PWMTrav

TIM's network is the best when you leave the cities, otherwise, TIM, Wind, Tre and Vodafone are comparable. If you're a US T-Mobile subscriber, I believe you can use your existing SIM for free international data.

I use TIM. To circumvent the headaches that Perche noted above, I log into the TIM site once per year and throw 5 euro on each of my SIMs to keep them from expiring. The last time I bought a SIM, this past February in Florence, I helped an English-speaking customer that came in after me to figure out a solution for her phone. Perche is right that you'll get service, but if something goes wrong, you need to push back in Italian or it's not going to get fixed.

Perche

Now if TIM would only allow me to log onto their website, as it's back to Venice for most of January.

PWMTrav

Try m.tim.it - it's the mobile site, but you can do it from your desktop. For some reason, I can log into the mobile site but NOT the main website. Also the TIM app does not allow me to log in. I do agree that their website is a miserable experience.

I think I recall that you're Italian, but assuming you or other people in this thread bank in the US, I will also tell you that I have had no problem using a US-issued Amex to add funds to my TIM account. The conventional internet wisdom is that you need an Italian card, but that isn't true for me at least.

Finally, this is a very narrow recommendation, but on the off chance that you go to Florence, the TIM shop on Via dei Calzaiuoli does have fairly knowledgeable staff. For a really super touristy spot, they surprisingly don't have that great an English-speaking staff but they don't throw their hands up if something isn't working. They also have a few really inexpensive phones for tourists who show up with sim-locked phones that still want service, but I don't really recommend that to people.

Perche

Sitting here in LHR on the way to VCE. Tim just doesn't work. Using mobile or desktop site results in: Siamo spiacenti. L'operazione non e' stata eseguita per motivi tecnici. Ci scusiamo per l'inconvenient. We are dissatisfied, the operation couldn't be complete for technical reasons. Same thing for the last three days. Same message the TIM folk get when you go to their store and they try to connect to their own computers.

Perche

TIM Sim is definitely headed to the bottom of the lagoon. Nothing but "we are sorry for the technical difficulties. Has to be a better solution.

PWMTrav

That's miserable. Is that when you try to log in?

I just tried (from 14 degrees and not sunny Portland, Maine) and it just hangs after I submit my login info. I don't even get an error message back. Probably safe to say their site is down.

Let me know what you end up doing. We're probably not going to Italy in 2015, which sucks, but if TIM doesn't get their act together I'll also be picking up something different. I wonder if I can port my # to Vodafone without leaving the US - I'd rather not lose it.

Perche

Wound up flinging my TIM SIM off the Accademia Bridge. As always, the website doesn't work. Had to go to the store over Rialto to activate it, as usual. Asked them at the store to try to get on their own website to do it, and they couldn't. They had to call their central office by phone. I purchased 20 euros of data. I wasn't even back over the Bridge before I received three text messages telling me I was almost out of data, I needed to buy more. Went back to the store to complain, and they said to ignore it. It's just an advertisement they constantly send.

Then, the bad stuff started. No matter what website I went to, it lasted for about 20 seconds, then would divert to Ghioccisimo.it, an italian gaming site. And the back button wouldn't work, I was just stuck there. Closing and going back would always erase what had been written. I made a disjointed post yesterday that I can't even read, as it was an attempt to do it using serial cut and paste before getting diverted to giochissimo.

I went back to TIM over Rialto, and they said TIM is having a promotional with giocchisimo the game site, and there is no way to stop getting automatically diverted there. I even had them call Rome, and Rome said it couldn't be helped. The only way to finally get to web browse today was going into my settings and basically turning off multiple settings. And it also seems they downloaded several unwanted gaming apps to my phone.

In speaking to my friends here, they all question my choice of TIM. It's the big national company compared to Vodafone and WIND, and is supposedly known for treating customers like that. I'm sure it's great when it works though.

Dinner at Covo, Il riditto, lunch at Ai Ferie, coffee at Quadri, none of which require reservations at this time of year, and perfectly sunny days make up for the typical headaches of italian infrastructure, but I'm not a TIM fan. Seems like most people are using vodafone, and so will I.

maclover

Perche, giochissimo.it has nothing to do with Tim.
Some website using fishu ad based on javascript just detect your carrier/location and redirect your browser.

If you disable JavaScript you won't be redirected: this very same problem is happening to me using Vodafone...

Perche

I think you are right. But I need javascript. It's happening with Vodafone now, but at least I can use the back button and get out of it now. Still, I asked two more friends living here about TIM versus others. One showed me about ten advertisements he had received just today from TIM, and said he's waiting for his plan to finish so he can stop receiving all of the adverts.

Perche

Thank you though, because I'm definitely going to try that, it's like a plague to use the phone, and too bad TIM could not provide the advice that you did.

PWMTrav

This is why my phones are rooted/jailbroken with an adblocker. I get that a lot of the web is ad-supported, but when I'm on metered data or ads begin to redirect me to other sites, we're done with that.

Perche

I have adblocker running on my laptop. Don't have it on my phone. Where do you get it for an iPhone?

PWMTrav

I'm not an iPhone expert, just got my first one after years on Android. To my knowledge, you need to be jailbroken and there are some adblockers in the Cydia store. I don't believe the regular Apple App Store allows adblockers.

UntrustedHostsBlocker and Adblocker2 are the more popular ones for iOS8.

Perche

You are right. Going to Safari advanced settings and turning off JavaScript worked. And it is happening to people across the main cell phone companies here, not just TIM. It's too bad the people at the cell phone stores don't know the solution, but I'm glad I found it here.

I have Adblocker on my laptop, but not on my phone. Just downloaded it. I'll see if that solves it, I just turned JavaScript back on as a test. I'll see what happens.

As to why downloading more data on TIM never seems to work except for a lucky few who reported here, as has already been suggested on this thread, they don't take credit cards that are not on an italian bank. Doesn't have to do with Chip/Pin, etc. just no foreign cards, or else the website hangs up. People are telling me that's for all italian cell companies.

I never had a problem in the past because I needed to keep my usa cell phone number active at all times. In the past while living here I just purchased a portable TIM modem and kept it in my pocket. Since switching to using an Italian SIM around last February, I still haven't found a great solution when I go back and forth.

It's a pain to have to go to the cell phone store when you are running out of data or minutes because their websites won't take a USA credit card. Probably not that much of an issue for a short vacation, but repeated long trips still cause cell phone headaches, at least to me.

maclover

It's the same way round Perche

When I purchased a prepaid ATT SIM card (and it was quite a challenge already few years back) they didn't let me pay for it with credit card but just with cash and bear in mind I was at the store and it would have been a one shot purchase.

What you are talking about is a repetitive charge on a monthly basis and I guess that for whatever reason that can't be applied toward foreign cards (especially thinking of fraud and the like).

The trick could be to buy a yearly data card for Tablet. It comes with 1 full year of data included and it works/ed on voice too. But, of course, for that you need to top off the credit separately.