Theoretical ? : Stuck in Europe, have to work remotely, what do you do?
Apr 20th, 2010, 10:48 PM
#1
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Theoretical ? : Stuck in Europe, have to work remotely, what do you do?
Suppose you are stuck in Paris or London or some other city, unable to get out.
You have a work laptop, and so long as you can get an Internet connection, you can work.
You are willing to travel some hours by bus or train to find lodging suitable for working, but the most important thing is a reliable Internet connection at the cheapest price, while still allowing enough comfort to work. An apartment might be OK, but you would want the freedom to be able to run off to catch a flight.
What would you do in this case? Look for an industrial park area somewhere on the outskirts? Some small town with great hotel rates? Any suggestions as to where you would go if in this circumstance?
I am guessing that if I had to be stuck anywhere, and wanted it to be not too expensive, but still with a good Internet infrastructure, Berlin would be the place to be stuck. Where would you want to be stuck, from a practical point of view?
You have a work laptop, and so long as you can get an Internet connection, you can work.
You are willing to travel some hours by bus or train to find lodging suitable for working, but the most important thing is a reliable Internet connection at the cheapest price, while still allowing enough comfort to work. An apartment might be OK, but you would want the freedom to be able to run off to catch a flight.
What would you do in this case? Look for an industrial park area somewhere on the outskirts? Some small town with great hotel rates? Any suggestions as to where you would go if in this circumstance?
I am guessing that if I had to be stuck anywhere, and wanted it to be not too expensive, but still with a good Internet infrastructure, Berlin would be the place to be stuck. Where would you want to be stuck, from a practical point of view?
Apr 20th, 2010, 11:30 PM
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Stay where's best for you - but buy a dongle.
Alternatively, stay where's best for you but find somewhere else (library, cafe, whatever) with WiFi for heavy web use, and wire your smartphone to your laptop for occasional urgencies.
Either way: it's no real prob to run a business from a remote cottage in a foreign country. Or, if you're camapigning away from home in an election, in a cramped temporary flat with no landline or wifi.
Alternatively, stay where's best for you but find somewhere else (library, cafe, whatever) with WiFi for heavy web use, and wire your smartphone to your laptop for occasional urgencies.
Either way: it's no real prob to run a business from a remote cottage in a foreign country. Or, if you're camapigning away from home in an election, in a cramped temporary flat with no landline or wifi.
Apr 20th, 2010, 11:52 PM
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I'm currently working from a dongle as my Mum is in hospital and I'm staying in her house. I even managed to upload a 45MB file to my server last night, which really surprised me!
However so many places offer free wifi and in the UK there are a lot of co-working places that will let you hire desk space by the hour/day etc. They are all different, but this one is in Brighton
http://thewerks.org.uk/coworking
However so many places offer free wifi and in the UK there are a lot of co-working places that will let you hire desk space by the hour/day etc. They are all different, but this one is in Brighton
http://thewerks.org.uk/coworking
Apr 21st, 2010, 04:06 AM
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I don't really get the point here. WHy would it be necessary to travel "some hours by bus or train" to a different town/city just to carry on working remotely. Virtually all hotels in Europe catering to the business community have internet access these days, and there are many business centres where you can hire office space by the day/hour as already mentioned, so I don't really understand the problem the OP is trying to solve. I travel all over Europe on business with my battered old laptop and mobile phone and can work almost as easily out of a hotel room or airport lounge as I can in my office. Usually the coffee is better too...
Apr 21st, 2010, 04:49 AM
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Why is this question Theoretical?
Are you in Europe and working?
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-in-the-uk.cfm
Are you in Europe and working?
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-in-the-uk.cfm
Apr 21st, 2010, 05:17 AM
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<i>Where would you want to be stuck, from a practical point of view?</i>
Within Europe? Any decent business hotel anywhere but Spain, Portugal, or Greece would be fine. Aside from those countries, I've never had much problem with internet speeds being suitable for work.
Within Europe? Any decent business hotel anywhere but Spain, Portugal, or Greece would be fine. Aside from those countries, I've never had much problem with internet speeds being suitable for work.
Apr 21st, 2010, 05:46 AM
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Well, I used to work for a company with "international offices" so I probably would have 'crashed' in thier office and probably still could if needed.
My bigger issue is that I never take the laptop to Europe!
My bigger issue is that I never take the laptop to Europe!
Apr 21st, 2010, 07:33 AM
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I know that any suitable business hotel will work, but the idea here is that if you are stuck for a week, for example, and you don`t want to use vacation days or have unpaid leave, then you would likely be responsible for finding the cheapest way to manage working. At that point, tourist attractions would probably cease to be of interest, so being stuck in a suburban hotel that happened to be cheap with reliable Internet access could be just the ticket. I know there is only a small risk I will be in this situation, but I like to figure out contingencies in advance.
Apr 21st, 2010, 07:34 AM
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I always have my laptop and now I have my iphone loaded with SKYPE mobile so I can make cheap international calls.
I have found wifi to be more dependable in newer hotels or those have made an investment in infrastructure because the cater to business travelers.
My best luck with reasonable and reliable in room internet has been in Germany to date, and the cost of staying there is a better value than in cities like Paris and London.
If I had a choice, I would opt for Berlin first and due to time difference, would definitely need in room wifi that was reliable and cheap if not free. I would want to be in an area where there were interesting things to do as well, so I could enjoy when not working. And Berlin is a great city!
I have found wifi to be more dependable in newer hotels or those have made an investment in infrastructure because the cater to business travelers.
My best luck with reasonable and reliable in room internet has been in Germany to date, and the cost of staying there is a better value than in cities like Paris and London.
If I had a choice, I would opt for Berlin first and due to time difference, would definitely need in room wifi that was reliable and cheap if not free. I would want to be in an area where there were interesting things to do as well, so I could enjoy when not working. And Berlin is a great city!
Apr 21st, 2010, 09:08 AM
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"And if the Flanneurpooch has any sense - no dog"
Too right.
They even tried to pin a rosette on me. With a winsome pun on the constituency name. And I can't complain to Dogline because that Rantzen ranter's standing for election too. In a seat she didn't even know which station to go to for.
Anyway, I told them. So they've got my dogmother to come and housesit me here while they're wasting voters' time there. And she's MUCH nicer than the Boss and Mrs B.
Now they're threatening to take me round all the polling stations on May 6. Think I'll swing a few dozen votes.
Well, I want to hear what's in it for me.
Too right.
They even tried to pin a rosette on me. With a winsome pun on the constituency name. And I can't complain to Dogline because that Rantzen ranter's standing for election too. In a seat she didn't even know which station to go to for.
Anyway, I told them. So they've got my dogmother to come and housesit me here while they're wasting voters' time there. And she's MUCH nicer than the Boss and Mrs B.
Now they're threatening to take me round all the polling stations on May 6. Think I'll swing a few dozen votes.
Well, I want to hear what's in it for me.
Apr 21st, 2010, 10:44 AM
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Well, In Paris it wouldn't necessarily make any sense to travel far outside the city, because you can get a wifi connection just about anywhere in the city - there are hotspots all over the place.
Apr 21st, 2010, 12:13 PM
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There are some considerations with the hotel internet. The speed varies, so it may not be usable for network intensive tasks.
If you use VPN to connect back to your company, I found that all the hotels I used blocked PPTP based VPN. I had better experience with the SSL based VPN.
If your hotel blocks the protocol you need, a USB dongle is one way to get around the problem.
If you use VPN to connect back to your company, I found that all the hotels I used blocked PPTP based VPN. I had better experience with the SSL based VPN.
If your hotel blocks the protocol you need, a USB dongle is one way to get around the problem.
Apr 21st, 2010, 12:46 PM
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Nothing wrong with shooting dogs <i>per se </i> (it's being with The Boss all day: the pretentiousness sort of rubs off on you). Lots of dogs I'd take a shot at if you humans hadn't deliberately designed guns to stop us turning them on you. Those two setters up the pub for a start.
As long as the right dog gets shot (while we're at it, I've got a LONG list of Airdales I wouldn't mind seeing bopped. Does your chum do cats, by the way? I mean you Home Counties comprehensive johnnies are all chums, aren't you?), can't see the problem.
But politicising it's like calling all Tories orange-eaters. Or, if girls, Major-bonkers.
As long as the right dog gets shot (while we're at it, I've got a LONG list of Airdales I wouldn't mind seeing bopped. Does your chum do cats, by the way? I mean you Home Counties comprehensive johnnies are all chums, aren't you?), can't see the problem.
But politicising it's like calling all Tories orange-eaters. Or, if girls, Major-bonkers.
