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Best Pre-Paid Data Plan For a Visit To Germany?
code prole writes "With two upcoming trips to Germany, and no readily available Internet (Wi-Fi or otherwise) in the location where we'll be staying, I'm looking for a no-contract USB stick and pre-paid data plan. Vodafone has a huge selection of USB sticks but has proven to be unresponsive to questions about data plans. And the US-based T-Mobile Help Center was clueless about getting the device in Europe and using it there. Hopefully the Slashdot community has some suggestions. Any duds to avoid?"
They have good pricing for telephony and internet access, and their website is easy to use.
OMG - first post? :)
I find http://www.blau.de/ quite good. Aldi (http://www.aldi-nord.de/aldi_aldi_talk_95.html) are also good.
Just find a open WLAN and use that ...
http://start.freifunk.net/
http://www.hotspot-locations.com/modules.php?name=HotSpots&op=hotspot_query&hsl_countryhs=2DE&hs_state=&hs_city=&hs_operator=&hsl_type=&hs_access_box=on&search=Search
NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
Actually very few places in Germany have free Wifi. The going rate is €8 per hour! (If you are asking about it, they call it Wlan)
I agree about waiting until you arrive though. I think you'll have a lot of problems buying before you travel unless you sign up for a special tourist phone network that costs an outrageous amount.
Dave.
Hi,
There are only 4 WIFI networks in all of Germany, and all other service providers use one of these networks. Quality here is better than in the US as the population is more dense, and there are not many empty spots where reception just drops off. I have not heard of bad reception for WIFI here in Germany ever.
Your best bet would be when you first arrive, in the hotel ask where the next MediaMarkt or Saturn is (they are like best buy) you can find prepaid stuff there. In German that would be.
Wissen Sie wo ich ein Mediamarkt oder Saturn finden kann?
There are also mobile phone shops from providers EVERYWHERE. Vodaphone has shops, O2 has shops, T-Mobile has shops. Just ask a local!
Wissen Sie wo ich ein O2-Laden finden kann?
und... das ist das! Tschüß!
Nice thing about T-mobile is that if you have a locked phone on their network in the US, you can use a prepaid or regular sim by them over there in same phone. I have tried this and it works.
First T-Mobile USA has very little to do with T-Mobile Germany, except having the same owner. In fact, there's rumors that Deutsche Telekom wants to divest of T-Mobile USA, similarly to what the recently did in the UK. My experience has been that T-Mobile USA don't really care what's going on elsewhere in the world.
Fonic is a service brand of O2 Germany (owned by Telefonica), offering pay as you go prepaid services, both voice and data. Their data offering is 2.50 Euros per calendar day, for a maximum of 1 GB transfer volume. O2's UMTS network offers HSUPA with up to 3.6Mbps down, 384 kbps up. Their coverage tends to be concentrated in urban areas; rural areas might have no coverage. If you exceed the transfer volume, speed will be limited to 64kbps for that day. Adding credit to the account can be done through credit card, direct debit from a German bank account, or by purchasing vouchers available at many stores. The sell a USB data stick for 60 Euros.
There's a couple more offerings, but most come with additional strings attached. With any offering, you technically will need a residency permit in the EU, with appropriate paperwork; some shops are less stringent than others. If you do have friends in Germany, have them order the package online in advance. You might want to get a seperate prepaid SIM for voice service as well, instead of international roaming.
Finally, if you do have friends living in Germany, ask them if their DSL or cable provider has good deals on package extensions for mobile data options. For example, Alice offers up to ten SIM cards for free, and has a 6 Euro per month data option available. Billing would go to whomever is paying for the DSL/Cable.
Finally, have fun!
I would only consider Vodafone and T-Mobile as your options, these two have established cell networks, all the others borrow on these networks and as such tend to be at the bottom of the traffic prioritization.
Nonsense. There's four network operators in Germany: T-Mobile, Vodafone, E-Plus, and O2 Germany. While T-Mobile and Vodafone have a larger buildout (higher density, more towers in rural areas), E-Plus and O2 are not that far behind. I find that O2's network works really well in cities, with no noticable degradation compared to T-Mobile.
All four operators have their own "value" brands, and there's a couple of MVNOs, and as far as I can tell, no priorisation is in effect for any user. If you do have coverage, chances are that you will have excellent throughput. Nothing like certain US operators...
With two upcoming trips to Germany, and no readily available Internet (WiFi or otherwise) in the location where we'll be staying
Some kind of youth hostel or camping site? Or maybe somewhere "far" (which isn't really possible - there wouldn't be a place where you could stay, unless you're bringing your own tent) from civilization? Then make sure you're getting either D1 (t-mobile, best option) or D2 (vodafone), or any D1/D2 reseller, all others don't have worse coverage (E+, O2).
Be careful. There are two kind of plans available: Cheap web-only through proxy-only with all ports locked (sometimes including even free access to the reseller's own site - e.g. at least two TV-companies are offering such access), and real access. The price differs accordingly - between 2 EUR/day flat, or some EUR/MB.
If you need it for anything else than http, make sure you're not getting something that's both expensive and to restricted for what you need it.
Available here. Some have decent data plans (30-month unlimited GPRS, first 5GB on HSDPA is available in O2). You will need an unlocked GSM phone and buy a SIM card in Germany.
Save the bandwidth. Don't use sigs!
+1: If you're within cities, it generally doesn't matter, which network you use. I've learnt that Vodafone and T-Mobile are the more expensive solutions and generally like to sell you sim-locked devices.
I'm quite happy with a cheapo-solution, using a (non-sim-lock) stick and prepaid plan from "Aldi", one of the nation wide supermarket chains. Stick: ~50€, monthly flatrate: ~15€ (careful: if you've got enough money prepaid and not cancelled the monthly flatrate, it's automatically continued the next month) or ~2 or 3 € per day. They say to limit the speed from 5GB (monthly) or 1GB (daily) on. This is a resold "E-Plus" network access.
Windows "wizard" software is provided on the stick. Access also works well with Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" (without the windows software, of course).
Join Fon if you can determine that there's a Fonspot near where you're staying or get your connectivity here in Germany. There are multiple Phoneshops in every street of every city and town here, the hassle will be much less than if you try to get german connectivity in the US. Most people speak usable english here, so you'll have no trouble negotiating in a Phoneshop.
If Fon isn't an option I'd try and find out if there is a T-Mobile WiFi Hotspot near where you're staying (probably is) and get a Flatrate code for a month or so. T-M. Hotspot had that sort of thing a few years ago - you'd buy a card with a code which, once activated, you could use for a month. They probably still have simular offers - iirc you can purchase them directly at the T-Mobile webshop.
Bottom line: If Fon isn't an option, don't worry and just come over here, you'll get your daily internet fix one way or the other.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
http://www.billiger-telefonieren.de/aldi-surfstick-flatrate-webstick/
Sorry, link is in german, maybe babelfish will help out.
I have the austrian "hofer" equivalent, which is a pure data prepaid. It seems to work slightly differently in germany, where it's an addition to a prepaid voice sim. I'd acctually prefer the german style, but oh well.
I'd recommend combining it with a S60(or Maemo) Joikuspot compatible handset, that way you can use the voice part as well.
Cheap, no contract, available over the counter almost everywhere as a SIM only or including dongle:
http://www.medionmobile.de/index3.htm
Enjoy the trip!
As technology accumulates, the hatred between people tends to decrease. - Steven Pinker