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Best Pre-Paid Data Plan For a Visit To Germany?

Posted by timothy on from the funken-arund dept.

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?"

15 of 153 comments (clear)

  1. I recommend blau.de by pleumann · · Score: 5, Informative

    They have good pricing for telephony and internet access, and their website is easy to use.

    OMG - first post? :)

    1. Re:I recommend blau.de by quadrox · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I tried getting a vodaphone callya (debitel) prepaid card - the phone and sms part works, but it refuses to do any data, although that is supposed to be included.

      I suspect that is because I have a HTC hero, which apparently is not supported very well by vodaphone (i.e. you can't pick it when you're supposed to select your phone model on their website).

    2. Re:I recommend blau.de by carp3_noct3m · · Score: 3, Informative

      I spent a month in Germany not too long ago and i got both vodaphone and blau cards but i really preferred the blau card and this was on my blackberry, as if i would ever pay the crazy ass rates att wants, pfff. As a matter of fact I still have it in one of my spare phones (gave my number to some peoples while I was there)

      --
      "It's ok, I'm completely secure as long as my iron is off"
    3. Re:I recommend blau.de by Weezul · · Score: 3, Informative

      Just check their frequencies :

      http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/germany.html

      --
      The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
    4. Re:I recommend blau.de by bemymonkey · · Score: 3, Informative

      Or Tchibo. Similar pricing scheme (buy 1GB at a time and use it as you please... pretty cool) and on o2 (HSDPA coverage isn't bad, with downloads regularly hitting a constant 400-500KB/s).

    5. Re:I recommend blau.de by weeeeed · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yeah, blau.de is pretty good. But you will need internet access and some basic german skills to activate the card on their website.

      100mb/30 days: EUR 3.90, activate by calling 1155 and pressing 8,1,4,1

      1Gb/30 days: EUR9.90, 1155 and press 8,1,2,1

      Unlimited/30 days: EUR19.90, dial 1155, press 8,1,3,1

      All plans auto-extend the next month, to disable dial 1155 and press 8,2,1

      APN: internet.eplus.de
      Username: blau
      Password: blau

    6. Re:I recommend blau.de by lennier1 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Great summary but please don't forget to mention that the "unlimited" plan contains 5GB per month at 3G speed.
      After that it's limited to GPRS. Same situation with the 1GB data plan. A common measure on many networks.

      Voice call minutes are deducted separately from the prepaid credits but blau actually has fairly good rates.

    7. Re:I recommend blau.de by egghat · · Score: 3, Informative

      Blau.de is an ePlus reseller and ePlus is the slowest network in Germany. A lot of areas are still EDGE, many are normal speed UMTS (384kbit/s) and only a few are UMTS/3G. A kind of "official" reseller of eplus is called Simyo. They offer 1 Gig data for € 9,95 valif for a month. If the gig is used up just buy a new card for 10 Euros. No plan whatsover.

      o2 is the second of the two smaller providers in Germany. Their coverage ist a bit worse than that of eplus, but in urban areas their network is usuallly faster. o2 has a prepaid plan as well called Fonic. Their rate is 2,50 Euros per day. USB stick costs 60 Euros.

      Vodafone and T-Mobile are the two big providers and usually offer the best network coverage and best speed. But they are more expensive. A day with a maximum of 1 Gb costs 4,95 Euros (Vodafone Websessions) or 4,95 ;-) (T-Mobile Websessions). Vodafone has 7 days with 1 Gb data for 9,95 as well.

      USB sticks should be no problem. If you buy one at the phone store you'll get them some Euros cheaper, but in most cases they will have a simlock, but you can go to an electronics store and buy one without a simlock. That should be the easiest part ...

      After a short check there are no pages in English on their websites (vodafone.nl has them).

      --
      -- "As a human being I claim the right to be widely inconsistent", John Peel
  2. Dude, you're in central Europe by buchner.johannes · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.
  3. Re:Internet cafe's by uigin · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

  4. Fonic by stefanb · · Score: 3, Informative

    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!

  5. Re:Avoid non-carrier providers! by stefanb · · Score: 4, Informative

    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...

  6. A list of prepaid providers by poszi · · Score: 4, Informative

    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!

  7. Re:Avoid non-carrier providers! by okock · · Score: 5, Informative

    +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).

  8. Try Aldi by seaton+carew · · Score: 4, Informative

    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