Tuscany cell coverage

markcov · **Tuscany cell coverage -** 07-09-2013, 17:51

Howdy,

I'm looking for a prepaid sim with data that has good coverage on the roads outside the cities in Tuscany. We have a couple week cycling trip planned and I'd like a provider that has reliable coverage while we're on the road. We'll be in Florence for the first couple of days so picking up a SIM when we arrive should be easy. Don't need to make calls outside Italy, mostly looking for good internet coverage so we can post to Facebook, do emails, and perhaps make a few local phone calls.

I tried using the coverage maps for the providers, but those appear to just be one city at a time instead of a map of the whole area, and I'm looking for more of the coverage on smaller roads between cities.

I'm not interested in any of the virtual operators, just the main four.

Which provider do you recommend?

Thanks!

Effendi · 11-09-2013, 08:07

TIM or Wind or Vodafone, in order.

But which part of Tuscany will you visit?

markcov · 11-09-2013, 11:11

Thanks Effendi. I was hoping to go with TIM as I had a bad experience with WIND in 2010.

Our cycling and driving tour covers the following cities for about 2.5 weeks.
Chianti, Siena, Buonconvento, Montalcino, Montepulciano, Cortona, Umbertide, Perugia, Florence

I figure I'll get a TIMxSMARTPHONE 4G for myself and a TIMxSMARTPHONE for my wife. I might need to do some tethering.

We'll only need to make local calls, so which phone / SMS plan do recommend with TIM?
The TIMxTUTTI ?

So 15 euro / week total x 3 weeks = 45 euros. We arrive in Florence airport at 6p on a Thursday and rent a car to drive down to Grieve, any chance of hitting a TIM store that day? Or will we need to come back on Friday morning?

Effendi · 13-09-2013, 07:28

Usually shops close at 7pm or 7.30pm, you could make it on your first day if your flight is not late.

For local calls TIMxTUTTI is not very useful unless you plan to call only other TIM numbers. I think you can also use the basic rates without any option if you plan to make only few short calls.

markcov · 17-09-2013, 08:55

A little feedback now that we've been using it. TIM worked well in all of the Chianti area cities, but got spotty once we strayed off the main SS222 route.
Walking around Siena has been spotty at times too, but I blame that more on the building arrangements. It worked fine in Il Campo and at the Duomo.

Effendi · 17-09-2013, 09:32

In old towns, where streets are narrow and walls are thick you often have problems with any operator. TIM should be the best, probably followed by Wind in Tuscany.

lankosher · 23-09-2013, 13:04

Hi, I am visiting Tuscany next week and I was thinking of getting a budget prepaid simcard purely for Internet. I heard that WIND IT is decent in terms of prices. Can you advice how much is the cost of SIM card itself and 1GB transfer? What documents are required apart from fiscal code, which I already generated. Thanks in advance for your assistance.

naco · 04-10-2013, 04:47

Hi, if you're staying in major cities you may consider using tre:
This operator has only umts2100 (and sometimes 900) coverage, which is more limited than other operators, but it's much more cheaper. And it's nework is generally quite fast.
They sell 3gb/month for 5€. Sim is 3€ with 3€ traffic, so you need to top up at least additional 5€.
They have plan on sim for internet key or on microsim (ipad and similar)
I bought this sim some months ago and the first month was free (but now i don't find any trace for this offer) and you can deactivate this offer anytime at no charge.
Remember that if you're NOT on 3ITA coverage (you roam on TIM in gsm), internet is not included in the offer and it's really expensive.
So check coverage here!

Otherwise you may go on tim/wind.
TIM has generally a really fast and performing network, and great coverage.
I may suggest this offer, it's the cheapest and available for smartphone, tablet or key.
You should pay 5€ for sim with 5€ credit, so you need to top up at least more 10€, since you cannot use your offer with 0 credit.

Wind is actually, in my opinion, the slowest network, but everything depends on single cases. Coverage is quite good.
You may get all inclusive, 7€/month for 1gb, 200 national min, 200 sms. Paradoxally the offer with only 1gb is 9€ month, so it's cheaper to activate all inclusive. Sim should be 5€

naco · 04-10-2013, 04:53

You just need to go to any operator's shop just with your codice fiscale and an id document (i.e. passport, id card if it is valid in Italy).
Generally sim are activated in some hours.
From my experience, my tre sim card was activated almost instantly, but you can use your boundle only after midnight of the activation day.

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	(#1)
markcov (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 3 Join Date: 07 Sep 2013 Country:	Tuscany cell coverage - 07-09-2013, 17:51 Howdy, I'm looking for a prepaid sim with data that has good coverage on the roads outside the cities in Tuscany. We have a couple week cycling trip planned and I'd like a provider that has reliable coverage while we're on the road. We'll be in Florence for the first couple of days so picking up a SIM when we arrive should be easy. Don't need to make calls outside Italy, mostly looking for good internet coverage so we can post to Facebook, do emails, and perhaps make a few local phone calls. I tried using the coverage maps for the providers, but those appear to just be one city at a time instead of a map of the whole area, and I'm looking for more of the coverage on smaller roads between cities. I'm not interested in any of the virtual operators, just the main four. Which provider do you recommend? Thanks!

	(#2)
Effendi (Offline) The great Dictator! Prepaid Prophet Posts: 2,487 Join Date: 13 Jan 2004 Location: Trieste/Trst Country:	11-09-2013, 08:07 TIM or Wind or Vodafone, in order. But which part of Tuscany will you visit? Working Prepaids: IT: Wind, Vodafone IT, UNO Mobile; SM: Prima; UK: 3, Virgin; INT: TravelSIM, Truphone. Deceased Prepaids: CZ: Oskar, Eurotel; SK: Orange; DE: E-Plus, Aldi, Simyo; GE: Geocell; AM: Armentel; PL: Heyah, Plus; LT: Tele2; LV: Amigo; EE: Elisa; UA: Kyivstar; NZ: Vodafone; INT: UM, UM+, ICQSim. GSM/3G Phones: Nokia Lumia 630 dual sim

	(#3)
markcov (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 3 Join Date: 07 Sep 2013 Country:	11-09-2013, 11:11 Thanks Effendi. I was hoping to go with TIM as I had a bad experience with WIND in 2010. Our cycling and driving tour covers the following cities for about 2.5 weeks. Chianti, Siena, Buonconvento, Montalcino, Montepulciano, Cortona, Umbertide, Perugia, Florence I figure I'll get a TIMxSMARTPHONE 4G for myself and a TIMxSMARTPHONE for my wife. I might need to do some tethering. We'll only need to make local calls, so which phone / SMS plan do recommend with TIM? The TIMxTUTTI ? So 15 euro / week total x 3 weeks = 45 euros. We arrive in Florence airport at 6p on a Thursday and rent a car to drive down to Grieve, any chance of hitting a TIM store that day? Or will we need to come back on Friday morning?

	(#4)
Effendi (Offline) The great Dictator! Prepaid Prophet Posts: 2,487 Join Date: 13 Jan 2004 Location: Trieste/Trst Country:	13-09-2013, 07:28 Usually shops close at 7pm or 7.30pm, you could make it on your first day if your flight is not late. For local calls TIMxTUTTI is not very useful unless you plan to call only other TIM numbers. I think you can also use the basic rates without any option if you plan to make only few short calls. Working Prepaids: IT: Wind, Vodafone IT, UNO Mobile; SM: Prima; UK: 3, Virgin; INT: TravelSIM, Truphone. Deceased Prepaids: CZ: Oskar, Eurotel; SK: Orange; DE: E-Plus, Aldi, Simyo; GE: Geocell; AM: Armentel; PL: Heyah, Plus; LT: Tele2; LV: Amigo; EE: Elisa; UA: Kyivstar; NZ: Vodafone; INT: UM, UM+, ICQSim. GSM/3G Phones: Nokia Lumia 630 dual sim

	(#5)
markcov (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 3 Join Date: 07 Sep 2013 Country:	17-09-2013, 08:55 A little feedback now that we've been using it. TIM worked well in all of the Chianti area cities, but got spotty once we strayed off the main SS222 route. Walking around Siena has been spotty at times too, but I blame that more on the building arrangements. It worked fine in Il Campo and at the Duomo.

	(#6)
Effendi (Offline) The great Dictator! Prepaid Prophet Posts: 2,487 Join Date: 13 Jan 2004 Location: Trieste/Trst Country:	17-09-2013, 09:32 In old towns, where streets are narrow and walls are thick you often have problems with any operator. TIM should be the best, probably followed by Wind in Tuscany. Working Prepaids: IT: Wind, Vodafone IT, UNO Mobile; SM: Prima; UK: 3, Virgin; INT: TravelSIM, Truphone. Deceased Prepaids: CZ: Oskar, Eurotel; SK: Orange; DE: E-Plus, Aldi, Simyo; GE: Geocell; AM: Armentel; PL: Heyah, Plus; LT: Tele2; LV: Amigo; EE: Elisa; UA: Kyivstar; NZ: Vodafone; INT: UM, UM+, ICQSim. GSM/3G Phones: Nokia Lumia 630 dual sim

	(#7)
lankosher (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 1 Join Date: 23 Sep 2013 Country:	23-09-2013, 13:04 Hi, I am visiting Tuscany next week and I was thinking of getting a budget prepaid simcard purely for Internet. I heard that WIND IT is decent in terms of prices. Can you advice how much is the cost of SIM card itself and 1GB transfer? What documents are required apart from fiscal code, which I already generated. Thanks in advance for your assistance.

	(#8)
naco (Offline) Junior Member Amateur Member Posts: 15 Join Date: 28 Jun 2010 Country:	04-10-2013, 04:47 Hi, if you're staying in major cities you may consider using tre: This operator has only umts2100 (and sometimes 900) coverage, which is more limited than other operators, but it's much more cheaper. And it's nework is generally quite fast. They sell 3gb/month for 5€. Sim is 3€ with 3€ traffic, so you need to top up at least additional 5€. They have plan on sim for internet key or on microsim (ipad and similar) I bought this sim some months ago and the first month was free (but now i don't find any trace for this offer) and you can deactivate this offer anytime at no charge. Remember that if you're NOT on 3ITA coverage (you roam on TIM in gsm), internet is not included in the offer and it's really expensive. So check coverage here! Otherwise you may go on tim/wind. TIM has generally a really fast and performing network, and great coverage. I may suggest this offer, it's the cheapest and available for smartphone, tablet or key. You should pay 5€ for sim with 5€ credit, so you need to top up at least more 10€, since you cannot use your offer with 0 credit. Wind is actually, in my opinion, the slowest network, but everything depends on single cases. Coverage is quite good. You may get all inclusive, 7€/month for 1gb, 200 national min, 200 sms. Paradoxally the offer with only 1gb is 9€ month, so it's cheaper to activate all inclusive. Sim should be 5€ Last edited by naco; 04-10-2013 at 04:55..

	(#9)
naco (Offline) Junior Member Amateur Member Posts: 15 Join Date: 28 Jun 2010 Country:	04-10-2013, 04:53 You just need to go to any operator's shop just with your codice fiscale and an id document (i.e. passport, id card if it is valid in Italy). Generally sim are activated in some hours. From my experience, my tre sim card was activated almost instantly, but you can use your boundle only after midnight of the activation day.