Hi guys,
I am going on a holiday, where for the most part I will spend my time in Bulgaria. I will be needing to have some sort of mobile broadband for my laptop in order to be able to play poker online, as I will be changing location quite frequently and most hotels I will be staying do not have a wifi. Can someone suggest a mobile broadband provider and how much does it cost to get one? I was trying to find some info online but unsuccessful.
Regards,
Rihard
Hi Rihard4a!
There are 3 "national" providers
In general those operators have got really cheap plans, but the problem is that one year ago I was looking for mobile internet for 2 months and they cannot offer me anything, because their plans are for 1 year or 2 years. I can check it next days if something changes, because need to visit vivacom and mtel anyway.
Depend on the time you will stay here - it's an option to get a 1 year plan.
There is another option - http://maxtelecom.bg/en/ - but they cover only some of the biggest cities and most of the seaside ( http://maxtelecom.bg/en/find-us/coverage)
So the question is
1) Are you gonna use it on tablet, or you want a USB stick?
2) Are you gonna stay in country side - outside the biggest cities and seaside
3) Where on which rooms you play
I've ask those question, because
1) For example now I have 2 mobile plans
- smartphone (vivacom), where I have 10k minutes and 10GB per month for €15 (2 years contract) which I use like a back up Internet or when I travel
- tablet (mtel) for 2nd back up, where I have 6GB traffic for €5 (2 years contract)
2) Because you can choose between options like maxtelecom (if stay on the zone with coverage) and national operators (if you gonna stay on the zones out of coverage by maxtelecom)
3) There is a regulation in Bulgaria and the only poker room which have got a license is PokerStars. So if you play in other rooms - maybe Vivacom is option and Mtel is not, because Mtel block most of the pages and you will have to use VPN. Vivacom doesn't block them that hard and of you use Google's DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) you can reach most of the pages without any troubles. Doesn't have information what is the case with telenor, but I can check it.
In general - if you have got a poker room software installed - there is no problem, because they block web pages, but some poker rooms software use a web page to log in and there are troubles.
In general - Vivacom is a good option with 1 year plan. For example if you have a smartphone you didn't use now - you can get a a SMART Net L, where for €10 per month (1 year contract) you get 5GB of internet and 500 minutes for calls. In this case it will cost you ~€120.
Kind regards,
Alex
So the question is
1) Are you gonna use it on tablet, or you want a USB stick? - I would prefer to have an USB stick broadband because I will be using my laptop to play.
2) Are you gonna stay in country side - outside the biggest cities and seaside - mostly will spend the time in Burgas and Varna.
3) Where on which rooms you play - Mostly small networks, i.e. ipoker, microgaming, 888
I will not be spending a long period, roughly 3 weeks. Thanks for such detailed reply. So if I am going there for 3 weeks, what would you recommend to use from these? Do they also give options for USB dongle, or I would need to have my own and just use the sim card with it? Thanks!
Wasn't able to get the info from the operators yet.
But in case you will stay ~3 weeks - the only option will be the prepaid plans, where you get a SIM card only. For sure they will be able to offer you a USB dongle, but most probably will be expensive.
The two options for now are:
http://www.telenor.bg/en/private/internet/list/internet_prepaid
http://www.mtel.bg/prepraid-mobile-packs-en
Will try to visit Vivacom on Monday, but really haven't got time now to check with them, because you shouldn't have issues with playing via their mobile internet. 
For sure will test Mtel's one (MPN / 888poker), because I've activated it this evening.
iPoker - all rooms are not available from BG, so you could have some issues if they detect you play from here. Good to ask them if it's not a problem to do it for a couple of weeks.
Best regards,
Alex
Thanks for the help. If iPoker is not available that's fine, I can play on other rooms or perhaps an VPN for the duration on my laptop and set my self in the UK. ♦
Btw, is PartyPoker allowed in Bulgaria?
Currently in Bulgaria, weather is freaking hot. Got my self Mtel SIM card with USB dongle. Which costed me 60 levas all together, roughly 30 euros. The sim card has mobile data free 2000mb for first ten days, then I can top-up for extra MBs. Thanks for the advice. Also the lady in the shop was pretty good at explaining stuff. Noticed that people here do not speak English that much, albeit my Russian does help a bit. English is a bit more popular in locations that have a lot of tourists, e.g. Sunny Beach.
Originally posted by Rihard4a
Thanks for the help. If iPoker is not available that's fine, I can play on other rooms or perhaps an VPN for the duration on my laptop and set my self in the UK. ♦Btw, is PartyPoker allowed in Bulgaria?
Hi man ,no Partypoker is not legalized still in Bulgaria,btw which city are you staying in.I live near Sunny Beach 
If you have any questions about Sunny beach or something else abotu BG shoot :).
