In March 2021, I returned from Taiwan after a year.
Then I did not go on a trip for a year because of travel restrictions.
So in February 2022, I decided I would go on a trip again in March 2022.
Mostly because travel restrictions were being lifted left and right.
So, what is the best way to catch up on a year of lost travel time?
Visit as many countries as you can within a month.
I visited Portugal, Spain, Andorra, Italy, Malta, Greece, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia & Slovenia.
I really love how easy it is to travel throughout Europe!
During this trip, I (re-)tested 41 local SIM cards, like WIND Greece, Airalo's Eurolink Europe eSIM, Nomad's Europe eSIM & SimCorner's Europe travel SIM cards.
If you have read any of my SIM card buying guides before, like the Greek one, or watched a YouTube video of mine, you know that I am crazy enough to buy and test so many SIM cards.
If this is your first Phone Travel Wiz review – welcome.
I buy and test all/most SIM cards in a country and tell you which ones are the best so that you do not have to 😎.
Is WIND Greece any good?
The only way to find out is to test WIND Greece and compare it with the other Greek SIM cards (COSMOTE Greece & Vodafone (CU) Greece).
And that is what I did – and I will share my experience in this review.
Let's get started, shall we?
Original publication: 8th of August 2022. Last updated: 15th of January 2024.
Table of Contents
Who is WIND Greece?
WIND Greece has nothing to do with some unique properties of the wind and air in Greece.
Instead, it is the smallest and newest mobile operator in Greece, known as Wind Hallas.
WIND Greece SIM cards are also referred to as F2G, standing for Free 2 Go.
The mobile operator also has a sub-brand called Q, which was initially a youth-focus brand.
I do not recall the age restrictions with this SIM card, but it has now been abolished, and everyone can get a Q Greece SIM card.
Yes, that includes you, you oldie 🤪 – no, I am playing.
Nowadays, whenever visiting a WIND, the salesperson will give you a WIND or Q card, depending on their stock.
But I would not be surprised if they still give Q SIM cards to young-looking peeps while oldies get WIND SIM cards.
Alright, that is more than enough WIND Greece history for now.
In Greece, you have three mobile operators, three sub-brands & one Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) easily accessible to travelers offering prepaid services, which I will list in order of market share (MNOs) and alphabetical order (sub-brands/MVNO):
- COSMOTE Greece
- Vodafone Greece
- WIND Greece
- Frog Mobile (COSMOTE Greece MVNO)
- Q Greece (WIND Greece sub-brand)
- Vodafone CU (Vodafone Greece sub-brand)
- What's Up (COSMOTE Greece sub-brand)
Of course, I tested the other two mobile operators during my trip to Greece in March. You can read them here: COSMOTE/What's Up Greece & Vodafone (CU) Greece.
In the title of this review, I called WIND Greece cheap, but not too bad – but what is considered to be cheap and what is not too bad?
You will find out later.
But before you go get yourself a WIND Greece SIM card because it may be the cheapest Greek SIM card, there are still some things to be aware of.
Let's talk about WIND Greece's coverage first, after these quick frequency details:
- 2G: 900 MHz & 1800 MHz
- 3G: 900 MHz & 2100 MHz
- 4G/LTE: 800 MHz (Band 20), 1800 MHz (Band 3) & 2600 MHz (Band 7)
- 5G NR: 3500 MHz (n78)
- VoLTE: Yes
- VoWiFi: No
Here you have WIND Greece's APN settings:
- Name: WIND Internet
- APN: qint.b-online.gr
Note: leave anything not mentioned above untouched.
WIND Greece Coverage + My Experience
You can have a mobile operator providing you 1 Gbps download speeds.
But if it covers only one street in the entirety of Greece, it will be useless.
So, how is WIND Greece's coverage?
It is actually the worst… but still decent.
When looking at 4G/LTE availability in Greece, WIND Greece has an availability percentage of 84.8%. Behind Vodafone Greece (88.3%) and COSMOTE Greece (89.8%).
WIND Greece has the worst 4G/LTE coverage experience (8.1 on a 10-point scale), behind Vodafone Greece (8.4) and COSMOTE Greece (9.1).
When looking at 5G NR, WIND Greece is losing the 5G NR availability race (4.6%), Behind Vodafone Greece (5.4%) and far behind COSMOTE Greece (16.3%).
So far, I have been talking about coverage from other reports, but what was my coverage experience with COSMOTE Greece?
It was great, honestly – I had nothing to complain about.
Reception was spotty at times on the Athens metro, but that is to be expected – especially when the metro goes underground.
But I had much better reception with COSMOTE Greece than with WIND Greece and Vodafone (CU) Greece, for that matter.
Here you have a COSMOTE Greece coverage map produced by Speedtest:
How to Get a WIND Greece SIM Card & Prices
Being written.
WIND Greece Plans, Bundles & Offers
WIND Greece has five data-featured prepaid plans:
- Blender (flexible combo)
- Combo
- Smart Data
- Data
- More (combo add-on)
Disclaimer: these were the available plans at the time I was in Greece – the offering may have changed since then (including whether 5G NR is available to prepaid customers or not). To see WIND Greece's current plans, check out my Greece SIM card buying guide (which gets updated regularly – at least once a year).
I will list all the prices in EUR (Euro).
To convert EUR to your currency (let's say GBP – (British) Pound (Sterling)) with up-to-date exchange rates, use the Wise Currency Converter tool.
Blender Plan
The Blender Plan allows you to select which benefit you want: 1.2 GB of data (with 5G NR access), 450 local/EU minutes, or 120 local/EU SMS for 30 days, costing 10.40 EUR for WIND customers.
Blender can be activated on the myF2G app.
Combo Plans
The Combo plans are, as the name implies, combo bundles with data (with 5G NR access), minutes & SMS for WIND customers.
Combo plans can be activated on the myF2G app:
| Price | Plan | Data | Local/EU Minutes 1 | Local/EU SMS 1 | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10.40 EUR | Talk to All & Data | 600 MB | 600 minutes | 60 SMS | 30 days |
| 12 EUR | Talk to All & Data Plus | 800 MB | 800 minutes | 80 SMS | 30 days |
| 17.50 EUR | Talk to All & Data Plus | 2 GB | 2000 minutes | 200 SMS | 30 days |
1 for calls/SMS within and to other EU/EEA member states and back to Greece (NOT from Greece to other EU/EEA member states)
Unused data allowances will roll over to the next month as long as you reactivate the same plan on time.
Smart Data Plans
The Smart Data Plans are data bundles (with 5G NR access) for WIND customers.
Smart Data plans can be activated on the myF2G app:
| Price | Plan | Data | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.50 EUR | Smart Day | 3 GB | 1 day |
| 2 EUR | Smart Weekend | 3 GB | 1 weekend |
| 5 EUR | Smart Week | 4 GB | 7 days |
| 5 EUR 1 | Smart Nights | 10 GB | 30 nights (22:0 – 8:00) |
1 cannot be used while roaming
Data Plans
The Data plans are, unlike the name suggests, combo bundles with data (with 5G NR access) and minutes for WIND customers.
Data plans can be activated on the myF2G app:
| Price | Plan | Data | Local/EU Minutes 1 | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10.40 EUR | Data #14 | 4 GB | 100 minutes | 30 days |
| 17.50 EUR | Data #10 | 10 GB | 200 minutes | 30 days |
1 for calls/SMS within and to other EU/EEA member states and back to Greece (NOT from Greece to other EU/EEA member states)
More Add-On
The More Add-On is a combo add-on with 200 MB, 200 minutes & 100 SMS for 15 days, costing 3 EUR for WIND customers. It cannot be purchased as a standalone plan.
The More Add-On can be activated on the myF2G app.
| Price | Data | Local Minutes | Local SMS | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 EUR | 200 MB | 200 minutes | 100 SMS | 15 days |
EU Roaming
You can use your allowances in the following EU/EEA member states without paying roaming fees:
- Austria
- Azores
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Canary Islands
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Gibraltar
- French Guiana
- Guadeloupe
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Madeira
- Malta
- Martinique
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Réunion
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
As WIND Greece does not have dedicated EU/EEA roaming allowances, you can use your full allowance without restrictions in other EU/EEA member states.
WIND Greece Top-Up, Recharge & Balance Check
WIND Greece top-up vouchers are sold in WIND stores, grocery stores, corner shops & electronics shops throughout Greece.
I did not have to recharge my WIND Greece SIM card because Greece was a short stop on my one-month Europe trip.
But I will still let you know about topping up your WIND Greece SIM card.
The following (online) WIND Greece top-up options are available:
- 12 EUR
- 15 EUR
- 20 EUR
- 30 EUR
To top up your WIND SIM card, text the VoucherCode to 1223.
For example, if your voucher code is 123456, you would text 123456 to 1223.
You can also recharge online with (international/EU) debit and credit cards.
For
You can also top up and check your balance on the myF2G app (Android/iOS/Huawei AppGallery).
For every online top-up of at least 12 EUR with WIND, you get 2 GB bonus data.
WIND Greece Speed Test Results (in Athens)
Alright, now it is time to talk about the speeds you can expect with WIND Greece after covering all the other essential topics like coverage.
But before I share my 12 speed test results from Athens, I do want to set the stage first and make a small comparison with WIND Greece's competition.
WIND Greece is regarded by Speedtest as the slowest mobile operator in Greece in Q1-Q2 of 2022.
With a median download speed of 35.95 Mbps, WIND Greece is slightly slower than Vodafone Greece (37.33 Mbps) but significantly slower than COSMOTE Greece (82.94 Mbps).
However, when we look at 5G NR, WIND Greece is the second-fastest mobile operator, with an average download speed of 146.6 Mbps.
This is ahead of Vodafone Greece (110.3 Mbps) but behind COSMOTE Greece (178.3 Mbps).
Okay, those were valuable insights – let's talk about my speed test results now.
I did 12 speed tests with the Speedtest app at various test locations throughout Athens.
Here are the results:
Those speeds are not bad at all… if it was just on 4G/LTE.
You see, every result that is underlined is on 5G NR.
Surprisingly, WIND Greece's 5G NR speeds are basic 4G/LTE speeds.
In comparison, I was restricted to 4G/LTE with my What's Up Greece (by COSMOTE Greece) SIM card.
But my average download speed with What's Up was nearly double WIND Greece's – the median download speed was double.
Anyway, I got three results faster than 100 Mbps – and two of them were on 4G/LTE 🥴.
I was not on 2G or 3G when doing my tests.
I do not recall if I was on those networks on Athens metro, but I would not be surprised.
My reception cut off between stations, but that was not too surprising (although Madrid metro in Spain does a better job in that regard).
While the 185.46 Mbps download speed at Attika Mall was the fastest, I managed to get a download speed of 703.2 Mbps on 4G/LTE with Optus from Australia – absolutely insane!
But that is truly the exception to the rule… I honestly thought the test was on 5G NR 😳.
Anyway, back to Greece 🤪.
I will show you a comparison with COSMOTE/What's Up Greece and Vodafone (CU) Greece later so that you have an idea of how fast WIND Greece is.
First, let's deal with some WIND Greece statistics based on 12 speed test results:
- WIND Greece's average download speed was 67.84 Mbps
- The median download speed with WIND Greece was 44.74 Mbps
- WIND Greece's average upload speed was 26.45 Mbps
- The median upload speed with WIND Greece was 25.93 Mbps
- WIND Greece had the fastest download speed, compared to COSMOTE/What's Up Greece, in 2 of the 12 locations
- WIND Greece's had the slowest download speed, compared to COSMOTE/What's Up Greece, in 10 of the 12 locations
- At 6 of the 12 locations, WIND Greece had the fastest upload speed (compared to COSMOTE/What's Up Greece)
- At 6 of the 12 locations, WIND Greece had the slowest upload speed (compared to COSMOTE/What's Up Greece)
Awesome statistics, right? But these numbers are a bit skewed.
Let me explain.
During my weekend in Athens, my Vodafone (CU) Greece SIM card was limited to 3G for some unknown ridiculous reason.
And as stores close just past afternoon on Saturdays and are closed on Sundays, I had no way to fix this issue.
On Monday morning, when I was about to fly back home, I got a text message from Vodafone Greece that 4G/LTE was activated.
I did some tests at the airport… and Vodafone Greece was the fastest! (see above)
I explained my Vodafone (CU) Greece SIM card purchase experience in my Vodafone Greece review, but it looked like someone at HQ had to activate 4G/LTE first… which is an unusual way of conducting business.
Perhaps it is normal with Vodafone (CU) Greece? I do not know.
But I believe that if my Vodafone (CU) Greece SIM card was not crippled, COSMOTE/What's Up Greece would not have been the best as often as I experienced.
Anyway, that was enough about Vodafone (CU) Greece; let's get back to WIND Greece.
So, is an average download speed of 112.55 Mbps fast enough?
Yes – let me elaborate.
A download speed of more than 25 Mbps is enough to video stream content @ 4k resolution.
Social media sites that allow for live streaming, like Facebook Live, recommend an upload speed of at least 10 Mbps.
And I got an average upload speed of 26.45 Mbps – almost triple the recommended upload speed.
So, in short, these speed test results would be more than enough for watching videos at a high resolution and for uploading content like live streams.
But let's take these results to a global level – WIND Greece is still doing well.
At the time of writing, the global average download speed is 74.14 Mbps – WIND Greece is far above this average.
But the average is skewed because of countries like the United Arab Emirates, with an average mobile download speed of 256.06 Mbps (insane!).
So let's look at the global median – 30.37 Mbps. WIND Greece's median download speed was 44.74 Mbps.
So WIND Greece is doing quite well.
Then again, many countries have yet to roll out 5G NR… but that is why we looked at the median too instead of only the average.
In short, you should have a smooth network experience with WIND Greece.
Take a look at this WIND Greece vs. COSMOTE Greece vs. Vodafone (CU) Greece:
Remember, Vodafone (CU) Greece was restricted to 3G until the morning I left.
I was on 5G NR almost all the time with WIND Greece (all underlined results are on 5G NR).
But even then, WIND Greece was much slower than COSMOTE/What's Up Greece, which was restricted to 4G/LTE.
Anyway, WIND Greece is fast enough for general phone use on cellular data.
My Overall Experience with WIND Greece – Is It Any Good?
I would recommend WIND Greece, especially for those on a budget.
Being expanded.
Support Phone Travel Wiz
I spent 32 EUR on Greek SIM cards (12 EUR for What's Up (COSMOTE) Greece, 10 EUR for Vodafone (CU) Greece & 10 EUR for WIND Greece) and 126 USD on eSIMs (100 USD for Airalo and 26 USD for Nomad) for my Greek SIM card reviews series.
While I love buying, testing & reviewing SIM cards and eSIMs, it is an expensive endeavor.
But it allows me to test the SIM cards in each country extensively.
That way, I can share my experiences with you so that you do not get suckered into a good deal (price-wise) but have a terrible network experience.
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Greek SIM Card Reviews
As mentioned earlier, I also tried out Vodafone Greece and WIND Greece when I was in Athens.
You should read those reviews too.
>>> COSMOTE Greece Review | Vodafone Greece Review <<<
Later, I will make a comparison post of the three Greek mobile operators… but that will take a while (I have many reviews of other countries that I still need to write, so they are prioritized).
But you can still make an educated purchased after reading the Greek SIM card reviews.
Check out my reviews page if you want to read all the other reviews I have written, including other European SIM cards from this trip.
Greece SIM Card Buying Guide
There are six other SIM cards to choose from in Greece besides WIND Greece.
I analyze and discuss them in-depth in my Greece SIM card buying guide.