Phone and Internet on Trans-Sib

A ride Moscow-Irkutsk will take some 77 hours, or roughly 3 days. GSM network (european frequency) is available all along the Trans-Siberian, with few exceptions where you may need to wait for an hour until the network is available again.

Choosing your train

Best conditions for having phone and internet connection are on trains N 1 and N 9 (or N 2 and N 10 when going eastwards). The best choice is the train N 9 (or N 10 eastwards). First class (also known as SV, luxe, or two-berth) has two electric plugs in every compartment.

Beeing called while on Trans-Siberian

You will need your mobile phone and your usual contract SIM card. The phone should be european or tri-band suitable. Train's electric network is a strange mix of 110 V and 220 V, plugs in compartments have 110 V, 220 V plugs are only available in in the service car next to the restaurant ("shtabnoy wagon") so your mobile phone's power supply should be compatible with 110 V network (check your electric store or get a US manufactured phone, like Motorola.) If keeping your phone turned on, it will take a lot of power for switching between the stations and searching for new networks. It will need much more power then in usual "home" conditions, so you will need to keep it plugged all the time. Please note that there are quite a few independent networks which are competing with each other, so your Russian SIM will probably not work in all networks, although they all will happily serve your "western" SIM. Roaming can be expensive, so remember that to call abroad is cheaper then beeing called. When called you may wish to call back to cut the costs. The most cheapest is to be called on your Russian SIM card, though you will need to tell people your new number (use SMS for this). For sensitive/business calls you may wish to wait for major stations where you have some 20-30 minutes of silence, otherwise running train is a noisy environment.

SMS

Sending and receiveing SMS to Russian phones and abroad works all along the Trans-Sib, though we experienced some delivery delays and lost messages from time to time. So request acknowledge of receipt from the recepient if the message is important.

Calling from Trans-Siberian

To call from Trans-siberian we advice to purchase a russian prepaid SIM card. The best is one from MTS operator, represented in most of the regions the Trans-Siberian crosses. Calling to Russian phone numbers is most probably cheaper with MTS cards. To call abroad better use your "western" SIM: calls cost about the same, but prepaid account can suddenly expire, and reloading it while in the train can be tricky.

If you use callback, please setup it for your MTS number, this is the cheapest option for longer talks, but it requires some callback expertise.

Internet access

GPRS is available everywhere where GSM is, though settings can be operator specific, this requires a lot of GPRS expertise. The best option is to use your GSM phone as a regular modem and call some provider with in-Russia land line access.

While at home, find an internet provider with a russian land line access number. One option is to buy a prepaid internet card, they are widely sold at newsstands in Russia or you can purchase minutes over the internet. The best option is probably a 7-digit access number in Moscow. It will look something like +7 095 1234567. Setup a "dialup" connection on your computer and try to login yet at home.

Your laptop's or handeld's power supply should be compatible with 110 V network, if you are travelling on the train N 9 (or N 10 eastwards) Moscow-Irkutsk. IBM Thinkpads are capable of 110 V or 220 V, you do not need to switch anything even.

Best time for checking your email is while at the station. There are plenty of long stops (around 20-30 minutes). Also connection between the stations is stable most of the time, but you should keep in mind that connection can break at any moment. Checking email using POP is not too practical, especially if you get a lot of spam. Also IMAP needs quite some time. I found the most practical to use shell login (use putty ssh client under windows) and check email using mutt or pine. Connection speed is 9600 kb, which is enough for browsing with turned off pictures and checking emails. I even managed to listen to online radio using Winamp, though only to the stations with 8 kb bandwidth. If you have Bluetooth, you can share the connection among several laptops/handhelds.

GPS, satellite access

We did not try satellite access on Transsib, I suspect that it can be very tricky to keep the receiver toward the satellite, especially if your compartment is on the northern side. Among satellite providers probably Iridium will work the best as it does not require precise positioning of antenna, though using it inside the train car can be tricky and it is not allowed to open windows due to air conditioning engaged.

GPS receiver will most probably work fine, you can get an USB connected receiver on Ebay for some $50. It can be fun to track your position while the train runs and check what places you are travelling through. Also there are sticks with distance to Moscow in kilometers, every 100 meters all along the tracks. (these notes uploaded directly from the train)