Mobile Internet in Croatia?

[Effendi]

Thanks for the info. I think I'll have to go back to Croatia for vacation once again!

[dilijasi]

Hello all

I've noticed your interest in mobile internet offer in Croatia, probably by all of you who already visited or will be visiting Adriatic coast during summer holiday season.

Information provided in previous posts is mostly correct but I felt it needed a bit more structure and detail to make it one-stop-post for all your needs. Here we go...please note current exchange rate 1 Euro=7.30 Kuna.

Currently there are three providers of prepaid mobile (broadband) internet in Croatia (suprisingly, given its size and population - 4.5M inhabitants).

1. T-Mobile Croatia, current offerings available at T-Mobile Croatia :: Simpa Internet

T-Mo offers 'Simpa Internet' bundle consisting of Option Icon 225 7.2Mb HSDPA USB stick (locked to network, Globetrotter Connect software included), a SIM data card, 100 Kuna balance for 198 Kuna. T-Mobile charges 1 Kuna for 1Mb of data. Topups are available everywhere (T-Mo shops, kiosks, street vendors, supermarkets), ranging from 50 to 200 Kuna, while the bundle mostly at their shops. SIM cards are sold separately, costing 100 Kuna (100Mb included). SIM card/balance validity is 12 months. Coverage is good, urban areas provide real HSDPA/UMTS speeds while on islands and in rural areas you will get Edge/GPRS. For those using their own data cards APN is web.htgprs, dialing number *99#

2. Vipnet (Vodafone) Croatia, VIPonline

Vipnet is offering 'Vipme Broadband' package for 191 Kuna. It consists of Huawei E160X 3.6Mb HSDPA USB stick (locked), a data SIM and 100 Kuna balance. VMC software is in the bundle but I advise you against it, use Huawei's generic Mobile Partner instead - it's light, simple and user-friendly. 1Mb of data traffic is costing you 1 Kuna. Topups available from everywhere, coverage is better than T-Mo in rural areas (such as big or small islands) so if you plan to go sailing take Vipme Broadband. APN is data.vip.hr, *99# dialing sequence.

3. Tele2 Croatia, Tele2 Hrvatska - Mobilni internet na bonove (blimey, no english version!)

Swedish low-cost outfit is lately aggressive in promoting their own offering. The bundle is made of a Huawei E180 USB stick, 7.2Mb HSDPA USB stick and a data SIM with 394 Kuna in balance. The bundle is being sold for 395 Kuna (!?) so it looks like you get E180 for 1 Kuna, not bad at all. 1Mb of data transferred will cost you 0,70 Kuna, 0,40 Kuna if you additionally topup with 100+ Kuna (much cheaper than T-Mo/Vipnet). I don't know about the coverage but they made a deal with T-Mo for national roaming, which in theory is sounding great but who knows if T-Mo is throttling Tele2 roaming traffic. I'm not sure about the SIM validity, reckon 12 months. Topups are again sold everywhere, no problem about that. APN is mobileinternet.tele2.hr.

What offering would be best for you? I live there and use T-mo's Option 225 (unlocked for 15 Euro by the Baltic craftmen at Dc-unlocker | iCON 431,Merlin X950D , GT Express 7.2) with a Vipnet SIM and I'm happy with it. If you are going to stay in bigger cities than Tele2 or T-Mo are equally good. Tele2 offers lower cost, plus you get Huawei E180 virtually for free. Vipnet is good for those going into the wild, off the beaten path, as their coverage is the most extensive one. Nuff said!

[hkr]

Originally Posted by dilijasi

Hello all

Information provided in previous posts is mostly correct but I felt it needed a bit more structure and detail to make it one-stop-post for all your needs. Here we go...

Dear Dilijasi,

Thank you for giving us this nice overview.

I have exchanged e-mails with VIP and they confirmed I should expect good HSDPA coverage at the hotel. Upon arrival I will first check signals on my phone, then purchase a SIM-only pack.

The VIPme offer where you can buy data packs of 250 and 500 MB looks good. I do not know if eventually I will find it easy to get a VIPme Broadband SIM with a 250 or 500 MB pack, but lets's hope so.

Do you know what top-up amounts are available for VIPme? So what is the amount I actually need to pay on purchase?

By the way, I already have a VipMe SIM with quite some credit on. Is it possible to have a data option activated on that card with acceptable rates?

[hkr]

Originally Posted by dilijasi

3. Tele2 Croatia, Tele2 Hrvatska - Mobilni internet na bonove (blimey, no english version!)

My Croatian is rather limited. Does this website say that the 394 kn is not made available immediately, but over a certain period of time?

They write: "Iznos od 394 kn na Tele2 računu raspodijeljen je na sljedeći način: 100 kn odmah pri aktivaciji, 50 kn sljedećih 5 mjeseci, te zadnji mjesec 44 kn, uz obaveznu mjesečnu nadoplatu bonom od minimalno 50 kn. "

[dilijasi]

To reply to hkr questions:

Vipme related:
- topups are available in 35, 100 and 200 Kuna value. No topup fee (like once in Italy 5 Euro) is charged, total amount is used to buy you airtime.
- there are two data packs available for Vipme users: Mobile surf 20 (20Mb charged 15 Kuna) and Mobile surf 100 (100Mb charged 30 Kuna). Data packs could be activated by a simple text message, the amount will be deducted off your current Vipme balance) More info find here: VIPonline

Tele2 related:
- 394 Kuna of bonus balance (of the 395 Kuna data package bundle) is NOT available immediately. As google translated in previous post by Effendi, Tele2 has setup an awkward scheme: for 6 moths you need to topup at least 50 Kuna a month in order to get the 100 Kuna balance at start and then 50 more for 5 months.

Hope all is clear now, regards.

[hkr]

dilijasi,

Thanks for the reply. It looks VIP has changed a few options since I last checked

If I understand what they (you) say, I can buy data packages as an option for my existing VIPME SIM, and they add up.

"It is possible to activate more Mobile surf data packages (20 at most) within the 30-day period, and the amount of the newly activated data package will be added up to the remaining amount of the already activated package(s). New Mobile surf data package is activated automatically upon expiry of the 30-day period."

So if I buy 5 x 100 MB = 500 MB, I pay 5 x 30 kn = 150 kn.

If I buy a VIPME Broadband SIM and an 500 MB data packet, I pay 20 kn for SIM + 200 kn for 500 MB.

So theoretically it is cheaper and easier (no need to find a VIP store) to just use my existing VIPME SIM with the SURF options. Am I right? Does it offer the same internet as VIPME Broadband, or is it only WAP?

(This would be great as I have more than 150 kn balance now, which I will most probably not use for phone calls...)

[dilijasi]

hkr, you got me confused for a sec

VIPMe is a regular prepaid voice + data service. You can add data packs to it, and you calculated right, for 150 Kuna you can use up to 500Mb of data. Which made me curious because it's much cheaper than my regular VIPMe Broadband (please note that is a pure data service SIM, no voice) tariff where 500Mb cost 200 kuna.

However, you've got a VIPMe SIM and you can use data packs for it but to use VIPMe Broadband service you need to buy another, data SIM, and topup. VIPNet site is not clear about data transfer speeds when using data packs for VIPMe, apart from stating you need to have a GPRS service activated in order to use data packs. Which in other, less marketing-friendly, words could mean litimed choice of protocols where nothing else than GPRS/Edge is available while high speed protocols remain reserved for VIPMe Broadband service. Which honestly adds up, otherwise clients would go for cheaper solution (VIPMe + data packs).

I doubt mailing or calling VIPNet customer service will provide any clear answer but I plan to go down to Croatia next week and could ask some of their tech-savvy advisers to clarify things.

[hkr]

Hello dilijasi,

At the URL VIPonline I read the following:

"When using data services, the time spent on the network is not charged, only the quantity of data transferred. Price does not depend on the technology of transfer used (GPRS, EDGE, UMTS or HSDPA). The calculation unit is always 10kB."

However, it speaks a lot about how to use these data packs with your phone's browser.

I do not think it is restricted to GPRS/EDGE, but I do hope that these data packs are not using a different (WAP-only) APN ...

I will call and ask them.

[Martin54321]

Originally Posted by dilijasi

Hello all

I've noticed your interest in mobile internet offer in Croatia, probably by all of you who already visited or will be visiting Adriatic coast during summer holiday season.

Information provided in previous posts is mostly correct but I felt it needed a bit more structure and detail to make it one-stop-post for all your needs. Here we go...please note current exchange rate 1 Euro=7.30 Kuna.

Currently there are three providers of prepaid mobile (broadband) internet in Croatia (suprisingly, given its size and population - 4.5M inhabitants).

1. T-Mobile Croatia, current offerings available at T-Mobile Croatia :: Simpa Internet

T-Mo offers 'Simpa Internet' bundle consisting of Option Icon 225 7.2Mb HSDPA USB stick (locked to network, Globetrotter Connect software included), a SIM data card, 100 Kuna balance for 198 Kuna. T-Mobile charges 1 Kuna for 1Mb of data. Topups are available everywhere (T-Mo shops, kiosks, street vendors, supermarkets), ranging from 50 to 200 Kuna, while the bundle mostly at their shops. SIM cards are sold separately, costing 100 Kuna (100Mb included). SIM card/balance validity is 12 months. Coverage is good, urban areas provide real HSDPA/UMTS speeds while on islands and in rural areas you will get Edge/GPRS. For those using their own data cards APN is web.htgprs, dialing number *99#

2. Vipnet (Vodafone) Croatia, VIPonline

Vipnet is offering 'Vipme Broadband' package for 191 Kuna. It consists of Huawei E160X 3.6Mb HSDPA USB stick (locked), a data SIM and 100 Kuna balance. VMC software is in the bundle but I advise you against it, use Huawei's generic Mobile Partner instead - it's light, simple and user-friendly. 1Mb of data traffic is costing you 1 Kuna. Topups available from everywhere, coverage is better than T-Mo in rural areas (such as big or small islands) so if you plan to go sailing take Vipme Broadband. APN is data.vip.hr, *99# dialing sequence.

3. Tele2 Croatia, Tele2 Hrvatska - Mobilni internet na bonove (blimey, no english version!)

Swedish low-cost outfit is lately aggressive in promoting their own offering. The bundle is made of a Huawei E180 USB stick, 7.2Mb HSDPA USB stick and a data SIM with 394 Kuna in balance. The bundle is being sold for 395 Kuna (!?) so it looks like you get E180 for 1 Kuna, not bad at all. 1Mb of data transferred will cost you 0,70 Kuna, 0,40 Kuna if you additionally topup with 100+ Kuna (much cheaper than T-Mo/Vipnet). I don't know about the coverage but they made a deal with T-Mo for national roaming, which in theory is sounding great but who knows if T-Mo is throttling Tele2 roaming traffic. I'm not sure about the SIM validity, reckon 12 months. Topups are again sold everywhere, no problem about that. APN is mobileinternet.tele2.hr.

What offering would be best for you? I live there and use T-mo's Option 225 (unlocked for 15 Euro by the Baltic craftmen at Dc-unlocker | iCON 431,Merlin X950D , GT Express 7.2) with a Vipnet SIM and I'm happy with it. If you are going to stay in bigger cities than Tele2 or T-Mo are equally good. Tele2 offers lower cost, plus you get Huawei E180 virtually for free. Vipnet is good for those going into the wild, off the beaten path, as their coverage is the most extensive one. Nuff said!

I find it interesting that you say that vipnet is the best option for "urban areas"
Im currently living 10min walking outside of the center of Split, and I got myself the vipnet mobile internet and tbh, its really shit!! i brought my computer into the city today and it was working as intended, but at home it takes me up to 5min to even load google.com etc.
so how shit is tele2 or t-mobile then?
any solutions for what i can do to increase the speed?
it says it got a 7.5mbps, but my speed atm is not even close to that!