Italy: Options for heavy internet usage for a month

[wco81]

Originally Posted by wco81

I just purchased a Wind SIM for 20 Euro. They said there is currently a promo making the Mega Ore 6.5 Euro and the Mega 100 Ore 7.5 Euro.

So I opted for the latter and the vendor said it should be activated in about 7-8 hours (the phone part in a couple of hours). I should get an SMS confirming activation of the plan.

I haven't tried it yet. Not too sure my Huawei E1752 will work. They didn't have their own 3G keys for sale and they couldn't guarantee that it would work but got it anyways.

They also carried TIM and they claimed Wind has better coverage these days.

So finally tried it and first of all, the Wind EASY Connect for the Mac doesn't even recognize a device when I'm inside my hotel room in Deiva Marina.

I put the SIM in my Nokia and it shows weak signal inside. When I go outside, I see E for Edge but GPRS as well. My E61i should do UMTS but not HSDPA (otherwise, I would have tried Joiku Hotspot software instead of bothering with a 3G key).

The "Mobile Partner" application which is on the key also didn't detect anything.

Turns out it has to get a signal for this software, both the Wind and the Mobile Partner, to work. First thing this software does is to prompt you for the SIM PIN. Seems it should at least detect the device, regardless of whether the device is active or not. I thought maybe the Wind software didn't support the Huawei E1752. That's what I had feared and the Mobile Partner software was going to be my backup, as it should install the drivers but I can figure out the APN and other settings on this site.

Mobile Partner is really buggy and makes my MacBook Pro crash more than once. So the preference is to use Wind EC software if I can.

When the software wasn't working, I checked sent an SMS on my Nokia to see my credit. So 7.50 Euro remaining, which checks out with what the sales lady said, that the Mega 100 Ore was doing a promo for 7.50 Euro. They took 5 Euro to activate the SIM and apparently 7.50 Euro out of the 20 Euro paid, leaving 7.50.

But she had said I would receive an SMS later on the day I bought it, indicating the Mega 100 Ore attivato or something along those lines.

I figured the SMS would be delivered whenever I put in the SIM. However, I didn't get any SMS on my Nokia nor when I did get a signal on the USB key.

So is there a way to confirm this?

I can't really use this well in Deiva Marina. According to Wind's coverage page, only GPRS here, no UMTS or HSDPA. When I took the train to La Spezia to visit Portovenere, I saw a weak Edge signal along most of the train track down. ONly in La Spezia did I get a full UMTS signal.

So I'm more hopeful about using it in Lake Como, where hotels rape you for Wifi (5 Euro an hour or more). Wind is suppose to have UMTS and HSDPA coverage in the mid-lake towns where I will probably spend most of my time.

I found this page, which has many of the same details that Effendi posted:

Italy - Wind - Prepaid Wireless Internet Access

Still need to know:

1. How to confirm activation of Mega 100 Ore

2. How to actually connect. Presumably Wind EASY Connect has the APN and other settings configured. There is a big connect button but I'm confused about the Volume vs. Time setting. It goes back to confirming Mega 100 Ore is activated but I need to set this specifically in the software to make sure I'm on the correct plan?


I'll update the thread when I try again in Lake Como Friday.