Mobile broadband Spain

In our experience Orange are the only one we have found that offer PAYG in Spain. All other operators required us to have a Spanish bank account and take a contract even though Vodafone advertise PAYG they would not supply it. As for Orange, we have a 30 day 2GB deal for 40€ the snag being you have to go into an Orange shop to top up each month, you can't do it via the Internet. We found that not all Orange shops offer the top up service, for example in Catagena of the 4 shops only one could / would top up. I suspect that some are Orange franchise and don't offer everything a " full" Orange shop offers. Hope that helps.
 
Thanks for that. I would be happy with a contract and I do have a Spanish bank account but, when I looked into getting a contract, I was told that you need to have Spanish residency which is why I asked about PAYG. Would I be able to top up using the supermarket machines do you think?
 
Networks said:
In our experience Orange are the only one we have found that offer PAYG in Spain.
Click to expand...

Both Movistar and Vodafone have done PAYG SIM's for me, paying on a UK credit card with a UK passport as identification. Last ones I bought where in La Linea and Cartagena (and I have purchased them easily in other places). For us, the Movistar is the best as they charge €2.30 per day for an unlimited connection that is fast enough to stream UK television. Topping them up is easy at any of the supermarket or similar outlines, all you need is to give them them the telephone number. Both Vodafone and Movistar have english speaking support lines and web sites that google translate copes with for checking your balance.

The only problem I have ever had is that I cant get either the online, or ATM top up to work as they seem to require a spanish debit or credit card.

For some reason Nostrodamus has the same 'deal' for €1.80 :-(
 
I have a Vodafone dongle I bought in a Vodafone shop in Roses. No problem with not being resident. They did want an address in Spain. I told them I was staying in the marina (for one night). They needed my passport. I paid with my UK credit card.

You can top it up via the internet. Also in other shops etc.
If you have a Spanish bank account you can top it up from most ATMs in Spain.

One thing I don't like is that you don't know how much of your data allowance you have used until you get an SMS telling you you have used 80% or 100% of it.
 
Buy a mifi instead of a dongle...

A dongle works on only one PC it is plugged into
A mifi sets up a localised wifi hotspot and can link up to five devices at one time giving you the equivalent of five dongles...

We have one by Huawei... we can also take it with us when in town so we get internet on the iPhone...

Make sure you get an unlocked one that can take any sim... wae are using Movistar as per posts above
 
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I thought of mifi but I really only need to connect my netbook on the boat so I can work while I'm in Spain. I would imagine the bandwith would degrade if other devices connected to it but if it's as simple and efficient, I'm always open to ideas.
 
Check out Masmovil & Telitec. Both offer packages that are cheaper than Vodafone/Movistar/Yoigo/Orange.
Masmovil offer various tariffs; PAYG or contract. One nice thing is that Masmovil contract (They use Orange network as a Virtual operator) can be turned down to a PAYG basis when you're not in Spain & re-activated with no fees associated for turning off the monthly charge. Oh yes, ALL contact can be in English/German/Norwegian if required.
 
We used Vodafone for PAYG mobile internet in Spain. To recharge the SIM, you can go into just about any tabac or most supermarkets now with a slip of paper with the phone number of your SIM and the network name and they can do it there and then; no need to hunt down an mobile phone shop. Once you've topped up your sim credit, most of the operators require you to send a SMS using a code to activate your chosen data plan. Some computers will allow you to do this directly; for others you'll need to put the sim into a phone. For Vodafone, the number to send the SMS to and the various data plan codes all came in the bumph in the SIM packaging.

We used Vodafone 'cos the orange shop told us they didn't do PAYG data SIMs but the girl in the Vodafone shop over the road was only too happy to help, fitting the SIM into my iPad and making sure the set up was right.

Whicheve operator you choose, you'll need a passport as proof of identity to buy a SIM card.

We're now in Italy where Wind have a deal giving unlimited access (up to 10 GB at top speed) for €20 a month.
 
I bought my Spanish Vodafone SIM on eBay, all I needed was my passport number.
Topping up is simple, even the smallest of supermarkets can do it through their tills, and you get an immediate confirmation SMS.

My Voda package has a fixed data limit per day, but if you go over there's no warning and you start eating into your credit, so it isn't very friendly.
 
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