Split - data SIM in Poland

[Asick]

Originally Posted by Przemolog

You may use Heyah CSD 0.60 PLN/min - I know that is expensive anyway .

The problem is that CSD is slow (especially when it's not HSCSD), but it should be cheaper than GPRS roaming, I agree. Thanks for the direct activation link, this might be useful.

Originally Posted by Przemolog

AFAIK it is - but I must ask my brother who uses it every day.

Ask him, please. This is the most preferrable SIM for my needs, so it's important.

Originally Posted by Przemolog

Happily nothing - you ask, you pay, you take

Oh, this is great! Short validity times and no registration is perfectly the opposition to what is used here.

Originally Posted by Przemolog

My thought is that if you care most about data and not about voice calls, then Tak Tak would be OK (if you won't be able to iPlus of course).

Yes, I've compared the prices and I guess the most preferrable solution is iPlus simdata and the second is Tak Tak. 1.44zl/1Mb is rather cheap. Although here at home with MegaFon I pay about 0.20 Euro/1Mb, 1.44zl per the same is still normal and 5Mb per 5zl is incredible. 500kb tariffication units are not a problem too when you use GPRS from a laptop, I mean you hardly download/upload less during a session when you just check your E-mail and visit a few webpages. Andd I don't really care about the voice prices, I hope E-mail and ICQ will be enough.

So, thanks a lot for your help, I will store this topic on my laptop locally, and will read it as an instruction for setting up a new SIM.

[Motel75]

One more thing, most SIM starter kits in Poland are really cheap (Heyah and Orange are 5 Zl, and they were giving away Simplus with a magazine recently), so you can always try them all out. Since there's no registration, it's not time-consuming to buy them all and decide which one you like best later...

[Przemolog]

Originally Posted by Asick

Ask him, please. This is the most preferrable SIM for my needs, so it's important.

I've just ask my brother - he told that all the stuff in iPlus simdata is active "out of the box".

Please tell me more precisely your route in Poland (airports, railways stations, hotels etc.) so that I could locate the most easily accessible Plus salons/dealers which sell simdata.

[Motel75]

Just imagine, I arrive in Poland and buy a Heyah SIM. Then, I'm supposed to activate it's GPRS via WWW, right? HOW?

Go to the internet cafe in the shopping center where you buy the SIM and give them 2 zloty.

Go to selfcare.heyah.pl. Enter your telephone number where it says "Numer telefonu:" (I told you this would be easy) and the last four digits of your PUK code (printed on the credit-card-sized SIM holder - don't throw this away) where it asks for your "Heyah kod:".

It will then send you an SMS with a code. On the next page enter this where it says "Wpisz jednorazowe hasło dla numeru tela". After that you will end up on the selfcare page. It should be obvious from here. (One of the options is GPRS, and you check a box to enable it.)

[Przemolog]

Originally Posted by Motel75

Go to the internet cafe in the shopping center where you buy the SIM and give them 2 zloty.

Go to selfcare.heyah.pl. (...) (One of the options is GPRS, and you check a box to enable it.)

You're right about activating GPRS in Heyah but doubled top-up and 10% more may not be to so attractive to Asick if he wants to stay in Poland a few days only. Yesterday I topped my wife's Heyah account by 150 PLN at 13:29. Doubled top-up and 10% (i.e. 165 PLN together) arrived only today at 21:40 - 32 hours and 11 minutes of waiting :P. I don't say that this premium isn't worth waiting because it really is, but not necessarily a big deal for short time visitors however...

[Motel75]

32 hours and 11 minutes of waiting

Good point. Last time they did this it arrived after a couple of hours, but if they're that slow at the moment, you're right, it might be a pain if it's just a few days.

(Me, I'm still trying to decide how much to top up with but I'm leaving it as late as possible, probably January 30-31, because I've already got 10 months' validity, and experience shows it really won't go over 1 year.)

[sakr]

Originally Posted by Przemolog

I've just ask my brother - he told that all the stuff in iPlus simdata is active "out of the box".

That's right - it simply works just after activating. You just plug the card into a mobile phone, configure the Plus APN in the phone's menu, then configure the proper connection in your notebook - and that's all.
I'm using the Simdata daily as my internet connection after the working hours.

[Asick]

Originally Posted by Przemolog

Please tell me more precisely your route in Poland (airports, railways stations, hotels etc.) so that I could locate the most easily accessible Plus salons/dealers which sell simdata.

Honestly, I'm still not sure, since the tour program is still being prepared. Anyway, I've seen the list of iPlus dealers (Punkty Sprzedaży) here - http://www.iplus.pl/punktysprzedazy.html , is it possible to buy iPlus simdata in all the places listed there? I hope it's being sold in 'Autoryzowani Przedstawiciele Handlowi Plus' as well as in 'Salony firmowe Plus', is it correct?

Originally Posted by sakr

I'm using the Simdata daily as my internet connection after the working hours.

What's about GPRS quality? Is it fast enough? I mean you may expect many delays and timeouts when you use GPRS with the cheapest offer.

[Przemolog]

Originally Posted by Asick

Honestly, I'm still not sure, since the tour program is still being prepared. Anyway, I've seen the list of iPlus dealers (Punkty Sprzedaży) here - http://www.iplus.pl/punktysprzedazy.html , is it possible to buy iPlus simdata in all the places listed there? I hope it's being sold in 'Autoryzowani Przedstawiciele Handlowi Plus' as well as in 'Salony firmowe Plus', is it correct?

In theory - yes, it is . Practically, 'Salony firmowe Plus' are the most reliable as to availability of products. E.g. my brother bought his iPlus SIM in the beginning of October - he found it only in "Salon firmowy" (in Wrocław, a city with 500000 inhabitants!). However, I think that it won't be that bad after all.

Originally Posted by Asick

What's about GPRS quality? Is it fast enough? I mean you may expect many delays and timeouts when you use GPRS with the cheapest offer.

"Pure" GPRS (at max. 38,4 kb/sec) should be available without any problem. However, EDGE coverage may be poor even in large cities.

[Asick]

Originally Posted by Przemolog

my brother bought his iPlus SIM in the beginning of October - he found it only in "Salon firmowy" (in Wrocław, a city with 500000 inhabitants!). However, I think that it won't be that bad after all.

Oh, I hope some dealers will sell it in Krakow too. I see there are only 2 "Salony firmowe", so if this is too far from my hotel it would be impossible to get such the SIM so I'd buy Tak Tak instead. Anyway, this is similar to what we have here (5-10 "operators' offices" here and lots of dealer shops), but dealers sell anything an operator can offer.

Originally Posted by Przemolog

"Pure" GPRS (at max. 38,4 kb/sec) should be available without any problem. However, EDGE coverage may be poor even in large cities.

No, you didn't get what I meant. Look, more subscribers use GPRS at the same time less free channels are remaining, so it produces some delays and might even collapse during peak hours. So, I was asking if the Plus network was built and organized well enough to support that extra GPRS usage or not. Here, for example, we had 10$/month unlimited traffic offer from Beeline 2 years ago, and by the end of this offer their GPRS almost got dead.