OK, both attempts seem to be there now, guess they got stuck somewhere :-). Can anyone shed any light on the movistar matter ?

Sorry I cannot help much, but I do know for a fact that any of their "Tarifa Plana" (flatrate) plans are not available on prepaid but only available as add-on's to higher value contracts. This is actually quite normal for most mainstream operators.

But why on earth are you with Movistar? They have the least value data packages you can ever imagine. They are also an "absolute nonsense" company!

by accident, so I guess I'm screwed :-) Can't even topup the thing via their internet site :-( Ok, this will have to solve itself, off to the supermarket for vouchers.
Is there an agressive player in the spanish market who wants the tourist business and has the resources to deal with that ?

There are quite a few aggressive players but I am not sure if any really have the resources for the tourist market. I think masMovil with their English and German websites and a few multilingual customer service agents seem to be the most promising. Yoigo also have a few multi-lingual staff! To be honest, generally speaking, the rather large tourist business is catered to embarrassingly poorly out here!

is there a way we can speak non-publicly ? masmovil seems to be down all the time, at least from here :-). I would like to see if a business can be created

Thanks for the advice.
The ebay seller states that you have to send a copy of your passport to masmovil in order to register and has been co-operative on my questions, so might be worth a go. Its £12 for a MasMovil SIM with 10 euro credit on it, so not such a big deal if it have to throw it away after my visit - just get another next year!
Can you confirm that the faxing/emailing of a passport scan would be what MasMovil would want to register and that a UK passport would be ok?

Whats the deal with Simyo? They don't expire as they don't have a minimum spend?
Thanks again

Here's the deal with Yoigo in summer 2010:

Yoigo 3G PAYG prepaid internet in Spain

IData with their MoviData card is trying to get a share of the market by lowering the daily fee to € 1.50.

However it's not flat-fee. Above 100Mb they charge 6 eurocents / Mb. At 3G speeds it can ruin your prepaid balance in no time.

Cheers!

I'm off to Menorca (Balearic islands) tomorrow for a week. would love to have a week's unlimited(ish) internet and reasonably priced texts to UK. Will need a SIM for my Nexus One phone rather than a dongle.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

I am also heading to Spain tomorrow. I did a bit of research. Carrefour(supermarket chain like Tesco) have an MVNO on the Orange network. They appear to have a SIM for €1 per day up to a max of 100MB per day. That would give you 700MB for €7 for your week. Not bad. Orange seem to allow VOIP, unlike Vodafone or Movistar. The SIM is intended for dongles, but it should work in a phone, at least for incoming calls. It might not work for outgoing calls, unless you use VOIP. I intend to use it in my Android phone. I am not too bothered about voice, as I will put my home SIM in another phone, and I really want Internet for the Android.

Inicio > Internet Móvil > Carrefour Telecom

Most of the networks have deals for around €10 per month, but most of them force you to have a voice plan first - so expect to pay around €20 with the other networks.

Are you on an o2 contract back in the UK? If you are, you can still use your inclusive texts in Spain (back to the UK) on a 4:1 ratio.

I'm on T-Mobile. But thanks anyway.

Sorry... that was a stab in the dark! If you have a cheap local Spanish data plan, you could also consider using something like fishtext for cheap SMS back to the UK. (2p/SMS).

I take you've had a read through these pages already with regards to how to pick up a local Spanish SIM on an MVNO that gives you decent data rates? I think Masmovil is fairly decent these days. It's not too easy to find their SIM's in shops though. If you know what your address will be, you could also consider getting a Simyo SIM card delivered to you when you will be there. On Spanish prepaid SIM's, the cheapest SMS rates are with Yoigo (who charge you either 8 or 10c). Simyo, is not bad at 15c. There are some networks (e.g. Vodafone) that charge you as much as 69c!!

Just to report back-in Spain now for a few days. I got the Carrefour SIM on the first day, as planned. It is working out really well, and I am posting this from my Android phone while using it.

The only slight glitch was that it did not appear to have correct APN settings on it. Instead it had Orange APN. I added the Carrefour APN settings and then it worked fine. They forced me to buy a €10 top-up when buying the €5 SIM. I am not sure whether this is mandatory? It didn't bother me as I am in spain for 10 days and €1 per day for 10 days is exactly €10.

Orange coverage seems great, so other Orange MVNOs are probably good also. However, some only sell on Web for delivery to Spanish address - Carrefour can he picked up at any Carrefour store.

Hi Drama Queen. Thanks for the feedback. Carrefour is indeed quite a useful one as there are so many of their shops and associates around which means that picking up a SIM is a lot easier than many of the other MVNO's. I am glad it worked out so well for you. I also have had no significant problems lately with coverage on Orange. They are improving all the time. Also interesting to know that Carrefour have no problems with VoIP usage. I think this is the same on most of the other MVNO's that use Orange (e.g. I know on my Simyo I have no problems). Movistar is the other network that also has no VoIP restrictions.

I used to have a Carrefour SIM but a long time ago. Was the Carrefour SIM that you got on the data tariff a normal Voice SIM as well? (i.e. could you make and receive calls?) The only downside that I can see with Carrefour is the 3 euro minimum monthly spend requirement. In practice, this would mean that visitors who only visit Spain once or twice a year cannot feasibly maintain their cards but would have to pick up a new SIM every time.

The Carrefour SIM is intended for use in their Dongle, and I think it is meant to be data only. They also sell it with a dongle, and in this case the dongle software probably automatically installs the correct APN.

I have not tried making a voice call - I am afraid it might switch me to a voice tariff or burn my credit on an expensive per minute tariff. I tried an incoming call but it didnt work.

It doesn't bother me as VOIP works and I also have my home SIM.

The great thing about this SIM is €1 for 100MB per day-that gives me all the web, email & VOIP I need plus GPS switched on all the tome streaming Google maps, and some Radio streaming. So far I am hitting around 40MB per day-well within quota.

I've just realized, that másmovil have discontinued their monthly flatrate for € 20. Now they only offer data packs of 1 GB (€ 14.90/month) and 300 MB (€ 5/month) with exceeding traffic being charged with € 0.03/MB for both tariffs (see: Total movilidad y ahorro con la tarifa modem USB internet movil).
Their customer care is also disastrous. Having sent all registration information including my scanned password 3 days ago to datos@masmovil.es, my SIM has still not been activated yet and after calling customer care yesterday and today I was promised callbacks from an English speaking operator twice, which I haven't received yet either.
It took me days to find a másmovil SIM during my last vacation at Gran Canaria and now before I got to use it prices have increased dramatically and I can't even activate the SIM card. Perhaps prices will come down again after the holiday season.

Finally got second hand 2 yoigo and 1 simyo prepaid sim cards from other travellers and now starting to cope with the network codes and tariffs to get some solution for September. Hope the search button help me withinh this forum ;-)

regards,

Simyo , Yoigo

1. hash codes to check the current tarrif on SIM kindly welcomed
2. hask codes to change the current tarrif to other also welcomed ;-)


regards,
august

Where is Carrefour in Menorca??
 

Hi Drama Queen or anyone else that knows - this sounds very interesting as I am off to Menorca in a few weeks. However I have been many times but never come across a Carrefour shop or supermarket. Can you let me know where the shops are?? Additionally are the APN settings inside the data sim pack? What speeds were you getting?? You mention 100mb per day and the £1.00 per day top-up. Would you be kind enough to explain the costs more? Many thanks in anticipation.:)

The stores are in most cities and major towns in mainland Spain. There is a map on their website.

Hipermercados Carrefour

It looks like there might not be a store on Menorca - I think the nearest one might be on Mallorca?

The APN settings were not in the SIM pack. Normally these should be stored on the SIM. Instead the SIM had APN settings for Orange - the network that Carrefour is hosted on. These didn't seem to work - so I simply went into the APN menu on my phone and set up an additional APN for Carrefour. Just add an APN with the following settings - NAME=Carrefour, APN=carrefourinternet.

The SIM is probably designed for use in Carrefour dongles - and these probably automatically set up the APN. I was using the SIM in my phone, so I had to set up the APN manually.

I didn't pay too much attention to the speeds - in general they were good in the cities and towns, and sometimes slower in very rural areas. I was mainly web-browsing, emailing, streaming Google maps and listening to streamed radio sometimes - all of these were fine in all 5 places where I was staying. I also used VOIP and it was mostly ok - sometimes a little choppy - but this is normal when you do VOIP over 3G. Carrefour use Orange's network - so the coverage and speeds are probably the same as Orange.

100MBytes per day is the cap on downloading. I never went above 40MBytes any day - so 100MBytes was fine for me. Every day that you use the Internet, €1 will be deducted from your credit. The minimum top-up seems to be €5, although they asked me to put in €10 when I bought the SIM. Hence the cost works out at €1 per day, but the minimum that you can initially buy is 10 days.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Many thanks. It looks as though I will have to ask around to see if i know any friends who are off to mainland Spain. I think I have one contact who may be able to help. 4 last questions I hope and thanks so far!!

1) How long does the credit last for?
2)Is there a monthly 'maintenance charge?
3)How long does an unused SIM stay active for??
4)How can you 'top up' - hopefully not just via the shops.

Many thanks

I don't know how long the credit lasts for. The daily tariff plan is not tied to a month (they have another monthly tariff) - so I have no reason to believe that credit will expire at the end of a month. It is essentially a day-pass tariff, and if you don't use the Internet on any particular day it doesn't debit your credit. However, there may be some period of inactivity after which the SIM gets disabled? In most countries this is 6 months to a year. If you have some Spanish, you might be able to find the details in the user manual...

http://www.carrefour.es/telecom/docu...rnet_movil.pdf

They forced me to do a €10 top-up immediately when I bought the SIM - so I suspect that the SIM was active from this time. It didn't bother me, because I needed 10 days of use. However, the credit shouldn't start decrementing until you first access the Internet. Perhaps you could persuade them that you just wanted the SIM and that you would top up at a later stage?

You can top up at any checkout in Carrefour - but they also appear to have an Internet top-up - and perhaps a phone help-line also. I didn't use either of these so I can't be sure how well they work.

Recargas > Carrefour Móvil > Carrefour Telecom

The most important thing that has been missed in this information is that the SIM has a minimum spend requirement of 3 Euros per month! If you do not meet this, they will debit it from your balance. Therefore if you plan on buying this SIM to use over two holidays, and leave credit on the SIM when you leave, you may find that it is down to zero by the time you are back.

If you can read and understand Spanish, a good resource for prepaid SIM's in Spain is gsmspain.com. For carrefour movil, this page has a lot of information: Foro Carrefour móvil

Anybody know if Carrefour/Orange has data coverage on the Canary Islands (Gran Canaria and Tenerife) and Palma de Mallorca? Visiting these on a cruise this fall.

Thanks.

These islands are visited by millions of tourists each year making them a gold mine for network operators. Expect excellent coverage not only on the islands but also at the waters surrounding them. Btw in Spain they have coverage maps, too:
http://movil.orange.es/soporte-y-ayu...-de-cobertura/

Help with YOIGO for October travel in Spain
 

New to this forum and very uninformed about mobile and internet in Europe. Using an IPhone which I am comfortable with and have used extensively in Mexico (via WIFI, Skype, etc). I purchased a YOIGO sim card on ebay to insert into an IPhone which will not accept it. No credit on the card so I need a lot of help when I get to Spain and actually try to use it. We will be in Barcelona for 2 nights, then Costa del Sol for 8 nights. I was told that YOIGO charge for internet use is flat 1.20 euros/day. My specific questions:
1. Is the 1.20 euro daily charge for unlimited data usage?
2. Where should I go to activate the card and what will I ask for (what am I trying to buy)? I am thinking maybe I buy 20 euros of credit for example and then each day that I use it, the fee is deducted from that credit?
3. Are there settings that I will need to change or other changes to make on my phone to make it functional?
4. Although purchased primarily for internet usage (and therefore Skype via the internet), are the options for a few calls in Spain and for calling back to the US better or just as good as using Skype?

As you can tell, I am pretty clueless about all of this so would be so appreciate for any knowledge someone is able to share! Thank you!

no shortage of places to add credit, internet cafes, international call shops, post office (slow), filling stations, some tobacconists, I would write "YOIGO" and your number on a piece of paper and hand it to them with €5 or €10 whatever u want. Yes it's €1.20 +tax =€1.39 I think. Yoigo have some English speaking agents u may have to wait for a ring back. You will need Yoigo to send u the ISP APN settings , Or if u know where to put them try "Connection Name "Yoigo Internet" Data Bearer "Packet data" Access Point Name"internet" User Name and PWD NONE. I use Truphone for international calls over wifi.

I would like to use voice and data on my iPhone, which Spanish provider has the most convenient package? :o:o:o

Has anyone used Carrefour in spain for prepaid data? It seems to be a pretty good plan for travelers. 29e for 3GB spread over a month isn't bad if you're there for 2 weeks as I'm going to be. Curious about any reviews, if someone has used it. I'll be in Barcelona, Nerja, Seville, Granada and Madrid.

I'm using Carrefour Movil at the moment, but only the basic 100 Mb/day for €1 + IVA @ 18%. No issues with purchase, setting up or signal quality.

Speed drops to about 16 kbps the moment you hit the 100 Mb limit (no need to reconnect).

I've read elsewhere that there can be difficulties with the Orange network (which Carrefour uses) in some rural areas.

My only problem has been with topping up. Most other kiosks and supermarkets don't sell Carrefour Movil, I think Dia supermarkets do. Carrefour Movil online and the bank ATM network don't appear to allow overseas credit/debit cards (tried both several times, always failed). So my only option for topping up has been the Carrefour outlets themselves. But if you only need a once-off purchase for the whole trip you should be OK.

Don't forget to add 18% IVA to all prices quoted. The package costs €10 including IVA and which includes €5 credit. You get 10% discount in-store for any top-up of €20 or more.

Hope that helps. Have a good trip.

A couple of further thoughts since my earlier reply:
1. to check your balance you have to dial *113# from a cell phone,
2. Overseas SMS are more than €1 each, so expensive.

Hope that helps.

There are quite a few Spanish sims that operate a monthly minimum, so its something to consider if wanting a sim to last between visits.

How to config Samsung Jack to access data/internet on Masmovil
 

I have an unlocked AT&T Samsung Jack (SGH-i637) from the US. I am here in Spain for a few months and bought a Masmovil SIM card that is supposedly come with data. I have been here for 3 weeks now, the phone/SIM works for call but I have been unable to get data to work so I can access internet. I created a APN with the name "internetmas" as instructed, but still no luck with getting internet access (other than via wifi). Anyone with some pointers or can share his/her experience using the Masmovil SIM in Spain, I would greatly appreciate it.

You need to call them and let them activate internet for you.

In November 2010 they had two customer service numbers: one free and one paid. The guys from the free number were unable to help me and didn't speak English. The woman from the paid number helped me right away and internet worked as soon as I restarted my phone :)

Thanks for the reply. I did call them to activate the data and I was told that I was good to go and data service is active. Still, I am unable to access internet. Do you remember what the woman told you to do that made your internet connection work?

She just told me to wait 5 minutes and then restart my phone.... The APN was indeed "internetmas".

Perhaps you should call them again to check and if that doesn't work you could try to visit a MásMovil dealer and ask if they can take a look at it?

Thanks! I am finally able to get it to work and can now access internet! I bought the SIM from retailer in US as a "Classic Prepaid" card. I am thinking to change it to Automatic Prepay so I can get the 500MB a month plan. Anyone has experience on this?

I bought a MasMovil SIM in Bilbao on 2nd September which I changed to automatic prepaid online to get the €14.90/Gb rate. My account pages dont show that I have bought this option (not that I can see anyway) but a phone call to the paid help line confirmed that the rate is active. I'm only using the SIM for data, no calls or text. Havent yet got to the point where it needs a recharge so have no experience yet of whether it will work.

As a side note, the SIM in the package didnt have the correct APN pre-set. It does need to be manually changed to 'internetmas' in whatever device you are using to access the interweb.

This post on TripAdvisor indicates that the "Orange counter" at El Corte Ingles sells a prepaid microsim for iPad which costs 3.5 Euro a day or 35 Euro a month for "unlimited."

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...ain-Spain.html

There may be limits but the poster doesn't seem to know. Or maybe she doesn't realize there's throttling after a certain threshold?

As I understand it, the Simyo is one of the best for prepaid data but you can't get it at any shops, you have to order it online?

Carrefour is supposedly one of the best values according to this page:

http://prepaid-wireless-internet-acc...in+-+carrefour

But they're typically not in historic centers? I'm looking at visiting Sevilla and Granada in February, staying in the historic centers. If they're like the ones in France, the Carrefour stores are always at the edge of big cities?

Any experiences with Yoigo lately, as far as speed, reliability, coverage and how easy it is to buy in shops, especially for foreign visitors?

Spain - Yoigo - Prepaid Wireless Internet Access

Just an update on mobile Internet with Carrefour Movil in Spain:
Since I had a SIM card that is less than 1 year old (11 months), i decided to check whether it would still register on the network. To my surprise it worked. Also the balance of last year (64 cents) was still there, despite the requirement to have at least 3 EUR turnover per month.

After 5 EUR credit bought in a Schlecker store, after a few minutes I got a text stating that my line was activated. Apparently this cost 5 EUR, because my balance suddenly dropped to the 64 cents of last year. After a new topup i was able to use the internet my whole holiday at 1.21 EUR for 100Mb/day (3.6 Mb speed), VAT in mainland Spain increased to 21% since last year.