My flat in Budapest has no Internet - how now?

Hello everyone!

I hope that someone will be able to help me out.

I will be staying in Budapest for 5 months. The problem is, my flat has neither Internet nor telephone. I would desperately need the Internet to keep in touch with my boyfriend and family, to read the newspapers and so on.

Does anybody know if there are sticks for laptops that allow surfing on the Internet in Budapest/Hungary? Are there flatrates? Can I use Skype, or are these sticks too slow?
If yes, where can I buy this? I don't speak Hungarian, so this may complicate the situation...
Has anyone ever used something like this?

I would be glad - and very relieved! - if someone could answer me.

Thank you!

Kiruna, why don't you go with your laptop to MC Donalds or where you can see the WIFI signs and log on for free.

Of course this is just a temporary situation but do the trick till you will get a stick from one of the few companies available in town like Telenor, Vodafone, T-mobile etc.

If you go in one of the malls like Mammut or MOM Park, Alee, Arena not only that you will see people surfing the net on their own laptop but also the companies that I mention above.
GOOD LUCK!

Hi,

Presumably your notebook has wi-fi built in. Turn it on, walk around in your flat, possibly use the free netstumbler program ( http://www.netstumbler.com/downloads/ ) to find open access points from neighbours. Some people (like me) leave their access points open for the public intentionally, then you are welcome to use it. Some just don't know better, but they won't even notice and there's no harm done as long as you don't start downloading movies excessively. Most fixed internet connections do not have monthly data limits, so you're not causing them any expense or inconvenience.

Cafes and other public hotspots also work.

Failing that, do as Girlie suggests, and get a mobile internet stick and subscription. Link quality may be enough for a voice connection depending on signal strength, probably not enough for a video call.
Mobile internet offerings usually have a monthly data cap, a couple of gigabytes (GB) should be enough for everyone. Avoid 10-100 MB/month offerings, you're bound to overshoot and either be left without a connection for the rest of the month, or pay extra.

i got one of those mobile internet stick offerings, great, but i have a different issue

can anyone tell me the name of the t-mobile outgoing mail server?

i tried using "smtp.t-mobile.hu" but computer says no

logger wrote:

i got one of those mobile internet stick offerings, great, but i have a different issue

can anyone tell me the name of the t-mobile outgoing mail server?

i tried using "smtp.t-mobile.hu" but computer says no


Not sure how they are with the merger, but worth a try:
mail.t-online.hu

Makes me suspect the correct solution will be mail.t-mobile.hu
:-)

Or you could just leave it to google if you trust them enough (I do):
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answ … swer=22370

Szocske

Logger ,Do Not Use the T-mobile stick abroad!

We paid and arm and a leg when we got back to Budapest. I can show you the bill and you will not believe this.
It is incredible expensive to use it outside Hungary.
We have big problems with T-mobile. It is ok to call and use it in HU,but no international calls .
It is too expensive.
Unfortunately we live in an area where the only provider is T-mobile.

Hello again!

Thank you for your answers!

I would still like to know if it is possible in HU to get some kind of flatrate (for just 4 months). Does anyone know something about it? I use the Internet a lot, so I would like to use it as much as I want.

Thank you so much in advance!

Kiruna wrote:

I would still like to know if it is possible in HU to get some kind of flatrate (for just 4 months). Does anyone know something about it? I use the Internet a lot, so I would like to use it as much as I want.


In my experience, you need to have some kind of resident status here, or at least friends or family who are willing to subscribe to one of the internet offerings on your behalf.

For the kind of one-off temporary internet connection you are after, the best I was able to arrange for myself at one of the malls like Mammut, was a mobile stick deal where you pay for the stick and a fixed amount of megabyte usage.

The mobile stick is easy to use, English software with T-Mobile anyway, and 1-2 megabyte goes a long way for emails and general web surfing.  Might be more expensive, if you want to do video internet calls, and the like.

If you need to recharge with more megabytes, you can pay with your bank card at most ATM machines, same as recharging your mobile phone.

When you get your ticket number from the screen machine at the mall telecomms shop, and your number rings up on the electronic scoreboard, just keep asking for someone who speaks English (bezel angolul). I found the staff most helpful, they should be able to sort something out for you.

Don't try this today, its the National Holiday !

logger

scocske wrote:

Not sure how they are with the merger, but worth a try:mail.t-online.hu


thanks, scocske, mail.t-online.hu gets me a little further down the line, but im gonna lie low now till the dust from this merger settles, then try again. Enjoy the holiday !

logger

Which area are you living and someone can guide you a mall / store near around ;-)

BR,
Sparks

Well since you are there for 5 months, it is worth buying a 'fixed' internet connection.  On the other hand, it may be hard to get it for such a 'short' period - but you may just pay for the whole year, if the prize is ok (e.g. with UPC cable internet seems to cost 10 EUR/month).

some multis speak english, too:
http://www.telekom.hu/services/http://www.telenor.hu/en//

I see UPC only in Hungarian,  http://www.upc.hu/kabel-internet/

but hey, google translates everything :-)
http://translate.google.com/translate?j … nternet%2F

Hi, I am bumping up this thread, because I may have to get a USB stick from a provider for home internet. Any experiences of USB sticks in Budapest would be appreciated... I have not opened a bank account here yet, so I would prefer an option where you just pay straight out for the stick and the internet fees, even if up to one year...

5 months is long enough to get a land line cable put into the flat.
We use UPC, they usually come and wire the flat up within a few days time.
We use skype to call the US with the internet.
They have different options, sign up month to month or long term.
We go month to month, have a land line phone and very basic tv cable  and high speed internet for under 8,000 forints per month.
They charge extra for outgoing phone calls but incoming are free.
Our friends used some sort of pre paid stick in their flat when they were only visiting Hu for a couple months but now they have UPC as well. Not sure where they bought the sticks but they do speak HU.
My guess would be any place where they sell phone time.
UPC has offices all over the city, just go inside and they should be able to get it going for you.
My husband speaks HU but I have been with him several times to UPC and seems many agents inside speak English. We just take our box back to them and cancel service when we leave for long periods to the US. Just go back in when we get to HU and start over again. They have better rates for long term contracts but we hate to sign contracts even though we have been going month to month with them for years. Freedom to quit anytime is what we like.