Vodafone Romania prepaid internet card
 

There's a new Prepaid Internet offer from Vodafone Romania. The coverage is excellent on the new HSUPA 900 network and fair on the HSUPA 2100 one.

The SIM card is free but must be purchased with a top-up voucher worth at least €5. A USB modem pack is available for €35 (no credit included).

Cost/Transfer/Validity/Speed
€5/0.5 GB/10 days/3.6 Mbps
€7/1 GB/10 zile/3.6 Mbps
€10/1 GB/30 zile/3.6 Mbps
€14/2 GB/30 zile/3.6 Mbps
€20/4 GB/30 zile/7.2 Mbps
€30/8 GB/30 zile/21.6 Mbps

Any unused credit is valid for 10 months.

re: romania prepaid internet
 

this is great and timely news. i will be there in july and am not happy with the options i've found on the internet. in fact i haven't seen anything near those prices - are you sure those rates are per GB?

does the same SIM offer GSM as well?

any idea where the vodaphone store/kiosk is in cluj? perhaps the airport?

any good recommendations for the UK?

re: vodafone.ro mobile internet
 

Vlad,

the vodafone website isn't exactly clear on the cost. the price tiers you mentioned seem to be for the USB card:

https://www.vodafone.ro/personal/int.../index.htm#id2

while the section that clearly mentions internet on the mobile handset only offers prices if 1) you are an existing vodafone subscriber or 2) if you are a USB card user:

https://www.vodafone.ro/personal/int.../index.htm#id2

do you interpret the website any differently? or better yet, have you personally used a vodafone SIM card in a handset and paid according to the price structure you posted?

thanks!

The 2nd link is for handsets (unknown if it works with modems). 0.75 EUR = 24h and 75 MB or 3.99 EUR = 30 days and 500 MB. Both have been there for a while and I can confirm it works (you might need to call support to enable "mobile internet" at all). It works with any prepaid voice SIM (new or existing). When you want to use any of these "boosters" you need to enable it via *147# and follow the menu (otherwise it will be very expensive per kb!!!).

The plans with GB are from what they say available for data cards but there's no reason not to work in smartphones. They're brand new.

Support is nice and still free I believe (except for the fact that they try to hide the humans in the maze of menus you get when calling *222) but quite useless especially for data stuff, keep pushing and you'll get what you want.

Keep in mind all prices don't include VAT and the exchange rate they use is usually outrageous. If you register the card you can pay by mastercard or visa (including non-local cards) and you get fair exchange rate.

That's very interesting info.
Let me see if I get this correct:

I can walk into a shop in Romania that sells pre-paid SIM cards and buy a Vodafone "voice" SIM.
I activate this SIM and then also enable a data package via *147#.
For data, I pay 3.99 EUR and get 500 MB for 30 days.
For local voice calls, I pay local rates.

Is all that correct?
Any idea what the local rate for local calls is?
Any idea what the international calling rates are for these SIM cards?
Thanks!

RO vodafone prepaid
 

I'm in Romania now. I've been to 3 vodafone shops. They have each told me that the voice SIM card is not the same as a GPRS data SIM. You can get WAP and Internet on the voice SIM. I paid 4 EUR for the base package, 1000 min in network, 60 min international and/or out of network, and 60 SMS. I added 120 min international and 120 SMS for 7 EUR. I added 250mb Internet/WAP (with proxy) for 3.99 EUR, but cannot get GPRS internet on the SIM card. I'm stuck using a browser on a tiny screen. So I cannot tether or use my email client.

Also if you pay by credit card, verify the amount before entering your pin on the handheld apparatus. When I purchased my SIM, the clerk accidentaly added two digits at the end which caused me to pay over $4,600 USD for my SIM card! My bank blocked my visa card until I went back to the shop the next day to undo the mistake.

The APN settings they gave me are:
live.pre.vodafone.com
user: live
pwd: vodafone

if anyone knows more than the 3 clerks i have spoken to, please post the APN settings and the exact option under *147# to enable the data plan.

thanks!

Friendly advice: try not to give your credit card to small shops (or well to anybody) except ATMs (preferably attached to a bank) and maybe cashiers in large supermarkets.

live.pre.vodafone.com should work with the 3.99 250MB plan just fine. I didn't try any tethering (probably it's discouraged anyway) but android and symbian apps worked just fine (including non-web apps like fring and mai clients, no proxy of course). You can check if you have the option activated and how much it's left with *123# (free)
Now I remember: important point: your "phone" sim might not be activated for "mobile internet"; ask somebody to call for you *222 (free) and make sure you have "mobile internet" active in the system (it is just a flag, not something you have to pay for and independent from any subscription).
There's also indeed the "data" card (new) and you can buy the SIM for nothing I believe and only put let's say 5 EUR for 500 MB (using in 3G USB dongles is permitted and encouraged).

For data service you need to get the "Cartela Internet" SIM card. Most Vodafone Corporate stores will give it to you for free as long as you top it up at the time of purchase. Some stores may ask you to bring your USB modem to check its compatibility.

The Vodafone Live! service available on voice prepaid cards will not work with USB sticks aside from POP3/IMAP/SMTP email.

romania vodafone PAYG SIM
 

i decided to start the procedure over entirely based on the assumption that i wasn't crazy, that the vodafone clerks don't always know everything about data offers and APN, and that the internet is functional. i finally got it working. SMTP was fine, the speed and coverage were superb, and the voice and data offers were great.

my experience with t-mobile while in the UK was also excellent, both voice and data.

Success!
 

I've just come back from Romania. Beautiful country with incredible hiking in the mountains (Retezat, Fagaras, Bucegi).

On my 1st day in the country I bought a 4-Euro SIM that gave me that much worth of voice service at pretty high per-minute rates.

The next day I went into the (only) Vodafone shop in Sinaia. There was a lady there that spoke perfect English and knew exactly what I needed. She sold me a "voice plan" for another 4 Euro that gave me much better rates for voice and SMS, including on the credit I had originally.

She also gave me a 4-Euro DATA PLAN with 500 MB good for 30 days. The setup took about 40 minutes (there was some problem with their severs probably), but finally worked, and worked perfectly!
She said it wouldn't work as a modem but only on the device itself, but she was wrong. For the next 2 weeks I had perfect 3G (HSPA) signal across the country, except for remote areas where they only had GPRS (and not EDGE, strangely). I was online on my HTC Touch Pro and my laptop at all times.