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Traveling in Europe With Your Laptop

By Ed Frawley
Copyright 1999

A sample phone jack adaptor for the Netherlands
It always brings a smile to my face when I check into a new hotel in Europe, go to my room, plug in my computer (after testing the line) and my dial up works. Being able to download e-mails from home makes being a zillion miles away not so bad. This week I received an e-mail from a friend asking how to deal with getting on the net while traveling in Europe with a laptop. She was going to go to this years World Union Schutzhund Competition and had heard that I had been taking my computer for several years.

This articles explains how to do this. With a little bit of prior planning its not a difficult thing to retrieve your e-mail, and communicate with family by e-mail when you travel.

The first thing to do is call your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Ask them what phone numbers you can call in the country you are going to be traveling in to gain access. You will probably get 2 or 3 numbers for that country. They may not be local numbers from where you are staying, so there will be a long distance charge, but it will be cheaper than calling the States.


Another jack adaptor for the Netherlands
The next thing you need to do is go to Road Warrior. These people specialize in accessories for laptop computers. You will want to get their modem saver international kit ($60.00). This is a line tester that allows you to test the line current in your room to verify that it's not going to fry your modem when you plug it in.

Road warrior also sells all of the various phone jack adaptors that you will need to be able to plug your phone into a wall outlet in the country you are visiting. You will need to get "EVERY" potential adaptor they list for that country. For example, there are at least three types that are found in the Netherlands. (I have photos of them in this article)

You will definitely need a modem saver. Modems are designed to connect to analog telephone lines like those found in most homes. However, many telephones installed in businesses and hotels in Europe are PBX phones, many of which are digital. Although the jacks for digital phones are identical to analog jacks, they often carry far too much current for modems. This excessive current can ruin the delicate circuits of a modem if you plug into a digital phone line inadvertently. And you won't even know it until it's too late! A Modem saver from Road Warrior will solve this problem.

Road Warrior sells two modem savers. The Modem Saver(r) International(tm) includes all of the features of the Modem Saver(r) Plus(tm), with the additional feature of filtering out connection-disrupting noise pulses found in Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, and Austria. The Modem Saver(r) International(tm) telephone line tester detects dangerous telephone line conditions before your modem is connected. If the line is safe, a bright green light will display. If there is too much current on the line, a bright red light will display warning you not to connect your modem! Further, the Modem Saver(r) International(tm) protects your modem against dangerous power surges while you're connected. The Modem Saver(r) International(tm) also detects and allows you to correct "reversed polarity", which, while it won't damage your modem, may reduce transmission speed or cause communication errors. The Modem Saver(r) International(tm) checks both lines if two are present and, with the supplied adapter, you can choose and use either line. This is important in areas where two lines are available and in countries outside the US that may use line 2 wiring for the main line. If you are not aware of this condition, you won't be able to get a connection or dial tone. Be sure to take plenty of phone extension cords and line couplers. You can get them at Road Warrior or Radio Shack. It never fails that the phone jack in a room is under a desk across the room from the bed (where I want to sit and answer the 50 to 75 e-mails I get every day).

Considering the fact that my trips are hectic. I usually am getting back to the room later at night (which is 7 hours different from the time at home); it's almost impossible to find a phone and time to call home while over there. By using e-mails I can stay in touch with my wife, son and secretaries on my time schedule and theirs too.

One last word of advice. As you browse Radio Shack, buy every phone line coupler and adaptor they have. They are cheap and nothing is worse than getting into a new hotel only to find out that you are one coupler away from home.