Staying Connected During Italy Trip

May 22nd, 2009 • Mark Guim • Filed Under •

I’m going to visit a few cities in Italy for the next week and half with my wife. Staying connected to the internet will be a top priority along with whatever Sheila planned for us. I’ll be bringing the Nokia N85 as my mobile phone and research tells me to get a Wind pre-paid SIM card for data. Boingo will come in handy too.

Pre-paid SIM

I’ve searched for sites that recommend pre-paid SIM cards and I think I found the right place. Prepaid GSM lists the available service providers in each country/region along with their rates. The forums are filled with helpful members as well. I found that I can get a prepaid Wind SIM with 2.6GB of data for 10 Euros. My only concern is that some people mentioned 3G coverage isn’t as good as another provider called TIM. Since we’re staying in major cities, I’m not that worried.

Boingo

Boingo WiFi

I’ll also have Boingo so I can have access to hotspots with my phone and laptop. If you haven’t heard of the service yet, I suggest signing up for their free 30-day trial available to Nokia users. If wifi is not accessible from my laptop, Joikuspot will allow me to share my Nokia N85’s internet connection.

Pixelpipe Destinations

Twitpic, Facebook, Flickr

If you want to check out the latest photos from the trip, I’ll be uploading photos directly from the phone straight to the web using the built-in Nokia Share-Online app. This wouldn’t be possible without the awesome service, Pixelpipe! Follow me on Twitter or check out my Flickr.

Tips?

The wife pretty much handled the itinerary, so I’m glad I didn’t have to worry about that. I’ve skimmed through some travel books so I’m not completely clueless. Let us know if you have recommendations, tips, and advice for the trip!

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  • Jay
    I wouldn't worry about getting a pre paid SIM until you actually get there. Wind is probably the best, but I would get it in Italy. I had no problems connecting to a multitude of free wifi hotspots that are all over the place with my N95, using it to make free calls back home to my office, etc, using my voipcheap account. No need for Boingo.
  • Frankie
    So in your opinion which is the best internet prepaid plan for monthly usage in Italy?
  • Hi,

    I'm italian and I live in Italy, Bologna. The best company for coverage is TIM, absolutely. Wind is the worst one and is keeping low prices but also low services... Try to consider H3G, an UMTS only company, wich uses TIM band in case of lack of the UMTS band. The last one is the cheapest one, but it need a bit of understanding of their fees and costs. In my opiniovn the best company for one week of use travelling around is TIM, it has near 100% coverage in UMTS/EDGE.

    BTW, if you need anything during your stay, just write me, I am a big fan of your blog!
  • Derick
    There's a possibility they will ask you for a Codice Fiscale along with your passport when you go to buy the SIM. Apparently it's the law here now, but as with everything here in Italy, you can easily find a place that won't require it. It's also possible to get one before you if you have time. In any case you might want to Google "Italy SIM Codice Fiscale" just to educate yourself.
    Tips: I highly recommend the Nokia Mobile Dictionary Language Package - you can download the Italian and change it out with whatever it came with. You won't have any trouble with 3G in the big cities. This country thrives on cell phones as you'll see. Buon viaggio.
  • Are you coming to Milan also? I live here, let me know, if you are interested in meeting for a capuccino :-)
  • We land in Milan and will be there for one day. We should meet =)
  • Brian Doherty
    A little bit off-topic, but here it is: I have found it greatly enhances the fun to have a few words of Italian at your disposal. The Italians are very relaxed about poor pronunciation, and generally love you for trying. If you have time before the trip, try to find the CD "One-day Italian" by Elisabeth Smith. It helped me a lot.
  • Use a H3G sim, it provides a lot bandwidth more than other providers
  • Do you have a link I can find more info?
  • Ivan
    Where did you find this offer for Wind ? I only found the EUR20/month value valid before 24/May.

    Check the vodaphone and tre offers, they have good pre-paid options with data.
    Tre :
    http://www.tre.it/public/scheda_opzioni.php?id=...
    EUR3/week with 100MB/day

    One of Vodafone offers
    http://www.areaaziende.vodafone.it/190/trilogy/...

    I like shozu for uploads pics and twitters...

    For some places in italy is recommended to get ticket in internet before to skip lines. We know some people that just returned and spend bit time on lanes...


    I'm going to Italy too (29/05), and checking all of this options. Can you contact me to exchange tips ?
  • I put the link in the article. Here's the one that shows WIND prices. http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/italia/wind.html
  • Ivan
    The values on the site (prepaidgsm) was updated in 13/Feb.

    Check the current values on Wind Site EUR20/month:
    http://www.wind.it/it/servizi/scheda75.phtml?se...
    Before 24/May you will not have to pay EUR 4 for activation.

    I did not know the value to buy the Wind SIMCARD.
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