the best choice for Prepaid DATA in Italy - which one?
 

Hello everyone.

Please recommend me the internet provider in Italy who accept 1 month contract with unlimit internet via USB modem

I tried to search the information on provider pages, but all I have seen is special offers from few months to rarher 2 years.
But I will stay in Italy only 1 month.
Therefore I will need USB modem + 1 month internet.
Two more questions -
1 - if I will have USB modem from Vodafone, does it mean I need buy only Vodafone contract or I can use it with Wind or TIM internet?
2 - if they said 15 min session min.. Does it means that if connection is bad and disconnet after 5 min, they will count 5 min like 15?


Thanks in advance.:rolleyes:

I'll defer to the Italian members of this forum on what the best deal is for Italy. With respect to the USB sticks, you should be able to use it on a different carrier with a little work. First, you need to make sure it is unlocked and will take someone else's SIM card. If it is not unlocked, it won't even take a Vodafone SIM from a different country.

Second, figure out who made the USB stick. On the manufacturer's website you can usually find software for the stick which is not carrier specific. For example, I carry an unlocked Sierra USB 885 which was originally branded for ATT. I bought it unlocked off EBay and downloaded the Sierra Watcher software from Sierra. I've since used it on many different networks.

Thank you, Stu.

Does anyone know if tre.it accept 1 month contract?
And does anyone know how fast is internet in this contract?
tre.it internet

Tre.Time.Large. - 19 euro / 300 hours in a month.
Can't find how fast is it

Additional Info:

I use an AUSTRIAN drei.at "Reload" prepaid SIM for www using the Drei Austria offer "3 like home".
This means you can use your austrian balance with the same conditions as in Austria when you login to the 3 UMTS network (only this network) in Italy.
The prepaid SIM was €14,90 with 1GB balance.


This is also possible in some other countries and also for voice calls. So I use an austrian 3 contract to call within Italy the rynga Austria access number.

All my calls in Italy to rynga.com VoIP are covered by the 2000 free minutes of the austian 2000 min contract for €24/month.

That's fine !!!

BTW have you read Effendi's thread Prepaid DATA in Italy in this Forum carefully (see Europe section, just look above) ????

Maybe it's not useful to insist on unlimited data volume. Then it will be much easier for you. The "min" offers are crap, I recomend you to refer to a volume based access.

Thank you, 9eor9.
I've read "Prepaid DATA in Italy" and visited the operator webpages, but I don't speak Italian to understand all the details. All I understood is that mostly all offers need few months contract.
But I need internet for 1 month but with big quantity of minutes or with big traffic.

What is big traffic for you?

Contracts are not a good idea for 1 month.
Even the hazzle to get rid of the contract is something I wouldn't like.
It's much easier not to recharge an empty prepaid card and forget about the rest.

Big traffic is maybe 200-300 hours in a month or 6-8 Gb in a month.
Prepaid card is much better of course and more easy. Just did not see them on the operator webpages. I don't speak Italian :(
Also don't want to pay 1 euro/hour

Hello, I am also traveling to Italy on Dec. 14th for 1 month and would need a similar prepaid SIM with unlimited (~5-7gb) data. I will be spending the whole month in Corvara in the Bolzano province.

I read through the "Prepaid in Italy" posts, but it seems that although WIND has a good deal for data, they only offer GPRS speeds in Corvara while Vodaphone is more expensive but offer UMTS in the same region.

I would also be interested in getting a SIM before I arrive, or the best place to find one when I'm there. My parents are already there, so if I could guide them to a good place to purchase a Vodaphone SIM it would be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance.

Sorry Maxie, but this website is called PrePaidGSM and it talks about prepaid offers only, so I find it quite strange that you couldn't find information on prepaid offers here:
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/euro...ata-italy.html
since they are ALL prepaid offers, and none has a 2-years minimum contract.

By the way, there's a new offer by 3, which I must add, which is called "SuperInternet".
http://www.tre.it/public/scheda_opzi...F=184&ref=22_1
With this offer you pay 5€ per month and you get 3GB of data (only using 3 network in Italy or abroad, no roaming on TIM or other operators).
You can activate this offer on any 3 prepaid card.

If 3GB is too little for you, you can buy two 3 prepaid cards and activate the option on both of them, so you have 6GB. If that's not enough you can buy 3 prepaid cards and so on...

It's by far the best offer on prepaid, in my opinion.
What's important is to check if you have 3 coverage in the place you are going to.

3 has HSDPA coverage in Corvara (BZ), so sc32valve should have no problem.
Officially 3 has a 7.2Mbps HSDPA network, but often speed is much slower...

Thank you, Effendi
This offer is very good.
But I did not understand one thing
La soglia di 3GB inclusa nell'opzione Super Internet, invece, ti verrà erogata ogni primo giorno del mese, indipendentemente dalla data di attivazione/rinnovo.

Does it means that if I activate card on the middle of the month, I can use it only half month?

It's quite an ambiguous sentence... It says that the 3GB forfait starts on the 1st day of each month, not depending on when you activate/renew the offer. But, of course, I guess that if you activate the offer on i.e. the 15th of December you can use it at once, but you will have to pay again on the 1st of January. In any case it's not clear, I have to investigate!

In any case the first "month" is free so I suppose that you will pay on the 1st of each month, after the first free days (1 to 31, depending on when you activate it).

Ok, I investigated: it seems that you pay 5€ at the moment of the activation/renewal, but the data bundle starts again on the 1st of each month. I.e.: if you activated the option yesterday, November 30th, you could use the 3GB in 1 day and today you would have other 3GB. It's quite strange, but it works in this way.

:love: Thank you a lot for the help, Effendi

Effendi, You are truly a GSM scholar. My parents were able to pick up the SIM card yesterday for me, so it's ready and waiting!! The 3GB reset on the first of the month also works great for me since I won't arrive until the 14. December and depart 14. Jan. So I will have 3GB for 2 weeks then 3GB for another 2 weeks. PERFECT!!

THANK YOU A HUNDRED TIMES. If you will be in the Corvara area for some skiing during that month, I would be more than happy to buy you a couple of drinks. Best regards!!

You're welcome! :)
I live quite far from Corvara, unfortunately! :D

Hey Effendi,

I was just wondering what the best way to check how much data you have used so far? Is there a way to do it via text message?

You can call the toll free number 4330 or check it online, HERE. I fear everything will be in Italian, by the way...

Covara Pescara?
We are just over the hill and there is no 3g and we have to leave the village to get any reception at all. I don't think it would be possible to use that much data in a month!

Corvara, (Trentino-Alto Adige). Full 3G over the whole town, used 500mb of my 3gb already. Been here a week.

Didn't know there were 2 Corvara's. Corvara I was thinking of is in Abruzzo just over the Forca di Penne pass in the mountains.

mobile net for notebook in Italy - help me!!!
 

Hi,

I need some help, and i hope you could give me an advice.
My girlfirend goes to Italy in Vibo Valentia, Calabria for 5 month.
I'm trying to find her a mobile net, what she could use with her notebook.
She would like to use the net for skype, mail, news, msn ...

I'm not too good in this topic, but i know, she doesn't have a good cellphone, so i think an USb stick, or express card solution would be better.

thx,
P.

hi,

Is somebody read this topic?
A checked some italian web pages, but i can't understand the language...:(

A Hungarian web page offered me this:
Italy - TIM - Prepaid Wireless Internet Access

Maxi Alice Facile . Is this USB Modem solution for notebooks?

Thanks for helping,
P.

It means you are given 1 GB + 2 GB the following month if renewed before the deadline of the first 30 days + remainder of the previous periods to connect to internet through your mobile and TIM network (APN: ibox.tim.it) ot through Telecom Italia wifi hotspots, whichever best suits you in any particular situation.

I have used this option and was good. No particular problems, apart a period before the massive upgrade of the network to HSPA services (a couple of years ago), when even connecting was a nightmare and an uncertain deed. But as far as I know this has now been solved.

I am presently using the much cheaper options by 3, but can still be held as a solution, in case 3 network gets into trouble (not my case for the moment) or not present where needed.

Cheers,
Sleepy

Hi Sleepy,

thanks for helping.
it means my girlfriend needs a good cellphone, to use this through her notebook? or she has to find a wifi hotspot.

Or is she get a modem to use the net directly with the notebook?

bye,
P.

She can get the net at a Telecom wifi hotspot (not everywhere! Few and Far Between in the cities, practically non-existent in the countryside/smaller cities/towns) probably directly from her laptop or she can get a (possibly better than 3G) mobile phone, which can be used as a modem or she can get a USB dongle to use as a mobile modem.

Cheers!
Sleepy