Please note: The UW does not endorse or guarantee any service providers. Where specific companies are mentioned, they are just examples of the types of services that are available. The UW recommends software Tools for Safe and Secure Computing, including anti-virus software available at no charge, secure file transfer, and secure terminal programs.
Probably. U.S. cell phones using Cingular, T-Mobile will work in urban areas of the country, such as Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Pretoria.
There are public terminals at cafes, hotels, or other businesses, where you can rent time on a computer. You would be able to use WebPine by opening the web page at http://webpine.washington.edu. WebPine has the advantage of not requiring anything other than a working Internet connection and web browser. You will be connected directly to the UW mail server regardless of the local computer's operating system or setup. If the computer you are using allows you to run Microsoft Remote Desktop, you may be able to connect to a workstation back at your office. You will want to contact your local support staff on campus before you leave to make sure those services are available. Once you are on-site, the support staff at your location should be able to provide assistance with their computers.
Before leaving, make sure that:
There are two components to provide external power to your device: adapters and transformers. The adapter is the plug, adapting the prongs on a standard U.S. three-pronged power cord to match the prongs required by the local outlets. The transformer changes the local voltage to that required by your computer.
South Africa has a differently shaped
plug (see example),
so you will need to buy an adapter. Tanzania's voltage is 220V.
Most laptops have both wifi (802.11) and wired ethernet ports that can be used in many hotels and convention centers around the world. There are basic instructions for configuring wireless networking for Windows XP, Windows ME and Apple Macintosh computers. While this information is targeted towards UW networks, it is applicable to other wifi networks as well.
There are other alternatives if neither wireless nor ethernet service is available.
Hot Spots: A number of service providers offer hot spots, you can use their hot spots as part of your service. Check your provider for service area availablity (Cingular, T-Mobile) href="https://selfcare.hotspot.t-mobile.com/locations/viewGlobalLocations.do"> Hot-Spot service is available at many retail locations. Many airports also offer wireless services, usually pay as you go.
Aircard: Most cellular service providers now support aircards from one or more vendors. An aircard fits into a laptop's PC card slot, and provides internet access via the cellular phone network. You can get current information by calling a cellular provider (Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon) or by searching their web site for the terms "aircard", "pc card" or "cellular pc".
Dial-up:
You will need an adapter to
convert the South Africa phone plug into one that your modem
line can use (see example).
You can purchase one on the Teledapt site, under the Regional Phone and Power link. There are several ways to use dial-up service:
Prior to leaving the U.S., you can download the UWICK, which will install a modem dialer on your desktop. To reach the modem pool at the UW, you'll need to configure a dial-up option to use the following sequence:
00 + 1 + 206 812 5590When dialing, commas create a "pause" of 1 or 2 seconds. This allows for the time needed to make the various connections. In the case above, your dialing sequence might look like this:
00 ,,,1 888 812 5590You will incur long distance charges for the overseas-to-US portion of the call.
You may be able to use a prepaid international calling card, and configure the above stream to use the correct sequence of numbers. This would limit the overseas-to-US charges to whatever the per-minute rate on the card is.
You can connect to a dial-up service. Some examples of dial-up service include:
As stated above, if you have an Internet connection, you can run WebPine, and possibly Remote Desktop. You also have these options:
If you have a laptop, and are using one of these clients:
you can follow the instructions at http://www.washington.edu/computing/email/programs.html#configuring to properly configure your email client before leaving.
However, even with the proper configuration, there is no guarantee that these clients will work, because any Internet Service Provider (ISP) may have implemented certain restrictions (closed ports, authentication requirements), that can result in problems such as:
Use Web Alpine, at https://alpine.washington.edu.
The UW recommends connecting directly to UW services using a secure terminal program found on the Tools for Safe and Secure Computing page, or via Web Alpine. These connections bypass potential problems associated with different ISPs and the specific configurations needed by various email clients, such as Outlook Express or Thunderbird.
