Greece GPRS?

[caliston]

I'm going to Greece for 3 weeks, and am going to need some kind of data access. I suspect there won't be much wifi where I'm going, so that leaves GPRS. Any suggestions for GPRS data providers for large amounts of traffic (few MB per day)? I've got a UK Virgin SIM at £5/MB, and a Greek TIM (now WIND) SIM which I think does GPRS but can't find the prices.

I notice both Vodafone and WIND are doing unlimited GPRS contracts. I'm guessing it won't work, but what's the minimum term on a contract?

Otherwise Vodafone are doing 4.3EUR/MB if you buy a 10MB card, which is better. Is there any other networks worth considering? Particularly any that work by roaming. I've heard of WIND Italia but it seems they're not cheap any more - any others?

[gmmour]

The best offer currently available is what I, and thousands of other techno-freaks in Greece, currently use and there is no other service like that offered by any other provider.
It's called WIND Plus non-stop. It is a service that gives you unlimited WAP access with 3,49 Euro per month. It is marketed as a service that offers you unlimited access to the WIND Plus portal but it actually allows you to surf the whole internet unlimited. This can be done using your phone's browser, Opera mini or even by tethering your phone to a computer and using the settings that I'm copying below.

Moreover, WIND also allows you to access the internet with the same settings even without the Plus non-stop option. In that case they will charge you a WAP access ticket of 42 cents, every time you initiate a GPRS session (maximum session time 24 hours, i.e. you can keep the session open for an entire day and be charged one "access ticket", after the first 24 hours, the session won't be interrupted but a second ticket will be charged and so on).

The WIND plus non-stop option with 3,49 Euro per month is the best choice and the WIND plus pay-per-access scheme is also good if you're planning to stay for less than 9 days and willing to keep your WAP session up and uninterrupted whole day long!

In order to activate WIND plus non-stop on a WIND prepaid you have to SMS the word "PLUS" to 349 and the service will be activated for the next 30 days, after which you have to send this SMS again. In order to activate the service 3,49 Euro will be deducted from the prepaid balance of the account. For contract (postpaid) subscribers the WIND plus non-stop option is activated at WIND stores.
Nothing more whatsoever is charged for data usage on your account after that, provided that you're always using the WIND Plus access point (gwap.b-online.gr)!

The WIND plus settings can be automatically downloaded from www.wind.com.gr to your phone (make sure you're always using the WIND plus profile and NOT the WIND Internet one which charges by kb, many users actually delete the WIND Internet profile from their phones to avoid accidental charges).

In order to use the WIND plus service with a computer tethered to your mobile phone, you have to enter the following settings to your computer:
access point "gwap.b-online.gr", username "wap", password "wap" for your cellphone's PC suite and you also have to set the following proxy server on your web browser IP: 192.168.200.10 port: 9401 as well as on the windows connections panel (for IE and MSN Messenger).

I have used that with a Nokia N70 tethered to my PC through Bluetooth and USB and the Nokia PC Suite and it worked perfectly. Under 3G coverage it had speeds up to 200-250 kbps! It worked excellent for browsing, emails and MSN Messenger for me!

If you pay your account (for prepaid subscribers) with a WIND Bonus American Express card the WIND Plus non-stop service is offered free of charge, also the service is offered free of charge on the WIND MAX postpaid plan (for all users regardless of account payment method).

There is also the WIND 1 postpaid plan which has no monthly fee and no commitments. It has the same charges as prepaid but it is postpaid. I don't think it would interest you, it's just an interesting option for people staying longer in Greece but not long enough in order to sign-up for a "real" postpaid plan but are also too lazy to buy prepaid vouchers. On WIND 1 (unless you're paying using WIND Bonus AM.EX.) you have to pay 3,49Euro per month for WIND Plus non-stop.

There is one drawback to the service though, which is not such a big problem for everyday internet usage:
No single entity above 1MB in size is allowed for download. This means that you can surf the web, check your emails (but not download attachments larger than 1MB in size) and chat on MSN Messenger through WIND plus but you cannot download files that are larger than 1MB as these will be blocked by the above mentioned proxy server. Using WIND Plus on my laptop for almost a month when I was away from a fixed ADSL connection I have to admit that the 1MB file size limitation has never been a problem!

In this case and if a file download is absolutely necessary, you can still use the WIND-Internet profile "gint.b-online.gr" which charges per kilobyte (the charge is about 0,0014 Euro per kilobyte). I used that to download the online upgrade for my phone's software which was 2MB in size, it cost me about 3 Euro...

Visit www.wind.com.gr (where you can also request for automatic settings to be SMSed to your mobile) and www.windplus.gr where more information is available regarding mainly the WIND Plus portal but also the WIND plus non-stop option for unlimited WAP access. You can also check whether 3G coverage is available in the area you're visiting (some islands are covered too!)

If you're looking for a WIND prepaid SIM (in case you don't have one already) these are widely available with 5 Euros at virtually any kiosk around Greece and at WIND stores. The prepaid card gives you 1 Euro credit on activation plus 1 Euro credit per month for the next 4 months provided that you recharge your account balance at least once during the month. This means that if you recharge your account at least once a month (cheapest WIND recharge voucher available is 3 Euro) you will get 5 Euro of credit back in five months (matching the initial cost of the prepaid package)!

[caliston]

Thanks, that's excellent! Just the sort of thing I wanted!

A few questions:
I've already got a TIM Free2Go SIM. Assuming it still works (last used in Greece in Oct but I sent a text from the UK in Feb to try to keep it alive), that should now be a WIND SIM?

Is it possible to find out where the 3G sites are (Kifissia and Kefalonia is mostly where I'm interested)?

I'm in Greece once or twice a year. If I use the WIND postpaid plan will that stop my number expiring? How does the postpay work - can I do it on the internet by credit card, for example, or do I need a bank account?

When using the WAP option, what network access do you get? HTTP, HTTPS? Are any other ports accessible? Does it use SOCKS or per-port proxying? I use SSH quite a bit, and have an SSH server on the HTTPS port (port 443). Is the proxy likely to let me through? What's the latency like?

[gmmour]

Originally Posted by caliston

Thanks, that's excellent! Just the sort of thing I wanted!

A few questions:
I've already got a TIM Free2Go SIM. Assuming it still works (last used in Greece in Oct but I sent a text from the UK in Feb to try to keep it alive), that should now be a WIND SIM?

Is it possible to find out where the 3G sites are (Kifissia and Kefalonia is mostly where I'm interested)?

I'm in Greece once or twice a year. If I use the WIND postpaid plan will that stop my number expiring? How does the postpay work - can I do it on the internet by credit card, for example, or do I need a bank account?

When using the WAP option, what network access do you get? HTTP, HTTPS? Are any other ports accessible? Does it use SOCKS or per-port proxying? I use SSH quite a bit, and have an SSH server on the HTTPS port (port 443). Is the proxy likely to let me through? What's the latency like?

In order to keep your SIM alive, you have to recharge at least once a year, sending an SMS won't help. I think it should still be alive, a year hasn't passed since October.

On the wind.com.gr website you can check the coverage in the places you visit. Kifissia is definitely covered by WIND 3G (together with the whole of the Athens Metropolitan Area), Kefalonia seems to be 2G only on the official map although these things change.

For a postpaid plan you have to visit a WIND store. If you pay by credit card it would be very easy to get a contract, although I don't know if a greek tax-number (AFM) is a prerequisite for a postpaid account... If it is, you can get one with a simple application at a local IRS office (Eforia in greek). You don't need a bank account, and since you are an EU citizen, the only thing they'll ask for is your credit card! Don't let them sign you up for WIND Flexy zero, that's the no-monthly-fee program they're promoting but it has some downsides. If you do decide to go postpaid, ask for WIND 1, this is the program that will keep your number alive forever without any payments whatsoever, if you don't use it!

The WIND 1 postpaid program actually will never expire and since it has no monthly fees you can keep your number for ever with 0 Euro!
But anyway a prepaid recharged at least once a year will do the job! Unfortunately WIND doesn't offer online recharge for their accounts, you can always buy a couple of vouchers when you leave Greece and use these to recharge when abroad in order to keep your number alive! If you're visiting Greece twice a year, I don't think you even have to bother recharging from the UK!

Latency is very low when surfing with your phone tethered to your computer! To me (having used it for web browsing, checking email with Outlook and chatting on MSN Messenger) it worked (under 3G coverage) almost as good as with a fixed DSL line! The whole experience works quite fine. HTTP and HTTPS do work (from personal experience), MSN Messenger works too! I don't know if they're forwarding per port or using SOCKS but I do think that the proxy will let your SSH connection through since it is on the HTTPS port which goes through! I suspect it is per-port forwarding though... I really don't remember if it worked for Google Earth, but anywayz I have no clue on the ports that Google Earth works on!

That's all... Just bring your Free2Go SIM with you, download the settings on your phone (from www.wind.com.gr) and the settings on your computer (the ones I gave you above), text "PLUS" to 349 (having at least 3,49 Euro in your account for the fee) and you're ready to go with unlimited surfing for the next 30 days! Oh, and by the way, download Opera Mini on your mobile, if you can't do without internet access at any given time!

Just to give you a clue about the other companies, they only offer either per kilobyte charge for prepaid and postpaid or monthly data plans with some MB included but these are expensive and only available on postpaid.

I do think Vodafone offers a prepaid plan for their Vodafone Mobile Connect Card, but you have to buy the card and their charges are high and per kb...

[gmmour]

Let me add that WIND Mobile TV links are available on the internet so you can watch mobile TV free of charge with TIM!

Recorded programs (like shows, weather etc.) are available on 3G only.
Live TV programs (including all majore Greek channels, MAD music chanel, CNN, ERT Sat and Fashion TV) are also available on 2G.

This is free of charge if you have the appropriate links to be found here:
http://www.myphone.gr/forum/showthre...16#post1119216

In order to use this service you have to download the WIND-Streaming profile (available on www.wind.com.gr).

Forgot to mention that I am not sure if WIND offers 3G access on its prepaid SIM cards... That could be a small problem and may lead you to go to the Greek IRS, get a greek tax-number and sign up for the above mentioned postpaid program (WIND 1 with no monthly fees)...
Kefalonia doesn't seem to have 3G coverage anyway (if you trust the official maps on their site)...

[unobtrusive]

Originally Posted by gmmour

For a postpaid plan you have to visit a WIND store. If you pay by credit card it would be very easy to get a contract, although I don't know if a greek tax-number (AFM) is a prerequisite for a postpaid account... If it is, you can get one with a simple application at a local IRS office (Eforia in greek). You don't need a bank account, and since you are an EU citizen, the only thing they'll ask for is your credit card!

Are you sure about this last statement? Until fairly recently all the mobile operators insisted on seeing your tax declaration for the last year or at the very least some form of documentation proving your income is above a certain amount (e.g official declaration from your employer).

Has something changed recently? Is this specific to WIND?

[gmmour]

Originally Posted by unobtrusive

Are you sure about this last statement? Until fairly recently all the mobile operators insisted on seeing your tax declaration for the last year or at the very least some form of documentation proving your income is above a certain amount (e.g official declaration from your employer).

Has something changed recently? Is this specific to WIND?

Since 2002 I have made two contracts for myself (I don't have a tax declaration because I still don't pay any taxes), I was there when two friends of mine signed their contracts (they were foreign students so neither of them had a tax declaration form) and all of us paid using a credit card.

They never even asked for a proof of the tax-number (AFM)... As soon as you give them a credit card, they don't ask for your tax declaration and you get an online credit approval in seconds.

If you wish to pay in any other way except for credit cards then they ask for a tax declaration form and proof of your AFM, if you don't provide them with a tax declaration then the situation on credit approval varies between the providers. Vodafone usually gets back with a positive approval in two hours from the time you went to the store while WIND usually gives the approval again in some minutes! It has happened to a friend of mine who comes from an asian country, is studying in Greece, doesn't pay taxes and doesn't have an income and also doesn't have a credit card! At Wind (back then Telestet) he got the approval in three minutes without any of the above (just his passport) and at vodafone he got the approval for his line in three hours, and that's back in 2003. I think now things have gotten even easier. I don't think they ask for any of the above mentioned proofs of income any more, a lot of university students sign postpaid contracts without credit cards all the time!

[gmmour]

Did a little research about 3G on Wind prepaids.
It seems that WIND after being the first operator to offer 3G services back in 2003 (it was Telestet back then, then became TIM and now WIND), hasn't still offered 3G access to its prepaid subscribers.

Rumours on greek fora say though that users have started seing 3G access on their mobiles and started to be able to make video calls which means that Wind is expected to launch 3G services to its prepaids in the coming days (probably since they want to link the launch of the service with their new name)...

[caliston]

Thanks, that's really helpful! I'll print all this out and take it with me. I need an ΑΦΜ tax number anyway so I might as well go for the postpaid option. This really saves me quite a lot of money

[gmmour]

You're welcome!

Fresh news:
3G is available as of today to all Wind prepaid subscribers!
Users in greek fora expect some kind of an offer for videocalls to be announced later today. The Wind plus non-stop offer is always available to all Wind subscribers (prepaid and postpaid).