You're so wonderful!
After putting the sim into my phone and turn on data roaming, I have used the USSD code to top up to total euro 25 just now. After that use *101# to check the balance is now euro 25. But in the service portal, it still shows the balance is euro 10, I guess it may take a few hours to update from the mobile network just like last night after I activated the sim card the portal shown the balance is zero but this morning it shown the balance is euro 10.
Now it seems perfect that I just need to subscribe the 15 euro monthly data plan just a day before my departure from home.

I recall someone in the forum reminded that it is better to change the data plan back to usage base before leaving Germany to save the money.

Anyway, you gave me a big help indeed!!:thumbup::clap:

Cheers

Don't turn on data roaming!!! USSD does not require a data connection! I hope your phone didn't establish a data connection otherwise your credit might have been reduced significantly.
The service portal always lags behind a couple of minutes while balance inquiries by USSD (*101#) are always in realtime.

Yes, you should switch back to the volume-based plan as the subscription of the monthly flatrate will recur as long as you've enough credit left and so it may eat up your credit after leaving Germany. You can actually switch back to volume-based billing shortly after activating the monthly flatrate since this switch back will only take effect after those 30 days.

Noted with thanks:thumbup:

İ just want to ask if we can use lidl sim with an simlocked iphone which i use with gevey?

Lidl SIM in Tchibo stick?
 

Can I use the Lidl SIM card in a Tchibo SIM-locked Huawei E173 modem?

Thanks for your answer, Rob.

I'm not sure if the netlock of Tchibo's USB modems is actually limited to Tchibo SIM cards or only to O2 SIM cards in general but if your modem does not accept Lidl SIM cards Mobile Partner would just require an unlock code, which you can obtain free of charge from http://a-zgsm.com/huawei.php within 30 seconds or so (depending on how fast you enter your device's IMEI).

Unlocking Tchibo modem, then using it with Lidl or Tchibo SIM
 

Thank you, inquisitor!

Follow up question: removing the Tchibo netlock from the Huawei modem would not annul my capability of using it with the Tchibo SIM card again, in particular if I'm not using it in Windows with Mobile Partner but with MWconn or in Linux with the NetworkManager applet?

No, removal of a netlock does not affect operation with any SIM card or operator at all.

Excellent! Many thanks!

inquisitor, many thanks for your helpful responses to all these questions. Also for your web page at the PWIA site. One more Lidl question, if you can stand it...

I will be going to Germany in a couple of weeks and plan to buy two Lidl SIMs -- one for my phone, and the other for an unlocked USB data stick (or possibly my iPad). There should be no problem with the one for the phone.

However the activation instructions on the PWIA page imply that buying the data packages ("Tagesflatrate" or "Monatsflatrate") has to be done through SMS, and I can't do that with the data stick or iPad. Is it possible to select these over the web? If this will not work, I assume that I could put the SIM in my phone to sign up the data package, then remove it and put it in the data stick. But that seems a little awkward.

One more question... I will give my hotel as my address when activating the SIMs. If the registration letter arrives at my hotel after I depart, will they cancel the account? I will only be in Germany a few days but expect to visit again (to a different city) in a few months so it would be convenient to have a working SIM already. In fact it would even be useful when traveling to other places in Europe as I often have long connections at Frankfurt or Munich airport, where wifi is expensive.

The iPad indeed doesn't support SMS but all USB modems I've seen so far support SMS, at least if you use the unbranded dashboard software from the device's manufacturer.

Have you actually read the very first sentence below the heading "data tariffs" on the PWIA wiki? ;-)
It says:
So you can flawlessly select data packages online on Lidl's webpage, which from my observation actually takes effect faster than requests submitted by SMS.

Yes, this would work, too.

They will only deactivate your SIM card if the confirmation letter returns due to being undeliverable. If your hotel accepts the letter your SIM card will remain active for quite a while (at least 18 months after your last usage). So it would not be a problem if the letter arrived after your departure as long as your hotel does not return it. Just tell them to litter that letter from Fonic (that's the company behind Lidl) addresses to you.

However a problem could be for you that Lidl still don't sell microSIMs. If you want to use the SIM card in an iPad you would need to punch out a microSIM from the regular SIM. So you should buy and carry a microSIM cutter (sold for $4 on ebay.com) in order to render your Lidl SIM card iPad-compatible. Alternatively I can offer you to get you some Lidl SIM cards and punch out microSIMs from them as I recently bought such a microSIM cutter after I got a Sony Xperia P which requires microSIMs.

Ouch! I plead stupidity. Or maybe negligence. No, stupidity will do...

Thanks but I have a SIM cutter already and have used it successfully a few times. In my experience it also is generally possible to snap the cut SIM back into the card and use it as a regular sized SIM -- usually the tension of the SIM holder is enough to keep the parts together. This is handy for moving a SIM between devices.

Thanks again for your help. I will remember to use your number so you get the referral bonus. (See, I can read after all...:D)

Yes, that usually works.

Thank you! Btw you'll also get some € 5 from the referral, so we'll both benefit from this. Since you said you were intending to buy two Lidl SIM cards, wait with the activation of the second SIM card until the first one is fully active (you'll notice this by the capability to place outgoing calls and your balance to be displayed after dialing *101#). Otherwise the referral between your first and your second SIM may fail (I assume that you'll provide your first SIM card's number as referral during activation of your second one). The only issue with the referral bonus is, that it may take up to 3 weeks (usually 1-2 weeks) to be accredited. So depending on the length of your stay you may not receive the bonus during your first stay in Germany.

Thank you for your detailed instructions! I was able to activate the 5Euro card then the 15 euro top up successfully. The calling and SMS works, but I am unable to get the data to work. I did the SMS to start then confirm the dailz flat rate internet. Howver, even after adding the APN I am still not able to establish an internet connection. The phone worked well with SFR prepay in France. Is there some step that you can think of which I may have missed?

Many thanks!

I suspect the problem to be your phone or its configuration. Lidl SIM cards are data-ready out of the box, even if you don't subscribe to a specific data option. Also APN configuration is pretty straightforward as you can use any random APN - it will always connect. That leaves your phone as the most likely cause. What phone model do you use?

Use an unlocked htc sensation. I chopped the sim, three it in my 3rd gen iPad, went to settings and carrier, clicked the first German word, then clicked some pop up, and it started working for data. Moved the chopped sim into an adapter and put back in phone and data continues to work. Now rocking a hotspot from the phone.

No idea what the option I selected from the iPad is, but it made all the difference.

i got problem in subscibing the data plan.
i have tired to do it thur sms or do it online, it dont work ar all.
i am still using the 0.24/MB plan. my sim amount drop from 10 eur to 3.41 now.
what can i do?

Have you actually received an SMS confirming the activation of your data option? As I wrote on the PWIA-wiki you have to be very careful not to start browsing before your receive this message as otherwise you'll waste your credit and once the ordered data option is being activated it will fail due to an insufficient balance.

I guess you'll have to pick up a recharge voucher from the next Lidl store, recharge your account and then activate your desired data option once more.

i tried to setup daily plan after it drop to 6eur. sms history like this:

send: START TAGESFLAT

received: Lieber FONIC Kunde, bitte bestätigen Sie die gewünschte Bestellung von TAGES-FLAT. Zur Bestätigung antworten Sie kostenlos mit JA. Ihr FONIC Team

send: JA

received: Lieber FONIC Kunde, Ihre Bestätigung ist bei uns angekommen. Ihr FONIC
Team


is there any thing wrong here? why i cannot use the daily plan as well?

Your request to change your data tariff was obviously successful but have you thereafter received a message confirming that the tariff change has been carried out? It may take several hours until your data option is active and as I wrote in the PWIA-wiki it usualy takes effect much faster if you perform tariff changes on the Fonic website instead of by SMS.

Just to add my recent (current) experience on Lidl and Fonic: I tried to buy a Lidl SIM but the only shop within practical walking distance said that they did not have any. This brought to mind some other reports that Lidl shops are prone to being sold out of these SIMs. Instead of going far out of the way to the next nearest Lidl -- and possibly finding they also were out of stock -- I bought a Fonic SIM from a shop next to my hotel (you can search for shop location at FONIC -- Partnersuche )

In an absolute sense Lidl is the best value for reasons already discussed here. But if you are in Germany for only a few days and put some value on your time, you might consider the relative ease of buying a Fonic SIM to be worth sacrificing a little higher cost for service.

I was a little worried about the possibility that my Fonic SIM could eventually be de-activated because the confirmation letter would be returned by my hotel. But I activated the Fonic SIM on Wednesday night (remembering to give Inquisitor's number for the referral :cool:) and the confirmation letter arrived at my hotel on Friday. Quite impressive. So now I have a German number that I can use on future trips, even if it is a year or more later.

The Fonic SIM has perforations so that it can be broken out to micro-SIM size but I have not tried that.

you could have just kept your Lidl SIM and used a Fonic voucher to recharge it. You can buy Fonic vouchers at every gas station and supermarket

Hi,

I've been to Munich in 2009 and bought a LIDL mobile SIM card. I'll visit Frankfurt this year and found that my SIM-card is still working \o/

The problem is that I do not have credits on it anymore. Actually, LIDL website says that a have €-6 in credit :-/

Is there anyway to buy credits for it from abroad, or I can only find vouchers in Germany? Is there a place on Frankfurt airport to buy a voucher?

Thanks a lot

See http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/euro...ps-online.html . If you don't manage with a non-European credit card you can PM me, I can help :)

As luck may have it, I live in Frankfurt. I am not too familiar with the shops inside the airport terminal, but I imagine you can get a voucher at any kiosk there. I do know for sure though that there is a REWE market inside the "Squaire" above the long distance train station at the airport. It's on the 3rd floor I believe and open 7 days a week from 5am to 1am. Otherwise, you can take a commuter train from the regional train station to central train station and they sell the cards all over the train station.

PS: remember to buy a Fonic card, because no one sells LIDL cards. Also don't look for a sticker on the door that says "we sell mobile vouchers" because most people know that every place sells them, so they don't put up stickers. Any supermarket, tobacco shop, and newspaper stand will have them.

Actually you can search for nearby recharge voucher sellers at https://www.fonic.de/html/filialfinder.html (enter a city or postal code and chose "Aufladebon" from the drop down-menu).

I'll try this one when I get there.

Thanks for this info :)

I'll try this one before the trip. IF it fails, I'll try to buy the voucher at the airport. Thanks!

Very nice! Found a seller just across the street of my hotel :)

Lidl Smart tariff
 

A word of warning:

Since Monday Lidl also sells SIM cards with the "Smart" tariff (300MB + 400 domestic minutes or SMS for € 9.95/month) preactivated (indicated by red sticker on wrapping) which requires a German bank account for debiting of the monthly fee and so cannot be activated by visitors without such. Therefore explicitly ask for a SIM card in the "Classic" tariff!

My experience of activating Handy Internet Flatrate on a new SIM:

Sent 'START HANDYINTERNET', was asked for confimation, sent 'JA', and got an SMS that it would be activated soon : 'Sie erhalten in Kuerze...'. Nothing for 3 days. I tried using the AP 'Internet, but still on volume-based charging.

So yesterday I went on the Mein Fonic site
https://www.fonic.de/selfcare2/servlet/Start
and changed the data tariff there - very easy. I got an SMS to say it was activated today, 18 hours later, and the balance has been debited.

The frequent delays or even failures when requesting tariff changes by SMS is really annoying and a shame as well. May be I should add a warning that SMS-triggered tariff changes sometimes are not applied at all at LIDL mobile - Prepaid Wireless Internet Access which currently says: "tariff changes made online seem to become effective faster"

P.S.: just changed the text to "Tariff changes requested by SMS often take much longer to take effect or even fail sometimes, while those made online seem to become effective reliably and much faster. Therefore tariff changes should preferable be made online."

Lidl does seem rather slow. Today - 6 days after registering the SIM and a day after finally getting the Handy Internet Flatrate working - I received 2 emails.

One welcomed me to Lidl mobile and, inter alia, told me about the Mein Fonic online service.

The other suggested I try Handy Internet Flatrate - and offered a 1 month free trial:

Senden Sie einfach eine SMS mit "START PROBESURF" an die Telefonnummer 54356 *
*("LIDLM"). Sie erhalten eine Bestätigungs-SMS und danach können Sie kostenfrei surfen*. *
*

I've guided dozens of people through the activation procedure and I have never seen similar issues so far. There are also two reports from people who couldn't get their SIMs activated at Registered but no service - Prepaid Wireless Internet Access.
I assume they had some system maintenance or so - maybe this trial month, of which I hear for the first time, is a result of this.
Your report about the trial month, about which I hear for the first time, gave me a hint of why your tariff change by SMS failed: Lidl seem to have introduced their own number for SMS subscriptions which is 54356 (LIDLM) while before they shared the number with Fonic (36642 = FONIC).

I've just activated two Lidl SIMs with no problem at all, welcome letter received two days later. Next I'll see how smoothly the (ex-Vodafone) numbers are ported from Solomo.

FWIW, one other difference between Fonic and LM not mentioned in this thread is that the phone displays "LIDL MOBILE" not "FONIC".

I posted earlier on my problems activating Handy Internet Flatrate on my new SIM. I put the SIM in an iPad and verified that it worked. For the next week I had free internet at my hotels so I didn't use it. When I then tried to use it it wouldn't work. I put the SIM back into a phone and discovered that I couldn't make calls either, though I could receive them.

That evening I had wifi again and saw that on Mein Fonic it said Status SIM Karte: Nur erreichbar.

I used a UK mobile to ring customer service on 0176 8888 0000 - I'd read that they had English-speaking operators. They didn't - at least not on a Sunday evening. I don't speak German but I think I heard 'morgen' so perhaps they do during working hours. But I was only in Germany for two more days and I wasn't willing to waste more money trying to solve the problem. I did however send a message, via Mein Fonic, in English asking why the SIM was blocked. I was promised a response in 3 days.

I'm now back in the UK. Yesterday I got an email yesterday saying: "Unfortunately, the processing of your email inquiry is still going on. We therefore ask you to be patient."

If they ever tell me why it was blocked I'll let you know. I can think of 3 possible reasons:
1 The Berlin hotel I gave as an address was rejected. (Do all German SIMs require a German address?)
2 They detected the SIM was used in an iPad and they don't allow that.
3 The muddle over SMS and online change of data tariff confused their system.

On the plus side I got the 5€ credit for the referral!

(We enjoyed our holiday though: walking on Rügen Island and in the Hartz, and a couple of days in Berlin.)

"Nur erreichbar" means "only reachable" which usually only shows up if your SIM card has been blocked for all outgoing connections due to the verification letter having returned. I guess your hotel didn't accept the letter or returned it for whatever reason. Perhaps they thought it was junk mail because guests usually won't receive mail from a phone company.
Anyway, you will need to contact customer care and tell them that you are a foreigner and that you used your hotel's address for registration. If you also provide your address in the UK, they will reactivate your SIM.
Lidl do not have any restrictions on the allowed hardware, so using your Lidl SIM in an iPad was absolutely legal.

Hello all. Is there any way to active the free trial month for "Handy-Internet-Flatrate" from the website? I know you can SMS "START PROBESURF" but I was hoping there is a way on the website so I can do it before I go. Or can you SMS active from outside Germany?

I also did not receive my referral credit even though I signed up on August 21st. It shouldn't take more than a month, correct? Any way to check on the status?

Thanks!!!

Unfortunately not.

Yes, you can but from the US you'll be charged € 0.39 per text and you will need to send two text messages for activation (After your first text you'll be asked to confirm your activation by a second SMS containing "JA"), so activation from the US would cost € 0.78.

It may take up to 3 weeks but usually it should arrive within two weeks after activation.

Thanks for the reply. I think that I changed my mind anyway and am going to go with the 5GB plan but good to know about the SMS from the US. I already found out the text costs by just putting in the SIM. The welcome and roaming cost texts cost € 0.39 each as well :(

Very strange about my referral credit. It seems to have been plenty of time. I thought that I did it correctly at activation. :???: