongjiang province or maybe
Shenyang or Harbin. Nothing has been confirmed yet & i'd like to do some
research first so i am prepared if & when i eventually get there. I have
spoken to someone who has recently been to China & he says that internet
access in internet cafes & hotels are OK but not all state/government
offices are wired up for internet access. As i will be spending some time in
these offices training staff etc. it doesn't look too good & i might have to
depend on internet cafes which i hate because of viruses etc. My next
problem will be printing documents. I have no idea what kind of problems
i'll encounter printing from a English windows XP machine since most
computers in China are in Chinese, I assume they'll have MS Office/Word too
if not i'll be carry tons of printed documents with me.

Printing is not a problem.

As for viruses, use your own laptop at the net cafes and then you don't have
to worry or care about how clean they keep their machines.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu

Can anyone advise on internet access in China.

In some hotels it is free. In some - you have to pay (up to 10y/hour).
Generally - there is nothing free in China.

For wireless on the university - you can not ask directly on the
university you will be visiting ??? Looks like the best method.

Hadzio

Can anyone advise on internet access in China.

In some hotels it is free. In some - you have to pay (up to 10y/hour).
Generally - there is nothing free in China.

For wireless on the university - you can not ask directly on the
university you will be visiting ??? Looks like the best method.

Hadzio

This site is interesting. I will be in Beijing in October myself


http://www.thebeijingguide.com/



"joe cole" wrote in message
...
Can anyone advise on internet access in China.

I've heard that it is free? i don't know what that means as most countries
require you to have a dial up account which uses a local number that you
pay
for. I will be bringing my laptop with me & i also need to know about
wireless access. Do they have internet cafes with wireless access in
China?
i will also be visiting a state university & i am quite sure they have
internet access but does anyone know how establish wireless networks are
in
China & it's state schools? if anyone can point me to a website with the
relevant info, that would be great. I've googled & come across conflicting
information & now i need first hand experience from fellow travellers.

Finally.... any general issues people have with travelling & working with
their own laptop computers in China, please let me know, ease of
connecting
online, power voltage? travel adaptors? are most computers in internet
cafes
there in English or in Chinese? any issues with computer viruses? printing
documents in English? etc. Thanks.

joe.

"joe cole" wrote in message ...
Can anyone advise on internet access in China.

I've heard that it is free? i don't know what that means as most countries
require you to have a dial up account which uses a local number that you pay
for. I will be bringing my laptop with me & i also need to know about
wireless access. Do they have internet cafes with wireless access in China?
i will also be visiting a state university & i am quite sure they have
internet access but does anyone know how establish wireless networks are in
China & it's state schools? if anyone can point me to a website with the
relevant info, that would be great. I've googled & come across conflicting
information & now i need first hand experience from fellow travellers.

Finally.... any general issues people have with travelling & working with
their own laptop computers in China, please let me know, ease of connecting
online, power voltage? travel adaptors? are most computers in internet cafes
there in English or in Chinese? any issues with computer viruses? printing
documents in English? etc. Thanks.

joe.


Just got back from China last night. What a trip! Three diahrreas in
two and a half weeks. But you don't want to know that part. The
Imodium AD I brought made good use.

As the other poster said, hotels in genaral have broad band, either
free or at a fee. The alternative is internet cafes if you find the
hotel charges too much, quite cheap (2 to 3 RMB an hour) but hazardous
to your health. People simply ignore the no smoking sign and puff
away.

joe cole wrote:

Can anyone advise on internet access in China.

I've heard that it is free?

Everyone else who has replied to you appears to be well behind the
times.

Effectively, yes, if you use the publicly available anonymous dial-up
system, it's free--the actual charge is a tiny increase on the low cost
of local phone calls, and many hotels offer 'free' Internet access
meaning that they don't charge for calls to the Internet number. The
number to dial varies from province to province, and larger cities tend
to have various alternatives. Typically it's 163, with account name and
password both also 163. Speeds vary, but are rarely super. Of course you
need to have an email account already set up in some way, since this
system does not provide you with an email address.

It's simple enough to get a regular local dial-up account with email
address, though, usually through the city telecoms office, and very
cheap.

There are also Internet access cards available, which usually have much
faster speeds. These are always available at a discount from the face
value. You call the admin number on the back to register, and the
account name and password are behind a scratch off panel. As you use up
the card's value, you'll get a call asking if you want to add more to
it.

Other than that, Internet cafés are typically Y2 per hour outside the
big cities, and often within them, too, these days.

Even where Internet access is not free, it's about as cheap as you can
find it anywhere.

Peter N-H
http://members.shaw.ca/pnhpublic/China.html

joe cole wrote:

Can anyone advise on internet access in China.

I've heard that it is free?

Everyone else who has replied to you appears to be well behind the
times.

Effectively, yes, if you use the publicly available anonymous dial-up
system, it's free--the actual charge is a tiny increase on the low cost
of local phone calls, and many hotels offer 'free' Internet access
meaning that they don't charge for calls to the Internet number. The
number to dial varies from province to province, and larger cities tend
to have various alternatives. Typically it's 163, with account name and
password both also 163. Speeds vary, but are rarely super. Of course you
need to have an email account already set up in some way, since this
system does not provide you with an email address.

It's simple enough to get a regular local dial-up account with email
address, though, usually through the city telecoms office, and very
cheap.

There are also Internet access cards available, which usually have much
faster speeds. These are always available at a discount from the face
value. You call the admin number on the back to register, and the
account name and password are behind a scratch off panel. As you use up
the card's value, you'll get a call asking if you want to add more to
it.

Other than that, Internet cafés are typically Y2 per hour outside the
big cities, and often within them, too, these days.

Even where Internet access is not free, it's about as cheap as you can
find it anywhere.

Peter N-H
http://members.shaw.ca/pnhpublic/China.html