Using the 3UK USB Modem in Italy

Here I am sat in beautiful San Casciano in the middle of Italy just south of Florence. I managed to find a little bar to sit in whilst I gaze out across the rolling fields of Tuscany. It’s siesta time at the minute — most of the shops are shut and, crucially, so is the only decent place that serves pizza.

I thought I’d use this opportunity to test out the 3UK USB Modem that I got a few weeks go. If you recall, it’s a tenner a month for a ‘fair use’ gig of data per month. Since I’m in Italy, I get to take advantage of 3’s ‘3 Like Home’ plan (at least, I sincerely HOPE I do with the Modem package) meaning that any data I use here in Italy is included as normal — since I’m roaming on 3 Italy.

If I was roaming in a country without an incumbent 3 network, I would not be feeling so smug. In fact this blog post would have cost a good amount of cash paid to T-Mobile to cover the data costs.

I’m pleased to report that there is, generally speaking, a super ‘3 ITA’ (“3 Italy”) signal, wherever I go. My Nokia E61i, currently with my main 3UK account, has been loving it. I’ve been Google Mapping, emailing and browsing like-no-tomorrow.

The data speeds here in the middle of nowhere (although Leonardo Da Vinci was born somewhere near here I think) are excellent and compare well to the UK speeds. Love it.