Spain Pay As You Go sim card for internet access

NiftyDigits

bamboobam wrote: »

Help! Was that an Orange Bellena card? Will the Bellena tarriff not work with my mi-fi? Please confirm anyone because I leave on Mon for Spain and I bought a mi-fi and a Bellena Orange sim card, so it won't work then? :-(

That's a phone SIM. I have no idea as to whether it will work in the MiFi.
Usually people use them in phones and tether from the phone.


The settings for a Data SIM would likely be:

Apn: internet
Username: orange
Password: orange
Dial number *99#

But it isn't a Data SIM, it's for Smartphones, so I don't know.

bamboobam

Thanks, I updated my posts because I made some typos in the spelling.

The Ballena is like Delphin but newer and better. I have seen the Spanish sim card seller on ebay saying on his listings that the Delphin sim cards work with mi-fis but after the user's experience above with an Orange card not working in a mi-fi I am now wondering whether they sold him an Orange card on the Ballena tariff... :-(

bamboobam

1mix said that tethering wouldn't work on his Orange 1gb card, so I am thinking if tethering works on Ballena tariff that the mi-fi will too...

So puzzling and frustrating that you don't know if these things work until you are actually there.

Plus I don't have a smartphone, only a normal phone, so I am wondering if my thickie phone will be able to activate the Ballena tariff. I know you have to send a text to activate it so I figured my thickie phone (which is unlocked) should be able to do that...

NiftyDigits

These are their published connection details for the SIM. Let us know if they work when you are there or when you get back.

bamboobam

If it works I'll let you know from Lanzarote next week! LOL

1mix

It will only work in a phone, and you can't use it as a hotspot either..

bamboobam

1mix wrote: »

It will only work in a phone, and you can't use it as a hotspot either..

Was it a Ballena card you had? The Spanish sim card seller on ebay says the Delphin works with mi-fi and smart phones and tethers so I'm struggling to understand why Ballena would be different?
Thanks

1mix

I'm not sure to be honest - I only know its Orange - sold to me as a data card with 1Gb of data

NiftyDigits

bamboobam wrote: »

Was it a Ballena card you had? The Spanish sim card seller on ebay says the Delphin works with mi-fi and smart phones and tethers so I'm struggling to understand why Ballena would be different?
Thanks

Just in case you are still confused. These SIM cards are all the same. Just differing tariffs. They are for normal mobile telephones. If they work in a MiFi, you'll be lucky. But it is really waste of money to pay 30€ for a mobile phone SIM with 1GB of data, only to try to use it in a MiFi.

http://movil.orange.es/tarifas/tarjeta/ballena-12/

bamboobam

NiftyDigits wrote: »

Just in case you are still confused. These SIM cards are all the same. Just differing tariffs. They are for normal mobile telephones. If they work in a MiFi, you'll be lucky. But it is really waste of money to pay 30€ for a mobile phone SIM with 1GB of data, only to try to use it in a MiFi.

How is it a waste of money? What is the solution to get wi-fi on a laptop in northern Lanzarote? As far as I can see from the coverage maps Vodafone does not work for 3G, only Orange does. I googled and found some guys renting a "device" (probably a mi-fi) and they wanted 150€ for 1 month of rental +40€ deposit. It seems 1 month @ 128kbps (after the 1gb data is used at fast speed) for the cost is very cheap in comparison. Yes you have to pay for the card the first time, but it includes the first 13€ monthly fee... It won't expire for 12 months so I will be able to use it again on my next trip if I top up once by 10-15€ every trip, so I don't really understand why it isn't a cheap option. Presumably I can use the sim card on the Ballena tariff in my thickie phone also for cheap calls and free texts? Since the Spanish sim card ebay seller advertises the Delphin card as working with mifi I don't see why this is a bad idea or why we'd presume the card wouldn't work in a mi-fi. I imagine if the shop registered you on the wrong tariff then it wouldn't work properly but I thought the point of Delphin and Ballena was the data usage... I guess we'll see whether it works and if it does then presumably I can have up to 1 month's 128kbps internet (plus text and calls if I need them) for just 10-15€ top up every time I go... Which is useful to me because I always go for 3 weeks+, usually 1 month.

Also, the 1 month deal on Ballena is only renewed if you have enough credit to pay the 13€ charge so even if I didn't go for more than 12months I could still use the Orange Spanish website from here in the UK to top up my card 11months later for just 5€ which would keep the card alive but not activate the 1 month deal so no credit would be wasted. This is the advantage of using the Ballena over the Delphin since the Delphin data deal is activated again for a week if you have 4€ credit....

So you can see my thinking...

But you say it is a bad deal? What do you suggest instead? I appreciate your input as I leave in a couple of days. I spent ages on the Orange website and thought the Ballena was the best deal. Is there a data card cheaper (for 1 month) which will work in a mi-fi?
Thanks