Prepaid DATA in Spain

[flyfisher]

Originally Posted by drama queen

The stores are in most cities and major towns in mainland Spain. There is a map on their website.

Hipermercados Carrefour

It looks like there might not be a store on Menorca - I think the nearest one might be on Mallorca?

The APN settings were not in the SIM pack. Normally these should be stored on the SIM. Instead the SIM had APN settings for Orange - the network that Carrefour is hosted on. These didn't seem to work - so I simply went into the APN menu on my phone and set up an additional APN for Carrefour. Just add an APN with the following settings - NAME=Carrefour, APN=carrefourinternet.

The SIM is probably designed for use in Carrefour dongles - and these probably automatically set up the APN. I was using the SIM in my phone, so I had to set up the APN manually.

I didn't pay too much attention to the speeds - in general they were good in the cities and towns, and sometimes slower in very rural areas. I was mainly web-browsing, emailing, streaming Google maps and listening to streamed radio sometimes - all of these were fine in all 5 places where I was staying. I also used VOIP and it was mostly ok - sometimes a little choppy - but this is normal when you do VOIP over 3G. Carrefour use Orange's network - so the coverage and speeds are probably the same as Orange.

100MBytes per day is the cap on downloading. I never went above 40MBytes any day - so 100MBytes was fine for me. Every day that you use the Internet, €1 will be deducted from your credit. The minimum top-up seems to be €5, although they asked me to put in €10 when I bought the SIM. Hence the cost works out at €1 per day, but the minimum that you can initially buy is 10 days.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Many thanks. It looks as though I will have to ask around to see if i know any friends who are off to mainland Spain. I think I have one contact who may be able to help. 4 last questions I hope and thanks so far!!

1) How long does the credit last for?
2)Is there a monthly 'maintenance charge?
3)How long does an unused SIM stay active for??
4)How can you 'top up' - hopefully not just via the shops.

Many thanks

[drama queen]

Originally Posted by flyfisher

Many thanks. It looks as though I will have to ask around to see if i know any friends who are off to mainland Spain. I think I have one contact who may be able to help. 4 last questions I hope and thanks so far!!

1) How long does the credit last for?
2)Is there a monthly 'maintenance charge?
3)How long does an unused SIM stay active for??
4)How can you 'top up' - hopefully not just via the shops.

Many thanks

I don't know how long the credit lasts for. The daily tariff plan is not tied to a month (they have another monthly tariff) - so I have no reason to believe that credit will expire at the end of a month. It is essentially a day-pass tariff, and if you don't use the Internet on any particular day it doesn't debit your credit. However, there may be some period of inactivity after which the SIM gets disabled? In most countries this is 6 months to a year. If you have some Spanish, you might be able to find the details in the user manual...

http://www.carrefour.es/telecom/docu...rnet_movil.pdf

They forced me to do a €10 top-up immediately when I bought the SIM - so I suspect that the SIM was active from this time. It didn't bother me, because I needed 10 days of use. However, the credit shouldn't start decrementing until you first access the Internet. Perhaps you could persuade them that you just wanted the SIM and that you would top up at a later stage?

You can top up at any checkout in Carrefour - but they also appear to have an Internet top-up - and perhaps a phone help-line also. I didn't use either of these so I can't be sure how well they work.

Recargas > Carrefour Móvil > Carrefour Telecom

[petkow]

Originally Posted by drama queen

I don't know how long the credit lasts for. The daily tariff plan is not tied to a month (they have another monthly tariff) - so I have no reason to believe that credit will expire at the end of a month. It is essentially a day-pass tariff, and if you don't use the Internet on any particular day it doesn't debit your credit. However, there may be some period of inactivity after which the SIM gets disabled? In most countries this is 6 months to a year.

The most important thing that has been missed in this information is that the SIM has a minimum spend requirement of 3 Euros per month! If you do not meet this, they will debit it from your balance. Therefore if you plan on buying this SIM to use over two holidays, and leave credit on the SIM when you leave, you may find that it is down to zero by the time you are back.

If you can read and understand Spanish, a good resource for prepaid SIM's in Spain is gsmspain.com. For carrefour movil, this page has a lot of information: Foro Carrefour móvil

[JPSmith]

Anybody know if Carrefour/Orange has data coverage on the Canary Islands (Gran Canaria and Tenerife) and Palma de Mallorca? Visiting these on a cruise this fall.

Thanks.

[inquisitor]

These islands are visited by millions of tourists each year making them a gold mine for network operators. Expect excellent coverage not only on the islands but also at the waters surrounding them. Btw in Spain they have coverage maps, too:
http://movil.orange.es/soporte-y-ayu...-de-cobertura/

New to this forum and very uninformed about mobile and internet in Europe. Using an IPhone which I am comfortable with and have used extensively in Mexico (via WIFI, Skype, etc). I purchased a YOIGO sim card on ebay to insert into an IPhone which will not accept it. No credit on the card so I need a lot of help when I get to Spain and actually try to use it. We will be in Barcelona for 2 nights, then Costa del Sol for 8 nights. I was told that YOIGO charge for internet use is flat 1.20 euros/day. My specific questions:
1. Is the 1.20 euro daily charge for unlimited data usage?
2. Where should I go to activate the card and what will I ask for (what am I trying to buy)? I am thinking maybe I buy 20 euros of credit for example and then each day that I use it, the fee is deducted from that credit?
3. Are there settings that I will need to change or other changes to make on my phone to make it functional?
4. Although purchased primarily for internet usage (and therefore Skype via the internet), are the options for a few calls in Spain and for calling back to the US better or just as good as using Skype?

As you can tell, I am pretty clueless about all of this so would be so appreciate for any knowledge someone is able to share! Thank you!

[dohouch]

no shortage of places to add credit, internet cafes, international call shops, post office (slow), filling stations, some tobacconists, I would write "YOIGO" and your number on a piece of paper and hand it to them with €5 or €10 whatever u want. Yes it's €1.20 +tax =€1.39 I think. Yoigo have some English speaking agents u may have to wait for a ring back. You will need Yoigo to send u the ISP APN settings , Or if u know where to put them try "Connection Name "Yoigo Internet" Data Bearer "Packet data" Access Point Name"internet" User Name and PWD NONE. I use Truphone for international calls over wifi.

[player899955]

I would like to use voice and data on my iPhone, which Spanish provider has the most convenient package?

[cameronjpu]

Has anyone used Carrefour in spain for prepaid data? It seems to be a pretty good plan for travelers. 29e for 3GB spread over a month isn't bad if you're there for 2 weeks as I'm going to be. Curious about any reviews, if someone has used it. I'll be in Barcelona, Nerja, Seville, Granada and Madrid.

[dacritts]

I'm using Carrefour Movil at the moment, but only the basic 100 Mb/day for €1 + IVA @ 18%. No issues with purchase, setting up or signal quality.

Speed drops to about 16 kbps the moment you hit the 100 Mb limit (no need to reconnect).

I've read elsewhere that there can be difficulties with the Orange network (which Carrefour uses) in some rural areas.

My only problem has been with topping up. Most other kiosks and supermarkets don't sell Carrefour Movil, I think Dia supermarkets do. Carrefour Movil online and the bank ATM network don't appear to allow overseas credit/debit cards (tried both several times, always failed). So my only option for topping up has been the Carrefour outlets themselves. But if you only need a once-off purchase for the whole trip you should be OK.

Don't forget to add 18% IVA to all prices quoted. The package costs €10 including IVA and which includes €5 credit. You get 10% discount in-store for any top-up of €20 or more.

Hope that helps. Have a good trip.