Internet

[Jan Moscovitch]

Hi All,
Its us again.....We are undecided as what to do with regards to internet access and hope someone out there might be able to help.
At home in the UK we are used to wireless broadband but what to do in Italy other then use the internet cafe at Piane di Falarone is the question ? we spend approx half the year at our house between Montegiorgio and Francaville.
Do we plump for a dial up arrangement - we do have a phone line - or as has been suggested by a friend we could use a ' Dongle' Where do they get these names from ! now we no nothing about dongles except its some sort of Pay As You Go system.
Does it work, what is the cost, will it be ok for signals in our location, etc ? any help would be appreciated.
Jan and Tim

[deborahandricky]

Hi Guys
You could have a look at www.tre.it good luck

[gradese]

We got a PAYG dongle from three UK (£50), which we have used successfully here. It works well for email and surfing, but was not quite up to downloading video, which I need to do for my work.

You buy the credit on the 3 site, and have a month in which to use it up. Ten pounds credit was enough for one month for us, and we are fairly heavy users.

The best thing about it is that it works in both places, and you would not need to have a landl line in either country. But the strength of the signal in your areas is important. The 3Italian website has a coverage map.

[woodstock]

We have TIM for 100 hours a month (25/30 euros per month) using a dongle at the moment are looking at a more perm solution this year. It's great when your in the City as you can stream Internet TV quickly but is poor in the country. This is mainly due to 3G being limited over distance, simple rule of line of sight and distance from the radio antenna (those beastly things we complained about in the UK but adore here especially when you don't have a land line). If you want to stream UK TV, then it is best to have a contract UK SIM, but if your happy to miss live footy & rugger matches, then opt for a PAYG Sim from 3, TIM, WIND or Vodafone. A word of warning though, while 3G is available in most cities, not all providers are. Opt for HSPA (HSDPA & HSUPA) if you can, don't waste time & money by connecting with GPRS either. If money is no object, go satellite, you can get up to 24Mbs. Hope this helps.

[deborahandricky]

Originally Posted by gradese

But the strength of the signal in your areas is important. The 3Italian website has a coverage map.

Thats right , it is fairly hit and miss, I use them for my blackbeery type phone, the main reasons we changed, I can use skype on it , and 3 to 3 numbers are free, and most of the calls are i make are to MHO, so lots cheaper.