Internet Access in Siberia
I'll admit it upfront - I'm in Siberia and bored.
It's late, I'm jetlagged, and not sleeping anytime soon! I'm in my second Siberian city this week, Surgut, roughly between Kazakhstan and the Artic Circle.
There's a heat wave here! It almost hit freezing today! Good thing - the door to my balcony is broken and won't shut tight. No, I'm NOT joking.
Public Internet access is available everywhere.
It seems far more common than in the USA, where Internet cafes etc. seem less common than a couple of years ago. Perhaps Internet access is not as common in people's homes here?
We are talking not just dialup access, but slow dialup access. Broadband does exist - for example cable modem is available in Surgut, but is expensive. It's not flat rate pricing. Wireless seems nonexistent.
My hotel has an "Internet" room. It has one computer, and access requires a telecom card. It's about US$1 an hour for Internet access, although it also required having the security guard screw with the PC for about 30 minutes trying to make it work. Cyrillic Windows is tough - even if you can read a little bit.
The last hotel had a business center: one computer, dialup, and $6 and hour.
And in case you wondered as I did, cellphones are everywhere here.
Postscript:
Wireless Access is available at the Moscow Grand Marriott for about US$33 a day, or $10 an hour! They claim it's highspeed - bullshit!! Medium speed at best. I'm uploading some big files now - it's taking 30 minutes for about 35 meg and I'm not half through yet!
It's late, I'm jetlagged, and not sleeping anytime soon! I'm in my second Siberian city this week, Surgut, roughly between Kazakhstan and the Artic Circle.
There's a heat wave here! It almost hit freezing today! Good thing - the door to my balcony is broken and won't shut tight. No, I'm NOT joking.
Public Internet access is available everywhere.
It seems far more common than in the USA, where Internet cafes etc. seem less common than a couple of years ago. Perhaps Internet access is not as common in people's homes here?
We are talking not just dialup access, but slow dialup access. Broadband does exist - for example cable modem is available in Surgut, but is expensive. It's not flat rate pricing. Wireless seems nonexistent.
My hotel has an "Internet" room. It has one computer, and access requires a telecom card. It's about US$1 an hour for Internet access, although it also required having the security guard screw with the PC for about 30 minutes trying to make it work. Cyrillic Windows is tough - even if you can read a little bit.
The last hotel had a business center: one computer, dialup, and $6 and hour.
And in case you wondered as I did, cellphones are everywhere here.
Postscript:
Wireless Access is available at the Moscow Grand Marriott for about US$33 a day, or $10 an hour! They claim it's highspeed - bullshit!! Medium speed at best. I'm uploading some big files now - it's taking 30 minutes for about 35 meg and I'm not half through yet!
posted by Ted Demopoulos at 10:56 PM
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