international travel and e-mail access

[GeKoSc]

How to prevent that e-mail accounts and others sites are difficult to access when traveling international with my laptop ? 

Is there a place at the Internet where I can inform hotmail and gmail that I am traveling (similar to credit card) ?

[lopburi3]

Why would you need to do this?  Most people use Gmail and travel the world everyday without issues.  I use various VPN countries and never have any issues connecting to Gmail.  

 

As for Hotmail do not connect directly normally - just have Gmail collect the mail.

Edited July 7, 2018 by lopburi3

[shadowofacloud]

Do you mean webmail not accessible (or asking for additional credentials) because you are accessing it from a location different from your usual?

 

In such case use a VPN (always a good idea, BTW) with a server in your country. TorGuard for example - but there are many, many others.

Edited July 7, 2018 by shadowofacloud

[tweedledee2]

   An email account address is not assigned to any specific computer or a geographical region, it is assigned to the account holder.  As long as you are signed in to your account, you should have access no matter what type of device you're using, who it belongs too or what your location is.

   Viewing geographical or regional restricted web content is a separate issue. Exp: If you are in Asia and try to access NBC TV to stream your favorite show, you will not be allowed access because your IP address shows you are in Asia. There are ways to circumvent these restrictions, either free or subscribing to a service (VPN). Not all of them will work 100% of the time. A lot of the restricted websites work diligently to protect their revenue and continually upgrade their detection software. The VPN that works today, may not work tomorrow, next week or next month. Also, a paid one that costs $4.99 a month may work just as good as one that is $99 a year. The service I use costs just pennies over a dollar each month.

[burwellrelate]

For any services or websites that might get restriction depending on a specific or just changing location I would advise using a VPN. There are so many options with various features and for various preferences. My current choice for an upcoming trip to China is Surfshark as I've got a confirmation from people on reddit that it works smoothly and with no additional settings required. Here's an article that I've just found with few more good choices.

 

P.S.That article is updated every week so it stays relevant for travelers who might find this later.

[chrisinth]

The only thing I can think of regarding email access is if you are using an email client (Outlook, Thunderbird, etc) and have set the account as a POP3. If that is the case, then you may have to change the SMTP settings for that account. That said, for webmail accounts like Gmail and Hotmail, they have their own SMTP servers.

 

Geo location is another matter but shouldn't effect webmail accounts.

[GeKoSc]

On 7/7/2018 at 2:07 PM, lopburi3 said:

Why would you need to do this?  Most people use Gmail and travel the world everyday without issues.  I use various VPN countries and never have any issues connecting to Gmail.  

 

As for Hotmail do not connect directly normally - just have Gmail collect the mail.

 

On 7/7/2018 at 2:22 PM, shadowofacloud said:

Do you mean webmail not accessible (or asking for additional credentials) because you are accessing it from a location different from your usual?

 

In such case use a VPN (always a good idea, BTW) with a server in your country. TorGuard for example - but there are many, many others.

I gave been asked asking for additional credentials....What is the meaning of VPN?

[shadowofacloud]

54 minutes ago, GeKoSc said:

I gave been asked asking for additional credentials....What is the meaning of VPN?

 

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network.

 

A piece of software on your computer called the VPN Client creates an encrypted tunnel between your machine and the VPN server.

 

You can either install an external VPN Client or use one built into your operating system. In the latter case you will only need to configure a connection, which is usually quite straight-forward.

 

Most VPN providers have servers in multiple countries and you can choose which server you connect to. Once connected to such server, the traffic from your machine will look to all external parties as if it originated from the the VPN server. E.g. you are in Thailand and connect to a VPN server in France. Gmail/Hotmail etc/ will assume you are in France and you may not be asked for additional credentials when logging in.

 

If you are not well versed in IT, I suggest you ask someone to do the installation or configuration for you.

[suzannegoh]

On 7/11/2018 at 8:24 AM, GeKoSc said:

 

I gave been asked asking for additional credentials....What is the meaning of VPN?

 

"Use a VPN" is the correct answer.  See the preceding reply by shadowofacloud about what a VPN is.  It might sound complicated at first but it isn't, and it's an essential tool for an expat or a frequent traveler.