I was working with an iPad and a Tre Italia mobile SIM 3G card, with 3 gigs of Internet usage, and there was absolutely no signal for it in Venice. The hotel that I was staying in luckily had free wifi which worked excellently! The hotel Ca'Alvise. Each hotel has it's own policy on whether it charges for wifi or not, the average price for those that did ranged between 2-10 Euros. The way they do it, they charge so much per hour, 2 Euros for one hour, 3 Euros for two hours, 4 Euros for five hours, 10 Euros for 24 hours etc. This is based on a log-in/log-out system, you don't have to use up all the time at once ( though if you forget to log out....this is what happens ), honestly, for a two-three day stay in one hotel, five hours is plenty! I felt ripped off when the only deal offered in a hotel in Rome was 10 Euro for 24 hours, because I only used a couple of hours worth during my two-night stay there. I presume there are Internet cafes, I just never used one because I had the 3G, and it worked most of the time. Hope this helps.

I rented an apt in Venice (Canareggio) last spring, and the same apartment this spring.

The wifi and even the wired connection last spring were god-awful. But this spring, they were great. Apt owner said the city's provider had upgraded/boosted, etc.

There are also internet spots around the islands. We found a very inexpensive one right off the Strada Nova (I think it was E3 per hour) on the ground floor of a hotel. Sorry, cannot find the name- I just lent my DK Eyewitness Guide for Venice to a friend. But check your guidebook. It should list the "internet cafes" in the city.

Buon viaggio!

Internet cafes have become a thing of the past with the prevalence of wifi and more recently smartphones.

There may still be some here and there, but not nearly as prevalent as a decade ago.

I can't speak for Italy, but my experience in many other locations in Europe is that years ago you could find many unprotected wifi signals just about anywhere you looked, but that too has changed. People are getting much smarter about password protecting their wifi networks so don't count on piggybacking on someone else's network if that was what you were thinking.

Irish as given you the scoop on hotel wifi.

As for Starbucks, I think you'll find one right next to just about every Pizza Hut or Domino's in the country. The need for both is about the same.

While your experience may differ, I might as well have carried around a brick as my computer in Northern Italy.

As J62 notes, internet cafes are indeed a thing of the past, and it is not Starbucks country. In Vicenza a friend found, after an hour and a half of searching, a place with internet computers for rent as part of a copy/fax shop. Most hotels charge in varying ways, and the free signals that appear in your network connections window at home, don't appear there.

There is excellent connectivity on Frecciarossa Eurostar trains, but by the time I got through my own firewalls, it was time to get off.

If you need the internet regularly and reliably, you are going to need a phone and data plan.

If you're desperate McDonalds in Italy often have wifi that's free. However, I remember you have to have an Italian phone number to use it. Although it may have changed.

Since you are so tech-centric, it is really a simple thing to using booking.com or even plain old google and learn the names of hotels and b&bs that offer Wi-Fi.

For the record, Italy is not China, nor is it the US. It is Italy -- which doesn't mean there isn't Wi-Fi (i'm using it now as I type). It just means if you come here thinking that because the rest of the world is following some program, Italy is or should be doing the same -- you're in for a surprise.

You have all been most helpful. My plan has been to bring my iPod Touch, which does everything an iPhone does except make phone calls. It uses Wi-Fi. Since it's so small I will bring it. It's just a pleasure trip so it's all optional.
Again, thanks for all the advice!

P.S. Thanks to Zeppole for mentioning booking.com. I don't know why I didn't think of looking at the individual hotels the travel agent had booked. They are not 4*, but 3 out of 4 have free wi-fi in public areas! Hooray!

mistyal - I again state that if you have a good guidebook (like DK Eyewitness), it does list several locations where internet cafes are located. And despite other's posts here, I did find an internet cafe just this past April, in Venice, by looking at my guidebook.

Also, many of the "tourist" information booths found in the larger cities may have info on those spots.

Additionally, you may want to look into buying some Skype minutes for phone calls. It is extremely cheap. You can use this even if the person you are calling does not have a Skype account. You still make the call through Skype, but it is not "Skyping" the recipient. It is, rather, I believe, a VOIP phone call.

Buon viaggio!

http://www.veniceconnected.com/node/1593

go to veniceconnected.com and scroll to the middle of the page you should see a wifi tab. They have city wide internet you can purchase and use all over Venice.