A rundown on the options for connecting to the internet and calling home at low cost during your stay in Greece for those who prefer wild camping. For those who prefer organized campsites, the problem should not arise, since now all facilities offer free wifi included in the price.
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I must admit that my personal experience is limited to the use of free hot-spots and internet cafes. However, after a little research, I discovered that connections through mobile operators may be a good option for those who do not need to move heavy files as in my case. But let us see all the possibilities:
Free Hotspots
Many municipalities and some companies offer the possibility to connect to the net using their wifi hotspots. It is not uncommon, in the main squares of towns and in the vicinity of town-halls to find an open connection.
Of great help in these cases is the use of an external antenna, which can reach hotspots miles away.
Bar, Fast Foods other venues
In addition to the campsites, the majority of public venues, including McDonalds, Starbucks etc.. gives customers the ability to connect to their network. Taking into account that in Greece sitting to drink a cup of coffee gives you the right to occupy a table for indefinite time, this is also a good solution. Even better if you sit near a power outlet 😉
Internet Cafés
You can found them scattered everywhere in touristic places. Prices vary, starting from a euro for 30 minutes and you have the advantage that there is no need to carry around your own laptop. For those who are not computer-dependent and just want to check e-mail occasionally or make a couple of calls via Skype, Internet cafes are a good solution. The only drawback is that they are usually full of kids making noise and are not the best place to concentrate.
Internet mobile 3G ecc.
A connection via mobile operator is the ideal solution to be completely independent, as long as you have battery power and network coverage. Obviously it is not exactly cheap, but doing a little bandwidth economy, spending is not excessive.
In Greece there are three operators to choose from: Cosmote, Vodafone and Wind. By all Cosmote has the best geographic coverage, Vodafone is slightly better in quality of lines, Wind currently has no attractive offers for prepaid mobile internet.
[updated 02.27.2015]
Cosmote: Connection package costs 15€ and includes 10€ of pre-paid traffic. Recharges for 1/5/15/30 access days and traffic allowance of respectively 1/2/3/5 GB for 5/10/18/30 €
The connection package with USB stick modem will costs 35€ with 20€ of traffic included.
It is the only operator to currently offer 4G connection.
Vodafone: Connection package costs 15€ and includes 15 days of access and up to 2 GB traffic. Recharges are for: 1/15/30 days with respectively 1/2/5 GB traffic included at a cost of 5/20/40 €.
The connection package with USB stick modem will costs 35€ with 30days/5GB included.
Wind: Connection package costs 14.90€ and includes 30 days of access and up to 3 GB traffic. Recharges cost: 1/7/15/30 days with respectively 1/2/3/5 GB traffic included at a cost of 5/10/18/30 €.
The connection package with USB stick modem will costs 29.90€ including 30days/3GB
For those who have already a modem, make sure that it is not blocked by your service provider and you are able to set the connection data (APN) for the new operator.
To get the SIM card it is required to present proof of identity.
Public Phones
For those who only need to make land calls, the easier and cheaper solution is to buy a prepaid card that you can use from any public phone. One of the best is the ChronoKarta that with € 6 lets you talk for 288 minutes with any land number in most European countries. ChronoKarta can be bought also at post offices. There are also dozens of other brands of cards, most with very affordable rates for Asian countries and Eastern Europe. Before you buy one you should check how many minutes it guarantees for your country, because there are huge differences from card to card.
Warning! Prices and offers are constantly changing, check the sites of the various operators to see latest prices.
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