Best mobile phone SIM for Ruta de la Lana

[Bernice M]

I read someone's recommendation for mobile phone SIM cards on the Ruta de la Lana. It was an aside in another post, and I can't recall who posted it or when. A recommendation, please.

 

[Undermanager]

I bought a 12GB Three data sim card in the UK the day before leaving for the Lana, valid for a month, which cost about £20 I think. I have a dual sim phone so for the very odd phone call, I used my normal sim. With data roaming, it made sense. The new sim worked perfectly for the entire month practically everywhere, so much so that I only hunted down and used wifi when I wanted to use Skype. The rest of the time, I was doing general browsing, email, route finding and photo stuff. I was amazed how fast it almost always was (mostly 4g). I used to compress photos before sending them anywhere, using an app called LitPhoto (Android Google Play store, but there are lots of apps that do the same thing). The process of getting a data SIM in the UK was a five minute job - it can take ages getting one in a shop in Spain!

 

[Bradypus]

The process of getting a data SIM in the UK was a five minute job - it can take ages getting one in a shop in Spain!

Here in the UK there is no obligation to register a SIM in a user's name and they can be bought in most supermarkets and corner shops for £1 or less. I am also a Three customer on a prepaid SIM and have been very happy with their service in my travels in Europe and Australia. My one hesitation in recommending the Three UK SIM for non-UK nationals concerns topping up with additional credit after purchase. No problem when here in the UK where the same shops which sell SIMs will also sell top-up vouchers for cash. But that does not apply in other countries and the Three UK website only allows UK-registered credit and debit cards to be used online. So if you have not paid upfront for enough credit or a data allowance to cover the full duration of your journey you may find it difficult to buy credit once outside of the UK.

 

[KinkyOne]

I read someone's recommendation for mobile phone SIM cards on the Ruta de la Lana. It was an aside in another post, and I can't recall who posted it or when. A recommendation, please.

Above posters both bought their SIM cards outside Spain BUT within European Union which means a) the service was without roaming fees and b) their SIM cards were searching for the best signal (Spanish SIMs search for their company transmitters signal which is not always the best) and that's why even 4G.

But if you are interested in Spanish SIMs only then I can ask my friend walking La Lana right now what card he is using and if it's doing OK.

 

[Bernice M]

Thanks for the replies Undermanager, Bradypus and Kinkyone. Eventually I got an Orange sim and paid for three months, which should be enough given I can stay only 90 days. I didn't keep my UK sim on account of the impossibility of renewing online using a foreign credit card. Got something like 17 GB per month from Orange plus some international calling so I can talk to my Mum in NZ.

Five people are here at the Santa Ana albergue in Caudete tonight. The track is closed between here and Almansa on account of storm damage, so it's either a road slog or the bus at 0745. There is a lot of damage