Italy: Options for heavy internet usage for a month
 

Hi

I am staying in Lucca, Tuscany for a month and I need to have good 3G internet access while here so I can work.

I have read the Prepaid thread for Italy, and also researched all the networks' sites.

So far the offers that seem to work best for me are :

Three: Tre.Time Large : 300 hours for €19 per month
type=X,Y

Vodafone: Internet Facile Sempre : unlimited time, 500Mb per day, €30 per month


However, my uncertainty about these is whether I need to be tied to a contract for these. I already have the internet key, and only need it for a month - so are these plans available for a prepaid sim?

If not, can anyone suggest an alternative for 200+ hours for a month.

thanks in advance

Ben

Have you looked at Wind and Three? They seem to get quite a mention.

Yes I have, infact since I wrote the post, i found out the offers I mentioned were contract only and so i've gone for the Wind MEGA ORE 100 option which is currently 50% discounted with free activation for new sims. (€7.50 p/month for three months - sim is €15 with €10 credit).

Unfortunately the Wind Restart (which lets you start your next month billing early) option isn't compatible with this offer, so I'm probably going to buy another sim when I run out of time.

100 hours are just 400 connections of 0-15 minutes... It's not a good offer in my opinion.
It much depends on what you are planning to do with internet. If just normal surfing and not music/video downloading, I think 3's Super Internet or Wind's Internet No Stop are the best choices...

Thanks for the response.

I do need the ability to upload / download things, however most of the time all I need to is basic browsing so I would be happy to switch sim card when I need to download something.

Three's Super Internet seems like a good option - do you know how much a three sim card is?

Regarding the Wind Internet No Stop, for some reason I thought that it was for mobiles only - it is in that section on their site: is that just a suggested usage because of the 1GB limit?


Thanks again

Ben

If I use Internet 40 on TIM, how do I deactivate it? Will it try to deactivate until it runs out of credit?

How about Mega Ore with Wind, need to deactivate?

I will be in Italy for about 2 weeks, is Wind the way to go? I also have 3 Australia post-paid which gives me 3 Like Home in Italy. Going through Venice, Rome and Amalfi Coast.

You can go with 3 Like home in towns. Check the coverage maps (3 has good ones). In any case a Wind card costs just 10 euros and you can go with it too.

Wind seems the way to go. Is this only available in Italy? I.e. can't get Wind SIMs for other countries? Does Wind have a good coverage like Amalfi coast and other non city areas? Where can you get Wind SIMs and do I need ID or any particular places to get it? We'll be in Italy for two weeks, 1GB or so should be fine - it's just for my Android phone and possibly my wife as well to use Google Maps.

Guys, why don't you read all the pages I wrote about the subject before asking FAQs?

Here are all the offers (with activation cost):
PrePaidGSM: Italy

Here is the complete overview for data (including coverage maps):
PrePaidGSM: Prepaid Data in Italy

You can buy a simcard anywhere in Italy, it's really easy, there's plenty of shops in every town. If you go out of Italy there are other operators with other offers.

I did look at a few FAQs for various countries but they were dated from last year or earlier, so I was not sure if they were up to date, but thank you for your efforts in putting these together and I will review the FAQs. I notice the Italian ones were updated in April this year which is pretty recent.

After reading the FAQs - with Wind, I just get say a 50 Euro SIM card and then SMS the activation code for the data pack I want?

I just purchased a Wind SIM for 20 Euro. They said there is currently a promo making the Mega Ore 6.5 Euro and the Mega 100 Ore 7.5 Euro.

So I opted for the latter and the vendor said it should be activated in about 7-8 hours (the phone part in a couple of hours). I should get an SMS confirming activation of the plan.

I haven't tried it yet. Not too sure my Huawei E1752 will work. They didn't have their own 3G keys for sale and they couldn't guarantee that it would work but got it anyways.

They also carried TIM and they claimed Wind has better coverage these days.

Please let us know how you go! So to get the card, did you have to produce any ID or anything? Did it take long? How much in total to get it, and any activation codes you have to use to activate data? Are the APN's configured on the card or do you need to configure the phone? How much are voice calls on it? Any roaming charges to watch out for? Where can you get a Wind card from? I'll be using two Wind SIMs in a Nokia E71 and HTC Desire (Android).

So finally tried it and first of all, the Wind EASY Connect for the Mac doesn't even recognize a device when I'm inside my hotel room in Deiva Marina.

I put the SIM in my Nokia and it shows weak signal inside. When I go outside, I see E for Edge but GPRS as well. My E61i should do UMTS but not HSDPA (otherwise, I would have tried Joiku Hotspot software instead of bothering with a 3G key).

The "Mobile Partner" application which is on the key also didn't detect anything.

Turns out it has to get a signal for this software, both the Wind and the Mobile Partner, to work. First thing this software does is to prompt you for the SIM PIN. Seems it should at least detect the device, regardless of whether the device is active or not. I thought maybe the Wind software didn't support the Huawei E1752. That's what I had feared and the Mobile Partner software was going to be my backup, as it should install the drivers but I can figure out the APN and other settings on this site.

Mobile Partner is really buggy and makes my MacBook Pro crash more than once. So the preference is to use Wind EC software if I can.

When the software wasn't working, I checked sent an SMS on my Nokia to see my credit. So 7.50 Euro remaining, which checks out with what the sales lady said, that the Mega 100 Ore was doing a promo for 7.50 Euro. They took 5 Euro to activate the SIM and apparently 7.50 Euro out of the 20 Euro paid, leaving 7.50.

But she had said I would receive an SMS later on the day I bought it, indicating the Mega 100 Ore attivato or something along those lines.

I figured the SMS would be delivered whenever I put in the SIM. However, I didn't get any SMS on my Nokia nor when I did get a signal on the USB key.

So is there a way to confirm this?

I can't really use this well in Deiva Marina. According to Wind's coverage page, only GPRS here, no UMTS or HSDPA. When I took the train to La Spezia to visit Portovenere, I saw a weak Edge signal along most of the train track down. ONly in La Spezia did I get a full UMTS signal.

So I'm more hopeful about using it in Lake Como, where hotels rape you for Wifi (5 Euro an hour or more). Wind is suppose to have UMTS and HSDPA coverage in the mid-lake towns where I will probably spend most of my time.

I found this page, which has many of the same details that Effendi posted:

Italy - Wind - Prepaid Wireless Internet Access

Still need to know:

1. How to confirm activation of Mega 100 Ore

2. How to actually connect. Presumably Wind EASY Connect has the APN and other settings configured. There is a big connect button but I'm confused about the Volume vs. Time setting. It goes back to confirming Mega 100 Ore is activated but I need to set this specifically in the software to make sure I'm on the correct plan?


I'll update the thread when I try again in Lake Como Friday.

Sounds like software issues rather than network issues so hopefully will not affect us as we intend to only use Wind in smartphones (HTC Desire and Nokia E71).

Dial *155*1# in order to see if the Mega 100 Ore is active: it will tell you how many hours of connections are left on your data account.
About the software issue I cannot help you. I don't have a Mac, I use Linux, I just connect the usb modem, put internet.wind as the APN and it simply works. There are no other settings to add. Surely on Windows the Mobile Partner and the Wind program works without any problem, just set the right APN.

Vegemite all the things you are asking have been asked already many times and I already wrote the answers several times. I'm Italian, I live in Italy I've been using Wind as my operator for 10 years, I know quite well how it works.

BTW, let's write it down once again.

1) To buy a Wind (or TIM, Vodafone, 3...) card you need PASSPORT and the CODICE FISCALE. If you don't have the latter and find a smart clerk he/she will produce it for you. If not you won't get your simcard. Don't trust any dealer which tells you you don't need the Codice Fiscale, he/she's not honest and will use someone else's personal data (which is a crime in Italy).

2) Activation of a Wind prepaid card can take from 2 minutes to 1 day, you just need to be lucky. Usually it's very fast.

3) The card costs 10€ including 5€ of data. Then you can add more credit whenever you want at any Wind store, Tabacchi, Newstands, Lottomatica and many more... To activate a data option you do have to send an activation SMS. It's all written HERE.

4) You do have to configure your phone/modem. The only thing you have to set is the APN which is internet.wind

5) It's all written HERE.

6) If you are in Italy and far from the border with other countries (France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia) you have no roaming problems. If you are by one of those borders set your phone to manual network selection.

7) Any Wind or multi-brand shop, HERE is a complete list of Wind shops.

Well I am having software issues which may not be related to this USB 3G key software (BTW, where do you enter the APN on Linux, are there Linux clients of this software?).

But now that I'm up in Lake Como, I see full signal on my Nokia E61i everywhere. However, when I put the SIM in the modem, Wind EASY Connect fails to detect the modem (says no modem).

Back in Liguria, signal was weak until I went outside and then Wind EASY Connect prompted me for the SIM PIN. Up here, either the signal isn't being picked up by the modem or it just can't communicate with the modem.

I'm using hotel Wifi to post this.

Very hit and miss. I may go to a Wind reseller around here and see if there's anyone speaking English. Maybe if they have a Mifi type of device which is reasonably priced ...

It's a software/hardware problem, it's not a problem with coverage, as far I can understand. On Linux (Ubuntu) you just use the network manager to set up a mobile connection. On Ubuntu there are already all the settings for all major operators, including Wind. There's really nothing to do, extremely straightforward.

If at lake Como your E61i works with Wind on 3G it means the coverage is good, while your usb dongle has some problems. Wind has some cheap usb-dongles including a sim with credit.

It may well be the case.

I don't have the E61i manual but everywhere, it shows "E" under the signal strength, which I believe denotes Edge signal.

That was the case down in Liguria inside my hotel room but when I went out to the terrace, the "E" went away and that's when my key worked and Wind EASY Connect prompted me for my SIM password.

But I found a Wind shop and they said it's UMTS coverage here, regardless of what my phone indicates (maybe the "E" means something else). The Wind coverage page indicated UMTS and HSDPA up here for the towns of Bellagio and Varenna.

I could lug my laptop to the shop but since I didn't purchase anything from them, I don't think he's going to help me that much.

In any event, turns out my hotel is letting me use the Wifi free. When I reserved it, they said it was 5 Euro an hour but the reception here is just giving me passwords and said they would not charge me.

So I don't have quite the impetus to find a working solution. However, I want to use this in future trips. Hotel wifi tends to be poor in speed and not as secure. When loading multiple tabs, many sites fail to connect.

Also would like to use iPhone as well, so a Mifi type of device may ultimately be the better solution. No need to deal with software and I wonder if the Huawei E1752 doesn't have as good a reception as my Nokia.

Failing that, maybe update to a newer unlocked Nokia or an Android phone which can run hotspot software.

I don't trust software which has to install drivers and kernel extensions. Some of the files in the framework which Mobile Partner installed seem to be some old open source headers.

The "E" letter on your E61i means that you are using Edge connection, no 3G.
It could be because you have an American E61i wich is quad-band on GSM but only dual-band on UMTS, "seeing" only the American bands (850/1900) and not the European one (2100). A similar problem could be with the huawei usb dongle too... did you ever see 3G connections in Europe with them?

Hmm, I thought the E61i supported all the UMTS bands all over but you may be right. First used a SIM in Berlin and the speed seemed poor over there as well as PosteMobile SIM in Tuscany.

On the Huawei, it's hard to say. But it came with a Dutch manual so the eBay vendor probably got some surplus units destined for Holland.

Like I said, in Deiva Marina, I got it to prompt for the PIN on my SIM once so it detected a network it liked down there.

Unfortunately, I'm spending time in smaller towns so there aren't many shops and those which exist do not have much inventory of dongles. I do spend 2 nights in Milano but it's at the end of the trip and there's no point in buying a key then.

In Como surely you can find a good Wind shop. There are 2 in Como and 2 in Cantù:
http://www.wind.it/it/privati/rivend...P=&Invia=Invia
By the way usually Huawei dongles first ask for the PIN, then they search the network. At least surely it works this way with the Wind program for Windows.

Hmm, then it must be that the software can't detect the modem at all.

I'll see if they're willing to try my dongle out, because I can't take my laptop in (an hour or two boat trip).

Either that or wait until my last two nights in Milano.

Like I said, Mifi seems like a better way. Or maybe an unlocked Nokia or Android with fast processors and RAM to run hotspot software.

OK, I'm up and running on Wind!

I'd held off because my computer was crashing left and right and I attributed it to the Mobile Partner software, which is a Java application.

But long after I removed those files manually (no uninstaller!), my computer continued to crash.

The Wifi at the hotel in Lake Como was bad and after putting up with it for a week, I decided to give the 3G modem another try.

I re-installed Mobile Partner and voila, it worked. Fastest download I saw was about 90 kB/s late at night. From the same source, it was as slow as 20 kB/s.

But it didn't disconnect like the Wifi and it was pretty consistent.

So I've connected through the Wind client as well as Mobile Partner, which has a tendency to crash. I've sent an SMS to my iPhone (roaming on Vodaphone IT).

I will have to remember to deactivate the Mega 100 Ore before I leave Italy in a couple of days to preserve 7.5 Euro credit.

Now the person at the shop said I should be able to recharge online from anywhere. So would I be able to say add 5 or 10 Euro a few months later to renew my expiration date? Otherwise, I would assume my Wind SIM would expire at the end of May 2011.

Online refilling with non-Italian credit cards is sometimes a problem... buying a refill in Italy is better, just check the validity (they expire after some time).

Turned out the Mobile Partner software, other than crashing sometimes (but leaving the connection going) was probably fine.

My laptop was crashing because of a bad RAM DIMM.

I have to say it's a pretty good deal, even if I only used about a dozen hours. Now I'll know better next time. I noticed that the Wind SIM roams onto T-Mobile network so I'll see if the roaming charges are decent and try to use up the remaining hours in the month.

Hotel Wifi should be much faster but a lot of hotels in Italy are using this password system which becomes a hassle to use.

That's one benefit of Italy over France and some neighboring countries is the cheap SIMs.

How did you get your codice fiscale? I tried with the website Comuni.it - Servizi e Strumenti per la Pubblica Amministrazione, il Cittadino e gli Enti Locali - I keep getting the Italian 'incomplete data' error. What did you have to through to get your WIND pre-paid SIM? Where do you get it from? Just look up WIND in a phone directory?