Italy: Options for heavy internet usage for a month

[vegemite]

I did look at a few FAQs for various countries but they were dated from last year or earlier, so I was not sure if they were up to date, but thank you for your efforts in putting these together and I will review the FAQs. I notice the Italian ones were updated in April this year which is pretty recent.

[vegemite]

After reading the FAQs - with Wind, I just get say a 50 Euro SIM card and then SMS the activation code for the data pack I want?

[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.

[vegemite]

Please let us know how you go! So to get the card, did you have to produce any ID or anything? Did it take long? How much in total to get it, and any activation codes you have to use to activate data? Are the APN's configured on the card or do you need to configure the phone? How much are voice calls on it? Any roaming charges to watch out for? Where can you get a Wind card from? I'll be using two Wind SIMs in a Nokia E71 and HTC Desire (Android).

[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.

[vegemite]

Sounds like software issues rather than network issues so hopefully will not affect us as we intend to only use Wind in smartphones (HTC Desire and Nokia E71).

[Effendi]

Dial *155*1# in order to see if the Mega 100 Ore is active: it will tell you how many hours of connections are left on your data account.
About the software issue I cannot help you. I don't have a Mac, I use Linux, I just connect the usb modem, put internet.wind as the APN and it simply works. There are no other settings to add. Surely on Windows the Mobile Partner and the Wind program works without any problem, just set the right APN.

[Effendi]

Originally Posted by vegemite

Please let us know how you go! So to get the card, did you have to produce any ID or anything? Did it take long? How much in total to get it, and any activation codes you have to use to activate data? Are the APN's configured on the card or do you need to configure the phone? How much are voice calls on it? Any roaming charges to watch out for? Where can you get a Wind card from? I'll be using two Wind SIMs in a Nokia E71 and HTC Desire (Android).

Vegemite all the things you are asking have been asked already many times and I already wrote the answers several times. I'm Italian, I live in Italy I've been using Wind as my operator for 10 years, I know quite well how it works.

BTW, let's write it down once again.

1) To buy a Wind (or TIM, Vodafone, 3...) card you need PASSPORT and the CODICE FISCALE. If you don't have the latter and find a smart clerk he/she will produce it for you. If not you won't get your simcard. Don't trust any dealer which tells you you don't need the Codice Fiscale, he/she's not honest and will use someone else's personal data (which is a crime in Italy).

2) Activation of a Wind prepaid card can take from 2 minutes to 1 day, you just need to be lucky. Usually it's very fast.

3) The card costs 10€ including 5€ of data. Then you can add more credit whenever you want at any Wind store, Tabacchi, Newstands, Lottomatica and many more... To activate a data option you do have to send an activation SMS. It's all written HERE.

4) You do have to configure your phone/modem. The only thing you have to set is the APN which is internet.wind

5) It's all written HERE.

6) If you are in Italy and far from the border with other countries (France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia) you have no roaming problems. If you are by one of those borders set your phone to manual network selection.

7) Any Wind or multi-brand shop, HERE is a complete list of Wind shops.

[wco81]

Well I am having software issues which may not be related to this USB 3G key software (BTW, where do you enter the APN on Linux, are there Linux clients of this software?).

But now that I'm up in Lake Como, I see full signal on my Nokia E61i everywhere. However, when I put the SIM in the modem, Wind EASY Connect fails to detect the modem (says no modem).

Back in Liguria, signal was weak until I went outside and then Wind EASY Connect prompted me for the SIM PIN. Up here, either the signal isn't being picked up by the modem or it just can't communicate with the modem.

I'm using hotel Wifi to post this.

Very hit and miss. I may go to a Wind reseller around here and see if there's anyone speaking English. Maybe if they have a Mifi type of device which is reasonably priced ...

[Effendi]

It's a software/hardware problem, it's not a problem with coverage, as far I can understand. On Linux (Ubuntu) you just use the network manager to set up a mobile connection. On Ubuntu there are already all the settings for all major operators, including Wind. There's really nothing to do, extremely straightforward.

If at lake Como your E61i works with Wind on 3G it means the coverage is good, while your usb dongle has some problems. Wind has some cheap usb-dongles including a sim with credit.