Recommendations for DATA in Spain & Portugal

[Sonesta]

Hi there,

I am new to the forum so a great big hello from me and I really need your help and advice please?

I have an unlocked HUAWEI E220 USB MODEM which I currently can use a PAYG Data enabled SIM card from T Mobile, Three or Vodafone in and I can therefore swap bwtween all 3 depending on signal strength. I have had to download the relevant software for each provider plus change the APN accordingly but nevertheless they all work fine in my unlocked Huawei E220 USB dongle. However, I want to know if I can purchase a similar SIM card when in Spain and Portugal and if so can you tell me what I need to ask for, where can I expect to buy one from, how much they cost and what I need to do etc? I appreciate I may need to purchase 2 SIMS, one for Spain and one for Portugal but any suggestions or advice would be very welcome.

I was told you can buy a PAYG SIM from Vodafone in Spain and in Portugal now but whether UK visitors can purchase them, is another matter - so again any advice on this would be appreciated.

I look forward to hearing from you all.

Regards

Sue

[inquisitor]

For Spain there are basicly two interesting prepaid data offers:

• Yoigo.es, who charge € 1.20/day for unlimited access.
  Yoigo is a UMTS-only network providing 384 KBit/s with national roaming on Telefonica's Movistar-GSM and UMTS network (they had an EDGE-only roaming on Vodafone until June). SIMs are sold e.g. at the Phone House shops.
  
  
• Simyo.es, who are based on the Orange network (supports HSDPA with 3.6 MBit/s) and have two different tariff plans:
  
  
  • Tarifa Diaria Internet
    You pay € 0,09/MB.
    If you reach 11MB/day the billing will stop until you reach 100MB/day.
    If you exceed 100MB/day the exceeding volume will be billed again with € 0,09/min.
    But then again there's a cap of €5/month if you don't exceed 500MB.
    As soon as you exceed 500MB you will be billed €5 for them + € 0,09/MB
    
    
  • Tarifa Plana Internet 5GB
    You get 5GB per month for € 24.99. After exceeding 5GB speed is limited to 128 KBit/s. The small print says this tariff is postpaid, however the page also states it's without contract. So I'm not sure, what the exact conditions are and if you can get this tariff as a foreigner.
  
  But I don't know if simyo SIMs are sold anywhere else except for online.

Your Huawei USB modem will work with any Spanish network, as they use GSM900/1800 and UMTS2100, like everywhere in Europe.
UMTS900, which is supported by very few devices, hasn't been rolled out in a noteworthy scale anywhere in Europe.

Btw it would be helpful for everybody, if you changed the topic of this thread into something reasonable like: "recommendations for data in Spain & Portugal".

[Sonesta]

Thanks for the info - much appreciated.

Sue

PS I did edit the title by the way - but it is still showing on the forum as the original title?????????????

[andy]

Originally Posted by Sonesta

PS I did edit the title by the way - but it is still showing on the forum as the original title?????????????

I think that just did the post title; I've done the thread now

so now I've merged your other post in as well

[Sonesta]

Hi there,

I have a few websites that I have found but sadly two of them are in Spanish or Portugese and it is with great ignorance I confess that I cannot understand either languageI'm afraid. I would really appreciate your assistance in reading them and understanding exactly what it is they are offering on their prepaid mobile broadband tariffs?

Basically I just want to know if I can, as a visitor from the UK to either of these 2 countries actually purchase these prepaid SIMS and what I get for my money etc. Also where can I buy them from? I already have an unlocked Huaewi E220 USB Modem so I am only looking for the SIM cards.

Here are some links:

https://loja.vodafone.pt/InternetMovel/Equipamentos

http://www.vodafone.es/particulares/...pago/index.jsp

http://www.vodafone.com/start/media_...aunches16.html

This last link I am a little dubious about as when you look into it all properly they are actually charging a lot more for these SIMS than what it would first appear!

http://www.spainsim.com/voda3gSIM.htm

I look forward to your advice and suggestions.

Sue

[inquisitor]

Originally Posted by Sonesta

I have a few websites that I have found but sadly two of them are in Spanish or Portugese and it is with great ignorance I confess that I cannot understand either languageI'm afraid.

The mentioned pages say: "We're the f**kin' most expensive cellco on earth, but our high advertising expenses keep customers coming to our red stores."
Google may also help you : http://translate.google.com/

[KPO'M]

Are there any updates for 2009? I'm traveling to Portugal next month, and with UM+'s issues I've been looking for a local SIM for data usage. I'm from the US so if there are any purchase restrictions, also let me know.

Thanks.

[Stu]

My best friend is returning for his annual month in France and is looking (again) for a decent prepaid wireless data option. Last year, he used Orange France and his experience was so far beyond disappointing that I can't begin to tell. Any other options out there?

[Stu]

Ignore this French post. I'll repost it as a separate thread.