Movistar (Digi Mobil) VS Vodafone coverage on the Frances

[Diegomartine]

Hi all!

I'm planing to carry an iPhone so I can use the 3g connection to send pictures and emails to my family and friends while walking the Frances.

Looking to Vodafone and Movistar coverage map, both look really similar.

Anyone has any experience about the coverage of both companies on the Frances?

I checked with simcardspain.es and they don't have the actual SIM card for Movistar, but they sell a similar card called Digi Mobil that uses Movistar's network... does anyone know this company Digi mobil?

Here you can see the coverage map: http://opensignal.com/ but sometimes when you actually are on the field you can have a different experience...

Which I should get? Digi Mobil (Movistar network) or Vodafone?

Thanks a lot!
Diego.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

My data coverage with Vodafone pay-as-you-go was satisfactory. It ran about 10 E per week.

 

[colinPeter]

I also found vodafone 3G satisfactory on the Frances.
Buen Camino
Col

 

[Cejanus]

My data coverage with Vodafone pay-as-you-go was satisfactory. It ran about 10 E per week.

Falcon,
Where did you purchase your SIM card.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The last one in Santiago, but before that, I bought it in Pamplona.

 

[Diegomartine]

You can also buy it here http://www.simcardspain.es/en/ before you leave home :wink:

 

[tastrom]

There are several different SIM-cards from Vodafone. Check this: http://www.simcardspain.es/en/16-vodafone-network
Which one should I select?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

This is comparable to what I used. I am not endorsing this retailer, and the description is a bit different than on the Vodafone website, but the price is the same.

http://www.simcardspain.es/en/93-vodafo ... spain.html

 

[Diegomartine]

Thanks Falcon!

 

[Cejanus]

Fantastic, thank you so much to all of you. I have been endeavouring to decide this for quite some time. I now need to go and get my iPhone. I was not gong to take a phone but the family insists.

Regards
Cejanus

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Important note that did not come up in this thread: your iPhone must be unlocked. I visited Verizon to see about establishing service with them using my unlocked iPhone 3GS. They said that they do not use an interchangeable SIM, so could not convert me. I don't think that is true, but it is their line of deceit, and their rates were too high anyway.

You can find software online to unlock the various models of iPhones, but it is a fairly complex procedure, and you need an AT&T SIM chip for part of the procedure. That chip does not need to be part of an active account, and you can buy one on eBay for a very nominal sum.

Anyway, if your iPhone is locked, you cannot use a SIM in Spain.

 

[aquabilly]

Thumbs up to digi mobil. Used mine on the norte...went without a hitch. There were loads on ebay last year...2012...but scarce this year. Also...mine came from a uk vendor last year but its all via Spain this year. Does anyone know if they can be picked up at kiosks...newsagents etc in the bigger towns?

 

[MendiWalker]

If you can´t get your phone unlocked at home you can have it done in Spain at an asian shop for a fee. Is what people in Spain do as the phone companies refuse to do so even if the law say they must.

Buen Camino!

 

[Dancoyne]

Hi all!

I'm planing to carry an iPhone so I can use the 3g connection to send pictures and emails to my family and friends while walking the Frances.

Looking to Vodafone and Movistar coverage map, both look really similar.

Anyone has any experience about the coverage of both companies on the Frances?

I checked with simcardspain.es and they don't have the actual SIM card for Movistar, but they sell a similar card called Digi Mobil that uses Movistar's network... does anyone know this company Digi mobil?

Here you can see the coverage map: http://opensignal.com/ but sometimes when you actually are on the field you can have a different experience...

Which I should get? Digi Mobil (Movistar network) or Vodafone?

Thanks a lot!
Diego.

I had an unlocked AT&T Iphone-4 and got a one month data plan in Sept. via Vodafone in Leon. Cost 10eu for the simm and 20eu for 1.5 Gb. The phone worked fine all the way to Santiago and in Madrid and Barcelona. Used it for email, texting, internet, posting photos and facebook. I got Vodafone because the salesperson said he had walked the Camino and used this service and never had a problem. Had planned to use Movistar but couldn't find an open store. When I flew into NYC it shifted to T-Mobile for phone calls but I had shut off the cellular service at that point and went back to my US Iphone-5.
Dan