You want internet access when on home exchange. But I told swappers not to lend their home computers because someone used mine to download porn. You don't want to bring your laptop on vacation but you need email access. What can you do?
MOBILE SOLUTIONS
These days every cell phone company has at least one model that can access the internet. Even more phones can send and receive email. And almost all of them can be used for text messages. What are the pluses and minuses of each of these options?
TEXT MESSAGES
If you have a mobile phone you can already do text messaging. This is similar to email but there are important differences. Text messages are sent by addressing the message to the recipient's phone number, not to her email address. To send a text message to an email address, you must ask your carrier what address format to use. Text messages are received instantly, unlike emails, which can be delayed as they are routed to the recipient's address.
Asian and European swappers should be very careful when texting in the US. While phone plans are available that include text messages, texting is not free in the US, as it is in other countries. Carriers may charge anywhere from 10 cents to 25 cents, or more, to send OR receive a text message.
Text messages can contain a limited number of characters. To send long text messages you must break them up into several messages.
INTERNET
Just because a phone can send a text message does not mean it can access the internet. To browse web pages you must use a phone that is equipped to do so and you must pay for internet access via your cell phone or other device. We will look at some options to do email and internet via phones or other small devices in another column.
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