So what can we do to make the most out of slow Internet connections?

Tune up your laptop before you leave. If you’ll be taking your laptop with you, make sure that it’s clean of spyware and adware. These programs tend to slow down your Internet connection since they use it to send data to third parties or load unwanted pop-up ads via your browser. I use Lavasoft Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy to make sute my laptop is clean of malware.

Also, it won’t hurt to de-clutter your hard drive and installed programs to ensure peak performance.

Make your Internet browser lean. Tweak your browser settings to automatically block ads, images, Flash, and JavaScript. In Firefox, you can do this by going to Tools > Options, then fiddling with the settings under Content. Uncheck Load images automatically and Enable JavaScript. As for blocking ads and flash, add-ons such as Adblock and Flashblock can handle that.

At this stage, you might be tempted to install speed enhancing add-on, such as Fasterfox. Remember that if you’re going to use such a third-party add-on or program to make your browsing speeds faster, make sure that you disable prefetching of web sites. Prefetching lets your browser automatically download and cache linked sites, unnecessarily consuming bandwidth.

Get rid of slow-loading add-ons. Browsers like Opera and Firefox allow you to use themes, extensions, and add-ons to customize your browsing experience. But these things can also consume memory and make your browser a little slower. Deactivate or disable any extensions that aren’t essential to your work.

Find a source of portable connectivity. One of the gadgets I bring with me on the road is a small 3G HSDPA modem with prepaid Internet access (which cost me around $40, including a prepaid card). This allows me to have access to 3G Internet where available or a much slower GPRS connection, which is available wherever there’s a cellphone signal.

Loading a WordPress Dashboard can take around 5 minutes on a GPRS connection, but as a blogger, the fact that I can access it at all is important. Most digital nomads (including myself) can sleep better at night knowing that they can access the web for basic work tasks, even if the connection is slow.

Know the rates you’ll be paying. Unless you’re only planning to take advantage of free Wi-Fi, you need to know if your Internet providers will charge you based on bandwidth or time, otherwise you can end up with a nasty surprise when you get the bill.

Divide your tasks into bandwidth-heavy and bandwidth-light. Evaluate your routine web tasks and see which ones you can do with a slow connection, and which ones require a faster, more reliable one. This is especially important if your mobile Internet provider charges based on bandwidth usage instead of time. Aliza Sherman did something similar in a previous post, to help her work around bandwidth limits.

Obviously, the bandwidth-light tasks are the ones you can do on your slow connection. For the bandwidth-heavy tasks, you’ll have to wait until you get to an Internet cafe or an area with a reliable connection. Separating your tasks into these two lists will allow you to schedule and batch them according to what kind of connection you can access.

Have backup plans. Even if you think you’ve covered all the bases, it helps to have a backup plan in case you really can’t get a decent connection. Some tips include:

• Having a friend or a virtual assistant do some web tasks for you (uploading and formatting blog posts, research, checking your email,etc.)
• Doing as much work as you can in advance.
• Researching your connectivity options (net cafes, Wi-Fi hotspots, etc.) before you arrive at your destination.

Slow Internet speeds might be a traveling web worker’s nightmare, but with a bit of research and planning, you can make it easier on yourself and the people who work with you.

Do you have any connectivity tips or techniques to share with traveling web workers?

Image by runrunrun from sxc.hu

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Here’s the truth so far: web working on the road is harder than it looks. Even with all the research and planning, some things are bound to be different from what you’re expecting.

Internet Access

In a previous post, I mentioned how internet access should be one of the things you look into when researching travel destinations. This is especially important for us web workers, since it’s hard to anticipate what client queries or work emergencies you’ll need to attend to.

One option is to travel in areas that are known to have reliable internet connections. But doing this limits your number of possible destinations. Since I prefer to stay in remote provincial areas, it was logical for me to buy a 3G USB modem. This. device comes in handy for traveling web workers, and even if there’s no 3G access in some areas, you can still manage to use a GPRS connection (even if it’s rather slow).

Scheduling

Although you don’t need to plan every hour of your trip, it’s important to have a vague idea of what you’ll be doing each day. This will allow you to schedule some time for work. Just make sure you don’t spend most of your time on your laptop. If you spend 90% of your trip getting some work done, then it’s almost as if you stayed in your home office. Doing this would be missing the point. The key is to know which important work tasks you absolutely have to do within the same time frame as your trip. You can even try outsourcing some of your most basic tasks while you’re away.

Remember that traveling always involves waiting. You could be in the pier for three hours, waiting for the late ferry. You could be in the airport waiting to board your plane. Since waiting time is expected, know how to be productive when this happens. I spent most of my waiting time making notes on the articles I had to write, and jotting down the work tasks I have to do when I return. You can also use this time to recharge your gadgets.

I also strongly recommend doing even a bit of your work in advance – this is something I didn’t do very well for this trip (I got sick the week before I left). But if I were able to do that, I would’ve had the benefit of worrying less about work while I’m traveling.

Equipment

The general rule of traveling with gadgets is that you shouldn’t take more than what you need. Right now I have my small MSI Wind notebook, my cellphone, and the modem I mentioned earlier. This allows me to pack for a 2-week trip in a single backpack. In the future, I might opt to bring an extension cord or outlet multiplier with me, as some rooms have only one or two power outlets.

Keep in mind that you shouldn’t take less than what you need either. While a netbook with a 10-inch monitor suits me well, graphic designers will no doubt have a much harder time with it. If it’s relevant to your work, and it’s hard for you to get things done without it, extra gadgets or a bigger laptop should be on your packing list.

Know how others have done it

The most comforting thing, for me at least, was that many people have worked on the road before. Here at WWD, Anne Zelenka interviewed Lea Woodward about her location-independent lifestyle. Imran Ali wrote about the traveling web working family of Tumblewagon. Tim Ferriss also discussed a similar concept in his book, “The 4-Hour Workweek”.

As internet connectivity becomes more prevalent, and as smaller devices become more affordable, it’s also no surprise that the number of traveling web workers is growing. It’s certain that you’ll find an experienced digital nomad who can give you all the advice and information you need. Hopefully, in a couple of years, I can be as wise and experienced as they are now.

Have you ever tried working on the road? What tips can you share based on your experience?

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