Very few people have to use a computer to communicate in the sort of war-zone situations Lara Marlowe described in Computimes last week. However, even without war, censorship and damage to the phone system can make staying connected while on the road difficult enough. The checklist below should help.
1. Laptop, modem and communications software. These are the basics. Make sure you understand them thoroughly before taking them abroad. If you can't get them to work in Salthill it's most unlikely that you will succeed in Surinam. You must know how to change numbers to insert local prefixes and so on, and be able to set parameters such as parity, data-bits and stop-bits if these are likely to vary.
2. Local telephone connection. Ireland uses the same RJ11 telephone jack as the US. This is the closest thing there is to an international standard - but that's not very close. Check a site such as www.teleadapt.co.uk to find out what connections are used at your destination. Teleadapt sells adaptors and it makes much more sense to pay its substantial prices rather than rely on finding what you need at the far end.
3. Power adaptor. Yes, those laptops do work better with an occasional feed of electricity. Most laptop computer power-supplies will auto-switch to work with voltages from 110 to 250 volts. An adapter will be needed to plug it into a wall-socket, however. Ensure mobile phones and any other equipment being taken will work with the local voltage. In places where the power supply is "dirty" (subject to surges and dips in power) a small device called a surge-protector can save the power supply from being damaged.
4. Local dial-in points. It is possible to make an intercontinental phone call to check your email or send a report, but modems can sometimes have difficulty with long-distance phone calls and the cost will also be very much higher than for dialling into a local node. Check whether your service provider has a reciprocal arrangement with a company at your destination, or consider signing up with AOL, CompuServe, Infonet or another one of the companies which offers dial-in nodes all over the world.
So much for the basics. Those going a bit further, or to more difficult areas, should also consider the following.
5. Mobile phone connection. Many developing countries have leapfrogged from very poor landline phone systems to sophisticated mobile networks. A connection kit to allow a laptop to send and receive data over the GSM phone network can be a much better bet than the terrestrial phone system in these places. It is vital to get the phone SIM card "data-enabled" by Eircell or Esat's customer service department. Also: try out the mobile connection before travelling, ensure that the "home" mobile company has a roaming agreement with one at the destination and that the latter permits data calls. In France, for example, the Itineris network is much more data-friendly than its main rival. Mobiles are likely to work best in urban areas and near major roads.
6. DIY landline connection. A small screwdriver, crocodile clips, insulating tape - and the know-how to use them - can overcome obstacles such as hotel phones that are wired directly into the wall, with no handy socket to plug a laptop into.
7. Power invertor. In places where electrical power is unreliable a device called an invertor can be used to turn 12-volt DC power from a car or boat into 110-volt AC suitable for running a laptop. Those who expect to have access to power sporadically should consider spare batteries for laptop and mobile phone. These can be charged up and carried as spares when away from mains power.
8. Satellite phone. For places without reliable landline or mobile phone networks, reaching for the skies is the only option. Modern satellite phones, the size of a laptop and smaller, cost from about £2,400 and work from almost anywhere on earth that offers a view of the sky. The Inmarsat network is the longestestablished and best-proved satellite phone system. Satphones that work with it are a better bet than those for newer networks such as the financially troubled Iridium network.
9. Common sense + floppy disk. Getting any or all of the above to work can require a good deal of common sense and a willingness to experiment. In the final event, it can sometimes be even more sensible to cut your losses, decide that making your own connection isn't going to work and take yourself into a local cybercafe. If you want to prepare information on your laptop and send it from a cybercafe you will, of course, need a floppy disk. Don't forget to pack one.