kiwinz

We are flying into Venice and would like a SIM card for our iPhones. We only need data and calling in italy. Please can we have advice on what and where to buy. Thanks.

ElendilPickle

We got ours from a TIM store. In 2015, it was 30 euros for 30 days' worth of calls and a decent amount of data.

Lee Ann

bvlenci

This is probably the plan Elendipickle got:

https://www.tim.it/tim-visitors-en

You can buy it online, but you have to pick up the SIM card at a TIM store, so there's no great advantage to buying online. If you don't buy it online, at least print out the page and take it with you, so there's no misunderstanding about what you want.

The minutes can be used for calls within Italy, and also for calls to many other countries, including all European countries, the US, and many others. It's really the best plan you can get if you want to use data.

nochblad

Much has changed since 2015!

Offers change monthly but TIM probably has the best coverage. However, the best data deal is with tre.it which has a pay as you go plan which offers 1GB of data per day as well as unlimited calls in Italy. The cost is 20 Euro per month with weekly charges of 5 Euro.

Note that, with all operators, a new sim card is only active within 24 hours - generally less but it is not operative immediately.

bvlenci

Any time I've bought a SIM card (maybe 5 times) it was operative immediately, although they also C.T.A with an advisory that it will be active within 24 hours.

I've never tried 3, which isn't even sold much around here, because of the lack of coverage. Vodafone has coverage that's probably about as good as TIM nationwide. Wind is probably OK in cities, but not reliable in rural areas. My husband changed to Wind a few years ago, because of a very attractive offer, but changed back to TIM after a few months because the coverage wasn't very good in our area.

nanabee

Do iphones still use SIM cards?

We have a new Smart Phone and they no longer need them. I just went to the Verizon store and they charged me a $5 (or there about) fee for internet, data, GPS.

Check with your carrier first.

bvlenci

I think Verizon has only CDMA networks, which have never used SIM cards. Other USA carriers, such as AT&T, use GMS networks, which have always used, and still do use, SIM cards. Modern smart phones sold in the US have dual capability so that even if your carrier is CDMA, you can still use a SIM card if need be.

All of the European networks are GMS, so a phone that's only CDMA can't work on a European network.

Andrew

Yes, Verizon uses SIM cards now, for 4GLTE networks. My Verizon-branded Moto E phone had a SIM card when I bought it (and then I popped it right out and replaced it with my T-Mobile SIM and switched the phone to GSM).

All new smart phones have SIM card slots now and probably SIM cards, too. Even my other Moto E (Sprint-banded, CDMA like Verizon) had and still has a SIM card for Sprint's LTE networks. I am using this phone on Sprint's network; if I pulled out the Sprint SIM card, it would not work.

If you have a Verizon 4GLTE phone and want to roam overseas with it using a Verizon international plan, you just leave the Verizon SIM card in the phone and sign up for the roaming plan with Verizon. If you want to use the phone without Verizon's plan, pull the Verizon SIM card out and replace it with one you buy locally as you travel. All Verizon 4GLTE phones are unlocked per agreement with the FCC (though they may not be simple to unlock - mine wasn't. But Verizon can't give you an unlock code and no code would be needed anyway). I think Sprint's 4GLTE phones will roam on international networks with a local SIM and don't need to be unlocked either - but Sprint has a good international roaming plan like T-Mobile's now, anyway.

FYI, you don't necessarily need mobile data to use your phone as GPS - it works without internet. You can pre-download maps (e.g. Google Maps) on WiFi and not need mobile data as you travel. GPS will work - try it yourself before you leave for your trip, at home, by downloading a map for your home area then turning off mobile data and going for a drive. Mobile data is sure nice for other things like finding hotel or restaurant info, public transit navigation, etc.

bvlenci

When you download Google Maps in advance, I don't think you can get voice directions when using those maps with your phone's GPS. If you can, that's fairly new.

Andrew

I'm pretty sure Google maps gives voice directions without data. I did a test drive about a year ago with my phone as GPS, with Google Maps, with data turned off, and it worked fine, but it's been a while. I'm not sure why it would need data for that.

But if you mean you can't ASK for directions by voice (i.e. search verbally for something and get directions/map to it), you're right- you can't do that without a data (or WiFi) connection, because the phone needs to send your voice query to their servers to process.

kiwinz

thanks for all that, how much map can you download of google maps, is it just the area you are in or can I download all of italy

Andrew

I actually haven't used Google Maps offline much. You read much more about them by doing a google search for "google maps offline." Start here:

https://support.google.com/maps/answ...DAndroid&hl=en

I think the size of the map you can download may depend on how much available storage space you have on your device.