getting married in italy this june - need help getting my phones sorted!
 

i'm going to italy this year to get married, and as i work for myself i need to sort out my mobiles as i'll need internet access while away.

now, i have a united mobile sim that i've used for calls in the past - i normally forward my uk mobile number to it so i don't pay for incoming, and it just uses the free minutes off my orange contract for the transfer.

the bit i'm more concerned about is data - i don't want to spend a fortune!

i need to work out two things:

a) data for the journey - a couple of days in france and switzerland either side
b) data for italy - i'm in italy for a week - and would like to be able to do work poolside!

for part (a) i'm suspecting it may just be easier to roam on my orange sim for data and swallow the cost

for part (b) then i'm not sure what the best option is - i've read about the WIND sim cards and seen some on ebay, but topups seem like a bit of a pain? another option i've seen would be to get a 3 payg sim, and add "Internet Monthly" and use the "3 Like Home" feature - my only concern is that the coverage checker doesn't zoom in enough to see if where i'm going is covered? Does "internet monthly" give full internet access? i.e. from my tytn2 and laptop?

suggestions, anyone?

a, get yourself a GERMAN PAYG Vodafone SIM (called CallYA) at ebay and use "Websessions" 24h -> 14,95 Euro, there are 50MB (limited to 24h) included for this price. Works in F and CH.

b, Wind is great in I, but you can use 3 also. The coverage of Wind should be better than 3 in some places. Do NOT use daily, weekly or monthly, choose the broadband add on if you take the 3 SIM.

attention to 3 sim card: if you want to use it, and you've on Tim coverage (3 goes to roaming on Tim) you'll pay a lot:confused: Wind is better, with good coverage (it hasn't problems in great towns at all)

thanks chaps, i want to get as much as i can sorted before i go so i don't have to worry about it.

so, i'm looking at buying:

a) CallYa (Voda) SIM for France and Switzerland
b) a Three SIM (which i will disable auto network selection on) and use it if i get 3 reception and look to add the 'broadband addon'

Now, for WIND, what would the implications be of buying a SIM card off ebay, such as:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SIM-WIND-9-PIA...QQcmdZViewItem

Would it work? How would i topup?

I'd buy an Italian card in an Italian shop, but that ebay shop is a Wind dealer so I think you can trust it. BTW I don't see the problems for refilling since you'll be using the Wind card in Italy and you can find top-ups almost anywhere in my country! :D You can also refill Wind with O2 scratch cards when you are back to UK, if you wish to keep the card active.

I'd go with Orange for F and CH and Wind in Italy.
Where exactly are you going? Maybe we can tell you if you have 3 coverage, which is surely faster than Wind (3G, often HSDPA, while Wind will probably be just GPRS, maybe EDGE).

BTW refill problems outside of Italy will be normal with all 4 Italian operators. I think with Wind you have more chances to get it refilled also in Britain.

If you choose the WIND SIM, take care for beeing able to get a "Codice Fiscale" a personal registration code for italian residents.

If you need a German Voda give me a notice.

Wind refill is no pain in the a... :D, it´s easy like Effendi said, so no worry.

that is needed for any Italian simcard, not just Wind.

... right, have I wrote something wrong? :D

not at all, I just wanted to make it clear for ca-uk. :D

Wind9 is a very good tariff, even if it has a set-up fee (16 eurocent), optimal to call long time :)