My cafe hopping strategy for stable connections abroad fell apart

I was in Barcelona, moving between spots to keep my video calls clear. The third place's network was so slow, I missed part of a meeting. How do you scout for good WiFi when you're in a new city?

3 comments

3 Comments

robin8361mo ago

Ever check those crowd-sourced WiFi maps? I read a travel blog that said sites like WorkFrom and WiFiMap show user-reported speeds. They mentioned looking for spots tagged "video calls" specifically, since some cafes only have good enough WiFi for browsing.

charles2991mo ago

But how do you know those user reports are actually good for video calls? Someone might check email fast and mark it okay, but that doesn't mean the connection is stable enough for a full meeting without freezing. Do those sites show when the last speed test was even done, or is it just a guess?

beth7221mo ago

Relied on a fancy hotel's "business center" once. The router was literally just sitting on a folding chair. Learned to always ask to see the setup now.