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Prepaid SIM for Italy...
Hi guys, I know this these questions have been asked before, so I'm sorry in advance if what I'm asking seems stupid, but I can't seem to find out, and am hoping that some of you can help me. Here is the situation:
My boss is traveling from here (NYC) to Italy for a month. He is currently with Verizon (CDMA) so I got him an unlocked GSM phone (Treo), so he needs both Voice and Data. I gave him the phone the other day and tried to explain that he can just go to Wind or Vodafone and buy a SIM, but he wants one now, before he leaves so he doesn't have to do anything but turn the phone on when he gets there. Now, I know the best thing for him to do is to just get one himself. However, he's my boss and he's not really responding too well to the whole "get it yourself" solution I have for him. He says he doesn't care if it costs more to do it from here, he just wants it done. So what are. if any, the options to get a prepaid SIM for voice and data on one of the Italian networks registered here? Please let me know what you guys think. Thanks! |
For $39 you could buy a TIM card in the US through Telestial. http://www.telestial.com/view_produc...T_ID=LSIM-IT01
However, on there it says it doesn't do data... but I think it does. Maybe someone else could advise more. By the way I think if you were to buy the same card in Italy it would only be €10. |
Try Italian eBay, where you'll find dozens of prepaid SIMs (e.g. http://cgi.ebay.it/SIM-WIND-12-SPECI...QQcmdZViewItem). Afaik WIND has the most attractive data options for prepaid customers and with the "Call your Country" option your boss can call home for € 0,35/min.
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Thank you for the quick replies. I've called Telestial and asked them; they do not support Data plans, so that option is out, though would have be a great option otherwise. I've tried Italian eBay, but can't really understand what they're describing the plans to be. Is it at all possible, once I have a SIM card, regardless of data plan, to add one through the website? I've heard of people doing this via Mondowind, or rather 155. Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
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Tell you boss that you have to go to Italy to get the SIM. Two or three weeks in the city of your choice should be adequate. :)
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You just need to get a SIM, all the options can be activated through the WIND website after you've requested and received a SMS with the login details.
WIND has dozens of options for prepaid customers, but as I mentioned before "Call your Country" would surely be the best voice option for your boss, as he can call home cheap and regarding data WIND offers two interesting options called "MEGA 15000" (5 GB traffic for € 30/month) "MEGA NO LIMIT" (2.5 GB for € 20/month). |
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All Italian sim-cards support data except UnoMobile (a new MVNO). Simply at Telestial they are American and have no idea how prepaid service works here in Italy (and in most of Europe). There's no data-plan, there's just the prepaid sim-card and you can choose any voice plan you prefer and add any data option which you want. Of course you pay to do almost all operation.
Personally I don't suggest to buy a Wind card on eBay while you can get one here for 10€ and activate "Call your country" for free... |
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I read through the various offers, and I'm interested in the following prepaid data option from TIM: - Maxxi TIM Web Facile: 500 MB/month of data (apn ibox.tim.it) for € 20.00/month. Do I purchase this at any TIM store or kiosk and then add it to my existing prepaid SIM? Since I'm assuming the instructions are in Italian, how do I go about activating it? Thanks. |
This is great information. Thanks so much guys. It seems that Telestial is my best option right now, ruling out Italian eBay (Unless there is another way to get a WIND SIM that I have neglected). But I would also like to know if and how it is possible to add Data Service to the TIM card. I'm hoping that I can do it on the website, but again, I'm having a little trouble with it not being in English plus I do not have a SIM to try it with. If at all possible, he'd need it to work and roam :glurps: here in the States so that he can be sure that it's synced to our server here. Please let me know. Thanks.
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Data is preactivated and you pay for every KB you download/upload.
If you want one of the data options (which work in Italy only) there are several methods to do that. The easiest is usually to send an activation-SMS. For TIM "Maxxi TIM Web Facile Recharge" - send an SMS writing 'PRO FACILE' to number 4916. For WIND "Mega NoLimit" - send an SMS writing 'MEGA SI' to number 4533. You don't need to activate the data options to test the service, expecially if you are in the US where they don't work. Beware that GPRS/EDGE/UMTS roaming can be really expensive (15€/MB with Wind, something more with TIM, I fear...) |
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To the original poster, I'm pretty sure with a Blackberry, the SIM needs to "registered" on the Blackberry server somehow. I remember when I was overseas last year that I attempted to pop in another SIM into my Treo to see if it would work. I got phone and GPRS OK, but the Treo wouldn't update my Exchange mail. I just bit the bullet and went with the roaming charges on my US SIM when I needed to check e-mail. You might see how difficult it would be to switch the SIM from remote (IOW, take down the numbers on both the Italian and US SIM cards and see if it can be changed on your Blackberry server). |
Yeah, the 15€/MB is for international roaming outside Italy with Wind. With TIM it's probably more expensive. While in Italy, once you activate the forfait, you will use that "data credit" (Wind) or "KB bundle" (TIM). Just refill the card and send the SMS, then wait for the SMS which confirms tha activation. Tell the dealer to set you English prompts.
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I've seen some set up instructions for UMTS on some sites (involving keystrokes). Does this involve an extra step? I have a Nokia N95, and while I have 3G turned off here (no 2100MHz UMTS here :mad:), I would like to use it there. |
UMTS, GPRS and EDGE share the same settings, so no problem.
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OK, thanks for your help so far. So once the data plan is turned on, how to I turn it off so that it doesn't deplete the remaining balance on my prepaid card after I leave Italy? I want to give the card to someone else who will be in Italy the following month. Do I send another SMS?
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This is a great thread...really learning a lot from lurking here!
Few questions: If I get a SIM from ebay or Telstial, can I do a top-up before I get to Italy? It looks like the carrier sites want you to create an account which requires receiving an SMS message - will I be able to get that in the US prior to being in Italy? Personally, I'm quite comfortable with buying the SIM and setting everything up in the Airport or someplace once I get there (despite not speaking Italian) ... but this is for my in laws who are willing to be totally ripped off and pay what ever it takes to have it fully charged and setup prior to leaving US soil....so I volunteered to help... I can just order a sim and 100 mins of credit from Telstial but thats over $200.00 and it just feels so wrong. I'd rather find a SIM, even if its from Telstial, and top it up from here. Thanks! -N |
I had a lot of trouble finding a SIM card, (WIND or TIM), in Italy. It seems you have to be in fairly big places to get one.
I couldnt get one in Villasimius in Sardinia.... all the recharge shops said I had to go to Cagliari. Couldnt get one at Naples Airport. Eventually got a TIM SIM by buying a phone at AUCHAN superstore in/near Pompeii. Phone with SIM was 40 euros, and the store registered it for me using my driving licence. Easy to get recharge vouchers once you have the SIM. I bought a 30 euro voucher on Stromboli, and another on Vulcano - both tiny islands off Sicily. Recgarging is easy by sending the voucher code by SMS to the number on the voucher, and setting up data is simple by sending the codes mentioned above for either 500Mb per month at any time, or 9Gb per month between 5pm and 9am Mon-Friday plus all day Sat & Sun. I would definitely have bought a WIND SIM if I could have found one as 5Gb per month for 25 euros anytime would suit me better than the 9Gb per month limited times. It's easy once you have the SIM. Dont expect to be able to buy ine at an airport - definitely not Naples. Good Luck |
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Which one did you get? Were you able to have them set the voice menus to English? |
No idea about Rome Airport, but was amazed that I couldnt get one at naples Airport. It seems the obvious place to have a shop or outlet for people entering the country. i am guessing, but may be wrong, that there may be some kind of rule which says they cant sell them at airports?
I\got a TIM, (would have preferred WIND). Didnt need the menus in English... just used the text system for activating data and recharging, which has worked fine. |
There's not much at Naples airport, but there are Vodafone and Wind (and possibly TIM, I don't remember) shops in front of the main station, where you will probably be going half an hour later...
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Last time I was at the Rome airport I couldn't find a Wind shop: TIM & Vodafone were there. I was able to buy the Wind top-up from a bartender. This was a few years ago.
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TIM had them for sale at their shop in the main train station in Rome. My issue is that it took a full day after my first call for sms to work and another 12 hours for data to work. I kept on getting network errors. I could recharge in any increment of €5 at a TIM store.
One question. I signed up for Maxxi TIM Web by sending a sms "PRO FACILE" to 4916. How do I cancel it while I'm still in Italy to preserve the rest of my prepaid balance for later? My sister is going to Italy next month and may want to use the SIM as well. Thanks. |
You have to call 4916 to cancel it, i think it's easy to sign up another time
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Can someone provide the APN for TIM? I know it was somewhere on the forum before, but unfortunately, the search engine won't allow searches for the term "APN." I'm giving my sister an older phone for Italy, and I'm not sure it will set up automatically the way my phone did.
Thanks. |
TIM APN is ibox.tim.it
their web site says you MUST use this APN for the deals. This suggests that they have other APNs which would take money off your credit very fast. On cancelling PRO FACILE or PRO TIME My first month ended at midnight last night, and I had credit available for the renewal.... but it didnt renew until I sent the Text PRO TIME to 4916 again - this has advantages and disadvantages. I'm guessing it doesnt renew automatically based on last nights experience |
Thanks. Also thanks on the Pro Facile news. It's also possible my sister won't be using data, so the good news is that there is still a little bit of credit left over provided that the Pro Facile doesn't automatically renew.
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