Whether on vacation or living in Costa Rica, the Internet is more than just a way to stay in touch with business. The internet is how we stay in touch with all our family friends, no matter where they are located. We live a mobile life style. As long as we can connect to Internet, we can chat, talk, and share photos. Our friends and family are part of our experience.

The easiest way to connect to Internet is through WiFi. In Costa Rica, there are a lot of WiFi hot spots. I use the WiFi radar on my phone just to monitor the number of public WiFi hotspots. Rare is the hotel that doesn’t provide a Wifi hotspot for its quests. Just make sure your room has WiFi access, as some rooms have terrible signals. Many times, I have called the front desk to give them a diagnostic report of the hotels WiFi problems. On several occasions, the front desk had their technical support call me for the information. WiFi hotspots are not limited to use by laptops. If you have a smartphone, you can connect to a WiFi hotspot. With the right apps, you can even make calls, without having a compatible SIM card.

If you cannot connect to a WiFi hotspot, there are still two options: cable service, or a 3G USB modem (USB Data Card in Costa Rica). The television cable service offer high-speed Internet as an option to the cable service. We use Telecable with the 1.5 Mps Internet service. The cost of the Internet service is 15,400 colones per month. You do need a cable modem. We have two, so I avoided this expense. You do not need to be a legal resident to get cable service. All they wanted was my passport, and a credit card for payment. We even use this service to watch shows from hulu.com, using my HP mini netbook connected to the TV. Yes, you can connect to Web sites that restrict access to specific countries. It is a little tricky, and will be the subject of a future article.

USB 3G modems are available. My current USB 3G modem is from Kolbi. With Kolbi, the USB Data Card does require a postpaid account. For this you do need to be a citizen, or legal resident. It costs $60 US for the USB modem, and the cost per month depends on the speed of service. The cost ranges from 3,995 colones ($4 US) per month to 13,500 colones ($27.12 US) per month, depending on the speed of service. Claro offers a prepaid USB modem, with costs varying from 450 colones per day to 17,000 colones per month for a 1.5 Mbps service. I do not know the cost of the USB modem, but am considering getting one.

Both the cable modem and USB Data Card only connect a single device to the Internet. This is a problem, when you have a tablet, eBook reader, netbook, phone, and Internet cable TV that require an Internet connection. The solution was to buy a WiFi router. I wanted a WiFi router that supported both cable and a USB modem. It also had to be a router that was small and light. I purchased an EnGenius 3G Wireless Router in Costa Rica for $89 US. After the salesperson spent 30 minutes trying to get it to work with the Kolbi 3G Data Card, I took it home and configured it in less than 5 minutes. Now, if the cable is down, I just switch to the Kolbi 3G Data Card.

This works great,except when there is a power failure. Power failures only happen when you have something critical to save. When there is a power failure, I just turn my smartphone into a WiFi router, and I am back on Internet. The only limit is how long the batteries last. Not all smartphone support this feature, but it does provide a mobile solution to Internet connectivity.

All this was done in Costa Rica. My monthly bill is far less than I would pay in the US for similar services.