# Sim Card Internet Access Question



## Benidormtipster (Oct 3, 2010)

Hi,
I am planning on driving from UK to Spain and I have TomTom mobile installed on my mobile phone. The fact is, the TomTom app on my iphone uses the internet and this would involve some serious phone charges if I used my Vodafone chip, so my question is, does anyone know of a sim card that would give me internet access and not cost the earth?

Regards, BT


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Benidormtipster said:


> Hi,
> I am planning on driving from UK to Spain and I have TomTom mobile installed on my mobile phone. The fact is, the TomTom app on my iphone uses the internet and this would involve some serious phone charges if I used my Vodafone chip, so my question is, does anyone know of a sim card that would give me internet access and not cost the earth?
> 
> Regards, BT


That's a tricky one! Obviously your UK sim is best in the UK but if you get a Spanish one that will still be expensive to use through France. You could buy a french one too I guess but that would end up costing you and jsut being a bit of a ball ache.

I have to admit I have driven several routes through France and Spain and good old Tom Tom always makes it easy but depending on the route you take it isn't actually as complicated as it looks - maybe just go to multimap or viamichellin, print the route and create a simplified bullet point list and forget the TomTom!

You can buy (at airports and such like) international sims but I dont know if they do data. I presume your iPhone is unlocked?

Other than that, why not take ferry accross Biscay and then its easy (since I discovered the "long ferry" I stoped doing the France bit) - shame P&O have scrapped the route now, but Brittany do a reasonably good job - and can work out jsut as cheap I find as driving through France!

Sorry I am not being much help on this one! I am sure someone will know a more sensible answer for you!


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## Benidormtipster (Oct 3, 2010)

Hi Steve,
I did consider the Biscay option but we are terrible sailors and would be throwing up most of the time, plus it is expensive and they stop sailing during the months we want to travel (January) and resume later when the weather is milder.

Cheers, Kenny

Other than that, why not take ferry accross Biscay and then its easy (since I discovered the "long ferry" I stoped doing the France bit) - shame P&O have scrapped the route now, but Brittany do a reasonably good job - and can work out jsut as cheap I find as driving through France!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Benidormtipster said:


> Hi,
> I am planning on driving from UK to Spain and I have TomTom mobile installed on my mobile phone. The fact is, the TomTom app on my iphone uses the internet and this would involve some serious phone charges if I used my Vodafone chip, so my question is, does anyone know of a sim card that would give me internet access and not cost the earth?


Yoigo.- El operador de telefonía móvil con tarifas baratas, móviles e internet para el ordenador is the best. SIM card costs up to 20 euro with 20 euro credit (sometimes cheaper), and you want to get an 'INTERNET PARA LLEVAR TARJETA', which gives you 100MB of internet access daily at a fixed rate of 3 euro. 3G coverage is good in centres of population (up to 3.2 Mbps), but out in the sticks the speed drops to 64 kbps or less - it has roaming agreement with Movistar. It's sold at the branches of The Phone House (part of Carphone Warehouse) or some major supermarkets like Carrefour and Alcampo. You will need an ID to buy one - passport or driving licence will do.


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Joppa said:


> Yoigo.- El operador de telefonía móvil con tarifas baratas, móviles e internet para el ordenador is the best. SIM card costs up to 20 euro with 20 euro credit (sometimes cheaper), and you want to get an 'INTERNET PARA LLEVAR TARJETA', which gives you 100MB of internet access daily at a fixed rate of 3 euro. 3G coverage is good in centres of population (up to 3.2 Mbps), but out in the sticks the speed drops to 64 kbps or less - it has roaming agreement with Movistar. It's sold at the branches of The Phone House (part of Carphone Warehouse) or some major supermarkets like Carrefour and Alcampo. You will need an ID to buy one - passport or driving licence will do.


That should do the job for the OP!

Actually my OH is a Yoigo customer and he is going to england for a few days to see a friend, tonight I spoke on the phone and told him not to worry about texting me too much while he is away because it will cost him and he told me that Yoigo is only 11c while roaming in the UK to text back home - to be fair I think that's pretty impressive!!! I may have to look into this network!


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## Benidormtipster (Oct 3, 2010)

Thanks for the replies guys, what I really need is something that I can connect to when I arrive in France from the UK to allow me to use TomTom on my mobile phone and hopefully direct me to Benidorm in as short a time and distance as possible, the deal on the sim card mentioned above looks great once I am in Spain though so thankss for that.


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Benidormtipster said:


> Thanks for the replies guys, what I really need is something that I can connect to when I arrive in France from the UK to allow me to use TomTom on my mobile phone and hopefully direct me to Benidorm in as short a time and distance as possible, the deal on the sim card mentioned above looks great once I am in Spain though so thankss for that.


AP7 motorway all the way! You cant miss benidorm - look for the neon lights!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Benidormtipster said:


> Thanks for the replies guys, what I really need is something that I can connect to when I arrive in France from the UK to allow me to use TomTom on my mobile phone and hopefully direct me to Benidorm in as short a time and distance as possible, the deal on the sim card mentioned above looks great once I am in Spain though so thankss for that.


Check with your UK network provider. They may offer a data bundle deal for France which, while not as good as Yoigo in Spain, is still cheaper than per KB/MB downloaded when roaming.


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## Benidormtipster (Oct 3, 2010)

Hi,
I was planning on driving to Spain from the UK and the plan was to use my iphone 4 and a tomtom app for directions until Vodafone explained that as the app uses the internet and the costs would be astronomical. 

I then remembered that many moons ago I used an old Nokia with tomtom installed and a GPS receiver connected via Bluetooth so no need for an internet connection.

So I was wondering, could I do the same thing with an iphone 4 and connect it to a GPS receiver via bluetooth and avoid huge internet costs?


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Benidormtipster said:


> Hi,
> I was planning on driving to Spain from the UK and the plan was to use my iphone 4 and a tomtom app for directions until Vodafone explained that as the app uses the internet and the costs would be astronomical.
> 
> I then remembered that many moons ago I used an old Nokia with tomtom installed and a GPS receiver connected via Bluetooth so no need for an internet connection.
> ...


Turn off automatic data function by going to SETTING> GENERAL> NETWORK and switch off Data Roaming.


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