The IT Nerd

A reader just e-mailed me asking this question:

Hey IT Nerd. During your most recent trip, you used Rogers Roam Like Home roaming feature. I didn’t see you draw a conclusion about whether it is good, bad, or ugly. What are your thoughts on it? 

Thanks!

Thanks for the reminder. I completely forgot about tying up this loose end from my trip.

Roam Like Home was seamless. Every country (US for about 45 minutes, India for just over 2.5 days, Germany for just over a day) that I went to, I got a text message like this one when I took my phone out of airplane mode:

It was seamless as everything worked right out of the gate and I didn’t really have to do anything special. That was great. I had access to my Toronto cell phone number in case it was needed and I had access to the data on my data plan which meant I got my e-mail, I could see Twitter, use Apple Maps or whatever. No complaints on that front.

Here’s where I feel that Roam Like Home doesn’t measure up – The cost. If I do the math on how much this might cost me (as I have not received my Rogers bill yet, thus I am estimating), I get this:

• I was on the ground in the US for 45 minutes: $5
• I was on the ground in India for just over 2.5 days: $30
• I was on the ground in Germany for just over a day: $20

Total cost: $55

The FAQ for Roam Like Home indicates that I am charged per 24 hour period. Thus I assume that I have to round up the number of days to get the final cost. If that is the case (and even if it isn’t), that’s not cheap. To give you some perspective, the last time I was in India, I used a Vodafone India SIM for roughly $12 CDN for the entire week that I was there. That makes the $30 CDN that Rogers is likely going to charge me for roaming in that country for just over 2.5 days steep by comparison and reconfirms the fact that if you want to travel abroad with your mobile phone, the best option is to get an unlocked device and buy a local SIM card. The only scenario that I can see myself using Roam Like Home in the future is if I go to the USA as the $5 a day is reasonable. Thus my recommendation is that if you don’t want the hassle of getting a local SIM or you don’t have an unlocked phone, Roam Like Home from Rogers is seamless, convenient and it works. But you will pay a hefty premium for that. I’m not sure it’s entirely worth it unless you really need access to your Canadian phone number.

Well, I had an uneventful flight back to Toronto via Air Canada that they didn’t screw up. I did have a bunch of crying kids on the flights which didn’t exactly make it fun. But I am home and that is what counts. Having said that, because of what happened earlier in the trip as well as one other instance where my travel plans were ruined, I likely will not be flying Air Canada again.

Now, I did have e-mail waiting in my inbox for me when I got home asking how I used Tile to help find my luggage. Well, if I have to find my luggage, I activate it by pressing find:

It then leverages my phone and other Tile members to find my luggage. When I do find it, I see I have the option of showing it on a map:

Now it didn’t give me an exact location, but it gives me enough of an idea where it might be. So I know where to look for it. In a huge airport baggage hall, that can be handy.

So, what’s up for my next trip? I am working on a trip to Japan for later this year. Plus there are going to be return trips to India and perhaps Germany too. When I take those trips, I’ll be sure to document them.

Something unexpected happened last night. A friend of mine who lives in the Frankfurt area found out via my posts about my trip that I was in town and invited me out to dinner. That gave me the opportunity to see a bit of Frankfurt at night. My friend picked me up in his car and drove us across the river Main into the central part of the city. After parking, he took me to this fine establishment called Leib & Seele:

It was busy so we had to wait for a table at the bar:

The had a number of good beers on tap. Thus I took a pilsner to enjoy while we waited for a table. It only took 10 minutes for one to become available. They have a very extensive menu and here’s what I chose:

This is spaghetti with cheese curds, bacon, and olives. It was outstanding. After dinner, we drove around and my friend pointed out some of the sights to see which I really appreciated. I made a promise that the next time I am here, I would explore the city in daytime as there’s a lot to see and the night isn’t the best time to do sightseeing. Having said that, here’s a couple of pictures:

I got to bed before midnight so that the next morning I could have breakfast, check out of the hotel and make my way to the airport. Now one thing that I should point out is that the taxi that I took to the airport looked like this:

Taxis around many parts of Germany are typically Mercedes E class cars. A very comfortable ride to the airport and affordable too. My ride to the airport cost me 26 Euros.

Frankfurt Airport is a massive place. It took me a while to not only find the check in counter, but to find my flight on this board so that I could confirm that it was on time.

I saw a couple of people riding these Segway like machines in the airport.

People were also riding bikes in the airport as well. Like I said, this place is huge.

I also saw a heavy police presence in the airport. If you look closely, you’ll note the German made HK machine guns in their hands.

One thing that is kind of unique is that Frankfurt airport has lots and lots of shopping before and after security.

One thing that is handy is these stands that allow you to scan your boarding pass and see if your flight is on time and what gate it is leaving from. Given the size of this airport, that’s a welcome feature.

I typically show up at airports three hours before my flight. That way I can clear security, passport control, and the like with ease. And I can relax before my flight. For example, I was able to get to my gate and use the free WiFi to post this story. A word about the WiFi here, it is great. You have to register using an e-mail address and you can use it for free and it is speedy. This was in sharp contrast to Indira Gandhi Airport which has horrible WiFi.

Now my flight back is on this Air Canada Boeing 777:

Given that this business trip was almost ruined by Air Canada when I left Toronto, I am hoping that they get me home safely, efficiently, without any delays, and without losing my baggage. I will be using my Tile app to look for theTile inside my checked baggage to make sure it makes the flight. The peace of mind that using the Tile app to ensure that your checked baggage makes your flight is one reason why I recommend Tile to anyone who asks.

So my next stop will be Pearson Airport in Toronto where I’ll tie up a few loose ends. Stay tuned for that later today!

I’m currently writing this story from Frankfurt Germany where I will be on the ground for 27 hours to do some work for a client. That’s not going give me the time to see the sights, but I will be able to show you some things in and around my hotel. But before I do that, I want to detail how I got here from India. I went to Indira Gandhi Airport at midnight for my 3:30 AM flight. While I was there, I noted some things that I’d like to share with you. For example:

Traffic here is insane. People are parking anywhere they can to drop people off at the Arrivals level.

To get into the airport, you need to present this Indian solider your passport and either your travel literary or preferably your boarding pass to get in. You can’t see it, but he’s carrying a machine gun. Thus you don’t want to mess with him. The day that I was there, there was extra security in the form of x-raying anything you’re carrying and extra checks in security. It likely had to do something to do with the fact that the next day was Republic Day.

While walking through the airport, I noticed this sign which reminds people that because the 500 and 1000 rupee notes have been taken out of circulation so that the government can fight corruption, taking these notes out of the country can get you into deep trouble. Related to that, I had great trouble trying to get rupees to use while I was here. That’s a problem as India is a tipping culture.

I flew to Germany via Lufthansa on a Airbus A380-800 which is a massive jet. It was an 8 hour flight and I snapped a picture of the plane after I landed at Frankfurt Airport:

I was able to get off the jet, through passport control, and retrieve my luggage in under an hour. From there, my client picked me up and took me to the hotel which will be the Sheraton Congress Hotel which is 15 minutes away from the airport. However even though I had requested an early check in, my room was not ready. So I instead got driven to the client’s location and got to work for a few hours. Around 11 AM I was able to check in. It’s a functional room with decent WiFi that was free. Here’s what it looks like:

Here’s the view from my room:

Here’s where I am typing this story from:

As soon as I am done writing this story, I will be heading downstairs to the various establishments that are in the hotel to have dinner and drinks.

Now the area that I am in is a business area. Here’s a look at it:

There’s a tram line that runs just outside the hotel. The tram that you see is made by Canada’s Bombardier.

There’s a number of medium sized office buildings in the area. Most of which are very modern looking.

Two other things that I should note. The weather in Gurgaon India was in the mid-20 degree celsius range. Here in Frankfurt, it is 1 degree. Quite the change. The other thing, Rogers Roam Like Home seems to be working as I type this as I got a text message saying that I was good to go on that front.

I plan to leave early tomorrow morning for my flight back to Canada. Unfortunately on Air Canada which because of this experience is far from being my favorite airline. But before I go, I have some loose ends. I got an e-mail from a reader who wanted to see the front gate of the hotel that I stayed at in India:

You can see the two guards as well as four metal pillars with red lights on them. Once the guards search your vehicle inside and out for explosives, those pillars drop into the ground and you can drive into the property. The reason for this level of security? The Mumbai attacks from a few years ago which killed scores of tourists. That forced India to step up their game when it comes to security.

The final part of this travelouge will appear late tommorow after I land in Toronto. Stay tuned for it!

Today is my last day in India. I have completed my assessment and I have come to the conclusion that my client would be best served to bring their tech support in house. As a result, I can fully expect to be visiting India frequently over the next year to help them get this done. Now that I am done here, I can rest and prepare to journey to Frankfurt Germany where I have a client who wants me to solve a bunch of issues in the 27 hours that I am on the ground there. But before I leave India, here’s a few shots of the Cyber Hub:

I had lunch here today. This has a variety of Asian food and it was very good. Advance warning, they have food with peanuts for those of you who have peanut allergies. Other than that, I’d recommend this place without hesitation.

Here’s a look at the traffic around Cyber City. This was taken around noon and traffic was sort of moving. When I arrived a couple of hours earlier, traffic was not moving as smoothly.

Here’s a view from the car that took me from the hotel to Cyber City. This should have been a 15 minute drive. But today it took me 45 minutes.

Here’s a video from last night showing the traffic that this place has:

An oddity that I found in my room is in the form of setting the TV in my room to channel 2. It shows this Windows XP desktop. I can’t interact with it, but I found it to be weird as I have no clue where this is coming from.

So now I am going to get some sleep as I am checking out of the Le Meridan hotel at midnight to get to the airport to get to Frankfurt for the morning. Expect my next update from there.

I am tying this from India. But I wasn’t sure I was going to make it here. Let me explain what happened and how this almost went horrifically sideways.

I was booked on a flight via Air Canada to Newark New Jersey to catch a United Airlines fight to New Delhi. It was supposed to leave at 4:55 PM on Sunday. But it didn’t. It instead got pushed back to 5:45 PM. But then, we were informed that we would have to wait on the the far corner tarmac of Pearson Airport until 6:30 PM as that was the earliest takeoff and landing slot that they had for us. The reason for this is that they needed the gate for other aircraft. Nobody was thrilled about this at all and people on the plane were openly cursing Air Canada. In my case, it made my connection extremely tight. There was a chance that I would miss my flight to New Delhi, my checked bag would miss the flight, or both.

#EpicFail

But to Air Canada’s credit, we were airborne at 6:34 PM and we got to Newark about an hour and a bit later. But I had a new problem to deal with. I landed at terminal A in Newark. My connecting flight was in Terminal C. So I asked the Air Canada what was the fastest way to get to Terminal C. They told me to exit security and take a train that connected all of Newark’s terminals and re-enter security. So I did just that, getting a good amount of cardio in the process by sprinting from place to place. When I got to security at Terminal C, the TSA officer asked me why I was out of breath I told him what happened and he shook his head and said this:

“Air Canda does that to their flyers all the time. There’s a bus that goes from terminal to terminal that keeps you within security and is a bit faster. I really wish that they’d tell their passengers that.”

My opinion of Air Canada, which was already low at that point took a huge nosedive. I told myself at that point that I would avoid flying them going forward as this is completly unacceptable.

So, after clearing secuirty, my gate was very close by and I made the flight with 10 minutes to spare. But what about my bag? Fortunately I had a Tile Slim inside it and I used the Tile App to mark it as lost. That way I would get an alert when it was within proximity to my iPhone. 15 minutes after I did that (as they held the flight for 20 minutes for reasons they did not explain), I got an alert that my bag was close by. That was a relief. While I do carry a spare pair of contacts and solution in my laptop bag, I didn’t want to be seeing a client in clothes that I had been wearing for a full day.

The flight itself was uneventful. I have to admit that this was my first time on United Airlines and I was very impressed. The cabin crew was top notch in terms of being attentive and professional. While my experience is based on a sample size of one, I would fly them again without hesitation. The fact that the 13.5 hour flight was uneventful was welcome because everything up until that point was stressfull. I did get about 90 minutes of sleep, but nothing more as I don’t sleep well on flights.

After landing at Indira Gandhi airport, getting through customs was easy and quick. So was picking up my bag thanks to the Tile Slim which made it easier to find. And I was met at the airport by a driver from the hotel that I am staying at for the next couple of days which is the Le Meridian in Gurgaon’s Cyber City. This is an extremely upscale hotel that is above and beyond what I usually stay at in India. Which is usually very upscale. Check in was easy and professional, and I was impressed from moment one. I booked a small room and this is what I got:

Everything is from the top shelf. My work area is great as well:

I was able to set up my MacBook Pro as well as the USB charger for associalted devices. It’s a great place to work.

I found this writing next to the clock radio. I have no idea what it says. If someone could translate this for me, I’d really appreicate it.

But once again, I’ve found a hotel that has a 30-pin dock connector for in room entertainmet. Sigh.

Oh, the WiFi is 2Mbps a second if you want it for free. If you pay for it (at very reasonable prices I might add), you can get 4Mbps. I can live with 2Mbps for free.

Tomorrow, I start two very long days with my client. But you’ll still see an update from me as to what’s going on before I move on to Frankfurt Germany. Stay tuned!

I am flying to two countries this week. First I am flying India to do some work for a company in Gurgaon. This is a company that I have not worked for before and I have two days to get things done so that should be interesting. From there, I will be flying to Frankfurt Germany where I have 24 hours to do some work for another new client. Thus this will be a pretty intense one week trip.

Because of my need to get on the ground, get stuff done, and move on, I will taking this route:

• I leave today from Pearson Airport in Toronto to fly via Air Canada Express to Newark New Jersey. From there I will catch a United Airlines flight to Indira Gandhi Airport in New Delhi India. Now you’re likely wondering why don’t I just take the direct flight from Toronto to New Delhi like the last time I was there. The answer is that I need to be on the ground and getting to work for Tuesday morning. So rather than fly on Friday night and spend the weekend in Gurgaon, I decided to go this route. The total flight time is 15 hours and I will be doing the Newark to New Delhi leg on a Boeing 777.
• Very early on Thursday morning, I will be flying out from Indira Gandhi airport via Lufthansa to Frankfurt Germany. I will then be picked up and driven to the clients office where I will quickly get to work. I will stay overnight in the city. I will be doing this leg on an Airbus A380
• On Friday morning, I fly back to Toronto on Air Canada on another Boeing 777.

As you can see, this is an intense trip where there is not a moment to spare.

As for the tech I am carrying, here’s what I have on this trip:

I will be carrying my trusty MacBook Pro With Retina Display. One thing that I really like about this computer is the fact that it is light and easy to carry. This is important when you’re carrying it through airports. It has a custom skin from skinit.com and yes, I don’t play nice with others. My teachers said so in grade school.

Now this case by Case Logic has a whole lot of stuff in it. It usually includes iKlear travel wipes and a microfiber cloth to ensure that my MacBook Pro is always clean. To the right are mini DisplayPort to VGA and DVI adapters from Apple. That way I can be sure I have what I need to connect to an external monitor or projector. There’s also a Ethernet to Thunderbolt adapter for the times where I need to connect a networking cable. Below it from left to right are two USB sticks. One has a bootable image of macOS in case I need it. The other is a 16GB USB stick with Disk Warrior in case I need it as well. There’s a USB hub and a bunch of USB cables from Lightning to mini and micro USB cables.

This case holds my Olixar Travel Adapter With 4 USB Ports my keep my iPhone 5S and other tech charged. There’s the Apple World Travel Adapter Kit for use with my MacBook Pro when I travel internationally.

When I travel on business, I like to unwind to some music in my hotel room. Thus I travel with the Veho VSS-009-360BT – 360° M4 Bluetooth Wireless Speaker as it has good sound and good battery life and charges via a USB port.

When I’m on a plane or just around town, I use the RHA MA450 headsets as they are a quality product with nylon cables and aircraft grade aluminum that deliver quality sound.

Inside this Case Logic case is a 1TB Western Digital Elements hard drive that I use to backup my MacBook Pro when I travel. Because backing up your data is very important. It is packed separately in my checked luggage to ensure that it is safe.

All my luggage has these Tile Bluetooth transponders in them so I can find my luggage easily in airports like Indira Gandhi Airport in New Delhi, or Heathrow in London UK.

As for transport to the airport, my wife took care of getting me to Terminal 1 at Pearson Airport. I got to the airport just under three hours before my flight. That way I can check in and go through security at a casual pace. Checking in and going through US Customs took about an hour and I appreciated the fact that they had an automated machine to speed the check in process. Once I was past customs, I made a stop at the CIBC banking center in Pearson Airport to grab some foreign currency. Since I am a CIBC customer, this saves me money in currency exchange fees. While I was able to get US dollars and Euros, I was not able to get Indian Rupees. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that 500 and 1000 Rupee notes have been taken out of circulation by the Indian government. I’ll have to figure out how to get Rupees when I land in New Jersey or New Delhi. I also leveraged the free WiFi, though I had problems posting this story using their WiFi and had to switch to using my iPhone’s Instant Hotspot feature.

The last thing that I should mention is that I will be trying out Rogers Roam Like Home roaming feature. Now frequrent readers of my blog know that I have said that you will get the best price mobile voice and data abroad by skipping your Canadina cell carrier entirely and using a local SIM card with an unlocked phone. I still stand by that and I will recommend that option to anyone who asks. But I have gotten numerous requests to test out how well Roam Like Home works. Thus since I recently switched to Rogers from Bell as they are currently the least worst option for Canadian cell phone carriers at the moment, this gave me the oppurtinty to be a test subject for this and report back. I expect to be paying $10 a day for all the destinations that I will be going to this week. But I will be interested in seeing how easy it is to use. While I was sitting and waiting for my flight to Newark, I registered for Roam Like Home by texting “Travel” (without the quotes) to 222. I got this in response:

We’ll see how well this goes this week.

My next update will come when I land in New Delhi and get to the hotel. I’ll also detail what my layover in Newark was like. Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Seeing as my Air Canada flight to Newark is delayed due to air traffic, this gives me an opprtunity to add one more piece of tech that I am carrying with me:

To keep my iPhone charged, I keep this Asus ZenPower 10500 mAh battery pack handy. It has more than enough power to last through layovers or tours. But it is light enough to carry around without feeling it. Looks like I will need it as Air Canada has once again made travelling a bit more difficut than it should be. Good thing that my connecting flight isn’t until 8:50 PM tonight. That gives me a reasonable shot of making it.