Gouvia Marina - Internet?

[Cardo]

We'll be arriving in the next few days - as in, once this nasty storm looking thing passes over. For now we're tucked up in a little fishing harbour. Can't beat the price!

Question - What's the deal with internet at Gouvia? I read that it's not included and requires payment on "prepay cards"?
How much does it cost? Is it any good? Or should we get a 3G sim instead? We have all the kit for a 3G sim as we've been using these during our travels.

Trying to decide what to get as Wind have a deal that runs out today where you get 30GB for €25/month. Not bad!

 

[RobbieW]

A deal like that I think I'd grab it as its unlikely to be cheaper in the marina, and very few marinas implement any QoS on thier routers so as soon as one person starts streaming TV or radio everyone else grinds to a halt.

 

[duncan99210]

Unless things have improved out of all recognition, the wifi at Gouvia was expensive and slow. We used a 3G SIM whilst we were there and would suggest you do he same, especially if you've already got a deal with Wind.

 

[nimbusgb]

Check wind speed support in Gouvia, all the data in the world is useless if you can only get 9600 baud.

Wind in preveza is marginal and is not Hsdp so video is out of the question most of the time.

An alternative might be a wifi extender and the keys to a few tavernas in kontokali but that will dry up as the season closes.

 

[Tony Cross]

Check wind speed support in Gouvia, all the data in the world is useless if you can only get 9600 baud.

Wind in preveza is marginal and is not Hsdp so video is out of the question most of the time.

An alternative might be a wifi extender and the keys to a few tavernas in kontokali but that will dry up as the season closes.

Ahh 9600 baud, I remember it well. Actually I remember 300 baud and acoustic couplers well too.

We have the same Wind deal. 3G coverage does not extend to all places in Greece but it does cover most municipalities. I'd have thought Gouvia populated enough to warrant 3G? In any case ours drops back to 2G (Edge) when 3G (HSDP) is not available for whatever reason. 2G is useless for graphics intensive web browsing but it's more than good enough for email and text based web.

 

[Moodyjim]

Forget the marina sourced wifi, just wander up to one of the cafes such as Blue Boys, they all have free wifi for customers.

 

[Cardo]

Forget the marina sourced wifi, just wander up to one of the cafes such as Blue Boys, they all have free wifi for customers.

We'll need to be able to access the internet from the boat, so this isn't really viable, unless we can reach the WiFi from the boat.

 

[duncan99210]

You may just strike lucky with the Blue Bar wifi signal if you have something like an Alfa antenna. 3G coverage on Vodafone was good enough for TV and films when we were there a few years back.

 

[Steve C Cronin]

The "GoBroadband" connection in the marina is worse than useless and will rob you. I have been here for only nine years so what do I know?

Much better to get a letter from the office to confirm your long stay status and head into town to Vodafone and purchase an on-board mobile wifi hotspot for 80€ which will give you 5Gb a month (top up able) for as long as you want it at 14.95€. Ours is reslly fast and we can stream TV via FilmOn with ease.

We'll be back on G72 in a couple of weeks; please call around.

 

[AndrewB]

Alternatively, Wind has 4-5 bar 3G coverage in Gouvia Marina, good and fast. The Wind stores in town (2 of them near to Marks & Spencer) will sell a data sim for 15 euros providing a month's service to a max of 3Gb. Do not renew this at the end of the month but buy a new sim as it is cheaper.

Several of the bars in and around Gouvia marina offer free wifi service for the price of a coffee (and once you have the password, next time you don't even need to buy the coffee). These run moderately well provided you don't try to stream. Don't bother with the marina wifi which doesn't seem to reach the outer berths.

 

[Cardo]

Looks like we'll see where we end up in the marina. If we can ponce off bar WiFi, then grand. Otherwise we may end up getting a 3G sim, or something.

 

[Steve C Cronin]

Another advantage with the Vodafone hotspot is that it will serve up to five computers at the same time. I can also use it back in the UK with a UK Vodafone data sim although the best deal I could get there only gave me 3Gb a month for around the same money as in Greece.

 

[Steve C Cronin]

Looks like we'll see where we end up in the marina. If we can ponce off bar WiFi, then grand. Otherwise we may end up getting a 3G sim, or something.

From our berth on G pontoon using a US bought signal boosting antenna (see:- http://www.pcworld.com/product/pg/840558815/detail) we can connect to one particular restaurant because we know their logon codes, one bar, intermittently and now very little else as what was two years ago an open area has been closed down drastically. Even the main bars and the major restaurant have installed perimeter access only with virtually no signal being available outside of their walls.