Experience of Wind GPRS in Italy

Richard10002 · 07-09-2007, 02:02

Dave,

I use both TIM and WIND on my boat, but connect by putting the SIM in a datacard which sits in the PCMCIA, (or whatever it's called), slot in the side of the laptop. I also have an aerial which I got from Options who make the datacards for most operators.

I bought the TIM in Pompeii, but didnt get connected until Amalfi, then signed up for their 9GB per month in Stromboli where I bought a 30 euro top up card = got good GPRS in Stromboli and Vulcano, as well as at sea all the way from Stromboli to Vulcano then through the straits down to Riposto.

I then got a WIND SIM in Riposto, (well, Giarre), so that I can use their 5GB during the daytime. get a good always on GPRS signal in Riposto marina, and a reasonable, (1 or 2 bar), 3G signal at anchor in Taormina. TIM gets 4 bar 3G in Taormina, andonly 1 bar 3G in Riposto.

I have a feeling it might be more to do with your bluetooth connection rather than WIND. Can you hardwire the phone to the laptop and/or PDA. I wonder if the bluetooth times out if it doesnt see any traffic, perhaps to save on battery life. It might, of course, be due to WIND.

In England, when I had left my datacard on the boat, I hardwired my HTC TyTN to the Laptop and got always on 3G using a T-Mobile PAYG SIM - had trouble making the bluetooth work.

Are you planning to come down the East Coast of Scicily - Riposto marina is a nice place for a day or 2 of R & R, and the anchorage at Taormina/Naxos is enormous, good holding in mostly sand, and Taormina is a must see up on the cliffs.

I'm in Riposto till Saturday midday, then back to Taormina, (spent 3 weeks there up to last Monday), for a few days probably, then on to the anchorage at Syracusa.

How are you getting on with the anchorage at Vulcano - Porto Levante 50m to 5m in almost a couple of boat lengths, or are you on the other side.

If you come down this way, I'm in a white Moody 44 with the orange danbuoy flag flapping at the stern.

Cheers

Richard

DaveRo · 10-09-2007, 06:25

No - I'm sure it's not the Bluetooth. Both laptop and PDA connect fine with BT. It might be the phone's GPRS modem - it's a old Nok 6310i - and it may not be good at coping with poor connections or delays. But it works fine in some places and hardly at all in others. From Volcano to the island of Salina and a very similar situation to Vibo. Hard to connect and the connection died after a few minutes. Iwas there 3 days and never got a connection good enough to read this forum. Thence to Panarea where I am now and it's fine.

I'll be in Greece next year. If this is likely to happen there on remote islands maybe I should abandon GPRS for 3G or something. Speed isn't important to me but when I want a forecast at 08.00 I want it then - not after an hour of fiddling about.

Richard - thanks for the useful information. I'll contact you off-list so this doesn't turn into a sailing forum.

[One thing on Bluetooth, though. If anyone knows how to use BT on a dual boot Linux/XP laptop where each OS has a separate link key without re-pairing, I'd like to know. Spoof the bdaddr? How?]

Dave

aides · 19-02-2010, 02:08

Can i ask what the reception was like in Panarea?

Do you get 3g or are we talking GPRS only?

Hoping to be able to get something good enough to work remotely, but then again i would be surprised if you could get anything on that rock.

	(#1)
Richard10002 (Offline) Member Advanced Member Posts: 60 Join Date: 03 Oct 2006 Country:	07-09-2007, 02:02 Dave, I use both TIM and WIND on my boat, but connect by putting the SIM in a datacard which sits in the PCMCIA, (or whatever it's called), slot in the side of the laptop. I also have an aerial which I got from Options who make the datacards for most operators. I bought the TIM in Pompeii, but didnt get connected until Amalfi, then signed up for their 9GB per month in Stromboli where I bought a 30 euro top up card = got good GPRS in Stromboli and Vulcano, as well as at sea all the way from Stromboli to Vulcano then through the straits down to Riposto. I then got a WIND SIM in Riposto, (well, Giarre), so that I can use their 5GB during the daytime. get a good always on GPRS signal in Riposto marina, and a reasonable, (1 or 2 bar), 3G signal at anchor in Taormina. TIM gets 4 bar 3G in Taormina, andonly 1 bar 3G in Riposto. I have a feeling it might be more to do with your bluetooth connection rather than WIND. Can you hardwire the phone to the laptop and/or PDA. I wonder if the bluetooth times out if it doesnt see any traffic, perhaps to save on battery life. It might, of course, be due to WIND. In England, when I had left my datacard on the boat, I hardwired my HTC TyTN to the Laptop and got always on 3G using a T-Mobile PAYG SIM - had trouble making the bluetooth work. Are you planning to come down the East Coast of Scicily - Riposto marina is a nice place for a day or 2 of R & R, and the anchorage at Taormina/Naxos is enormous, good holding in mostly sand, and Taormina is a must see up on the cliffs. I'm in Riposto till Saturday midday, then back to Taormina, (spent 3 weeks there up to last Monday), for a few days probably, then on to the anchorage at Syracusa. How are you getting on with the anchorage at Vulcano - Porto Levante 50m to 5m in almost a couple of boat lengths, or are you on the other side. If you come down this way, I'm in a white Moody 44 with the orange danbuoy flag flapping at the stern. Cheers Richard

	(#2)
DaveRo (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 153 Join Date: 07 Jul 2006 Country:	10-09-2007, 06:25 No - I'm sure it's not the Bluetooth. Both laptop and PDA connect fine with BT. It might be the phone's GPRS modem - it's a old Nok 6310i - and it may not be good at coping with poor connections or delays. But it works fine in some places and hardly at all in others. From Volcano to the island of Salina and a very similar situation to Vibo. Hard to connect and the connection died after a few minutes. Iwas there 3 days and never got a connection good enough to read this forum. Thence to Panarea where I am now and it's fine. I'll be in Greece next year. If this is likely to happen there on remote islands maybe I should abandon GPRS for 3G or something. Speed isn't important to me but when I want a forecast at 08.00 I want it then - not after an hour of fiddling about. Richard - thanks for the useful information. I'll contact you off-list so this doesn't turn into a sailing forum. [One thing on Bluetooth, though. If anyone knows how to use BT on a dual boot Linux/XP laptop where each OS has a separate link key without re-pairing, I'd like to know. Spoof the bdaddr? How?] Dave Last edited by DaveRo; 10-09-2007 at 06:31..

	(#3)
aides (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 3 Join Date: 19 Feb 2010 Country:	19-02-2010, 02:08 Can i ask what the reception was like in Panarea? Do you get 3g or are we talking GPRS only? Hoping to be able to get something good enough to work remotely, but then again i would be surprised if you could get anything on that rock.