Emilys dad

Hi forum, i am looking for advice regarding the above.
Let me give you the back ground.
My daughter has gone out to work in rural Albacete. We were under the impression that there would be wi fi available, so she could stay in contact over the internet, but we have found out this is not the case. So i need to get her a Spanish sim with reasonable call and data rates. Reading the web i am getting confused with the amount of info so i need on the ground information to make the right choices, so
Which is the most recommended phone provider for data and international calls on pay as you go.
Can i set it up from the uk,
Could my dad set it up in tenmerefe for her.
I am looking to set this up in the next few days as she has just arrived and is feeling very cold and isolated at the moment.
Thank you for you help in advance
A worried farther .

Rosemary

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

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Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

bobd22

One of the first things to assess is the 3g signal reception quality in the area she is staying. As there are various providers mainly using either Orange vodafone or Moviestar. Once you have ascertained which signal your daughter can receive best then I'm sure someone will be able to advise you on the best sim that will suit your needs. I use Masmovil when I am in Spain for data at reasonable rates for using Skype but they use Orange as a provider and if you don't get a good Orange signal that would be of no use.

Pocaloca

Get her to ask her colleagues what network they are using. Orange does have big holes in rural areas.

Yoigo have very good rates and coverage, and you can add an international tariff to call the UK for 4 cents a minute + 15 cents connection charge.

bobd22

I thought there was one with discounted International tariff,s but couldn't remember which one. As you say enquire re reception or check them with your phone firstly.

flotsum

I live in rural murcia and found that the MAS movil was the cheapest for my internet use, however using a dongle just did not work for skype video, also we live in the mountains and it was sketchy at home but driving into town it worked fine. My sister in laws vodafone was not any better here and was much more expensive. In the end we found the best option was to go to the local library and use their wifi for email etc, There are some big shopping centers in Albacete itself and many of these will have free wifi which is another option that we first used when we moved over. Also more cafes etc are offering free wifi in towns. Hopefully when she starts making friends lots of people will offer her use of their home internet.

bobd22

I must admit the the signal for Masmovil is not fantastic where I am but generally I can use Skype ok but to prevent running up the bills I don't use the video on Skype.

Emilys dad

Thanks for the replys so far. She will only be able toget into Albecete once a week. She is useing her english orange sim at the momment is this the same carrier as in spain,so spanish orange sim will work. How can she test her signal. Just link each network listed on her handset. Then just see which regesters most on her phone, yea?

bobd22

That's how I would do it or check with friends on other networks how strong their signal is i.e. how many bars showing

Pocaloca

No, Orange UK and Orange.es are different companies and she will incur roaming charges if she uses an Orange UK sim here. They aren't interchangeable - bloody annoying!

amideislas

Vodafone is the same deal. A UK vodafone sim used on the Spanish vodafone network will incur the maximum roaming charges that they can legally get away with.

I understand that in the US, the mobile companies have all but eliminated roaming charges (if you are using that company's network). Most offer a low flat rate for some number of minutes, to any call in the US and Canada. It doesn't matter where it is.

I'd have to believe it's at least partially due to competition with minimal regulation. The mobile operators are not burdened by regulation stating how, when, or how much they must charge for roaming, which makes it easy for them to offer zero roaming charges as long as they are using the same network. They have to, or else their competition will take all their customers.

US operators also don't charge a different rate to call a mobile or a land line like in Europe. The rate is the same either way. The caller isn't burdened with the mobile charges (which I think is a bit unfair here in Europe).

I think the EU could take some lessons from the US regulatory policy. US mobile rates are about as cheap as they get, and allow you to call to/from any state and even Canada on a cheap flat rate plan.

Our friends in the US aren't afraid to call us here using their mobiles because the rates are about the same as a land line. Conversely, they are shocked at the difference in price when they call our mobile numbers vs. the landline. It is a huge difference in cost for them.

I love competition. Would like to see more of it here, but the EU seems hell bent on control, which only minimises competition and keeps prices artificially high.

Emilys dad

Ok this is what I am doing, if any one is interested
My dad who is in tenareaf and is going to send her a mundo prepaid phone .with 1ct per min to uk landline and text. And i am getting a 0044 payg sim to put in her phone for data. £15 pm manageable from uk

Thanks for your help and political rant............

bobd22

Hope it works out for you main thing is obviously that you can stay in touch. At the end of the day it is what suits yourself and your budget.

amideislas

I have been using Vodafone for the past 5 years, and as of this week, I can no longer get data via the vodafone 3G network on my smartphone. The "mi vodfone" website shows that I have plenty of data left for this month (1GB limit, I've used 230MB), and no indication of any other problems.

So, I went to the Vodafone office, and they explained (in excellent English) that my Phone is "libra" (unlocked) and that Vodafone no longer allows data on phones that are not locked to Vodafone. They did offer to lock my phone to Vodafone for me, but I refused.

My question is, is it true? You now must have a Vodafone-locked phone to use their data services?

...or did they just not want to deal with it?

bobd22

I can't see that being correct, it may be that they have changed the internet settings and that you have to change yours manually?