Top up Entel prepaid sim from abroad and enable Mobile Data

Last year when we were visiting Chile I took out a prepaid sim card from Entel. I primarily used it for data and the reason why I would recommend Entel is that they have the best coverage and it is the only provider that works on the Easter Island. Since we are going back again to Chile this year I tried the Entel sim card from last year in my phone to see if it still works. Apparently Entel pre-paid sim’s validity is about a year as I purchased it last year in November and it was still working in my phone in roaming mode this year November. Needless to say I was kinda pleased to learn this as I won’t have to run around Santiago Airport to find the Entel booth to get a new sim card.

Even though the sim card was still working my balance was zero as that expires in a number of weeks. I tried to top up the phone using Entel’s website but for some reason it didn’t take any of my credit/debit cards. I searched the web and found multiple providers offering to top up Entel sim cards online for a small fee. Most of these were not working. Finally I found recharge.com which did work well and didn’t take a large chunk of money for the fees. Now let’s see how to enable mobile data on an Entel prepaid sim card.

Once the phone it topped up to enable mobile data just dial *119# and the Entel service screen pops up.

then select number 2 “Datos” which stands for “Data”.

Then select the desired data option. I picked number 3 that gave me 1 GB of data for CLP 5000, valid for 30 days.

Select “Comprar” at the next screen to confirm your purchase.

If everything goes right, you should see the confirmation message which will be followed by a number of text messages confirming the activation of your data option. Happy surfing!