Travel sims in Italy and France

[jennygulb]

My apologies in advance if this is too basic a question (or already has been answered), but is changing the sim card for international use as easy as popping the original one out and putting in the new one I buy in Europe (in this case, Italy)? Or do I have to disable something, enter a passcode somewhere, etc.?

I am on an ipad2 with AT&T domestic service activated, and based on the rather exorbitant rates for AT&T international data service, I am thinking I will try the new sim card thing for our upcoming vacation. Thanks in advance for any guidance.

 

[thewitt]

Yes it's that easy. Prepaid SIM cards are available in most countries now that will work fine.

-t

 

[jennygulb]

Thanks so much. Now if I can just get this thing to connect to my hotel wifi...

 

[SaberOne]

I am now in my room in Florence on my iPad. First off those saying wifi is everywhere are just not informed. Yes wifi is everywhere, but like home also locked. My hotel offer for a price, but so what. I want went I am out and about. I heard of tre.it that offers a sim for 5euro for 3 gig. But before we found the shop we found a TIM shop. To date, I have not seen a tre.it shop, but have stumble upon at least 8 Tim shops. A few vodaphones. Anyway, the Tim shops offer 5 gigs for 19 euro, and 1 gig for 9 euro. I got the 9 euro. Charged me 10 euro for the sim. Just popped the sim in, entered the unlocked sim pw and we have been surfing everywhere. Well so far all over Rome, Florence and on the train ride up. This iPad is a travelers delight. Maps, Skype, Internet, just an amazing device.

Interesting.. I travel to Italy often but never with an iPad (just ordered). I will be in the north area near Verona next month and the main provider is Wind and Vodafone. Are you normally a State side resident with ATT? I wasn't aware the iPad2 was open to using a Euro SIM of any kind, so this is good news. ATT international plans are horribly expensive!!! Thanks for the information.

BTW: I'm really liking this forum a lot!

 

[Melscott]

Is it as easy as you make out? Do you just pop out sim which we don't even use in uk and buy any old sim in France and where exactly do you buy them? Our sim is for 02! Does that make a difference!? This whole sim/ roaming thing and abroad is not explained well on apple site.

 

[CMFox]

Did you TIM card go into an iPad 1 or 2? And what part of Italy were you traveling in. We're going to be in the Northern part mostly....as far south as Tuscany & Florence...flying into Pisa.

I'm also confused by people in older posts talking about having to trim a sim card to fit in an iPad...is that old news?

Thanks.
CM

 

[Leeton]

micro sim in italy

Hi there, yes just back.
We have an ipad 2. The ipad 2 takes a smaller sim card called a micro sim card. so does th i phone 4. The carriers can trim down the cards no problems.
Italy was easy as.. Tim shop paid 9 euro for 1 gig and they put the card in and away we went. easy as..
spain the same with vodaphone.
France a whole other kettle of fish. not worth the effort.
Italy easy though and worked in Amalfi, Positanto and of course the main cities.
If you are flying into Pisa they may not have the micro sim card ( at the airport) so go to a Tim shop or other carrier. It really was easy and my concerns of restoring etc was just not a problem. Good Luck and ask any more questions if needed. cheers.

 

[PaulMac]

Thanks for this info. We go through Italy in 4 weeks and it's just one less thing we have to worry about.

By the way do any settings need to be entered into the Ipad for the new sim or is it just automatic.

Thanks.

Hi there, yes just back.
We have an ipad 2. The ipad 2 takes a smaller sim card called a micro sim card. so does th i phone 4. The carriers can trim down the cards no problems.
Italy was easy as.. Tim shop paid 9 euro for 1 gig and they put the card in and away we went. easy as..
spain the same with vodaphone.
France a whole other kettle of fish. not worth the effort.
Italy easy though and worked in Amalfi, Positanto and of course the main cities.
If you are flying into Pisa they may not have the micro sim card ( at the airport) so go to a Tim shop or other carrier. It really was easy and my concerns of restoring etc was just not a problem. Good Luck and ask any more questions if needed. cheers.

 

[addiosamigo]

Im in bardalino, Italy. Purchased a micro sim from Vodafone one, €30 for 3gb and it works great! All I needed was my passport, the sim worked the next day (like he said it would!) awesome. I could have got 1gb for €9 euros but I read something about restrictions, so I just paid the 30.

Oh and the APN settings are automatic.

Sent from my iPad2 using iPF

 

[Duckfeet]

Im in bardalino, Italy. Purchased a micro sim from Vodafone one, €30 for 3gb and it works great! All I needed was my passport, the sim worked the next day (like he said it would!) awesome. I could have got 1gb for €9 euros but I read something about restrictions, so I just paid the 30.

Oh and the APN settings are automatic.

Sent from my iPad2 using iPF

I'm currently in Florence. While in Cinque Terre we bought a microsim from Tim (€15) and then a €9 for 1GB package. Time limit is one month. It turns out this will be insufficient for our 3 weeks in Italy. Also available was an €19 package for 5 GB/month. I was told to wait 2 hours. I slipped in the microsim, waited for a confirmation message from Tim and we have been surfing ever since.

So to summarize €15 (for microsim) + (€9/1GB or €19/5 GB)

 

[addiosamigo]

I'm currently in Florence. While in Cinque Terre we bought a microsim from Tim (€15) and then a €9 for 1GB package. Time limit is one month. It turns out this will be insufficient for our 3 weeks in Italy. Also available was an €19 package for 5 GB/month. I was told to wait 2 hours. I slipped in the microsim, waited for a confirmation message from Tim and we have been surfing ever since.

So to summarize €15 (for microsim) + (€9/1GB or €19/5 GB)

Sorry It was €19 euros for 1 month, 3GB with and I qoute '24 hour navigate without time limit' that's why I chose it, it will be more than enough for 2 weeks so all in all a great deal deal and it's very fast too.

Sent from my iPad2 using iPF

 

[chorap]

Ipad2 micro sim needed for Italy and France

Hi Posters, I've been researching micro sim cards for Italy and France. We'll be in Italy for two days, then drive to France for 2 weeks, back to Italy for three days and return to States. I think I can get a micro sim in Casteggio Tim shop but if I were to use that in France instead of a French sim would the Italian roaming charges be high? Will be using wifi most of the time. Thanks.

 

[Duckfeet]

but if I were to use that in France instead of a French sim would the Italian roaming charges be high? Will be using wifi most of the time. Thanks.

This will NOT work. Each country's microsim/ipad data deal is specific to the country and cannot be used in another country. As soon as you hit the border "poof!" it is gone. However, your TIM microsim will work again when you return back to Italy for the last couple of days. For France, you will have to get another microsim for a French network. We used Orange which has a 9 Euro unlimited micosim that lasts for 24 hours. Once 24 hours is up you need to return to store to "fill 'er up" again with another 9 euros (assuming you want another 24 hours). Italy = easy, France = #%$&!@ (pita).

Have fun on your trip, we are still in Italy!

Sent from my iPad from Rome

 

[ahobbs]

You can try international roaming sim cards, then you won't need to buy a sim card in every country you visit. I used Travelsim in my Ipad when I was traveling around Europe, it worked fine and the price for data was reasonable.