Ipad mini

[travelingtrish]

I have just bought an ipad mini cellular tablet. I will want to put a sim card in this so I can access the web wherever I am. It is my intention to write a blog while on the trip. What I need to know is can I get this in France and will it cover Spain? I don't want to wait until I get to Spain to buy it. I guess WiFi will be available most places, but I am keen to be all set up before I get underway.
thanks, Trish

 

[NicoZ]

What I need to know is can I get this in France and will it cover Spain? I don't want to wait until I get to Spain to buy it. I guess WiFi will be available most places, but I am keen to be all set up before I get underway.
thanks, Trish

You can buy it but you shouldn't.

A French SIM will roam in Spain. For data that can be pretty expensive.

Truth is if you're more then a week in Spain it'll be cheaper to buy a French SIM. Toss it when you cross the border and buy a new Spanish SIM .

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Toss it when you cross the border

That is just a couple of hours after leaving SJPdP, so you won't get much use from a French SIM chip -- just Bayonne to SJPdP. Roaming data charges, when you can get a signal, for a French SIM will be incredibly expensive in Spain.

You cannot buy a Spanish SIM chip until Pamplona, so if you think you have to have it the first two to three days, you will need to find a mail order source over the internet before you leave Australia.

 

[Diegomartine]

Hi Trish,

I got a SIM card from Movistar http://www.movistar.es/particulares/ficha/extra-gigas

I recommend the 1GB, that will be enough to access your blog and publish articles on the way. After you use the 1GB they just reduce the speed but you can still used it with no extra cost.

The 1gb is only 10 euros.

Remember to buy a NANO SIM CARD, that's the only one that fits the iPad mini.

 

[Nova Green]

Hi
Did you buy that Sim card before you left the USA or did you buy it in Spain??? My Spanish is pretty basic but it seems like it asks for a Spanish form of id to process the order

 

[pep7702]

I took an iPad mini on my Caminos and blogged from it. It worked great. I bought a SIM card in Spain from Vodafone. The coverage was great and the card was cheap like 10 or 15 Euros for 1GB of data for 30 days, which was plenty. Also, you can relaod it, which I did. It was painless with a translation app (see below). You will need to show your passport - you do not need Spanish ID.

I looked into buying a SIM card before I left the US but decided to buy it in Spain because it costs a lot less to buy it in Spain. Also, if there's a problem it's easier to solve. Buy a card in Spain and have a problem just go to the Vodafone store!!

I know very limited Spanish and it was difficult but not impossible to buy the card even without the translation app, which I didn't have for the initial purchase.

If I were in your shoes I'd write the blog posts the first three days and send them via Wifi (wefee in Spain) when available the first three days. When you get to Pamplona I'd buy a SIM from one of the big carriers - Movistar, Vodafone or Orange. If you are truly worried about navigating the purchase with limited Spanish, buy a very small international data plan from your carrier in Australia and get a translation app that uses the microphone on the iPad. Then both you and the clerk at the store can talk into the microphone and have it translated. Or just pay the data roaming for this one translation as it will be limited. Make sure you have your email turned off otherwise your email will be downloaded and that could be expensive.

Whatever you do it will be an adventure and the Camino will provide. You will get your SIM - it just may not go as you planned!! And that's part of the magic of the Camino!!

 

[Bajaracer]

I took an iPad mini on my Caminos and blogged from it. It worked great. I bought a SIM card in Spain from Vodafone. The coverage was great and the card was cheap like 10 or 15 Euros for 1GB of data for 30 days, which was plenty. Also, you can relaod it, which I did. It was painless with a translation app (see below). You will need to show your passport - you do not need Spanish ID.

I looked into buying a SIM card before I left the US but decided to buy it in Spain because it costs a lot less to buy it in Spain. Also, if there's a problem it's easier to solve. Buy a card in Spain and have a problem just go to the Vodafone store!!

I know very limited Spanish and it was difficult but not impossible to buy the card even without the translation app, which I didn't have for the initial purchase.

If I were in your shoes I'd write the blog posts the first three days and send them via Wifi (wefee in Spain) when available the first three days. When you get to Pamplona I'd buy a SIM from one of the big carriers - Movistar, Vodafone or Orange. If you are truly worried about navigating the purchase with limited Spanish, buy a very small international data plan from your carrier in Australia and get a translation app that uses the microphone on the iPad. Then both you and the clerk at the store can talk into the microphone and have it translated. Or just pay the data roaming for this one translation as it will be limited. Make sure you have your email turned off otherwise your email will be downloaded and that could be expensive.

Whatever you do it will be an adventure and the Camino will provide. You will get your SIM - it just may not go as you planned!! And that's part of the magic of the Camino!!

I agree, wait till you get to Pamplona and buy a SIM from the Phone House or El Corte Ingles, both stores have all brands of carriers to choose from and are cheaper than trying to purchase them before flying over, and if there are any issues, you can sort them out on the spot.
Tuenti Movil is the prepaid division of Movistar and has great deals for SIM cards with data.

 

[pep7702]

Bajaracer is correct - buy your SIM from El Corte Ingles or the Phone House in Pamplona. I reloaded my Vodafone SIM at the Corte Ingles in Leon. It was seamless.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Just off the Camino as you leave Pamplona:
Swarovski El Corte Inglés
Calle de Estella, 9
31002 Pamplona
Navarra, Spain
Open today

1. 10:00 am – 10:00 pm

Just off the Plaza del Castillo and near the albergue:
Vodafone
Calle de la Estafeta, 79
31001 Pamplona
Navarra, Spain
Open today

1. 10:00 am – 9:00 pm

 

[Suzanne Edminster]

I took an iPad mini on my Caminos and blogged from it. It worked great. I bought a SIM card in Spain from Vodafone. The coverage was great and the card was cheap like 10 or 15 Euros for 1GB of data for 30 days, which was plenty. Also, you can relaod it, which I did. It was painless with a translation app (see below). You will need to show your passport - you do not need Spanish ID.

I looked into buying a SIM card before I left the US but decided to buy it in Spain because it costs a lot less to buy it in Spain. Also, if there's a problem it's easier to solve. Buy a card in Spain and have a problem just go to the Vodafone store!!

I know very limited Spanish and it was difficult but not impossible to buy the card even without the translation app, which I didn't have for the initial purchase.

If I were in your shoes I'd write the blog posts the first three days and send them via Wifi (wefee in Spain) when available the first three days. When you get to Pamplona I'd buy a SIM from one of the big carriers - Movistar, Vodafone or Orange. If you are truly worried about navigating the purchase with limited Spanish, buy a very small international data plan from your carrier in Australia and get a translation app that uses the microphone on the iPad. Then both you and the clerk at the store can talk into the microphone and have it translated. Or just pay the data roaming for this one translation as it will be limited. Make sure you have your email turned off otherwise your email will be downloaded and that could be expensive.

Whatever you do it will be an adventure and the Camino will provide. You will get your SIM - it just may not go as you planned!! And that's part of the magic of the Camino!!

Hi... sorry if this sounds dumb, but do I need an international SIM card for my IPAD mini if I only want to use available wireless? Isn't wireless universal? I don't want phone service, just internet. I am taking an IPAD mini only, probably no phone. I want to mostly Skype my dear heart husband and post blogs. Do I need a change of the included SIM card for that ? Will be only in Spain, starting Pamplona. Does an IPAD mini with wireless and no cell phone sound okay?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

You do not need a SIM for WiFi.

 

[pep7702]

Falcon is correct (as always) - to use WiFi you do not need a SIM. For what you want to do - blog, email and Skype you can get by without a SIM by using WiFi. WiFi is pretty ubiquitous on the Camino. There will be a few days when it's harder to find. I don't remember a day when it wasn't available.

I used a SIM card in my iPad because I didn't want to thrash around trying to find WiFi. By having the SIM I was connected most places and for a really low price. I could have easily lived without it.

 

[pipello]

You can buy it but you shouldn't.

A French SIM will roam in Spain. For data that can be pretty expensive.

Truth is if you're more then a week in Spain it'll be cheaper to buy a French SIM. Toss it when you cross the border and buy a new Spanish SIM .

I am curious as to why one needs a Sim card? We took our iPad mini and an iPhone on our last Camino and were able to post my blog using WIFI whenever it was available, which seemed to be very frequently.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I am curious as to why one needs a Sim card?

I could check email and the internet from almost everywhere on the Camino. I did not have to wait for WiFi or input some very complex passwords.

 

[fraluchi]

Perfect, Falcon269! Now how or where does one insert a SIM card in this iPad Mini (just so that I don't swap my iPod touch which works fine on WiFi for the Mini)

 

[pep7702]

On one of the long edges of the iPad mini below the volume controls will be an area that has a small hole and holds the SIM tray. I've attached a photo. Insert a paper clip and the tray will pop out.

The iPad mini takes a nano SIM. Usually the stores have them on hand but if not they will cut a regular SIM to fit. They had to do this for mine in Sarria (Camino 1) and it worked fine for over 50 days. Frankly, the Vodafone store installed mine in Spain and got it up and running. I changed it out when I got back to the states.

 

[Bajaracer]

Perfect, Falcon269! Now how or where does one insert a SIM card in this iPad Mini (just so that I don't swap my iPod touch which works fine on WiFi for the Mini)

Fraluchi, is your iPad Mini a wifi only or is it a 4G/LTE model? If you have the wifi only there is no SIM card just like your iPod touch.

 

[Bajaracer]

I could check email and the internet from almost everywhere on the Camino. I did not have to wait for WiFi or input some very complex passwords.

Exactly, I thought is was a pain to ask for the password each and every time I came up to a bar/cafe, I was able to order breakfast and sit down and enjoy it and my face not buried in my smartphone.

 

[pep7702]

And I was able to write my blog posts from my bed in the albergues and slowly slip into my nap each afternoon upon completion!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

You can pull up maps if you have a data SIM, and look for roads around weather created obstacles. The marked path is generally a direct route, and it is nice to know where that tempting road actually goes. For example, bypassing La Faba leads to many more roads than depicted in Brierley, I promise you. Depending on what you do with the map, though, it can eat up your data allowance rather quickly.

 

[Suzanne Edminster]

Falcon is correct (as always) - to use WiFi you do not need a SIM. For what you want to do - blog, email and Skype you can get by without a SIM by using WiFi. WiFi is pretty ubiquitous on the Camino. There will be a few days when it's harder to find. I don't remember a day when it wasn't available.

I used a SIM card in my iPad because I didn't want to thrash around trying to find WiFi. By having the SIM I was connected most places and for a really low price. I could have easily lived without it.

So it was worth it for you, it sounds like. Thanks. I might do this too. I am finally starting to understand a bit about the SIM thing.

 

[Canucks]

We took ipad minis and used wifi only. Available everywhere along the Frances except for the tiny village where the 2 brothers own the only bar in town. There is an "internet station" outside that is another profit center for them! Otherwise we were fine everywhere. We didn't need to stop mid hike to access the internet on the mini so were fine. The phone would work for emergency internet access and the wifi was used at night or morning for email, blogging, checking routes etc.
However, if you need that access at any time then the sim model would be great and the same rules for data cost would apply as for phones.

 

[Suzanne Edminster]

We took ipad minis and used wifi only. Available everywhere along the Frances except for the tiny village where the 2 brothers own the only bar in town. There is an "internet station" outside that is another profit center for them! Otherwise we were fine everywhere. We didn't need to stop mid hike to access the internet on the mini so were fine. The phone would work for emergency internet access and the wifi was used at night or morning for email, blogging, checking routes etc.
However, if you need that access at any time then the sim model would be great and the same rules for data cost would apply as for phones.

Thanks for further clarification. The simplicity of it appeals to me. I am not planning on being online or phoning mid-hike, but rather at stopping points. Good points. Thank you.

 

[newfydog]

Anyone buying an ipad mini ought to know that only the ipads with sim card/3g capability have GPS. They are not really related, just on the same chip. You don't need a SIM to use GPS but if you have wi-fi only ipad, you have no gps receiver.

 

[Suzanne Edminster]

Anyone buying an ipad mini ought to know that only the ipads with sim card/3g capability have GPS. They are not really related, just on the same chip. You don't need a SIM to use GPS but if you have wi-fi only ipad, you have no gps receiver.

I was just thinking of this. I am not sure about my mini... I bought it last year. I will take it into the Apple store and see.

 

[newfydog]

Just go up a few posts to the post of pep7702 to see which model you have.

 

[Magwood]

Wouldn't you know if you had a SIM card facility - mainly because of the cost - they are £100 more with this facility!

 

[Suzanne Edminster]

Very

Just off the Camino as you leave Pamplona:
Swarovski El Corte Inglés
Calle de Estella, 9
31002 Pamplona
Navarra, Spain
Open today

1. 10:00 am – 10:00 pm

Just off the Plaza del Castillo and near the albergue:
Vodafone
Calle de la Estafeta, 79
31001 Pamplona
Navarra, Spain
Open today

1. 10:00 am – 9:00 pm

Very useful information! These forums are great. Thanks for taking the time to post these.

 

[fraluchi]

Fraluchi, is your iPad Mini a wifi only or is it a 4G/LTE model? If you have the wifi only there is no SIM card just like your iPod touch.

Thanks for this explanation. I have not yet purchased the iPad Mini with Retina display. Will check for the 4G/LTE model with nano SIM card.It would probably allow me using Skype at any time; not just in WiFi zones?

 

[Bajaracer]

Thanks for this explanation. I have not yet purchased the iPad Mini with Retina display. Will check for the 4G/LTE model with nano SIM card.It would probably allow me using Skype at any time; not just in WiFi zones?

http://store.apple.com/us/buy-ipad/ipad-mini-retina There is the WiFI model and then there is the WiFi + Cellular model which has a nano SIM card slot.
The WiFi + Cellular model will allow you to Skype most anywhere without a WiFi connection and go online as well. I'd still get the WiFi password when it is available so you won't use up your monthly data allowance.

 

[patgreen]

WiFi is very common. Sometimes there's no password, sometimes the password is really mad like this one:

 

[NolaVulling]

I have just bought an ipad mini cellular tablet. I will want to put a sim card in this so I can access the web wherever I am. It is my intention to write a blog while on the trip. What I need to know is can I get this in France and will it cover Spain? I don't want to wait until I get to Spain to buy it. I guess WiFi will be available most places, but I am keen to be all set up before I get underway.
thanks, Trish

Hi Trish,
Check out the Woolworths International Travel Sim.. As you know global roaming from an Aussie phone is ridiculously expensive A fellow pilgrim (Australian friends of the Camino - www.afotc.org.au) told me she used one and found it very affordable. Can be bought at Woolworths - but not the smaller stores. Good luck. I am also planning to go but in May. Buen Camino

 

[newfydog]

More on the GPS capability of the mini: I did a drive/hike and recorded the entire trip (6 hours) on MotionX GPS on both the iphone and the ipad mini. It used 50% of the phone's battery power, but the mini still had 90% left.

 

[jirit]

I have just bought an ipad mini cellular tablet. I will want to put a sim card in this so I can access the web wherever I am. It is my intention to write a blog while on the trip. What I need to know is can I get this in France and will it cover Spain? I don't want to wait until I get to Spain to buy it. I guess WiFi will be available most places, but I am keen to be all set up before I get underway.
thanks, Trish

You will be far better off just using wifi and not 4G. The costs of uploading data on a 4g package will far exceed what you can do via wifi

 

[gailsweb]

More on the GPS capability of the mini: I did a drive/hike and recorded the entire trip (6 hours) on MotionX GPS on both the iphone and the ipad mini. It used 50% of the phone's battery power, but the mini still had 90% left.

Did you have 3G on or just use gps on mini? If so was the accuracy similar?

 

[alexwalker]

I will try to walk the walk only by following those yellow arrows. Simple as that. FYI: I hold an engineering degree in computer science (since 1974), but really, this gadget thing is getting out of our hands. Just my opinion. Please come back to real life in stead of electronics.

 

[travelingtrish]

Alex

I am merely writing a diary in this centuries mode. Not leaving a footprint by using paper, plus it is lighter. I am also able to have a way to contact folk if I need help. I will turn 70 on the track so I need "the gadget" to feel safe. Further more I would send you a raspberry but there is no sound on here.

 

[travelingtrish]

http://store.apple.com/us/buy-ipad/ipad-mini-retina There is the WiFI model and then there is the WiFi + Cellular model which has a nano SIM card slot.
The WiFi + Cellular model will allow you to Skype most anywhere without a WiFi connection and go online as well. I'd still get the WiFi password when it is available so you won't use up your monthly data allowance.

Thanks for that as I would not have thought of doing that. I would have used up mine.

 

[newfydog]

Did you have 3G on or just use gps on mini? If so was the accuracy similar?

Just GPS. Accuracy is nearly perfect, (if you are a hiker, not a surveyor).

 

[Rosemaryk1]

I will only be taking an IPhone? Will I just get a SIM card in Pamplona? The thought of trying to enter the above referenced password does not sound enjoyable...have to go digging for my glasses..enter it ten times....finally give up because I just can't get it to work!

 

[travelingtrish]

Hi Trish,
Check out the Woolworths International Travel Sim.. As you know global roaming from an Aussie phone is ridiculously expensive A fellow pilgrim (Australian friends of the Camino - www.afotc.org.au) told me she used one and found it very affordable. Can be bought at Woolworths - but not the smaller stores. Good luck. I am also planning to go but in May. Buen Camino

Thanks I will try that. I tried the post office biu they had none for mini or Spain
. It is now on the list.

 

[Leaningforward]

The SIM card I purchased in Pamplona (from Orange) relieved me of the need to find and stay close to Wi-Fi and provided me real-time mapping information -- like the morning I departed before dawn, missed arrows, and found myself on a tractor path between vast fields miles from the camino (note: that inadvertent "detour" changed my camino is the best possible way).

The SIM card was very convenient until my non-fluency in Spanish prevented me from communicating by phone with customer service to correct a problem -- in which case, I reverted to my Verizon international data plan for a week or so until I could walk into an Orange store.

 

[Bajaracer]

Hi Trish,
Check out the Woolworths International Travel Sim.. As you know global roaming from an Aussie phone is ridiculously expensive A fellow pilgrim (Australian friends of the Camino - www.afotc.org.au) told me she used one and found it very affordable. Can be bought at Woolworths - but not the smaller stores. Good luck. I am also planning to go but in May. Buen Camino

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/03/2...about-phone-fees-overseas.html?_r=1&referrer=
Read this article about using data overseas, Woolworth travel SIM for data is $.60 per Megabyte compared to the US carrier Verizon that charges $.25 per megabyte, both are very expensive compared to using a local SIM.

 

[unadara]

I'm with Alex, have to say I've read all the posts, toyed with the easy blogging facility but going to take my old nokia, txt home at night, blog once a week at local pcs (maybe) and wait till I get home to post photos or if there is a good pc in the area , on the Madrid route I found community centres with pcs and quite enjoyed that break from the bar! And follow the arrows and Jirits pdf.

 

[travelingtrish]

And I was able to write my blog posts from my bed in the albergues and slowly slip into my nap each afternoon upon completion!

love the sound of that! Perhaps you could let me know how to get the blog onto this site? I would like to share mine on here when I start it in 4 days time. Yike.

 

[pep7702]

Here's the blog thread where you can post your blogs URL: http://www.caminodesantiago.me/comm...nt-to-read-your-story.4155/page-3#post-177252

Buen Camino, Trish!!

 

[unadara]

I changed my mind and bought a "smart" phone a Samsung..oh the trouble it brought with it...BUT..I couldn't post on this forum(still no idea why) BUT could very easily update my own wordpress blog, and upload images, as wordpress allows you post by gmail..and I had blog linked to facebook..so almost everyday I sent an image, a message and updated all my "envious" friends??

 

[anniethenurse]

Thank you for all info and clarification.
Just returned home a month ago and used iPad mini only wifi and i was very happy with it. Wifi is very easily accessible on the Portugues (coastal) as well as on the CF.
Planning for the following day's etapa I used Google maps - took detailed screen shots - perhaps 15 photos of an etapas of 30 km. Was never lost and found my way even when the etapa was poorly signed.
I don't want to be online ALL THE TIME but want to check email and update FB.
Buen camino

 

[bystander]

I have an iPad mini retina (WiFi only) and, at present, an iPhone 4S.
In the autumn I will buy a SIM free iPhone 6.
When in Spain next year I will buy a local SIM card.
The phone will be my camera and will, automatically sync by WiFi with my iPad and the Cloud and my iMac at home giving in addition to the pictures themselves all the GPS and metadata relating to them and any blog I keep.
The blog that I will keep will be done by dictation (rather than the hassle of typing) to either the iPhone whilst on my feet or onto the iPad when sitting enjoy a glass of ? and, again, that will all sync between phone/pad/iMac/Cloud.
The iPad will (as well as in my Cloud account) already have stored on it the relevant info from Brierley and Miam Miam Dodo and various other other sources.
If both my gadgets go t-ts-up I can still go to an internet café and access the info on the cloud.
Belt and braces means I will also have a notepad, small sketch pad and pencil.
That said, whilst I will carry all that, it doesn't necessarily mean in the eventuality that I will bother to use any of it!
Who knows?
Que sera sera.......

 

[rickster]

Does your iPad mini need to be unlocked, which is the case with the smartphones in order to use the European sim cards?

 

[Bajaracer]

Does your iPad mini need to be unlocked, which is the case with the smartphones in order to use the European sim cards?

The iPad mini with Cellular (GSM AT&T version) is unlocked for use with SIM cards.

 

[bystander]

from elsewhere:

"If you’re a frequent international traveler, there’s another benefit to adding cellular networking capability. The SIM slot on the iPad is unlocked, meaning that if you can find a compatible carrier while you’re traveling abroad, you can pop in a SIM card and get access to data on the local network, generally for much less than you’d pay your U.S. provider for an international data plan. There’s actually a benefit to unlocked SIMs in the United States, too; it means that you can effectively switch back and forth between carriers. (The iPad Air and Retina iPad mini cellular models can work on any of the four major carriers, but the iPad 2 and first-generation iPad mini cellular versions are tied to one or two carriers.)"

 

[vgen5122]

I have just bought an ipad mini cellular tablet. I will want to put a sim card in this so I can access the web wherever I am. It is my intention to write a blog while on the trip. What I need to know is can I get this in France and will it cover Spain? I don't want to wait until I get to Spain to buy it. I guess WiFi will be available most places, but I am keen to be all set up before I get underway.
thanks, Trish

I took my Ipad 2 on the Camino, which I will never do again. It was too big and got too heavy. An Ipad mini or better an iPhone would be ideal. Wifi (wee fi) was available in most places, if not at the albergue, then I would get wifi at the eateries. Buen Camino.