Visiting Canada? Take Your Italian Vodafone SIM!
Sep 29, 2014, 12:09 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,746
Visiting Canada? Take Your Italian Vodafone SIM!
I keep an Italian Vodafone SIM as it has what I think are the best roaming rates in Europe - 3 Euro per day gets you 500MB of high speed data, 25 incoming and 25 outgoing minutes, and 50 SMS.
For what they say is a limited time (now through January 2015, was the end of September) those same rates are available in the US and Canada. While those rates aren't so great for the US, they are pretty fantastic for a short trip to Canada where rates on prepaid SIMs are ridiculously high, with very little data. As an example of how high the Canadian mobile phone rates are, most plans still charge extra for "long distance." In other words, if you are in Vancouver and calling Toronto you pay more than to call Vancouver. I live in the US and my kids who are in there teens and 20's do not know what long distance is.
Here is a link to the Vodafone "Smart Passport" page: http://www.vodafone.it/portal/Privat...SMART-Passport
For what they say is a limited time (now through January 2015, was the end of September) those same rates are available in the US and Canada. While those rates aren't so great for the US, they are pretty fantastic for a short trip to Canada where rates on prepaid SIMs are ridiculously high, with very little data. As an example of how high the Canadian mobile phone rates are, most plans still charge extra for "long distance." In other words, if you are in Vancouver and calling Toronto you pay more than to call Vancouver. I live in the US and my kids who are in there teens and 20's do not know what long distance is.
Here is a link to the Vodafone "Smart Passport" page: http://www.vodafone.it/portal/Privat...SMART-Passport
Sep 29, 2014, 5:43 am
#2
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Detroit; Formerly Dubai
Posts: 3,652
In May, I bought a EuropaSIM before they stopped selling them. They were Vodafone Italy Sims. Unfortunately, my trip cancelled and I ddn't put a recharge on it. I tried to get it going in September and it was dead as a door nail. If I'm doing something wrong, I'd love to get it going. Otherwise, does anyone know a good source for Vodafone SIM? You need to know that you'll have an Italian phone number in Canada, but it is a good deal. Do you know if Canadian calls are included, or only calls to the EU. If so, you'll need a way to call back through these destinations to your ultimate destination.
VOIP Over 3g works pretty good over Bell and Telus. Neither of these carriers strictly enforces their tablet rules on their iPad plans which is another way to approach the problem. You need to manually set your APN to the the tablet pan for this to work.
VOIP Over 3g works pretty good over Bell and Telus. Neither of these carriers strictly enforces their tablet rules on their iPad plans which is another way to approach the problem. You need to manually set your APN to the the tablet pan for this to work.
Sep 29, 2014, 1:23 pm
#3
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 2,304
@Dubai Stu - I recently took my TIM sim back to Italy and had to top it up in a store which could directly put credit on it, not via a top up voucher. A DM to TIM's twitter customer service helped figure out as it wasn't apparent in the web portal. It had been inactive for about a year (since the trip last year with your colleague). The pre-existing credit was still valid after I topped up 5 EUR. Perhaps ask tweet Vodafone IT if that is the case?
@BigFlyer - Orange Spain has a 1 EUR/day for 100 MB. http://first2board.com/wanderlusty/2...1-euroroaming/ TIM IT has 500 MB, 250 min, 250 sms for 10 EUR/1 week for Europe. http://www.tim.it/estero/tim-in-viaggio-pass Neither includes Canada but TIM does include US.
@BigFlyer - Orange Spain has a 1 EUR/day for 100 MB. http://first2board.com/wanderlusty/2...1-euroroaming/ TIM IT has 500 MB, 250 min, 250 sms for 10 EUR/1 week for Europe. http://www.tim.it/estero/tim-in-viaggio-pass Neither includes Canada but TIM does include US.
Last edited by freecia; Sep 29, 2014 at 2:21 pm
Sep 29, 2014, 2:55 pm
#4
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: City of Angels
Programs: DL Kettle| HH Pot
Posts: 525
I keep an Italian Vodafone SIM as it has what I think are the best roaming rates in Europe - 3 Euro per day gets you 500MB of high speed data, 25 incoming and 25 outgoing minutes, and 50 SMS.
For what they say is a limited time (now through January 2015, was the end of September) those same rates are available in the US and Canada. While those rates aren't so great for the US, they are pretty fantastic for a short trip to Canada where rates on prepaid SIMs are ridiculously high, with very little data. As an example of how high the Canadian mobile phone rates are, most plans still charge extra for "long distance." In other words, if you are in Vancouver and calling Toronto you pay more than to call Vancouver. I live in the US and my kids who are in there teens and 20's do not know what long distance is.
Here is a link to the Vodafone "Smart Passport" page: http://www.vodafone.it/portal/Privat...SMART-Passport
For what they say is a limited time (now through January 2015, was the end of September) those same rates are available in the US and Canada. While those rates aren't so great for the US, they are pretty fantastic for a short trip to Canada where rates on prepaid SIMs are ridiculously high, with very little data. As an example of how high the Canadian mobile phone rates are, most plans still charge extra for "long distance." In other words, if you are in Vancouver and calling Toronto you pay more than to call Vancouver. I live in the US and my kids who are in there teens and 20's do not know what long distance is.
Here is a link to the Vodafone "Smart Passport" page: http://www.vodafone.it/portal/Privat...SMART-Passport
In May, I bought a EuropaSIM before they stopped selling them. They were Vodafone Italy Sims. Unfortunately, my trip cancelled and I ddn't put a recharge on it. I tried to get it going in September and it was dead as a door nail. If I'm doing something wrong, I'd love to get it going. Otherwise, does anyone know a good source for Vodafone SIM? You need to know that you'll have an Italian phone number in Canada, but it is a good deal. Do you know if Canadian calls are included, or only calls to the EU. If so, you'll need a way to call back through these destinations to your ultimate destination.
VOIP Over 3g works pretty good over Bell and Telus. Neither of these carriers strictly enforces their tablet rules on their iPad plans which is another way to approach the problem. You need to manually set your APN to the the tablet pan for this to work.
VOIP Over 3g works pretty good over Bell and Telus. Neither of these carriers strictly enforces their tablet rules on their iPad plans which is another way to approach the problem. You need to manually set your APN to the the tablet pan for this to work.
Sep 29, 2014, 8:34 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,746
I think the credit should last from May through September, something does not seem right. Can you register on some cellular system even if calls are blocked? I wonder if the fact you bought it from EuropaSIM has something to do with the problem.
Try registering and calling 404 - it should tex you your balance.
I have had success with issues in the past by tweeting Vodafone Italia, you might want to try that.
I don't believe it is possible to buy a Vodafone Italia SIM without showing up in one of their stores. You need to show your passport and have an Italian tax ID number (Codice Fiscale), and they will usually make one up for you in the store if you do not have one.
I have found that after registering the SIM online at Vodafone Italia, I can see my balance online, and I can add credit using my US Amex Platinum card. Even though there is also a Paypal option, it always fails with my US account.
The free included calls I believe are to call anywhere within the Smart Passport Europe Zone - which includes the US and Canada. I assume that overages are at the very high normal North American roaming rates, but I don't know. I know that during this promotion I have called from Europe to the US and those calls were included.
Given the amount of high-speed data VOIP makes sense. However, the data may go through an Italian proxy server which would cause a high degree of latency.
You must activate Smart Passport on your account - it is not activated by default. I activated mine online.
Try registering and calling 404 - it should tex you your balance.
I have had success with issues in the past by tweeting Vodafone Italia, you might want to try that.
I don't believe it is possible to buy a Vodafone Italia SIM without showing up in one of their stores. You need to show your passport and have an Italian tax ID number (Codice Fiscale), and they will usually make one up for you in the store if you do not have one.
I have found that after registering the SIM online at Vodafone Italia, I can see my balance online, and I can add credit using my US Amex Platinum card. Even though there is also a Paypal option, it always fails with my US account.
The free included calls I believe are to call anywhere within the Smart Passport Europe Zone - which includes the US and Canada. I assume that overages are at the very high normal North American roaming rates, but I don't know. I know that during this promotion I have called from Europe to the US and those calls were included.
Given the amount of high-speed data VOIP makes sense. However, the data may go through an Italian proxy server which would cause a high degree of latency.
You must activate Smart Passport on your account - it is not activated by default. I activated mine online.
In May, I bought a EuropaSIM before they stopped selling them. They were Vodafone Italy Sims. Unfortunately, my trip cancelled and I ddn't put a recharge on it. I tried to get it going in September and it was dead as a door nail. If I'm doing something wrong, I'd love to get it going. Otherwise, does anyone know a good source for Vodafone SIM? You need to know that you'll have an Italian phone number in Canada, but it is a good deal. Do you know if Canadian calls are included, or only calls to the EU. If so, you'll need a way to call back through these destinations to your ultimate destination.
VOIP Over 3g works pretty good over Bell and Telus. Neither of these carriers strictly enforces their tablet rules on their iPad plans which is another way to approach the problem. You need to manually set your APN to the the tablet pan for this to work.
VOIP Over 3g works pretty good over Bell and Telus. Neither of these carriers strictly enforces their tablet rules on their iPad plans which is another way to approach the problem. You need to manually set your APN to the the tablet pan for this to work.