Mobile Internet (without contract)

Hi, I hope someone can help.

I have an O2 internet dongle that is a pay as you go one.  It cost around £30.

It costs £2 a day, £7.50 a month and I forget how much per month.  It's great as you are not tied into any contract and simply pay as you us it. 

Does anyone know if there is something similar in Spain?  I asked in the Telfonica and Vodafone shops but with no luck, I could only get them if i paid monthly on an 18 month contract.

I thought it would be good for when we go over to Spain to be able to check our email etc and also for guests to use when we rent our house out.  I tride to put a link in in case I've explained myself badly, but says I can't til I've done more posts.

You can literally pay for 24 hours (£2) or however long you choose by credit card via your laptop.  It's so easy!

Many thanks in advance

Hi

I am using a Vodafone dongle, while I make up my mind about a more permanent solution, they seem to be available at the Vodaphone shops here on the Costa del Sol.

I only found Vodaphone do pay as you go.

Check here

http://www.vodafone.es/particulares/servicios/internet/modem-usb/#/home

Steve

I know this was originally about "dongles", but like most people these days I use a smartphone for mobile internet access on the phone itself, with my mobile acting as a modem to also give my laptop access.  So I'm really looking into the costs of non-contract SIMs rather than dongles.

The best I've found is "Happy Movil", charging only 1Euro a day for up to 30MB and 7cents per MB after that.  Compare this with the crazy £8 per MB my UK carrier would charge for roaming access in Spain!  Is this really the best deal or does anyone know of anything better?

Happy Movil incidentally is from ThePhoneHouse, which is part of the UK's CarPhoneWarehouse group.  But this is a much better deal than they even offer in the UK.

Jackie

I am more than happy with Vodaphone pay as you go and pay 50 a month no contract.

I work at home online so the interent is important and so far its the fastest interent i have had in Andalucia.

6.2 gig download and 1 meg upload outside peak times.

600euros a year seems expensive but it wil save hours and days fighting with the telefone companys when your contract goes wrong or you move and they cant install a line or the line just breaks and telefonica scratch their heads wondering why its not working.

Just as a tip for anyone.

I have a slighty extended usb cable and stick the dongle in the window.

I also stuck a coulander i got from a chinese shop for 2 euros behind it in the window to use as a parabolic dish.

Also do not use the software that comes with it.

Google Wmconn and use that software.

Love the collander idea.  Can you get BSkyB on it too?

For my short stay in Mallorca (2 weeks) I think the Happy Movil deal still looks best.  Don't know about speed and reception coverage though.  I'll let you know after the event!

Jackie

Well

Yes i can get sky actually with my dongle/collander because the speeds of download allow me to watch it online.

I am looking for a small spanish sattelite dish to see how i can engance it.

 I go to Spain for about 1 month a year and the PAYG SIMS always run out of course for lack of use between trips. Therefore I have to re-do the leg work as Lebara and some of the better deals are only found in the smaller specialist phone shops. I pay 1p per megabyte on an old C&W SIM and get free internet on my phone but it's a Blackberry and quite frankly is useless - I must buy something that has Flash and Silverlight.  

What I have when I'm away from home is a USB dongle and I've unlocked it for any SIM and I use Mobile Partner software (Free) which is brilliant and allows me to also use the phone and texts - I love it BUT it's a bit slow.  So now I've bought a Mi-Fi unit. it is brilliant and works way faster than the dongle and up to 8 devices can acces it too so on one SIM card everyone travelling with me can use it just like a wi-fi router. BUT best to get a separate SIM for it as there is no phone /text access, it's just a router/modem.

BIGWILLY, can you get the Sky Go in Spain? I've only had it for a couple of months and love it as I travel about the UK but wasn't sure if it worked outside UK. I'm off to Marbella next week but will be 3 months in KL later and Malaysian TV drives me to drink!

 I have no experience of mi-fi units, therefore I hope you do not mind me asking some questions.

For use in Spain do you buy the unit in Spain or UK.

What sim card are you using in Spain, how much does it cost and what are the usage limits.

Thanks

Crualagirl,

If you are talking about prepaid internet  without contract, we use Orange company in Guardamar del Segura for 35 eur for 30 days with 2GB max downloading at high speed  and unlimited at low speed. For daily use its around 3.5 eur but not sure. We always get good service from this company. Also get points and rebates on the next reloading. However you need to buy the Orange USB modem ( dongle).

Also Carrefour stores have it even cheaper, at 29 eur per 30 days ( 3 GB  max at high speed) and 1 eu per day ( 100 MB max at high speed). You need to buy the Carrefour USB modem for around 30 eur. If you go to their website you can get more details. (  find: Compra on-line  - movil - internet movil prepago). We have never tried them but I guess them being a big store you should go when there are less people.They (and Orange) have stores thoughout Spain . You can also reload  the SIM on-line.

William02

 KJL.  You can buy them in Spain and there are a few makes including branded by Voda / Orange etc but Huawei are probably the manufacturer and they will work all over the world if "Unlocked" like mine is. I got mine from Hong Kong.  You can then use a SIM bought from Carrefour as suggested by William 02.  Soon I'm sure people like Voda will wake up and give us simple worldwide use without rip off prices. Already Voda UK texted me as soon as I landed abroad saying you can phone worldwide for 26p a minute (last year this was 80p) and take incoming calls for 8p per minute (last year 37p) and get unlimited data (fair use policy) for £2!  Last year it was a lot more. I leave that UK SIM in a phone in case I get important calls on it but last year I would see who is calling, not answer and then text them from my Spanish mobile saying if it's important ring this number.  However at just 8p a minute to receive I'll probably just answer this year so it shows if the phone companies are reasonable people would be more loyal.

To get back to the Mi-Fi - its real value is that once set up more than one of you can just access the internet from within your home with no hassle but it is only like a router /modem so you have no phone or text use of your SIM if you put your own phone SIM in.  Therefore it's probably best to buy a separate SIM just for data use from the likes of carrefour and keep your phone separate.

Anyone tell me how much a MiFi unit is likely to cost in Spain?  I only need it for a few weeks a year so would be looking for a pay as you go SIM or a MiFI package with some data included which can be topped up as and when necessary.  Thanks. 

 "  The best I've found is "Happy Movil", charging only 1Euro a day for up to 30MB and 7cents per MB after that. "

question:     is this paygo ie: ...do you still pay the euro even if you don't use it for a day

or do you pay €30 per month

need it mostly for my translator when out and there is no local WiFi to log into