Internet and calls

Who could give up having an internet connection nowadays? Whether you are at home or traveling, having an internet connection has become almost indispensable. So what do you have to do to remain connected during your visit to Italy?
For travelers coming from a state of the European Union or from Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, you have some free data to browse the internet and the precise amount depends on your own mobile plan. To calculate how many data you can use, you have to do this simple calculation: take
the monthly cost of your mobile plan (e.g. 9 Euros) and divide it by 3 then multiply the total by two (e.g. (9/3) x 2 = 6 GB). In addition to this you can text and phone according to your mobile plan tariff.

Alejandro Escamilla alejandroescamilla, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

What about travelers coming from outside the European Union? Using your own mobile plan to browse the internet and phone in Italy might cost you a lot of money.

In many places of interest like stations, hotels and restaurants, you can easily find free Wi-Fi. However, most of the time the connection is slow and unstable. One solution is to buy an Italian SIM for tourist. There are several offers such as TIM Tourist (15GB, 20 Euro for 30 days), Vodafone Dolce Vita (30GB, 24,99 Euro for 30 days) and WindTre Tourist Pass (20GB, 24,99 Euro for 30 days). These sims also offer minutes for international calls

Another solution, which is especially useful if you are traveling with others, is to rent a pocket Portable Wi-Fi (portable router). These devices allow you to connect to the internet wherever there is a mobile phone network nearby. They also allow you to connect multiple devices at the same time (usually up to 10).

The rental price is approximately 80 Euro per week, but you can get special discounts if you rent the device for several days. This price includes the shipping costs of the device to your home (this service is available only if you live in USA, Canada and UK) or to your hotel in Italy, as well as a prepaid return envelope. Using a pocket Wi-Fi you will have 1 GB of data at maximum speed, and 512 kbps thereafter. If this is not enough then paying an additional € 2.90 per day you can have unlimited internet access at maximum speed.