With only 5 days left, I should really be doing other things like pack my stuff etc, but I found the connectivity issue very interesting, so I did a bit research and try to work out the best solution to stay connected via mobile network.
As with all the technologies, there are many standards in the world.
- 2G – this is the good old GSM network originally designed as voice only
- 3G – there are all based on CDMA (code division multiple access), WCDMA/HSPA is more widely spread than CDMA200/EVDO, also there is TD-SCDMA in China.
- 4G – based on LTE (long term evolution) standard
First is to find out the mobile operators within each country, luckily there are wikipedia pages for it
- List of mobile network operators of Europe
- List of mobile network operators of the Asia Pacific region
Since I only interested in the on route countries, so I scape those lists to produce the following one:
From conventional wisdom, its better to go for networks that own by the same company, Looking from the spreadsheet, I think I’m going to go for the following solution.
- 3/Three – For France, Switzerland and Italy, because I can use my unlimited data without extra cost.
- Vodafone – For the Balkan countries and Turkey.
- Beeline – *stan countries, VimpelCom owns largest network and provide cover for most countries, Beeline is the one to go for.
Currently I’m on Three, just in case anything happens and for backup purpose – ordered pay as you go sims from Vodafone, O2 and EE/Orange/T-mobile.
