mobile broadband

[NickZ]

:: 187.it - Attivazione linea base - ::

That's it. From the requirements:

First and last name. So Cher can't get one.
Codice fiscal which I think she posted having
address
contact number.

You can tell them to bill you so no banking info need.

Afterwards they send you an email. You phone and setup an appointment. All relatively painless. IIRC she also posted about speaking Italian

TIM when I tested Skype wasn't blocking anything. It's too slow on an Edge network but it worked.

Why do you think she won't have any problems in Italy? Stuff breaks.

[pigro]

keep missing the point all you want. Until you live somewhere permanently you're just pissing away money if you opt to start paying fixed monthly charges at that location for any service that you can't use all the time, if there is a purpose designed alternative solution that costs less initially, has a PAYG model, is as easy/easier, provides most of the same benefits plus several extremely useful additional ones and which fulfills the key requirement of beng useable in both places on demand.

Moni wanted to know if Three mobile broadband was a good choice for use in TWO countries for an UNSPECIFIED length of time. On grounds of ease of setup and cost the answer is YES and YES. After she's permanently in Italy, and on all matters Skype related, you can advise all you want and I'll have nothing to add.

ps. I did a quick search re. skype over mobile networks - looks like you are right there. UK mobile operators did/do implement barring on skype traffic, but most European ones do not appear to do so. Then again, you want a pretty big (i.e. costly) inclusive data bundle if you're gong to run serious volumes of voice calls over a relatively poor quality VOIP service rather than god old GSM, and they'll make their money back that way. Like I said though, the skype bit is outwith the advice I was trying to give.

pps. I'm sure she'll have problems in Italy - everyone does. I'm confident they wont be Three related because there is nothing there to cause a user fixable problem in the set up I've described. Once it's working correctly in UK, it WILL work in Italy. If it stops working, it's the network, the hardware or something you did wrong on your Mac software long after you started using the modem. None of these is unique to the Three USB modem, all can go wrong equally on TI/Alice and I still say that while she has a foot in both camps, dealing with a UK company (and with an inherently portable, zero config device) makes any support easier for a UK national. If it stops working, stick it in any old PC you can blag. if it doesn't work there either, the hardware is shagged. If it does, your Mac is shagged.

[pigro]

in the spirit of competition, fun and desparation, I've added a poll. Its multiple choice :-)

[Cassini]

3 sounds great if you can get it without roaming onto the TIM gprs network at the additional cost - as in my area. TIM's 9gb PAYG suits me when I'm in Italy. Modem costs from Novamedia do include the software its not an extra. Of course not all modems have the same speed capabilities, especially if you can take advantage of UMTS speeds. For the record its an effortless connection and interface too. There are more options for mobile Mac users than there were a few years ago - all information is useful - its good you've shared all this information about 3.

[chrisnotton]

[quote=pigro;89176]I've posted info on this across several other threads in the past, but I suspect many who could benefit from it would never have stumbled upon it there.

If you are a holiday home owner looking for an internet connection in Italy for use during your visits there, but those visits won't be frequent enough to justify the cost of a fixed phone line or a line of sight wi-max type solution, the following may help.
(snip)

My friend uses this TIM/Alice tarif for all his mobile & boradband needs:

TIM - Maxxi Alice 100 Prepagati

He just tops it up on arrival and uses his phone to connect to his laptop by WiFi/Bluetooth/or cable to his desktop and says it works almost everywhere and is fast enough for Skype. The phone is programmed to roam & search any network & connection protocol for the best available and connect up automatically. When he signed up the offer was unlimited capacity but he thinks they may have capped it now.

I would be interested in how it works out for forum members. Unfortunately I have a stone-age phone so I still tend to trot off to the internet café with my laptop for my Skyping.

Pip pip

[juliancoll]

Originally Posted by pigro

in the spirit of competition, fun and desparation, I've added a poll. Its multiple choice :-)

I've voted - you're in the lead!

[NickZ]

Originally Posted by pigro

keep missing the point all you want. Until you live somewhere permanently you're just pissing away money if you opt to start paying fixed monthly charges at that location for any service that you can't use all the time, .

She's been living in Italy for months. Won't be able to order a phone line until she has her own apartment. She states she'll be living full time in Italy and that UK is the travel spot. That sure sounds permanent to me.

PLUS the 7meg ADSL service is cheaper then many of the cell phone services.

[barrov]

Hi all,

I can vouch for the three broadband. I just got it recently and it is excellent.

£7.50 per month (Free modem too) for 3GB. I've been online for around 50 hours so far in the UK and Italy, on trains, in a taxi, in mountains, on lake Garda, all without any problems. A very cost-effective solution for me. (And I've only used about 400MB in the 50 hours!)

Three also have excellent deals for those wishing to call the UK from Italy. I pay £20 a month and I get 1100 minutes or texts (1 text deducts one minute from your total) per month. I can now call home whenever I like without having to bother about using an internet phone or whatever. It's fantastic! As long as you stay on 3's networks in Europe your calls to uk mobiles and landlines are included with your free minutes.

[pigro]

just to clarify, the cost quoted by barrov is for a contract (not PAYG) broadband product, where they are offering free hardware to all contract users & half price on your chosen data bundle for the duration of the contract if you also have a Three phone contract (which barrov does!). So, the 3GB bundle, normally £15, is avaialble for £7.50 (but you have to pay it every month for the duration) - fantastic value if you will be using it on a continuous basis. PAYG still wins out if it's predominantly for occasional use in an Italian holiday home, with UK usage likewise on an occasional basis.

[Nardini]

My experience with Tre (3) here in Italy is dreadful - which is the reason I would suggest caution when dealing with them. I emphasise that I am talking about Tre Italia, not 3 in the UK.

My wife and I got a couple of mobile phones from Tre 3 years ago - the LG camera phone that was on special offer at the time, on a 2 year contract. My wife had no problems with the phone itself - I had a total of 4 replacement phones in the first 3 months. Living in Milano at the time, I had to take the phone and all the packing to the shop where I bought it, after which i had to take it to the service centre close to the Stazione Centrale. Quite a hike for an old boy! After two replacements they had to check my details and the phone before even looking at it, taking several days each time. In fact, the 4th replacement started with them just refusing to change it! A nightmare, in other words.

Aside from the hardware, Tre Italia (I have no idea how they operate in the UK) want credit card details which they then charge against on a monthly basis. Unfortunately they seem to forget to do so every now and then, which prompts their debt collection department to cut one's phone off immediately. Another pain, especially as you have to pay the outstanding amount in a Post Office and then fax the receipt to the Tre Italia office before they would connect it again. No, I was never in a situation where my card was even remotely close to it's credit limit.

They did this to me three times (significant, perhaps) before I decided to call it a day. The SIM in our phones were the small ones that don't seem to fit in many other phones and it is locked to the telephone hardware in any case, making it impossible to use the phone with another SIM whilst all this is going on.

My wife had similar problems with billing and payments, but soldiered on to the end of the contract, when she terminated it. Tre Italia took another couple of payments from her after the contract ended just for good measure. As many of you will know, my wife is Italian and has no problems writing business letters, so there was no ommission at all regarding paperwork - just the complete lack of care on the part of Tre Italia.

So, whilst the advertising looks very attractive and the offers appear irresistible, I would urge you to take care if you deal with Tre Italia - especially if the phone you are looking for will be your primary form of communication. Buyer beware, in other words.

OK. Rant over.