Greece HSPA (prepaid and postpaid offers)

[wisniak]

Evan,

Just to verify that these updated plans are also valid for iPhones and they are applicable for Data (GPRS/3G) including emails and full Web browsing? (Not WAP browsing through their Portal).

I ask since last month I was in Italy, purchased a Vodafone SIM and for the life of me couldn't get it activated on the iPhone data packages (so instead of 3 Euros I ended paying up ~50 Euros for 10 days...). And not one of the several Vodafone employees knew what I was talking about.
Sadly I was not able to find a TIM or Wind store, because I would have purchased a different SIM with easier usage.

So since I'm planned to visit Greece next month, I want to save myself some unnecessary grief.

Thank you.

[Evan]

I used recently all the three mobile operators with their "Internet" (not WAP) APN with two different modems and two mobile phones, and I didn't have any problem regarding browsing, pop3 and imap email, audio and video streaming etc. Wind has even the voip and p2p ports open...

I don't use an iPhone to know if it works with those mobile plans but I don't see a reason why not, except if the phone is locked or it uses a different protocol to connect to the Internet.

[wisniak]

OK
Thank you.

[italos]

Just an update to this based on my experience.

1) Availablility is very very limited. ie ( they are out of stock ).
I was only able to get mine as I know someone who knows someone...

2) The 20 euro pack gives you 7 days to use the 1G. In order to upgrade to 30 days I had to pay an extra 10 euro. the OTE staff were unable to do this so I went to a Germanos store who were happy to help except when I paid the 10 euro in order to top up to 30 I found that it would only go as far as 28 euro. The missing 2 was due to tax.....

So I had to go back purchase another $5 top up to get me to $33 and then I was able to activate the 30 days usage...

Another screw up was that I orginally purchased the $10 top up from a periptero (newsagent) but that was o9nly vaild for mobiles not internet...


hmmmm.... the joys of doing things in a foreign country.....

Originally Posted by Evan

An update on the previous posts. Cosmote has just announced its first prepaid plans for data connection on computer. The plans are quite more expensive than the similar plans of Wind and Vodafone but I post them here in case there is only 3G coverage of Cosmote on the place you will visit.

COSMOTE Internet On The Go with Card

They offer 3 plans, each with 1GB included volume, that differ on the connection time only. The 1-day plan costs 5€, the 7-day plan 10€, and the 30-day plan 30€. After 31 August 2010, they will cost 10, 14 and 50€, respectively.

You can get the SIM pack for 20€ or the Full Pack with 50€ (which includes USB modem) from any Cosmote or Germanos shop, activate and register the SIM and connect immediately. In case you need the connection settings for your own USB modem, the APN is "internet" and leave everything else blank.

More info in Greek here (after the middle of the page):
COSMOTE: /??? '????/COSMOTE Internet On The Go

[timmfive]

Hi all, love this site. Have been using in the UK (3), France (Orange), Italy (TIM), and Greece (Q) to get unlimited internet on my Nexus One android phone. (France was very tricky, and Italy was 250MB/month).

Anyway, there have been some great contributors for this Greek thread.
After reading all 13 pages it seemed like the best/obvious/only option was Wind and the ~€18 for 1G deal. :-/ (Which frankly, isn't great... pretty expensive for 1G)
So I went into a Wind shop the other day to get the above.
There were two useless agents, but one really good guy there who knew his stuff.

I explained that what was most important for me was internet on my phone.
He knew about the Wind 1G/30day "deal", but said he was going to sell me the Q package as he reckoned it was unlimited.
I said that it seemed Q was only 100M a month, or whatever, and he said that while that is what it says, it is really unlimited.
It was only a €5 risk and I am currently at ~500M and its still working.

It was a bit painful to get working, but here is my workflow:

1) Q-card, buy it for €5 at a Wind store. I think it comes with €1 credit which will be used below.
2) install it in phone. On my Android it shows a little "R" next to the network, meaning Roaming, but the guy reckoned that was normal. Said it was cause WIND bought Q and their network roams on WINDs... if that makes sense... i was a bit worried about this initally.
But I think the most important point here is, in your android/iphone whatever, you will need to enable the tickbox to "enable data when roaming".
2.5) APN is simply "myq" for name/APN. nothing else changed.
3) Dial 1333. not sure what this is, but you will hear a Greek recording, then a long tone. Apparently this is just a normal call to activate/unlock the SIM.
4) Buy "Q" credit from a kiosk/tobacco shop. I bought €5.
5) to install the credit i had to dial 1223, listen to what sounds like an advertisment, wait for a slight pause in the recording, enter 16-digit credit code, follow by #. (the tobacco agent was kind enough to help me with this... i just put it on speakerphone!)
6) dial 12200, press 1, 1, 1. this should activate the 1500 SMS/etc package mentioned in previous posts.
7) reboot your phone.
hopefully at this point you will see your 3G data icon start working.
9) don't take the p1ss with the data connection especially when/if tethering to netbook.
9.5) don't tell too many people about this and hope it lasts.
10) enjoy!

TIM

PS: ~500k down/300k up. worked acceptably for a sip call.
if there are any Q users out there who know how to change any of the menus/texts to english, please let me know.

[timmfive]

Hi all,
after reading all of the above, the 1G/30day/€18 WIND package seemed like the only way to go.
however, i think you will find that the Q-card is the way to go, even though it says only 100MB...

was a bit crazy to get activated, but here is my workflow:
i actually posted this a few weeks ago, but seems it was moderated!? :-/
1) buy Qcard for €5, includes 1€ credit needed to activate some package...
2) install into unlocked phone, will look as though it is Roaming on network. Was told this is cause Q roams on WIND network. Was initally concerned, but seems to work fine. Main point is to make sure you set phone to allow data when roaming. APN is "myq", all defaults.
3) dial 1333, listen to some recording followed by long beep. not sure what this is, but think it is needed to activate/unlock SIM card.
4) dial 12200, try and figure out recording, but need to press 1, 1, 1.
5) reboot phone.

should hopefully be back on the grid!
enjoy
TIM

[Evan]

Originally Posted by italos

Just an update to this based on my experience.

As I said on my previous post that you quoted, the only reason you would have gone with the data plans of Cosmote, was only if you didn't have 3G coverage with the other three providers, since Cosmote data plans were much more expensive than the ones of Vodafone, Wind or Q.

Originally Posted by timmfive

Anyway, there have been some great contributors for this Greek thread.
After reading all 13 pages it seemed like the best/obvious/only option was Wind and the ~€18 for 1G deal. :-/ (Which frankly, isn't great... pretty expensive for 1G)
So I went into a Wind shop the other day to get the above.
There were two useless agents, but one really good guy there who knew his stuff.

Most of the agents are often useless, so you will be much better if you rely on the information posted here based on the official sites of the providers. For example, there wasn't any "~€18 for 1G deal", it was an 9.90€ "summer offer" that went back to its original 15€/1GB price last October. Also the data plan of 100MB/1€ of Q is not available anymore, it ended a couple of weeks ago.

I don't blame entirely the agents though, because the prices, offers and validity of the available data plans change very often. There are many many changes since the last time I wrote the compilation posts, so I'm currently preparing an update which I'll post here as soon as I prepare it.

[timmfive]

Thanks for the reply Evan.
Really look forward to your next updated compilation.
Crazy how quickly things change here (and hopefully improve).

But in the case of the Q-card unlimited internet, I agree: I think it has ended.
Around March 1st I noticed the speeds drop from 500k to 50k.
They are still letting me access the interet, but at 50k... it takes, like a minute to load a single webpage. Not great. But might still be an option for somepeople who just want to check their Facebook and send the odd gmail from their phone. Tethering is terribly slow though.

So now I am lost again.
I might go back and talk the Wind guy who helped me out the last time and see what my best option is. Probably the €15/month Wind 1 Gig deal. :-/

[wisniak]

Hi,

I'm finally traveling to Greece on mid April.
I hope that there will be an update here by then.

Are there stores in the Athens airport where I can buy & activate the SIM card (of whatever cellular company I find there)?
I don't want to be stuck w/o a SIM card. I don't know the free WIFI situation in the areas I'm going to be visiting (mostly mountain areas/villages).

And how long till the SIM card is activated (in case this is relevant)? In France it took about 2 days...

I have another alternative, which is to rent here at home a WIFI device which will include an appropriate SIM card. This will cost me about 18 Euros a day for 200MB (even if I won't use even 25% of that..), but the upside is that since the device is WIFI, my wife will be able to use her laptop with the device as well.
And if I'm REALLY lucky, the iPad2 will land here before we travel, so I'll be able to take it with me.

[caliston]

There's a Germanos shop in Athens airport, on the arrivals level after customs. Number 22 here:
http://www.aia.gr/shopping_center/im...airportMap.pdf

Germanos has a franchise with Cosmote, so you'll only be able to buy a Cosmote card there.

I'd be a bit careful of prepaying for a data plan in advance, especially if you're going to be in the mountains. You may well have signal difficulties, and you don't want to restrict yourself to one particular network if you can help it. I have no idea whether your EUR18/day data plan is roaming, or has tie-ins with particular networks in each country. If it does, you may be out of luck. I very much doubt useful free or pay wifi unless you're staying in upper-end hotels.

So if you really need data, I'd buy a SIM card on each network, and then see what signal you get. Cosmote is usually the best, but it varies.

Are you connecting into an internal flight? How long do you have? To buy cards on each network, you can get a train towards Athens and buy cards from shops there. My first suggestion is get a local 'Proastiakos' train (not a metro) to Neratziotissa. Timetable here, it's about 20 mins each way (and EUR8 ):
http://tickets.trainose.gr/dromologi...s/AER-KIAT.pdf
http://tickets.trainose.gr/dromologi...s/KIAT-AER.pdf

Next to Neratziotissa station is 'The Mall Athens', a huge American-style shopping mall. That has Wind, Vodafone and Cosmote shops, as well as Germanos and others. They're also open a lot longer hours than most neighbourhood phone shops (website only gives me Christmas opening times, but mostly 0900-2100, not sure about Sundays).

Or perhaps locals can recommend places nearer the airport (many of the stations are in the middle of a motorway, so aren't best placed for shops)?

Also, if you have an Android phone there are wireless tethering apps (either in Android Market or native in Android 2.2). It turns your data connection into a wireless hotspot. I've seen the ZTE Blade in WIND shops for EUR169 or EUR179, and unlock codes can be freely generated on the web. Not a cheap solution (particularly since we can get the same phone in the UK for £79), but it's the same price as 10 days of your wifi connection! JoikuSpot is a similar app for Nokia, there may well be others for other platforms.