Need internet connection while on Camino

[Leon RSA]

I'm doing the Portuguese Camino from Lisbon and then from Santiago to Muxia in July and August 2023. During my walk I will require about 10 Gb per month internet connection. To save weight, I prefer to only buy a simcard (to be used in both Portugal and Spain) and insert it in my current dual sim phone. No router required. Any recommendations on which service provider to use? It will be 90% data and maybe a few local calls to book accomodation on the way (not that I can speak any Portuguese).

 

[jungleboy]

There are three main providers in Portugal: MEO, NOS and Vodafone. They all seem about the same, I’d just look them up, compare their offerings and pick what seems like the best deal to you. Once you reach Spain your Portuguese SIM will still work as though you were in Portugal.

 

[Skinnybiker]

Maya.net (reviews seem good) and Lobster.es (customer service in English, works in most EU countries)

 

[Leon RSA]

Maya.net (reviews seem good) and Lobster.es (customer service in English, works in most EU countries)

Thanks, I'm checking their websites at the moment

 

[Leon RSA]

There are three main providers in Portugal: MEO, NOS and Vodafone. They all seem about the same, I’d just look them up, compare their offerings and pick what seems like the best deal to you. Once you reach Spain your Portuguese SIM will still work as though you were in Portugal.

Thanks very much Jungleboy. I'll Google them and choose a suitable prepaid package for the 6 weeks.

 

[AnneMarie1]

I'm doing the Portuguese Camino from Lisbon and then from Santiago to Muxia in July and August 2023. During my walk I will require about 10 Gb per month internet connection. To save weight, I prefer to only buy a simcard (to be used in both Portugal and Spain) and insert it in my current dual sim phone. No router required. Any recommendations on which service provider to use? It will be 90% data and maybe a few local calls to book accomodation on the way (not that I can speak any Portuguese).

Can I ask how you know how much data you will need? I do almost everything now on my laptop, not phone, and have very little sense of how much data things need. I'm not planning on doing a lot with my phone while on the Camino -- occasional glances at map apps, and I want to have a phone in case of emergencies. I suppose if something happens that needs more sustained attention, I could be needing it more. How do you know how much data to get?

 

[ivar]

Remember that if you get a sim card in Portugal, and once you enter Spain and need to "top up" you can not go to any stores in Spain to do so. You need to have a way to do it in an app or online somehow.

 

[Leon RSA]

Can I ask how you know how much data you will need? I do almost everything now on my laptop, not phone, and have very little sense of how much data things need. I'm not planning on doing a lot with my phone while on the Camino -- occasional glances at map apps, and I want to have a phone in case of emergencies. I suppose if something happens that needs more sustained attention, I could be needing it more. How do you know how much data to get?

Unfortunately for me I can only do the Camino if I continue with my normal work tasks (something I do remotely at the moment). I know how much I currently use. >5Gb but < 10Gb. Therefore I have to take a standard offering of 10Gb. Easy, at home I run out of data with 5Gb but not with 10Gb. Needless to say, don't watch movies or you will be in trouble

 

[Leon RSA]

Remember that if you get a sim card in Portugal, and once you enter Spain and need to "top up" you can not go to any stores in Spain to do so. You need to have a way to do it in an app or online somehow.

Excellent advice thank you

 

[gml]

There are three main providers in Portugal: MEO, NOS and Vodafone. They all seem about the same, I’d just look them up, compare their offerings and pick what seems like the best deal to you. Once you reach Spain your Portuguese SIM will still work as though you were in Portugal.

Some Portuguese SIM cards may work outside of Portugal, but my Vodaphone SIM, bought in Lisbon, stopped working the minute I crossed the bridge to Spain. I anticipated this, as they told me if was for Portugal only, and they were right!

 

[Leon RSA]

Some Portuguese SIM cards may work outside of Portugal, but my Vodaphone SIM, bought in Lisbon, stopped working the minute I crossed the bridge to Spain. I anticipated this, as they told me if was for Portugal only, and they were right!

Not good news, I'll keep that in mind when I get the card in Lisbon. I'll probably use Vodafone as I am familiar with them in South Africa. Also Ivar's comment about difficulty with topping up in Spain is valuable info I never thought of.

 

[jungleboy]

Some Portuguese SIM cards may work outside of Portugal, but my Vodaphone SIM, bought in Lisbon, stopped working the minute I crossed the bridge to Spain. I anticipated this, as they told me if was for Portugal only, and they were right!

This is very unusual if it was 2017 or later. They should all work in other EU countries.

From Europa.eu:

Roaming: Using a mobile phone in the EU​

When you travel outside your home country to another EU country, you don't have to pay any additional charges to use your mobile phone. This is known as "roaming" or "roam like at home". Your calls (to mobile and fixed phones), text messages (SMS) and data use (web browsing, music and video streaming etc.) are charged at domestic rates, i.e. the same price as calls, texts and data within your home country.

The same rule also applies to any calls or text messages your receive while you're abroad - you aren't charged extra to receive calls or texts while roaming, even if the person calling you is using a different service provider.

Maybe @Kathar1na would like to add some insight

 

[Leon RSA]

Can I ask how you know how much data you will need? I do almost everything now on my laptop, not phone, and have very little sense of how much data things need. I'm not planning on doing a lot with my phone while on the Camino -- occasional glances at map apps, and I want to have a phone in case of emergencies. I suppose if something happens that needs more sustained attention, I could be needing it more. How do you know how much data to get?

From what you described and you do not a 1hr video call everyday, 5Gb per month will be more than ample. I intend having regular MS Teams meetings and daily Whattsap video calls.

 

[ivar]

Some Portuguese SIM cards may work outside of Portugal, but my Vodaphone SIM, bought in Lisbon, stopped working the minute I crossed the bridge to Spain. I anticipated this, as they told me if was for Portugal only, and they were right!

They should work all over Europe, but you need to have "Roaming" turned on... otherwise it will stop working when you cross the border.

 

[Olimpia]

There are three main providers in Portugal: MEO, NOS and Vodafone. They all seem about the same, I’d just look them up, compare their offerings and pick what seems like the best deal to you. Once you reach Spain your Portuguese SIM will still work as though you were in Portugal.

Muito obrigada.

They should work all over Europe, but you need to have "Roaming" turned on... otherwise it will stop working when you cross the border.

Hi Ivar. Thanks for all your work keeping us all united and informed.

 

[Pilgrim9]

Can I ask how you know how much data you will need? I do almost everything now on my laptop, not phone, and have very little sense of how much data things need. I'm not planning on doing a lot with my phone while on the Camino -- occasional glances at map apps, and I want to have a phone in case of emergencies. I suppose if something happens that needs more sustained attention, I could be needing it more. How do you know how much data to get?

There are probably better ways to forecast one's mobile data needs, but this is what I did when I was selecting a mobile data plan:

On my <Windows 10 Home> laptop, I pressed Start / Search / Status / Check Network Status. That lead me to a screen that informed me of my WIFI data consumption from the last 30 days, but only for the WIFI source to which the laptop was currently connected. To check consumption for other WIFI sources, I had to connect to each other source and then Check Network Status again at the end of that source's WIFI session. For greater clarity, sometimes I connect to my home WIFI router, sometimes I connect to a personally-owned mobile WIFI hotspot device (an Inseego MiFi [TM] 8000, which bidirectionally converts a mobile phone signal to WIFI) that I carry around with the laptop, and sometimes I connect to public WIFI routers such as in coffee shops or hotel rooms or etc. All of these are different sources with respect to Check Network Status's totalizing of data usage. To determine the total amount of WIFI data I used per month, I had to record the data consumption for each source before disconnecting. I just kept a simple pen-and-paper log. I did that for a few months.

My monthly statement from the provider of my mobile data plan details the data used each day plus the total for the month. Obviously this information won't become available until after one gets a data plan, but if one already has a plan at home one can use it's statements to make an educated guess at one's needs in another country.

All the above applies only to WIFI. I have never tried to determine the amount of data consumed over a LAN cable. Perhaps Check Network Status would work.

Hope that helps.

 

[C clearly]

I use data on my phone at home for browsing the internet, texting, emailing, downloading the occasional photo or document, etc. I do not download or watch videos/movies, and I download large files such as maps only over wifi. Otherwise, I don't worry much about it, and I have never gone over 4 GB in a month.

 

[AnneMarie1]

Unfortunately for me I can only do the Camino if I continue with my normal work tasks (something I do remotely at the moment). I know how much I currently use. >5Gb but < 10Gb. Therefore I have to take a standard offering of 10Gb. Easy, at home I run out of data with 5Gb but not with 10Gb. Needless to say, don't watch movies or you will be in trouble

So you're online all day at home, on web sites and google docs, etc., and for the whole month, you would use less than 10Gb? I'm trying to figure out how much I'm like to need on the Camino. I definitely WON'T be on that much, and some could be at night on wifi. But I will have things come up at work that need my attention from time to time (via an email), and I am job hunting, so I need to be reliably reachable.

 

[AnneMarie1]

From what you described and you do not a 1hr video call everyday, 5Gb per month will be more than ample. I intend having regular MS Teams meetings and daily Whattsap video calls.

Thank you!

 

[Dennis Pack]

There is a lot of "Free WiFi" available, as well. Often found signals in the squares. Didn't seem to have any restrictions.

 

[WGroleau]

I'm doing the Portuguese Camino from Lisbon and then from Santiago to Muxia in July and August 2023. During my walk I will require about 10 Gb per month internet connection. To save weight, I prefer to only buy a simcard (to be used in both Portugal and Spain) and insert it in my current dual sim phone. No router required. Any recommendations on which service provider to use? It will be 90% data and maybe a few local calls to book accomodation on the way (not that I can speak any Portuguese).

If you are in USA, consider Project FI from Google. Works in Spain and hundreds of other countries without changing SIM or phone number. I don't have it now, but when I did, they charged by usage, but with a cap of US$60 per month.

However, there won't be cell service everywhere, and where there is, there's probably also WiFi. On one trip, I had a GPS tracker that also had Iridium connection, so I could send an SOS or text message from anywhere in the world (include middle of the ocean). Thirteen dollars a month, and couldn't use it for other data apps, but if you want to really spend some money on a different device, Iridium is a possible satellite service and there are others. Project Fi data, when in range of a cell tower, would cost less and be faster.

Disclaimer: though the service itself was good, my first Fi-capable phone had a hardware problem and it was a one-year fight to get Google to admit it! And when the replacement was lost and I cancelled the service, for three months they kept saying "we know you didn't mean it" and stealing the base twenty dollars from my Visa.