WiFi in Italy

It depends--where are you going?

You should have cell signal and mobile data everywhere. I was driving around in Abruzzo in the mountains and had no issues. Wifi depends on the business. Nothing to stress about

Smaller places would be Lucca and Monterosso. Also another wifi-related question - do the regional trains have wifi?

--Nothing to stress about

I'm can be directionally challenged at times so I quite like the GPS for walking around - although I am not afraid to ask for help.

You don't heed Wi-Fi for GPS positioning. You phone can figure out where you are by pinging cell towers even if you don't have a local SIM installed. I've lost my You Are Here dot primarily in limited areas with very narrow streets running between multi-story buildings. For example, in Venice you sometimes need to walk to a campo (square) to reorient yourself.

You need a mapping app that allows downloading of the base map in advance so it will still be available when you're in a location without Wi-Fi or cellular data. Google Maps apparently handles that well. Google's MyMaps does not.

There's no Wi-Fi on regional trains that I'm aware of. I don't find Wi-Fi consistently available even on express trains or buses that promise it. For me it comes and goes. The blue dot keeps trucking along.

Sometimes signal reception may be affected by the buildings around you, especially if you are inside one, since buildings are all masonry buildings often with thick walls, but otherwise coverage is more than adequate in all urban areas.

In any case I wouldn't worry about GPS directions in the cities. I traveled for years before cellphones were even invented, and I survived to tell the tale.

Why would you need wifi if you have data on your eSIM? Public wifi is disappearing because people have data on their SIMs and it's almost free.

There is limited data connection inside railway tunnels, the type of train makes no difference. I have always had great complimentary wifi on Italotreno high speed trains, but it always dropped in the longer tunnels.

Judy,

WiFi is usually provided by hotels, but a password is often required. I've also found it in places like McDonald's, but I don't tend to frequent places like that so don't use it. I've never had any problems getting a cell signal in places like Monterosso or Lucca, so you shouldn't have any issues.

I've never found WiFi in Regionale trains and even on the fast trains the service has been somewhat erratic. I use 5G / LTE most of the time.

As Roberto mentioned, I also found problems in some of my hotels. They were old and
constructed of stone. Wi-fi signals have trouble going through stone.