Best sim card to buy in Germany
 

Hi

I am going to be in Germany for 10 days in October. I wanted to buy a sim card to put into my (officially unlocked) iPhone and use it for calls as well as 3G surfing and maybe tethering if possible.
Which company card would be best? And will it be easy to set up the internet on the phone? (APN, string etc?)

Thanks

PP

The best solution - I think - is FONIC (FONIC -- Das ist die Wahrheit.). You may get a Sim at Mediamarkt, DM (drugstores), Lidl (supermarket chain), Jet (gas stations) ...
They are in the network of o2-de and offer an (almost) unlimited Internet access. The settings are easy: APN (Zugangspunkt) pinternet.interkom.de, user empty, password empty. There are two tariffs: Unlimited internet access for 2,50 EUR/day or 24 ct/MB. You may change the tariffs by sending a e-mail to customer care. For registrations you need to tell them (a) a passport number and (b) a german address.

Wow, that FONIC plan looks sweet. It is basically .09 euro per minute, anyware to most countries one would call. Looks like you get 100 minutes for 10 EURO coming out of the gates, and their DATA rates are only .24 EURO for 1 MB? that sounds great.

And, IF I read it correctly, it never expires?

Agreed, for what you describe, Fonic is probably the best choice, and it's easy to find, being available at a number of ubiquitous retailers. It doesn't expire if you use or recharge it every now and then. (OTOH, Solomo Pro is probably a better all-round deal for most users, as it also has cheap international calls and 24 cent/MB data but also offers a 5 cent community tariff, 60/1 billing, and you can port your number to it, but these are probably not important to you, and on the downside Solomo doesn't offer a data flatrate yet.)

Does the fonic card offer a data flatrate? That appeared to be only for their data dongle product?

They have two data price plans:
- 24 ct per MByte OR
- 2,50 EUR per day (midnight till midnight) but only on days you'll use it:
Look here:
FONIC Surf-Stick - Internet-Tagesflatrate ohne Grundgebühr!
The tariff plan may be changed. The best way to do this is by e-mail.
Usually, the stand-alone sim are on the 24ct/MByte plan, with a USB-stick you get the day flatrate tariff (and a stick, which is unlocked).

That is what I meant, it seems that the SIM CARD, which does phone calling and data, doesn't offer the Flat Rate? Are you saying you believe that the SIM CARD for calling could have the FLAT RATE fee attached to it. That would be great.

Once again: The tariff plan may be changed!
Look at the pdf-file (if you are on the other plan http://www.fonic.de/html/pdf/FONIC_T...eisliste.pdf):
Internet, E-Mail (z. B. UMTS, HSDPA) Preise inkl. MwSt.
Standard-Abrechnung 0,24 €/MB (Taktung 100 KB)
Auf Wunsch: Internet-Tagesflatrate 2,50 € pro Nutzungstag (0:00 bis 24:00 Uhr)

Alles klar, vielen Dank fuer die Hilfe. Sonst wenn Ich deutsch lessen kann kann Ich noch doff sein. :-)

Bitte, gern geschehen!
I already changed the tariff plan. It's free and by e-mail (https://www.fonic.de/selfcare/servlet/ContactMail#) you get a confirmation, so you are sure, you are in the right plan..

I'll be in Germany for two weeks this December, and I have been searching this forum for the best deal on a pre-paid sim for dialing local, the US, and for data (I use data tethering for my laptop).

It appears to me that Fonic is the best case. One thing I am not certain of that I hope the forum can assist with; is a German Bank Account # required for sign up?

I am a terrible traveler, and I have not done my due diligence to learn the language of the host nation, so I am a little lost when surfing the Fonic webpage.

Appreciate your help ;)

Hi, they have a english website with the most important information as well: FONIC -- 9 cent/min. for calls to Europe and the USA

So you only need a german bank acct if you want to buy the card online. If you buy them in the store (e.g. Lidl supermarket or dm drugstore) you dont need it as you pay cash. You need a german adress to register the card though - which could be for example the one of your hotel.

Chris

Hi,
it is a little bit confusing with FONIC:

- To buy hardware (Sim / Sim + Stick) & to register
You may get the Sim the best at a Lidl store. The other retails may have them - or not. Sometimes they even offer the package with an USB-stick (simlockfree, works even with ATT). You may get the stick at MediaMarkt, too.
You just pay the price for the Sim / Sim + Stick. Be reminded: Even at MediaMarkt they usually do not make the registration. So you have to make on your own, by phone or via Internet (because it is required by law). Then your Sim will be activated.

- to top up
You may get them at Jet- (Conoco) gas stations, at DM or Müller drugstores ... BUT not at Lidl stores!! O2 (and FONIC) vouchers itself do not expire, so they may be used in the far future. To pay with a credit card, the best place may be the drugstores or gas stations (MediaMarkt for example does not accept credit cards).

Be careful! Fonic does not longer sell the Huawei E160 (which supports 3G at 850 and 1900 MHz), but now they offer the smaller Huawei E161, which soley supports 3G at 2100 MHz, so it won't work on American 3G networks at all. There are still Huawei E160s in the store shelves (e.g. at MediaMarkt), but if you order directly online from Fonic, you're very likely to get the E161.

Huawei E160: Huawei E161:
http://www.fonic.de/html/dat/download_e160.gifhttp://www.fonic.de/html/dat/download_e161.gif

My local Lidl store definitely sells Fonic top up vouchers.

Thanks everyone ;)

Inquisitor, thanks for the tip. I have a HTC Touch Pro 2, it is a Quad Band GSM compatible, and 2100mhz UTMS. I use it for tethering and data access so I should be covered ;)

If you buy a Fonic SIM separately (without USB-modem) be aware, that it won't have the dayflat tariff (€ 2.50/day) preactivated, but data will be billed by volume (€ 0.24/MB). If you want to use the dayflat, you need to contact customer care and request a tariff change, which will take effect while speaking to the agent. If requested by eMail or the contact form on Fonic's website, expect 2-3 days for your eMail to be read.

Well, activating the card was a little more challenging than I originally thought. I am a bad visitor, I cannot speak or read my host country's language. I had to feel my way through the activation website with Google Translator.

On the bummer side it takes 2-3 hours for the phone to start working.......... still waiting.

Hmmmm. Need some assistance if anyone is familiar with Fonic . Are there any procedures I have to follow to activate data services on my Handy Pre-Paid Sim? I have voice working without an issue, however, it will not make a data connection; it keeps giving me errors with dialing #777

Found my own answer.

I am using a HTC TP2, CDMA with World Phone Capabilities.

On a day to day basis my phone is set to automatically dial data connection using CDMA radio. I had to add a new connection for GSM/GPRS, and tell Windows to auto-pick the data connection based on the Radio I was using.