Cheap prepaid Internet for short stay in Germany? [merged]

[TheMadBrewer]

I thought I'd add my 2 cents to this.

My brother and I bought one during the December promotion. We filled out a form, using our hotel address and returned to the Tchibo store. I seem to remember we also had to call a number to activate the SIM -- I don't remember if we did that from a mobile or whether we put the Tchibo SIM into unlocked phone.

The stick worked fine in both my brothers window laptop and my Macbook. The software automatically installs when you connect the stick. It worked flawlessly.

I am headed back to Germany next month for three weeks and I hope to use it again. It appears (thanks Inquisitor) that all I'll need to do is purchase a €20 top up and then using the software loaded from the stick, send an SMS to activate.

[siskiou]

I think the Tchibo stick is the easiest option (unless you already have a UMTS card that's not simlocked), but if you need coverage outside large cities, it might not always get you connected.

I was okay at my parents' house, but not at my friend's (and she lives fairly close to Koeln). Out in the country=forget it with o2!

[StefanoA]

I'm going to stay in the Frankfurt Exhibition area.

I suppose it is one of most "covered" area (but also heavily loaded, I hope to be able to get enough band).

[inquisitor]

O2 covers 99,9% of Germany's population with GSM/EDGE and some 60% with 3G/HSPA. Further for some rural regions O2 still has a unilateral national roaming agreement with T-Mobile, which will last until the end of 2009.
So if you run out of coverage with an O2 SIM that's really bad luck. All in all T-Mobile and Vodafone still provide better coverage but unless you leave civilization O2 should do the job. Also keep in mind, that the cheapest prepaid offers on T-Mobile and Vodafone are their dayflats for € 4,95 per day - that's nearly € 150 for one month, which costs € 20 with Tchibo.

[siskiou]

Originally Posted by inquisitor

So if you run out of coverage with an O2 SIM that's really bad luck.

I was very surprised to not get a connection at my friend's house, who lives very close to Koeln.
There were many not covered areas along the train route from Duesseldorf toward the coast (Norddeich), but it *is* a very thinly populated area along the way.

Frankfurt should be no problem at all!

[inquisitor]

Originally Posted by siskiou

There were many not covered areas along the train route from Duesseldorf toward the coast (Norddeich), but it *is* a very thinly populated area along the way.

Coverage inside long-distance trains is an issue, since modern IC (InterCity) and ICE (InterCityExpress) wagons have metal-coated windows and a steel frame, which severly attenuates radio signals (up to 30db in a ICE). Allthough a lot of waggons have so called intrain-repeaters installed, older ones do not work for O2 and eplus, as these two operators use EGSM900 and GSM1800 but older repeaters do only amplify the PGSM900 band and eplus' portion of the GSM1800 band. 3G is not amplified by those repeaters at all. According to press releases german rail operator Deutsche Bahn is about to swap those old GSM repeaters, but if you're in a waggon without repeater or with an old repeater, you'll experience bad network coverage.
Upon request seats can be reserved in waggons with repeaters, which carry this symbol:

For more details in German see Intrain-Repeater ? Wikipedia

[9eor9]

I have read all the posts and I am quite close to buy Tchibo.

I am a frequent traveller all around Germany and ask herewith if there is somebody else with such a profile of usage.

Experiences? Are you content?

Thanks

[Lucy]

I and my boyfriend will be in Germany for a month late July to late August. We both need mobile phones to talk to each other and to others. Plus I need an internet connection for my computer. I want a one-month flat rate so i don't worry about usage. (He'll have internet at the university where he is teaching a few days a week.)

Does it make sense to use one company for both tasks? If so, which? I understand that I must buy a usb stick to get the signal into my computer. (I have a smart phone, but that would not be adequate for a month of using the internet.) So that is a factor in determining the price. I'd like one that works in other countries and in the US in the event I should want a similar service here. That seems to be the most expensive item in the whole communications package i need. (Is there a standard unlocked stick I could get for less money, or do you have to get one from the provider?)

I see Tchibo being advised here as a good service, also because it doesn't live on a clogged system. Is that the best for me? What are the alternatives? Should I get phone and internet from different companies?

What about tethering? Can I use my G1 Android to connect to a wireless provider and tether that to my computer via bluetooth or cable?

Appreciate your advice.

[inquisitor]

Regarding your requirements for voice communication I would recommend either Alditalk (€ 0,03/min to other Alditalk subscribers, € 0,12/min to North America and domestic networks) or Fonic (€ 0,09/min to other Fonic subscribers, North America and domestic networks). Both SIMs are easily to buy, as Alditalk is sold at omnipresent Aldi supermarkets and Fonic at Lidl, Real, Müller and dm supermarkets, which are even wider spread.
Another option would be solomo pro (if you order through this link, you'll get € 5 of extra credit and so will I) with € 0,05/min among solomo customers, € 0,09/min to North America and € 0,10/min to domestic networks with the great advantage of billing by seconds after the first minute, whereas the afore-mentioned round up call time to full minutes. The only downside of solomo is, that SIMs are only sold online and can also be recharged online by creditcard only.
Which of those is the best for you depends on distribution of destinations called.

The G1 can be tethered to a computer and so be used as a modem, but afaik the appropriate application has been pulled from the Android store and can now only be installed by rooting (hacking) your phone. However extensive modem-usage will wear out your G1's battery soon and so it may be reasonable to get a USB-modem instead.

When it comes to a modem, that will work in the US later, you should be aware of the different frequency bands used for 3G in Europe and the US:
Whereas European 3G-networks operate at 2100 MHz (and some outside of Germany also at 900 MHz), American 3G networks use 850 and 1900 MHz (AT&T) and 1700 and 2100 MHz (T-Mobile), whereby T-Mobile uses a combination of 1700 and 2100 MHz (so-called AWS), which is incompatible with the European 2100 MHz-band.
As there's no device available in Europe, that supports T-Mobile's 1700/2100 MHz-band, you could only get a device that will work in Europe and on AT&T's 3G network, but not on any other US-network (as the rest are not using UMTS-technology). So in order to get a device suitable for Germany and AT&T you would need a device supporting 850, 1900 and 2100 MHz. The only reasonably priced device meeting this requirement would be a Huawei E160.
Actually the Huawei E160 is sold by several providers (Tchibo, Fonic, Vodafone, Aldi) starting from € 30, but they all have different designations and I fear some or all are a trimmed version called E160G, which lacks support for UMTS 850 and 1900 MHz and so won't even work on AT&T's 3G network. I'll try to find out on German forums, if the E160 is available somewhere and let you know soon.

As you already found out, Tchibo is perhaps the best choice for internet access. If you want even better quality (better 3G coverage and even higher bandwidth) Vodafone is interesting, as they have a summer promotion offering 7 days of internet access for € 10. However Vodafone's so-called "WebSessions" will be terminated after reaching 1GB of data volume. That could easily happen sooner than 7 days and so you could need more than 3 WebSessions (each costing € 10) to stay online for a month.

[dg7feq]

Another plus for the Vodafone data offer is that they sell the USB-Modem for 29 Euro at the moment (and it is not even SIM-locked).

Chris