Free internet in Greece?
 

Has anyone come across a free internet service in Greece called iFree?

They advertise as no subscription, no sign up fees, you only pay a local call charge wherever you are in Greece. Admittedly it is only dialup, but for checking emails and limited web browsing it sounds ideal.

It must be to good to be true.

Anyone heard anything good or bad about it?

Their web address is www.ifree.gr

Might be a good deal if you can read a little Greek and have access to a phone line. I once tried to help a friend change a setting on his computer to accept cookies, and his Windows OS was in Greek. I knew how to get to Control Panel>Internet Options, etc by looking at the Icons, but couldn't read enough Greek to be sure I was selecting the right option. I had the help of several older Greek men who could read the language, but knew nothing about computers. In the end I gave up.

Unless you plan to spend a lot of time in Greece, it would be easier just to use an internet cafe and pay the charges, IMO. Many ordinary cafes and travel agents have internet for their customers, so you can often get online for free or for a very small charge. Some internet cafes have wifi, so it may be possible to connect your laptop that way. When I go to Greece next month I will be leaving my laptop at home. I spend too much time on computers already.

This is interesting! I hadn't heard of this particular service, but I have used a similar one here in Athens: I found that the phone calls did cost slightly more than the usual price of a local call, but this website quotes just 0.0387€ per minute. I'm wondering how you would pay? If you're staying in a private house, you'd have to work out how much time you'd spent; if you're thinking of using it in a hotel and paying the hotel cost for the calls, it would be more than the basic local call. I'd thought of doing this with the system I was using, but I found that usually the telephone line in the rooms didn't allow the usual connection to my computer. I agree with Heimdall: much simpler to use an Internet cafe - and the connection would be quicker, wouldn't it? I think the price given on the website would work out at €2.322 per hour?? (Could EASILY have got it wrong!) Some Internet cafes charge as little as €3 per hour, so you wouldn't gain much. (€6 on Sifnos, though - I don't use the Internet when I'm there!)

Heimdall

If you get off the beaten "tourist trail", like I do you, don't always have access to an internet cafe.

I stay in a small town that has no internet cafe, and since I don't stay in a hotel, I can't use their facitity.

I have access to a phone line, so I might try this on my next trip, in 3 months time.

NikolettaG

I was going to ask you where you found the details of the cost. So I went to the address I posted in my original posting only to find it all in Greek and looking very different to the web pages that I had seen previously. I looked everywhere for a link to an English translation but couldn't find one.

I did a search on Dogpile and then found this link which worked www.ifree.gr/en/

The english pages only say "local call charge", whereas the greek pages say the actual cost. Also the username and password are different. Interesting!?

Heimdall

With the pages in english, maybe that changes some of your initial comment.

Thank you both for your replies to my posting

Aredub, even off the beaten trail you will find access to the internet if you look around. You are absolutely correct that many smaller islands won't have internet cafes, especially with broadband. But Greeks are excellent entrepreneurs, and if there's a need, someone will fill it. The cafe where I have my breakfast has a computer its customers can use for a small fee, and so does a competitor just down the street. A travel agent at the harbour has a computer for the public. One of my friends uses a computer at the small hotel where he stays. Ask around and you will find these places - they won't always have signs advertising the service.

Thanks for the link with the English translation. I don't have time to look at it now, but will later today. I'm all for anything that increases internet coverage. I only wish Antiparos could get broadband.

Heimdall, I wish it was true that there is ab internet cafe in the town that I visit. There was one a few years ago, but it closed. Now the closest one is a 20 minute drive to a larger town, and then you have to find parking, and walk to the internet cafe......

A good afternoon gone!

That would be a bummer! I traveled to the US last Nov with my laptop, and really enjoyed being able to use it on the trip. Even though I have a so-called ultraportable, by the time you pack spare battery and charger, the weight just adds up too much for island hopping (for me anyway).

Give ifree a try and let us all know how it works.

Aredub - Thanks for clarification! I read the info on the website you quoted, and was surprised that there was no link to an English version. I also find it odd (suspicious?)that there's no actual price quoted in English, but since you do have access to a phone line this would probably be the most convenient way. Otherwise you'll just have to bite the bullet and give up an afternoon occasionally to get to the Internet facilities in the big town! Good luck!