Update re Mobile Broadband Plug In Dongles
 

Hi All.....It could only happen to me! After a very hectic day yesterday backwards & forwards between Puerto & Pollensa (several times), numerous phone calls to vodafone and other network shops all over the island (made by some very helful assistants in various shops) it finally transpired that there was not a single PAYG USB modem (Dongle) to be found anywhere on the island! Nor are any expected for quite some time and even when they DO arrive they are all pre-ordered! An 18 months contract would seem to be the only solution - or so I thought!

Back in Puerto I decide to try the Movistar shop again as they had some modems in stock which were FREE but for contract only/. I ask the girl could I perhaps BUY one of these 'free' ones then BUY a sim card to use with it? No problem she says but the price would be 258 euros + 40 euros for the sim card then 60 euros to top up! I thanked her very much, made the usual remarks about not wanting to buy the whole shop just a dongle & left!

Then I decided it was worth a try again at vodafone Pollensa with the same request so off up the road I go again! After much persuasion they finally agreed to sell me a 'dongle' and a sim card! Still very expensive but no where near the price quoted in Movistar.

So I am now sitting here in my apartment in Puerto with a lovely cold glass of rosado in one hand, typing this little tale with the other! Thanks to the wonders of this modern world we live in!:D :D

Gina

As they say 'If at first you don't suceed...'

Anyway, if anyone else on the forum is in a similar position of waiting for a dongle then they are welcome to borrow mine. All you have to do is pop down to Gotmar and collect from the apartment where my in-laws are residing for this month. You will need to get it topped up at the Vodafone shop in Pollenca and you will be in business. I am not back in PP until mid-July and even then I only need it as backup.

Drop me a mail if anyone wants to try it out.

It is only compatible with Windows XP and will not work with Vista

The Wob

I've bought a Vodafone ES220 modem on the theory that I can buy a Spanish top up sim from the vodafone shop in Pollensa. Does anyone know if they still sell the PAYG top up sims in the shop in Pollensa and does anyone know if they are compatable with a modem bought in the UK. Vodafone UK told me it would be compatable but in my expereince they tend to tell you anything to get a sale.
Paul

Hi Paul
If you read my earlier post you will see that vodafone Pollensa DID sell me a PAYG sim but I also bought my modem there as well. It was complicated as they had to ring a central number & get it specially registered so that I got the correct amount of usage time & they did say I can ONLY top it up there & I have to take my invoice with me every time. They were very helpful though & I am sure , if it can be done they will do it. A sim is not very expensive anyway so worth the trip up there I would say. Have you got a spanish mobile number? If so why not try the sim from that to see if it works then buy a new one in Pollensa & get them to register it for your modem?

Hope this helps
Gina

Thx Gina

No, I dont have a Spanish mobile number and so I cant try your suggestion. My sisiter is in Pollensa next week and will visit the shop to find their contact details. I'll then call them to check that their PAYG sim will work on my UK ES220 modem. I'll update the blog when I have a reply - it should be a very cheap way getting connected if it works!

Paul

Did you get this working Paul ?

Mark

Here's a link to a place I've found on the internet before - http://www.spainsim.com/vodusbadslmodem.htm

They appear to sell either the dongle (USB Modem) + SIM for 199 EUR (seems quite expensive) plus 'bonos' topup cards for 40 - 400 EUR (25 Mg - 5 Gb).

You can also buy the SIM separately for 59.95 EUR - see www.spainsim.com/voda3gSIM.htm if you already have a modem - I assume this includes a UK one, good idea as I think they're cheaper than 199 EUR here. I thought you could get them at £99 on a PAYG basis in the UK but their website is only showing contracts today. If you can get the modem in the UK & buy this Spanish SIM (to replace the UK one) it looks quite a good deal & there's some useful info re how to top-up.

Hi Pollensa
Not sure that would work, someone earlier in the thread had trouble with the top up because the two countries have different numbers on them,

" bought a £10 UK Vodafone voucher from a post office in UK, this does not work as it only has a 12 digit activation code, Vodafone Spain SMS activation service expects a 16 digit activation code,"

So I think the only option is a Spanish dongle and top up, but last I heard none available on the whole island, that may have changed now. I have had a kind offer of the loan of a Spanish dongle from a forum member, and will need to top it up, so I can find out more next week when I am there if that would help.

Hi sws97sdg,

I think the previous issue related to buying a UK top-up card.

I think there are actually 3 components:

1) the USB Modem (or dongle) which plugs into yoir laptop via the USB port

2) the SIM (similar to a phone SIM)

3) the top-up

I'm pretty sure that the actual Modem is similar to an unlocked phone & that you can buy this anywhere. They key thing that you need to get to use it in Spain is the Spanish SIM. This may come with a certain amount of data credit & then the issue for the previous poster was to top it up regularly to stop it expiring. This is where you can try & do it by phone (but it may be in Spanish) or online or via your bank if you have a Spanish account or buy a topup card which must be a Spanish one. This is fine if you are in Spain but if in the UK you need to buy from one of the web sites quoted in this thread.

I have the same issue topping up my Spanish mobile phone & try & do it whenever I'm in PP.

Oh thanks, I assumed the modem had a dedicated sim, or rather the modem always comes with a sim.

That was me :)

The problem was that I tried to top us a spanish sim in the UK, and not done it yet apart from paying people online to do it in Spain for me while I am in UK.

If I had a Vodafone Spain mobile phone I could do it apparently, as spanish tourists do this in UK to top up pay as you go spanish mobiles when in UK on holiday.
I need a vodafone Spain pay as you go phone from somewhere to try this in England. Ideally a Nokia as I am familiar with the menus and it might be in Spanish.


A UK USB modem might work with a spanish sim, that would be ideal, but no one knows if it works yet...

If anyone has a UK purchased vodafone USB modem they can send me I will test it with my Spanish Sim and report back.


Mark.

There's an interesting post here on the vodafone site - see http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3432 where the vodafone guy says a UK purchased modem is locked to vodafone UK but you can pay to unlock it (if PAYG) but someone else had been advised by vodafone that it was unlocked & he managed to use a Spanish data SIM purchased from spainsim.com OK in Menorca. :cool:

This is getting complicated, that works if you already have a dongle on a contract, you can unlock it then, but can you get a dongle without a contract and unlock that for use with a Spanish payg sim card?

I think you really have to check with vodafone as reading that post, the vodafone guy says that they will do it free if on a contract but will charge £20 if PAYG modem but you need a PAYG SIM in order for them to charge you the £20!

But the guy who went to Menorca implies that his was already unlocked! I think you could contact spainsim.com, who would supply the Spanish SIM, to ask what the procedure is. They are selling the SIMs separately so I can only assume that these are for the Modems bought elsewhere e.g. in the UK.

And then vodafone.es (all in Spanish) is selling Modem with SIM online for 69 EUR (PAYG)!

Hi Mark

Thought I had it all sussed but you have put some nagging thoughts in my head regarding security. (See http://www.forum.puertopollensa.com/...fi-update.html - webmaster)
Your 3G USB data modem sounds the best way to go but not sure if I can use it with my laptop which has not got windows it is Linux with the Firefox browser, it does have USB connections though. I don't want to go to the expense of buying one only to find it will not work with my laptop.:confused:

I have read your previous posts regarding this matter and concluded that the best place to go is the Vodaphone shop in Pollenca. Topping up should not be a problem as we are lucky enough to visit about 4 times a year but where do you go to top up, is it where they do 'recarga (mobile phone topup's)'? - What would my initial cost be for purchase of the modem? - What are the approx running costs, obviously I understand this depends on useage? - Is it PAYG or Prepay, I would not want a contract?

You seem to be quite clued up so perhaps you are able to answer my questions or hopefully someone else out there may be able to help. I would like to get this sorted on my next visit which commences 3rd Sept:D

I'm just wondering if in the long run it would just be cheaper and more convenient to get a phone line installed in the apartment, but didn't want to pay rental for the time that I am not there.