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What options are there for visitors to Italy in getting a sim card with a large amount of data (3G or 4G) or alternatively a portable wifi hotspot that I can pick up and drop off easily.

I will be travelling all over Italy, including Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Rome, Naples.

Ideally this should work in the cities and in the country side (I will be travelling by train and would like to use it on the long journeys)

Edit: This question and answers answers the sim card part of the question, but since I only need internet data, I have changed my question to ask only for portable wifi hotspots.

And I will be travelling for about 2 weeks. I'm looking for "a lot" of data (1GB+ per day).

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EdmundYeung99
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  • What do you call a portable wifi hotspot? a device that you can connect to through wifi (and connecting to the Internet through 3G/4G, but in this case it requires a SIM card anyway)? a plan that allows you to connect to WiFi networks of providers (if there are any available on your way)? I am a bit confused by your question. – Vince Aug 14 '15 at 00:08
  • @vince here is one from Japan http://www.globaladvancedcomm.com/pocketwifi.html they offer both wifi hotspots and sim cards – EdmundYeung99 Aug 14 '15 at 01:21
  • OK I see, so you want a package Internet plan + WiFi device. If your phone has data (3G/4G/LTE), you can just pay for the plan and if you need to share the connection, most smartphones can do that. – Vince Aug 14 '15 at 01:44
  • But it seems the best plans only offer 3GB for €20. Surely I can get a better deal with wifi hotspots. I would be better of with a 3 sim card from the UK and just go roaming in Italy, unlimited data for £15 – EdmundYeung99 Aug 14 '15 at 01:53
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    So, to repeat, a portable hotspot is a device, like this offered by Wind. You will put a SIM card in that device instead of putting it in your phone. The plan you pay for does not depend on the device. In other words, no matter whether you use a phone or portable hotspot,the plan is the same. – Vince Aug 14 '15 at 12:23
  • What you are saying (that 3 UK offers unlimited data for cheaper) just means getting a plan in Italy might be more expensive. That is not surprising, the national markets in Europe are very different (Italian providers market to Italians, UK providers to UK people so they are not competing), it is common to have such price discrepancies (for example, if you had a plan in France, roaming for up to 35 days per year - the length of holidays for most people - is now included in some plans when travelling to some European countries) – Vince Aug 14 '15 at 12:24
  • thanks @vince I didn't realize that is how it works in Italy – EdmundYeung99 Aug 16 '15 at 20:26
  • I purchased a "Tourist Package": data only SIM card from TIM, 30GB for 30 days: €35 (15GB anytime, 15GB midnight to 8AM). I have used TIM three times with no hassle, they set it up in the store and it was working when I left. – zaph Jul 10 '17 at 03:25

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