Mobile Internet in Croatia?

[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...)

[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!

[Effendi]

From google translate:

"The amount of 394 kn at Tele2 account is distributed in the following manner: 100 kn immediately after activation, 50 kn following 5 months, and last month, 44 kn, with the monthly payment voucher of at least 50 kn."

[hkr]

So I asked VIP. I got the following reply:


Dear Sir,

thank you for your query.

Mobile surf data packages are available for activation to each Vipme customer.

You can use the same phone as modem and for making phone calls with data packages. If you are Vipme user APN is gprs0.vipnet.hr . During the connection you are using the same GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA network.

To activate Mobile surf data package it is enough to send an SMS message containing the keyword SURF100 to the free number 792.

For any additional information feel free to contact us again.

Best regards

Vipnet d.o.o.

[dilijasi]

respect hkr,

seems to me you discovered a potential loophole in pricing policy of VIPNet that is allowing for cheaper broadband internet on a simple prepaid voice SIM card armed with data packs than on a dedicated usb data card+data SIM combo...strange but true, congrats! Mind the APN for VIPMe Broadband, that is data.vip.hr.

Keep us informed however of actual speeds and VIPNet coverage if you're about to go for some weeks to Croatia this summer.

[hkr]

Hello dilijasi,


I have contacted VIP again and asked them to clarify if this APN provides techically the same service as data.vip.hr. Here is their response:


APN gprs0.vipnet.hr does allow full internet access. If You use phone as modem with
a VIPme SIM and SURF packages activated, You have full access to the internet.
Difference between using phone as modem with a VIPme SIM and VIPme Broadband SIM is
only in pricing. If you're looking for more informations about Mobile surf data
packages for Vipme customers, please visit
VIPonline


I will be in Croatia between 18 and 24 June, will of course report back.

[hkr]

I am still in Hungary, starting off to Croatia tonight. I sent an SMS from my VIPme card to 792, but there was no reply. I thought it was not possible to active a 100 MB packet from outside of Croatia. But today I realized that my balance was exactly 30kn lower than yesterday. So I sent another SMS to 792, now with the "?" command in it, and got a Croatian language message saying that I have 100 MB to use until the end of July. So all is great so far, the card is now in my E71, it looks I will be able to keep connected

[hkr]

Greetings from Croatia!

I have started using my normal voice VIPme SIM for data. All is fine, I put the card in my Huawei B970 router, and voila, I have wifi in our hotel room Works fine.

Just a few things of my experience.

When I first put the card in my phone, it automatically configured an APN "start" and connected the internet using the APN automatically... It took me 3-4 kn before I realized it happened. Then I deleted that APN and set my phone to use gprs0.vipnet.hr and not anything else.

The second thing. I wanted to top-up so I went to a VIP shop. I was told I cannot top up using my credit card there, only cash. So I went to the other side of the road and bought a voucher from an ATM. The instructions in English are printed on the ATM voucher, but still, it was a blind-ride as the system I had to call to topup only spoke Croatian

You can buy the SURF20 and SURF100 packages by sending SMS to the free number 792. I sent the first such SMS, and was replied immediately by SMS that the package will be activated within 24 hours... Well, in fact it was active immediately, but... Immediately I sent another SURF100 message to 792 (I wanted to add multiple packages ), but got an SMS that it was unsuccessful. About 10 minutes later I got an SMS that a 100MB had been activated. This confirmed the first purchase.... After this SMS I sent the purchase request again, and got a new SMS saying it will be activated within 24 hours

So, if you need several times 100MB, it is not the most convenient way, but it does work if you are patient and do not necessarily want to buy the whole lot of data package all at once.

HSDPA coverage at our hotel in Porec is acceptable even indoors, but I have an external directional antenna with gain, so I have excellent signal strength. I do not want to waste bytes on speedtests, but when I tried it once it was about 1.1 Mbps down and 320 kbps up. Good enough for anything I need it for, even VoIP works fine with my Nokia phone and asterisk server at home

[dilijasi]

Looks like VIPnet stands strong to its promise