wco81

Hmm, they tend to limit to smart phones because a Mifi, especially one that feeds a laptop, would use a lot more data, though those plans seem to have pretty high caps.

Or a lot of carriers give you a cap at certain speeds and then throttle you down after you've reached the threshold.

Jake Gittes

I don't know about MiFi connectivity, but I used Yoigo this past summer in Barcelona. They had the same cheap data rate, and I was able to pick up a SIM easily with a passport at a Carphone Warehouse.

Jake Gittes

Firstly, thanks for your initial reply, that's the best help I've had in a while! I had used SFR the last time I was in France in 2010, and I had hell trying to set it up. (It took 48 hours after I "activated" my SIM before I could use my phone.)

Also like both you and the poster noted above, SFR seems iPhone specific. I've got an Android Smartphone; so it seems like Orange is the way to go. I use the gmail app for all my email; so if I understand you correctly, it'll still work as it avoids "no-email" policy.

wco81

Isn't Carphone Warehouse a UK chain?

Do you perhaps mean www.phonehouse.es?

Did you use it only in a phone? Or did you try to connect a laptop or multiple devices to it?

JohnnyColombia

Chile

Had a dog of a time in Chile last week.

There are three networks Claro, Movistar and Entel.

Bought a Claro Micro SIM for iPhone, it cost CLP1 and came with CLP6500 of free credit. CLP1 is USD1/500 i.e 0.2¢ so as such they were unable to bill it, I queued for 20 minutes and they just gave me a receipt without taking any money off it.

Insterted, it had a phone number and its CLP6500 of credit, I sent a text message, got a reply, got a phone call, activated my data package for CLP990 and there you go, the data package did not work and I could not make calls.

I could call customer support though but nobody else.

Attempt number 2. I went to a call shop that sold all networks' prepaid SIMs in sealed packs. He tried to persuade me to not buy one, as did everyone else in Chile. Eventually bought a regular Entel SIM for CLP4500 with CLP1000 of credit. The shop owner cut it down for iPhone. Activated the SIM by entering a false RUT 111.111.111.11 and voila it worked. Called 301 to buy a week's internet package and I had internet too.

Without much using the internet package (I had wifi) I used a week's internet in about 8 hours. So I bought a month's internet for CLP2990. That lasted just over 2 days, so I bought another month's internet. Without using it at all, that vanished too in about 2 days.

All in all fairly sucky, I spent 9 bucks on the chip then an extra 12 bucks for internet which didn't really work and vanished rapidly.

Cureless

I just went to Costa Rica (where I'm originally from).

Costa Rica used to be a telecom monopoly (ICE) and they recently opened the doors to other companies. The 3 main players are ICE, Claro and Movistar.

Claro- Phone calls worked fine. Data didn't work. I got a few glimpses of things working but it was a mess. I can't tell what wasn't working (and I'm a tech guy). At the store they gave me 2 different APNs but nothing worked. I tried 3 different phones (Nexus One, Atrix 4G (unlocked), Inspire 4G (unlocked)). Claro also did not have good coverage outside the main metropolitan area. I'm sorry but I can't remember the APNs.
Once you get the sim card, you need to enable internet by texting a code. You can enable internet for 1 day (recurring, text back to cancel), 7 days or 15 days.


ICE/Kolbi- ICE is the government telco in Costa Rica, their mobile service is called Kolbi (kölbi to be exact). The coverage is great and everything worked as advertised. IIRC you need to set your APN to "kolbi3g". Last time I checked (Jan 1st, 2012) the price for data access was c200/day (about $0.40). I think this is 128Kbps unlimited. There is a faster internet option but I never got around to setting it up. I didn't do anything to enable internet, setting the APN was enough. However, you should check whether this is really the case or they enabled it when I bought the SIM.

There is a Kolbi store at the airport, inside the security area, near the stairs to immigration. I'm not sure if they sell the prepaid cards there. You can recharge the phone in many places (stores, supermarkets, etc). I can't remember what you need to buy the card, passport might be enough.


I didn't try Movistar. There are also a couple other mini carriers but I didn't deal with them either.

http://www.grupoice.com/wps/portal/S...repago_Planes/
http://movistar.cr/prepago/
http://www.claro.cr/wps/portal/cr/pc.../como-funciona

Also, IIRC, Costa Rica 3G runs at 850.

tai4de2

In Thailand, TRUE has 3G service in Bangkok and Pattaya. I recently used it quite successfully in my unlocked HTC Titan Windows Phone.

* Purchased SIM at airport counter. They tried to insist that 3G is "iPhone only" and showed me a micro-SIM. Nonsense. Buy their normal prepaid, full-size SIM. Since I was sure they'd never heard of Windows Phone I told them I had an Android device to trick them into dealing with me properly.

* No ID of any kind is required for prepaid SIMs in Thailand.

* The cost of the SIM itself was negligible. I bought a ~1000 THB prepaid card. I then followed printed instructions they gave me (which were clear) to activate a 1 month, 3GB plan, for 699 THB, which was immediately debited when I activated it.

Other packages: 50MB for 50 THB; 100MB for 129 THB; 500MB for 399 THB. All valid for 1 month.

* My phone has a Connection Setup app that ran to configure everything when I put in the TRUE SIM, so I didn't need to fuss with APNs -- it just worked and the 'H' indicator started lighting up on my phone. However, SMSes arrived with all the relevant info on activation.

* Speeds seemed to be 1-2 Mbit and connectivity availability was about as reliable as on AT&T at home in the US.

* True's UMTS service is on 850MHz.

tai4de2

XL 3G SIM.

* Purchased in XL shop in a mall in Blok M.
* Passport required. They accepted the copy I had on me in lieu of my actual passport.
* SIM card was 2000 IDR.
* 500MB of 3G data was 25000 IDR.

The person I worked with in the XL shop wanted to set the APN on my phone but HTC Connection Setup ran and configured things automatically and so we did not need to mess with it.

My phone bounced around between '3G' and 'H' as I moved around Jakarta; connectivity mostly worked. It was not as reliable as TRUE 3G in Thailand. For email and occasional other smartphone use such as maps, browsing, it was fine. Couldn't really argue for a total USD equivalent price of about $3 for the SIM + 500MB of data.

I believe their service is on 2100MHz.

wco81

So a new option may have opened up in France:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/n...nd-3g-data.ars

Question is how good is their coverage compared to Orange, Vodaphone, SFR, etc.

YVR Cockroach

Looks like you need a French bank account and delivery address though.

wco81

That's what I was afraid of, no retail presence (or limited retail presence like Carrefour, whose stores are not in the best locations).

YVR Cockroach

Least of one's worries (at least to those w/o French bank accounts). I went through the motions of buying one but it needed bank account info.

Does Carrefour even have a mobility service? I can find those for Auchan and Leclerc online but not Carrefour (will be out where there are lots of hympermarches but no mobile shops!)

wco81

http://mobile.carrefour.fr/

They also have them in Spain.

TAHKUCT

Do you have a link for spain? cannot find it via google

wco81

Looks like this page links to it.

http://prepaid-wireless-internet-acc...in+-+carrefour

I'm going to Spain next month but probably not going to make it out to a Carrefour.

Gonna check out El Corte Ingles, which is suppose to have counter for mobiles.

Or maybe a Phone House.