very new to this and need help - Page 2

DRNewcomb · 03-09-2007, 13:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoPas Pat

Do the SIM cards in Italy automatically allow you to use the phone as a modem,i.e. data?

Italian prepaid SIMs have a wide variety of plans, programs and "bolt-ons" that are generally activated or deactivated by texting a particular phrase to a particular number. I don't know all the plans because they seem to change them almost weekly. At one time, long ago, Wind had an unlimited GPRS plan that give you full Internet access for 20 Euro per month. I traveled all over using my laptop tethered to my T68i. It was slow but much cheaper and more convenient than an Internet cafe.

Wind dropped that plan and changed to other and then changed them yet again. Look on the Italy page for the (more or less) current information. But your plan will work: I've done it.

25-08-2007, 16:09

All carriers in spain have free incoming calls. You get a phone number with a mobile phone prefix (6xx in spain) and the caller pays the charge via higher rates for calls to numbers with such a prefix. The only time you have to pay for incoming calls is when you are in another country and roaming there.
As far as I know this is how it works in all of europe.

Yoigo has cheap rates but even with prepaid you have a minimum consumption of 6 euros + VAT per month. Also Yoigo is relatively new and has really bad customer service. Probably it will work ok but if there is a problem, e.g. with the activation of the sim card it can literally take weeks to be solved.

Another cheap option are virtual network operators such as Carrefour movil (http://www.carrefour.es/movil). On the plus side carrefour movil is cheap and the phones in their prepaid packs are not locked the provider. However they provide no 3G or internet services at all and the service isn't much better than at Yoigo.

You could also go for one of the big providers such as orange or vodafone (movistar is quite expensive). The rates for orange or vodafone are quite similar.

Richard10002 · 25-08-2007, 20:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by krabat

Yoigo has cheap rates but even with prepaid you have a minimum consumption of 6 euros + VAT per month. Also Yoigo is relatively new and has really bad customer service. Probably it will work ok but if there is a problem, e.g. with the activation of the sim card it can literally take weeks to be solved.

6 euros per month isnt much, (or is it?).

I had great customer service during the one call I made ... I was trying to find somewhere to top up and eventually called customer service. he didnt speak English, but with my very poor Spanish, he eventually got through to me that I should try internet/phone shops and anywhere that topped up other networks.... he was extremely patient, and wouldnt let me go until he was sure I had understood him.

The Phone House made sure my sim was activated there and then - they even got me to call them to make double sure. I dont know what they would have done if it hadnt worked, but it did.

Did you have a problem getting your sim activated?

27-08-2007, 02:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard10002

6 euros per month isnt much, (or is it?).

I had great customer service during the one call I made ... I was trying to find somewhere to top up and eventually called customer service. he didnt speak English, but with my very poor Spanish, he eventually got through to me that I should try internet/phone shops and anywhere that topped up other networks.... he was extremely patient, and wouldnt let me go until he was sure I had understood him.

The Phone House made sure my sim was activated there and then - they even got me to call them to make double sure. I dont know what they would have done if it hadnt worked, but it did.

Did you have a problem getting your sim activated?

That obviously depends how you use it but I agree normally 6 euros per month isn't much. They also have a more expensive offer without minimum consumption. In the beginning they couldn't actually change your tariff to that but I guess that it should be possible now.

I use Orange but a friend of mine has Yoigo. He had problems getting the sim card activated. Problems with activation of the sim occur with other operators as well and usually you just call the customer service, they activate the card manually and within a day everything works fine. However in my friends case it took them weeks to get this done. They were friendly and kept opening incidents reports for his line. They told him they would fix it and get back to him but it took a lot of calls from him and several weeks until they would actually do fix it.

If you want to be absolutely sure that the sim is fully activated you should have the guy in the phone shop call your new number. Because often you can make calls with a sim card that is not fully activated but others cannot call you.

Richard10002 · 27-08-2007, 16:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by krabat

If you want to be absolutely sure that the sim is fully activated you should have the guy in the phone shop call your new number. Because often you can make calls with a sim card that is not fully activated but others cannot call you.

And dont uy o on a Saturday or Sunday

I bought my TIM SIM on a Sunday, and the shop told me it wouldnt be activated until the Monday.... presumably to do with office hours or working day or something.

I bought my WIND SIM on a Saturday and the shop said it may not be activated until the Monday ..... but it was activated by the saturday evening.

In both instances, I was told that it couldnt be activated there and then because it was the weekend.

Richard

s.r. · 28-08-2007, 21:16

i guess i'm deciding between yoigo and vodafone then. for those who have used yoigo before: are you certain that incoming calls (in spain) are free? because the site lists 12cents/todas las llamdas.

i wasn't really anticipating the need to call customer service or anything.. i just need something that's cheap and easy to re-up

28-08-2007, 23:00

On the site it says todas las llamadas to emphasize it's the same price for calls to fixed lines, calls to yoigo mobile numbers and calls to mobile phones from other operators. With other operators you often have differences in prices depending where you call.

Incoming calls (in spain) are definitively free with all providers.

31-08-2007, 20:53

One more thing. If you plan to travel to other European countries during your stay you should be aware that for their prepaid customers yoigo currently only offers roaming in Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania, Portugal, UK, and Sweden.

Carrefour movil (and the big providers of course) cover significantly larger parts of Europe.

	(#2)
krabat Guest Posts: n/a	25-08-2007, 16:09 All carriers in spain have free incoming calls. You get a phone number with a mobile phone prefix (6xx in spain) and the caller pays the charge via higher rates for calls to numbers with such a prefix. The only time you have to pay for incoming calls is when you are in another country and roaming there. As far as I know this is how it works in all of europe. Yoigo has cheap rates but even with prepaid you have a minimum consumption of 6 euros + VAT per month. Also Yoigo is relatively new and has really bad customer service. Probably it will work ok but if there is a problem, e.g. with the activation of the sim card it can literally take weeks to be solved. Another cheap option are virtual network operators such as Carrefour movil (http://www.carrefour.es/movil). On the plus side carrefour movil is cheap and the phones in their prepaid packs are not locked the provider. However they provide no 3G or internet services at all and the service isn't much better than at Yoigo. You could also go for one of the big providers such as orange or vodafone (movistar is quite expensive). The rates for orange or vodafone are quite similar.

	(#6)
s.r. (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 5 Join Date: 23 Aug 2007 Country:	28-08-2007, 21:16 i guess i'm deciding between yoigo and vodafone then. for those who have used yoigo before: are you certain that incoming calls (in spain) are free? because the site lists 12cents/todas las llamdas. i wasn't really anticipating the need to call customer service or anything.. i just need something that's cheap and easy to re-up

	(#7)
krabat Guest Posts: n/a	28-08-2007, 23:00 On the site it says todas las llamadas to emphasize it's the same price for calls to fixed lines, calls to yoigo mobile numbers and calls to mobile phones from other operators. With other operators you often have differences in prices depending where you call. Incoming calls (in spain) are definitively free with all providers.

	(#8)
krabat Guest Posts: n/a	31-08-2007, 20:53 One more thing. If you plan to travel to other European countries during your stay you should be aware that for their prepaid customers yoigo currently only offers roaming in Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania, Portugal, UK, and Sweden. Carrefour movil (and the big providers of course) cover significantly larger parts of Europe.