New TIM Options and Some Questions
 

First off, thanks very much for this site. It's a life-saver.

Here's my situation: I will be in Italy for four weeks and I return about once a year. I have an unlocked Android smartphone which I want to use as a phone (duh) and as a mobile hotspot when I am in my apartment. (I will primarily be in Venice.) I have a TIM card.

There seem to be two good choices for Internet access:

Internet Senza Limiti: Everyone knows about that one. 10GB 24euros/month, etc. According to the TIM website, though, this can be used only with a PC "not a cell phone". Does this mean that I cannot activate it on my smartphone? If I can, would I be able to use Skype on a laptop tethered to the smartphone?

TIMxSmartphone Maxi: I take it that this is a fairly recent plan, since I can't find it mentioned here. Unlike Senza Limiti, there is no activation charge. It costs 5euros per week and you get 500MB per week, after which it goes down to 32kbps. This offer specifically states that it can be used for tethering, Skype, VOIP, whatever. Does that seem like a good deal? If I do opt for that, I assume that I use the APN wap.tim.it.?

Thanks for any comments or help! :)

I can confirm that TIMxSmartphone works without any problems! The APN is indeed wap.tim.it.

TIMxSmartphone Maxi and TIMxSmartphone are two different options. The first can be used for VoIP and for wifi tethering, the second NO.

I think the Internet Senza Limiti is better than the TIMxSmartphone Maxi and of course you can use it also on your mobile phone, exactly as the TIMxSmartphone Maxi.

I think I just got hosed. Arrived in Florence, popped into a TIM shop and asked them to recharge my SIM and activate SENZA LIMIT.

I had them put 25 euro and that is what they charged me. A couple of hours later I turn on my mifi and see text message for Smartphone MAXI.

Not only that I log into 119 .it and see the 5 euro credit I already had on account.

Text message indicates I have a week at five euro a week. So where is rest of my credit?

Can TIM change it? I have not used it because the APN appears to be different.

Oh, what a shame... :(
You can use the ibox.tim.it APN also with the TIMxSmartphone Maxi, that's not a problem. You have been charged 5€ for that and you cannot get them back. So use it and you can decide to deactivate it, before 7 days, if you prefer to change to another option.
The problem is that the shop stole you some money, I suppose... you should have payed 10€ for the sim-card plus 5€ for a 5€ refill and have the TIMxSmartphone Maxi plus 5€ of credit. So totally 15€, not 25€. It seems they stole you 10€... welcome to Italy! :(

Either my mifi isn't set to ibox or that doesn't work for this plan.

Well I kept going back to the store and another guy after conferring with the first and copying my receipts offered me another SIM where they'd activate the SENZA LIMIT plan.

They insisted on my passport for the new SIM even though I showed them the codice fiscale used for the first SIM.

Later, I registered the new SIM on 119.it -- first trying to add to existing 119.it account but couldn't. When I registered and logged on I saw it was on the correct plan.

However they'd associated it under a new codice fiscale. So if I buy another SIM from another carrier I guess I could use either.

Both SIMs show 5Euro of remaining credit so it may be worth recharging both and keeping them active. But what is the minimal scratch card I would be able to take back with me?

Or maybe that online service which is able to recharge for customers abroad could recharge a minimal amount to reset the expiration dates of the SIMs

You can recharge any amount on TIM website, as far as I know. But I don't know if it works with non Italian credit cards. Scratch cards are rare these days, I think you could find a 10€ one to keep with you.

Now TIM has posted some newer data options... Internet Start (2 GB), Internet Large (10GB), and Internet Top (20GB). They also have a 42.2 Mbps option called, appropriately enough, Internet 42.2. They seems to be a better deal than the Senza Limiti, and during the promotional period there is no activation fee.

I'm planning to activate Internet Top for my Nexus One phone. That should work, provided I set the APN to ibox.tim.it, right? And I will be able to tether via mobile hotspot? The fine print says no VOIP, although I heard from someone else that it does work on it. Not sure if that is correct, though.

It's quite a long time ago foreign bank and credit cards stopped working. I'd guess 6-8 years...