Internet access

Rapide561

Hi

I have bought a modem for 199 euro and then have unlimited internet access via a SIM card for 30 euro per month.

Set up was tricky but after returning to the shop three times for help, all was well. Thanks also to the customers who helped out in a shop called Megabyte at Desenzano.

The 30 euro is paid by top up at a tobacconist etc

Speed is as per broadband.

Internet cafes are however plentiful and about 2 euros per hour.

artona · Moderator

Hi Russell

That sounds a good deal. Does it just work in Italy Russell

stew

Grizzly

Could that be done on a casual basis Russell - ie if we were to bring our own modem and unlocked mobile phone could we buy a SIM card for one month only ?

Sounds a good buy.

G

Rapide561

Ciao Stew

I think it works all over Europe - but not sure of the price.

I believe if it is on a "preferred partner" with my Italian phone company, it is included.

I will check and report back!

Russell

Rapide561

Rapide561

Hi

I tried the TIM Italia SIM and also my UK Vodafone SIM in the WIND Telecom modem.

The on screen message in both cases was "Unregistered SIM". It was not possible to access the net unless both the WIND Sim and Modem were used together.

I have also found that TIM do a modem at 99 Euro at lower speed. Again, 30 euros per month for access to the net.

Russell

Rapide561

Hi

As my language skills have improved, I have been able to establish in more detail how this contract works.

Like many things Italian, it is complicated.

On the first of the month, your account is debited with 30.00 Euros - it is a pay as you go thing so I need to ensure I have at least 30 euros in the bag.

When WIND TELECOM receive the 30 euros, they credit my "browsing account" with a bonus of 7500 Euros. These Euros are only available for use on GPRS browsing etc - and not for telephone calls. My account on screen shows a different balance for the credit for the telephone calls.

These 7500 euros are credited to my account and show as "BONUS". Each time I connect to the internet, it deducts euros from my BONUS credit balance.

After 15 days, if I still have some credit remaining, WIND give me another BONUS of 7500 Euros. If I have no credit remaining, then I am charged at 0.3 cent per KB of downoad - about 3 euros for 1 MB.

After a further 15 days - ie one month after the original 30 euro payment, I am charged a further 30 euros and the process begins again - I receive a bonus of 7500 and so on.

Any outstanding euros from the Bonus cannot be rolled over. So for example, I connected on the 6 January and received a bonus of 7500 euros purely for internet browsing. 15 days later, on the 21 January, my balance was wiped clean and I was credited with a further 7500 euros. Today - 5 days on, I have a balance to play with of 6400 Euros.

The system runs at 236 KBPS - which I think is 4 or 5 times dial up speed but not as good as broadband in the UK.

All in all, for just under £20 per month I am on line and it seems to work well, other than in the terrible weather yesterdat and Tuesday!

I can use this datacard thing in Europe - but it is a whopping 90 cents per kilobyte. I think a KB is roughly one page of a web site.

Other tariffs are available but I like this one as I can see my "ficticious balance" etc and it has been OK so far.

Russell

lucavilla

Dear Russel,

First of all nice to meet you!
I live near to Garda and I work with Internet by my own since 1995. I know all about mobile Internet solutions available here from the four italian mobile operators (Tim, Tre, Vodafone, Wind).
Let me advice you that you choosed one of the worst solutions available since Wind UMTS coverage is at most 25% of populated land (only covers big cities) and HSDPA is completely absent.
GPRS is not 236Kbps as you wrote. The best possible GPRS connection (GPRS 4+1, if your device supports it) is 80Kbps nominal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gprs).
EDGE is 236Kbps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolution) but the EDGE coverage of Wind is prob. poor.

I suggest you to pass to the *cheaper* and *faster* and *with more coverage* offers of Tim or Tre. I personally tried all the four operators solutions and my actual personal choices are Tim (Maxxi Tim Web Facile Recharge) and Tre (Naviga3).
Note that UMTS has a nominal rate of 384Kbps and HSDPA of 1.8Mbps.

There is a Wikipedia article with the offers details and I invite all the travelers in this forum to contribute adding data for their own countries: