Are you a digital nomad looking for free Wi-Fi during your stay in Cosenza, Calabria?
If you’re a digital nomad, then connection is crucial to your work. If you travel long-term, constant connection can also be difficult.
Digital nomads and travellers are always looking for free Wi-Fi hot spots, especially as internet cafes fast become a thing of the past in many countries.
Reason for needing free Wi-Fi in Cosenza? The connection in my apartment died and I never have data on my phone, which forces me to hunt for hotspots.
A rant on my internet woes later in this post – be warned.
Where is Cosenza?
Situated in the deep south of southern Italy, Calabria doesn’t see an influx of tourists and neither does the city of Cosenza, which is a good enough reason to visit and spend time here…
If you do, then check out my many posts on Calabria and also on Italy as I also include free travel tips in my posts.
Where in Cosenza are the free Wi-Fi spots?
After scouring the city in search of Wi-Fi as Cosenza doesn’t believe in internet cafes, I’ve included the few that I found over 10 days. Not many at all as most locals have data on their phones.
Delizie Pasticceria
Along Corso Mazzini 3/8, this Pasticceria is by far the best and my favourite for great Wi-Fi (password required).
Excellent friendly staff provide great service, whilst serving wonderful pastries and savouries. Lunch and dinner are also available, so this is my first choice. Why not try a delicious Aperitivo whilst you’re working?
Spending hours here over the ten days, staff never kicked me out, although I did buy food and drink in this comfortable spot. Opening hours: Monday-Sunday, 06:30am-12:00am.
The Ice Cafe
On Via Alimena 50/52, this great cosy cafe offers good Wi-Fi connection (password required) and serves average-priced beverages. Great friendly staff and stays open until midnight.
Renzelli Cafe
This cafe on Piazza dei Bruzi 27, advertises free Wi-Fi on the front window.
Although, asking two days in a row and having my head almost snapped off by grumpy staff advising they didn’t have the password, I gave up.
Renzelli does serve great coffee, pastries, and Gelato as I’ve frequented this cafe several times. Opening hours: Monday-Sunday, 7:00am-09:00pm.
McDonald’s
Only recently opened in 2018, McDonald’s in Piazza C. Bilotti offers hit and miss Wi-Fi (password not required).
Only savour a Twinings fragrant fruit tea on each visit so I can withstand the awful fatty aroma of McDonald’s food for the couple of hours. Opening hours: Monday-Saturday 07:00am-12:00am, Sunday 08:00am-12:00am.
Corso Mazzini
Stroll through Corso Mazzini until you find the “WI-FI AREA” sign near the Tosti cafe. I only discovered this one recently, so not sure if it belongs to the cafe or the public Corso.
Stone seats are provided in the corso if you don’t want to be a patron at the cafe. Tosti opening hours: Monday-Sunday 06:30am-11:30pm.
If you don’t want to read about my internet rant, then stop here…
Why did I start looking for free Wi-Fi?
Ten days ago, the paid internet connection in my apartment died suddenly.
Wind (carrier) insisted that it’s a fault with my laptop and other 3 devices, not their connection. Disagreeing, I drag my laptop and devices to a bar/cafe. Everything hooks up on the first go.
The Wind saga
After 2 days of phone calls, Wind confirms the line is working but my barely one-month old modem is not.
Side story: I have a new modem because Wind throttled my bandwidth during the 2 previous months until my connection almost ground to a halt. I’m told this forces Wind customers to increase monthly payment to the next higher plan plus hire a new modem.
On with the saga…
Waiting for a new modem
The 19th: Wind advises that the modem is sent – delivery will take 1 to 5 days. Arguing that I have three Wind shops within a five-minute walk and can immediately swap the modem over – I’m not allowed this solution. Instead, I must wait until another modem arrives from Milan with DHL Express.
The 21st: Checking progress, Wind advises the modem was sent on the 20th and to phone DHL – Wind doesn’t can’t provide a consignment number. DHL is less than helpful and advises my parcel may arrive by the 26th.
More calls to Wind to be told that it’s in DHL’s hands. One helpful Wind guy does try to bring the delivery date forward – no luck. A text arrives confirming the 26th is the delivery date.
My landlord kindly drops off a Wind mobile router. This won’t work unless I pay €15 euros for 50MB. Nothing free from Wind during this downtime and I’m still paying my monthly internet fee. Uploading large files to my Nilla’s Photography site, I’d burn through 50MB with just 5 files. Each day I lug my gear to the bar/cafes in Cosenza providing free Wi-Fi.
More calls to Wind and DHL with ever-changing stories.
Salt to the wounds
The 26th: 10:29am a DHL van drives up my road, but the van swiftly turns off before my junction never to be seen again.
I phone Wind.
The ‘Customer Service’ female barks: “madam, you have to be patient”.
An example of the rudeness and absolute appalling non-existent customer service from Wind over the last 10 days.
Arrival
The 27th: my phone rings, DHL is downstairs but won’t deliver the parcel to the second floor.
Just out of the shower with a towel around my head, I wrap a sarong around me and throw on a heavy jumper before racing down stairs to meet the driver.
Swapping the parcels over we part company and I race back.
Opening the box, the new modem’s filter is missing, so can’t use the internet – no connection.
Back down I race hoping the DHL van is still outside.
Barefoot under the pouring rain in the middle of the city I race across traffic, towel still wrapped around my head and jump into the van, giving the driver quite a startle.
Lucky he’s on the phone and hasn’t left yet. Taking my old filter back, I race back across in the rain and up to the apartment, whilst locals look on in disbelief…everyone dresses well in Cosenza.
Connection at last!
At last connection, but with more salt to the wounds.
The consignment note is dated the 22nd with delivery for the 26th. Wind lied to me about both sent dates and DHL should have delivered on the 26th – still don’t understand why.
Dearly wanting to change carriers after Wind’s treatment and 2.5 years as a customer, I can’t as the contract is in my landlord’s name.
Still, it’s lovely here…a view of the gorgeous Old Town in Cosenza.
Visit Nilla’s Photography for more global images. More posts on Italy.
Interesting..
Do Italian restaurants or cafes in general provide Wi Fi for the guests? I visited Turin in 2019, but I didn’t know about this back then.. or maybe I missed.
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Not really as most Italians have data on their phones so don’t need this service and the reason that I wrote this post as it was difficult finding restaurants in Cosenza that did offer wifi.
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You are right.. It didn’t feel like the need to have a free Wi Fi as the data was aplenty on my SIM (from France).. Thanks for the clarification.. 🙂
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No problem. I never have data on my phone as it’s too expensive on roaming. 😉
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Well, it is expensive on roaming.. You are right..
Which is why I purchased a local SIM from France.. Euro 32 (one time cost, that’s it).. 3 GB per day.. Valid for 4 months.. 😉 🙂
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France is cheaper than Italy.
I sometimes purchase a country’s SIM in the country but prefer not to have my phone as an umbilical chord and use wifi in the accommodation that’s booked. 😉
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Right you are.. 😊
The umbilical cord analogy is apt over here.. 😅
I however prefer such an “umbilical cord” as it helps me navigate better, in addition to showing tickets / boarding passes / pay etc.. 😉
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Ha, ha, I also call it the zombie walk!
Good points and it is handy but I don’t want to become a slave to my phone. 😉
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Thou shalt try to control thy temptation which cause’th thee to become a slave of thy phone.. Isn’t it?? 😉
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Exactly! 🙂
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It’s the worst when you don’t have internet, I have to keep these in mind in the event I lose my internet here for whatever reason. It really makes working online extremely difficult!
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It really is but also frightening as to just how much we rely on the internet for everything these days – it’s an intrinsic part of our lives!
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Gosh Nilla, I’m glad you got it sorted. I have visions of you racing across the traffic and leaping onto a moving van!!! It’s rotten when you have a bad experience like that and people in customer service who dont give good customer service should not be in those roles… anyway you’re online again, and you’re right, you have the lovely Cosenza views… BTW I got that job… so happy .. so tired now I’m back in the 9-5 world… have a fab weekend xx
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Ha, ha, it wasn’t a great vision by any means, especially in this city as everyone dresses so well!
Customer service is hit and miss here…
Congratulations and well done! When did you start? Think it was in the UK. x
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Thank you for your advice. I am just a very ambitious person! It will be awesome if I could reach what you have reached. Thanks sooo much!😊
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No problem at all and good luck with your blog – I know that when you start a blog, it’s hard! 🙂
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Wi-fi is definitely a must when i travel. How else am i supposed to communicate with friends and family through my travel time?! Great posts!!
I would really appreciate it if you gave me a little shoutout on your blog. You have such a great following it would truly benefit me. Thanks in advance!!😊😊😊
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Hi Aya, Wi-Fi is definitely a must these days, but when I first started travelling in 1985, it didn’t exist – think about how different travelling was back then…
Thank you for your feedback!
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Yes it must have been very different not being able to instantly share your adventures and memories. Thank you for replying, you are such a humble blogger even though you have such a great following.😊
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Hi again, it was very challenging, especially solo-backpacking around the world for 12 months. No information at my fingertips in seconds or at all, letters back to Australia took 2 sometimes 3 weeks to arrive. Reverse-charge calls were prohibitively expensive and only for emergencies. You may like to read my post: Why do you travel? I’ll get around to digitising all my travel journals over the years.
Thank you for your kind feedback. Your blog is fairly new, be patient, and keep posting great content and you will gain followers. My blog is around 4 years’ old so it’s taken a while for people to follow me – I didn’t post too much in the early days. 🙂
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Oh dear, what dreadful service from that company. What a shame you can’t leave them and go with someone else. At least you can spread the word so everyone else knows not to start with them. In the meantime at least you have beautiful scenery to enjoy.
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Absolutely! Always beautiful scenery here, which lessens the pain of incompetence! 😉
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Ha! The things we do for WiFi. Luckily you do live in a beautiful place which lessens the pain of this insanity (somewhat). Fabio has a WIND SIM for when he travels in Italy and we’ve experienced some of their customer ‘service’.
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Ha, ha, we also have great wine that’s cheap here in the south, so this helps – you really need to visit. 😉
You of all people know the importance of free Wi-Fi when sailing around the world on a boat – it’s hard to hook up at the best of times and can be so expensive.
Congratulations on your win in the Bloggers bash! Well done and you truly deserve the award.
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WiFi is most certainly a challenge under sail. And I find that the cost of access has gone up exponentially around the globe since we started out.
Thank you so much for your congratulatory note on the Bloggers Bash. Expect a nomination from me in the 2020 contest
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Yes, I remember it well, especially in the Netherlands Antilles – very expensive.
Thank you Lisa! Ha, ha lucky I discovered your blog in time for this year’s nominations… 😉
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You were my secrect nominator?!?! OMG How lovely are you?!?!?! #very
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You can have many secret nominators – not sure who nominated my blog, remember, it’s a secret… 😉
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Well then it was you and my mother 😉
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Ha, ha you’re too inquisitive! 😉
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wonderfull
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Thank you!
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Amazing posts I absolutely love your blog!!!
I would love it if you checked my blog: http://www.coffeecreamm.wordpress.com
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Hi Aya, thanks for stopping by and leaving me your comment – not sure why this comment was in my Spam folder, perhaps it’s the link.
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Boy, what a bunch of Catch 22’s, h-m? Must have been beyond frustrating, so say the least!
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Sure was, I needed a rant but also to let people know that Wind isn’t great (non-existent) with customer service and I did expect much better.
At least this forced me to find a few Wi-Fi spots for travellers visiting Cosenza.
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Yes, we can all use all the help we can get when we are out of the country!
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I’m always happy to help, especially other travellers and one reason I started this blog. 😉
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Wi-Fi is so necessary for me when travelling…even if it is Macdonald’s …that will be my go to place.
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Know exactly what you mean and especially as I never have data on my phone, even more so.
Apart from tea, the only thing I buy is a coffee if there’s a McCafe. On some Australian highways (inland) the McCafe’s offer the only coffees available.
Many thanks for your comment.
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Thanks for the lovely post with beautiful photographs.
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Hi Francis, thank you for taking the time to leave me feedback.
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Yes,I have decided to be slow so that I get the time to read the post. You are most welcome.
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Too kind, thanks again! Have you seen last week’s post on Catanzaro, Calabria? It was a dull rainy day but you may enjoy the photos. 😉
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Very nice
I just cannot stop on reading these wonderful posts
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Thank you Mohamad for your kind feedback!
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