I am on holiday at Lesbos (a really lovely place 
) and as I normally do in Greece, I got a prepaid data SIM for an E586E (used to be an E585 but I gave that away when I got the 586) 3G to WIFI modem.
This solves various hassles with non-working hotel/cafe WIFI, etc as well as enabling the use of satnav which requires an online connection, where you don’t want to use roaming data on your phone.
So… went into the Wind phone shop at Mitilini and for €17 bought a 5GB / 30 day SIM. The one which Dublinpilot and I bought at Corfu last September turned out to be dead. I believe this data SIM dies totally (cannot even be topped up, etc) after 6 months which would explain why that SIM was dead.
It involved the usual Greek SIM card purchase procedure with a passport, asking your father’s first name, etc but that was was quick (10 mins).
I immediately tested it and it didn’t work. The two ladies in the shop didn’t want to know, pretended to be stupid, and fairly crudely showed me the door. This is a first for me for Greece where such experiences are very rare.
I got it working eventually, by creating an online web account for the SIM (you need to retain its packaging so you have its phone number, otherwise you need a phone to put it into and send a message, to discover the number), spending a further €15 on a 5GB data pack, adding that to the SIM on the web interface, activating it, and manually configuring the APN which is gint.b-online.gr (blank login/pwd).
So… I can’t recommend Wind to those who plan to go to Greece for (e.g.) the post – Venice trip, as I will be doing. I am sorted now, but it is much better to go to some phone shop where there are real people who will make sure it works before you leave the shop. Previously, Cosmote worked OK.
I believe Cosmote would be the best choice. Vodafone (my carrier) doesn’t have very effective coverage in Lesvos. Wind is the worse among all three. Also be careful in case the carrier changes from Greek to the Turkish equivalent as this will bring extra charges. Same for voice. This happens a lot when travelling on the east parts of the island.
Should have asked
Now you know 
I find it interesting that you are still dealing with that stuff … I used to do that too, I remember hwo i tried to install a modem for my laptop for days on some Croatian island while the others went to the beach. I gave up .. I still have boxes full of hardware, modems, cables, hundreds of adapters …
Today I rather pay. I send an SMS with the content “week” to Vodafone and I get 50 MB for € 5.99. Enough for some emails … and I always find Cafes with good Wifi … even in a village on the southern coast of Crete every tiny bar has Wifi, and generally they’re fine.
I just find it’s not worth the hassle.
I get data on my Voda phone too, 1000MB/month for £3/day, but there are times when Vodafone UK will not roam with anybody (not even with Vodafone Greece!) so one needs Plan B.
The E586 is a great solution, once you have the SIM sorted. Actually the main reason I did this was because of the planned September (or another earlier) Greek trip.
wow … I never had that, the roaming of Vodafone Germany always works. In Croatia, Greece, CZ, France, USA …. even in India it worked
Also be careful in case the carrier changes from Greek to the Turkish equivalent as this will bring extra charges
This obviously does happen, but I don’t think it affects the “data” SIMs bought from say Wind or Cosmote because they have no roaming enabled at all. It will affect a normal phone if it has roaming enabled (which, for most holidaymakers, it will have) but in the case of Vodafone contracts, if you use Euro Traveller, then it doesn’t matter because ET includes Turkey (and N Cyprus).
roaming of Vodafone Germany always works
As always, experiences can vary.
And what one finds one year one may not find the next year.
For example you cannot send text messages to Vodafone Germany from a Thuraya satphone. But I haven’t tried it recently. It works with Voda UK.
In the hotel I am sitting right now, they have wifi with an UPload speed of 1 megabyte/sec which is really amazing. The download speed is probably faster. But the wifi goes to sleep randomly, every minute or so, if you are not transferring any data…
One must have 2 ways of going online… especially if flying GA.
BTW I went back to the Wind shop to confront them with the €17/€37 con and they just gave me total in your face bullsh1t about me having to phone Wind on such and such number (having first put the SIM into my phone, obviously, but, wait for it, this SIM is data only ).
Cosmote was a lot better but for some vested-interest reason (probably because they make loads of money on each others’ customers doing expensive roaming) all these networks make PAYG data SIM setup complicated.
The only reasonably simple one I bought recently was a 6GB/90 day EE UK one (£20) which you can buy without any ID (even on Ebay), just unpack and use, and it just works, and the 90 days starts with the first use.
The recurring issue for all data SIMs seems to be the config of the APN and login/pwd. The auto-APN system seems to fail in most cases.
As a further data point, in case anybody is interested…
This morning I popped into a Vodafone shop in Mitilini, to ask about data SIMs.
They offer two options.
A “phone” SIM, free, and put a €15 data pack on it. You get 1.5GB for 30 days. The SIM dies after 6 months of non-use in Greece.
A “data” SIM, not free, and put a €20 data pack on it. You get 2GB for 10 days. The SIM does after 6 months of non-use in Greece.
The above is from my bad memory, but you get the idea. They say they will activate it in the shop, to avoid the above “Wind experience”.
When the SIM dies, you have to throw it away and buy another one, with the Greek passport ID procedure.
As per Atmilatos’ post above, I think the best one is Cosmote whose procedures and prices are similar to Voda’s but they have the best coverage – based on previous use (2013 and before).
I also found out that Voda GR offers a “Euro Traveller” option, like the Voda UK one. The pricing is a little higher than the UK’s. However, as with any foreign SIM stuck in your phone, you may get cheap data but you lose your mobile number, and this is really what supports the whole roaming ripoff business. That’s unless you use VOIP with your own mobile# presentation… a lot of fun awaits you setting that up (I have done it – never again)
Peter I told you beforehand to look for Cosmote, Vodafone or Wind cards in that order.
I had a reason for that order
