internet access in China

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?

Communism is dead. Nothing is free any more.


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?

Communism is dead. Nothing is free any more.


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.

On my last trip to Hong Kong, I paid $10 U.S. per 24 hour period from my
hotel room. Some hotels charge up to $20 per day for internet access.
Perhaps it's cheaper in other regions. Some hotels claim only to be
charging whatever the internet provider is charging the hotel, which I find
hard to believe. The lucrative phone business hotels once enjoyed has been
replaced by the cheap phone card available at the local 7-Eleven. Internat
access is the new "cash cow" to replace the outrageous telephone charges
from your room.





"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.

On my last trip to Hong Kong, I paid $10 U.S. per 24 hour period from my
hotel room. Some hotels charge up to $20 per day for internet access.
Perhaps it's cheaper in other regions. Some hotels claim only to be
charging whatever the internet provider is charging the hotel, which I find
hard to believe. The lucrative phone business hotels once enjoyed has been
replaced by the cheap phone card available at the local 7-Eleven. Internat
access is the new "cash cow" to replace the outrageous telephone charges
from your room.





"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.

I have relatively few problems... I try to stay at hotels with broadband
access in the room (bring your own cable) - it is sometimes free, sometimes
at a nominal charge. Even if there is not, there are usually business
centres in the hotel (few dollars every hour) or if not, an internet cafe
not very far away. A few weeks ago I went into the wilderness (Kashgar) and
even there was good fast internet cafe access - cheap at the price. Some
internet cafes will allow you to hook up your own laptop to their network
(take own cable again). Wirelesss access is very limited (experimental in
large airports only AFAIK). With the State university you may have a few
problems though paradoxically, they might not allow you access to the
network (security risk), so also take along a USB dongle / memory stick. I
have a CF digital camera, and I use a 1 GB CF card with the USB adaptor as a
memory stick. Also handy for sending pics home from internet cafe's.

Buy an adaptor when you get here if you find you need it (or over there if
you are an accountant), voltage is 220V, but most laptop power supplies are
dual voltage (check yours). EVERYTHING is in Chinese, bring your hands and
fingers to talk, you will need to ask them to change keyboard settings for
you, otherwise no problem. Virusses always a problem, and I NEVER trust
internet cafes with secure things like Credit Card numbers or online
banking. COmmon sense prevails... Keyloggers still prevalent - all over
the world.

Would be happy to answer specific questions...

You dont say where you are or where you are going.

Have fun - China is Great!

Daniel



"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.

I have relatively few problems... I try to stay at hotels with broadband
access in the room (bring your own cable) - it is sometimes free, sometimes
at a nominal charge. Even if there is not, there are usually business
centres in the hotel (few dollars every hour) or if not, an internet cafe
not very far away. A few weeks ago I went into the wilderness (Kashgar) and
even there was good fast internet cafe access - cheap at the price. Some
internet cafes will allow you to hook up your own laptop to their network
(take own cable again). Wirelesss access is very limited (experimental in
large airports only AFAIK). With the State university you may have a few
problems though paradoxically, they might not allow you access to the
network (security risk), so also take along a USB dongle / memory stick. I
have a CF digital camera, and I use a 1 GB CF card with the USB adaptor as a
memory stick. Also handy for sending pics home from internet cafe's.

Buy an adaptor when you get here if you find you need it (or over there if
you are an accountant), voltage is 220V, but most laptop power supplies are
dual voltage (check yours). EVERYTHING is in Chinese, bring your hands and
fingers to talk, you will need to ask them to change keyboard settings for
you, otherwise no problem. Virusses always a problem, and I NEVER trust
internet cafes with secure things like Credit Card numbers or online
banking. COmmon sense prevails... Keyloggers still prevalent - all over
the world.

Would be happy to answer specific questions...

You dont say where you are or where you are going.

Have fun - China is Great!

Daniel



"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.

I just returned from a trip to northern china (Shenyang) and found the
internet to be very reliable and fast. Cant give you any info
on wireless access or cafes, as I only used my laptop in the hotel. It was
cheap, my room included it in the package, but if you needed
to purchase access it was 50 rmb for 72 hours of access. I think you'll find
most hotels with a star rating of 3 and above will have internet.
I found no WebPages blocked, and was even able to check my online banking
back here in the states.

As for power all I used was a small adapter that changed my plug over to
their standard. Check your laptop power adapter to make
sure it can handles the voltage. I think most newer models can. Same with my
video cam, shaver, and phone.

No problems with printing, but they do use a different size standard paper
No virus problem, but I suggest a good firewall (Zone Alarm pro) to be on
the safe side
If your going to use credit cards or debit cards make sure you contact your
bank and let them know the days you will be in
China to insure your card is not denied

Have fun, it is an awesome place to visit

Regards,
Jim



"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.

snip

Would be happy to answer specific questions...

You dont say where you are or where you are going.

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.

If i have any further questions i'll ask here again.

Thanks to all who have answered my questions so far. It's greatly
appreciated!

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.

snip

Would be happy to answer specific questions...

You dont say where you are or where you are going.

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.

If i have any further questions i'll ask here again.

Thanks to all who have answered my questions so far. It's greatly
appreciated!

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.