Nano sim & Coverage - Page 2

money69 · 18-01-2015, 03:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by inquisitor

An additional neutral and more up-to-date indication for network coverage is http://en.netmeterproject.com/ - after selecting Germany in the upper left corner you can view coverage maps of all four German networks gathered by end user devices. Hence you can only see trails of where users have moved along but not any covered surface areas. As this data comes from real life phones you can often see new LTE deployments sooner than official coverage maps show but it does not represent coverage areas, rather a collection of spots from which you can estimate network availabiliy.

Excellent information, thanks for the all the help.

wco81 · 11-03-2015, 07:57

So has the OP actually been able to use one of these prepaid products in Germany yet?

wco81 · 13-03-2015, 02:15

Prepaid Wikia indicates that Simyo SIMs are available at Aral and Shell petrol stations and the DM drugstore chain.

Do these places stock nano SIMs?

wolfbln · 14-03-2015, 00:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by wco81

Prepaid Wikia indicates that Simyo SIMs are available at Aral and Shell petrol stations and the DM drugstore chain.

Do these places stock nano SIMs?

Hi. I'm not very sure about this info. Generally, SIMYO is mostly an offline MVNO who sends the SIM cards by mail. This is true to many countries like Spain.

In Germany they tried to sell it in some stores at least some time ago. But they are rare in shops. The German Prepaid-Wiki says, they are online only.

To order it online, you need a German postal address or you order them from Ebay or Amazon unactivated to be sent to the US.

I'm going to check some Shell or Aral stations if they are still sold. If they are not sold offline anymore, I'd need to take SIMYO out of the prepaid data wiki. Because SIMYO has a lot of fans, I need to be sure first.

As SIMYO sells online only mini/micro OR nano cards, i'm pretty sceptical that you can find it at Shell or Aral anyway.

If it helps to you: Ortel Mobile (another MVNO on eplus) I bought recently at Shell. They sell hybrid mini/micro/nano cards.

wco81 · 14-03-2015, 00:46

Are Shell petrol stations common in the center of Munich?

My hotel will be near Hauptbahnhof Platz.

Otherwise, I hear there are some Handy shops nearby one of which may sell Blau SIM cards and supposedly have helped tourists register them.

There are also Vodaphone shops too, though those seem more pricey if you add 1 GB or more data. But for good LTE, it may be worth it.

wolfbln · 14-03-2015, 01:12

Vodafone or other MNOs are over here more expensive than the MVNOs or resellers. You will get LTE on Eplus in downtown Munich too without a surcharge on its MVNOs. But it might not so easy to find a nano SIM right away at the first shop.
When you leave central station towards Karlsplatz (Stachus) just check a few of the phone kiosks displaying the logos of the companies. Some operators now sell triple hybrid cards, at big network operators you'll find a nano for sure. In this area you have plenty of choices, but not so many gas stations.
Be aware, that LTE is on Eplus on 1800 MHz or Vodafone on 800 and 2600 MHz - other frequencies used here than in the US.

The small "Handy" shops may help you with registration. This is now done online and you need internet like a WIFI for doing this. So you might do it at your hotel. Just look for a valid German street address with ZIP code like your hotel address as you need to give a German address. Activation can take an hour or two.

wco81 · 14-03-2015, 01:35

I may do some day trips, 2 hours on a train each way.

So maybe better odds of getting an LTE signal on Vodaphone?

My iPad mini2 supports bands 3, 7 and 20.

dg7feq · 16-03-2015, 08:55

Vodafone has a widespread coverage of LTE on 800MHz band, which makes it the better choice for travelling than eplus with patchy 1800 MHz LTE coverage.

inquisitor · 16-03-2015, 13:54

The in-train repeaters in IC and ICE trains do only support the 900 and 1800 MHz band with few refurbished cars also covering the 2100 MHz band. That and given the strong attenuation caused by the metal frame of the cars as well as the metallized windows, you should not expect reliable coverage through LTE800 inside a rolling train.
We also have a separate thread about in-train cellular service in Germany: http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6938

http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6938

aliceay · 18-03-2015, 13:21

One more option that nobody mentioned before. MTX Connect data SIM card. It has about 30 countries in a coverage zone, and it's a 3-in-1 SIM card with nano-.
It seems to be more expensive than others: 0,1 EURO per 1 MB or 10 EURO per 1 day unlimited data, but it's free to get and easy, you just need to fill the form at their website.
So you should compare carriers and decide what's better for you.

	(#2)
wco81 (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 304 Join Date: 17 Jun 2007 Country:	11-03-2015, 07:57 So has the OP actually been able to use one of these prepaid products in Germany yet?

	(#3)
wco81 (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 304 Join Date: 17 Jun 2007 Country:	13-03-2015, 02:15 Prepaid Wikia indicates that Simyo SIMs are available at Aral and Shell petrol stations and the DM drugstore chain. Do these places stock nano SIMs?

	(#5)
wco81 (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 304 Join Date: 17 Jun 2007 Country:	14-03-2015, 00:46 Are Shell petrol stations common in the center of Munich? My hotel will be near Hauptbahnhof Platz. Otherwise, I hear there are some Handy shops nearby one of which may sell Blau SIM cards and supposedly have helped tourists register them. There are also Vodaphone shops too, though those seem more pricey if you add 1 GB or more data. But for good LTE, it may be worth it.

	(#6)
wolfbln (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 206 Join Date: 14 Jul 2014 Country:	14-03-2015, 01:12 Vodafone or other MNOs are over here more expensive than the MVNOs or resellers. You will get LTE on Eplus in downtown Munich too without a surcharge on its MVNOs. But it might not so easy to find a nano SIM right away at the first shop. When you leave central station towards Karlsplatz (Stachus) just check a few of the phone kiosks displaying the logos of the companies. Some operators now sell triple hybrid cards, at big network operators you'll find a nano for sure. In this area you have plenty of choices, but not so many gas stations. Be aware, that LTE is on Eplus on 1800 MHz or Vodafone on 800 and 2600 MHz - other frequencies used here than in the US. The small "Handy" shops may help you with registration. This is now done online and you need internet like a WIFI for doing this. So you might do it at your hotel. Just look for a valid German street address with ZIP code like your hotel address as you need to give a German address. Activation can take an hour or two. Last edited by wolfbln; 14-03-2015 at 01:25..

	(#7)
wco81 (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 304 Join Date: 17 Jun 2007 Country:	14-03-2015, 01:35 I may do some day trips, 2 hours on a train each way. So maybe better odds of getting an LTE signal on Vodaphone? My iPad mini2 supports bands 3, 7 and 20.

	(#8)
dg7feq (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Guru Posts: 1,164 Join Date: 04 Feb 2006 Location: Germany Country:	16-03-2015, 08:55 Vodafone has a widespread coverage of LTE on 800MHz band, which makes it the better choice for travelling than eplus with patchy 1800 MHz LTE coverage. Germany: o2 blue all-in L, simquadrat Thailand: truemove (phone+sms+wifi) International: xxSim+372, toggle +44/+49/+41/+31 Phones: Huawei Mate7, Huawei P9

	(#9)
inquisitor (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Professionist Posts: 1,399 Join Date: 15 Nov 2006 Country:	16-03-2015, 13:54 The in-train repeaters in IC and ICE trains do only support the 900 and 1800 MHz band with few refurbished cars also covering the 2100 MHz band. That and given the strong attenuation caused by the metal frame of the cars as well as the metallized windows, you should not expect reliable coverage through LTE800 inside a rolling train. We also have a separate thread about in-train cellular service in Germany: http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6938 http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6938 terminals: Samsung: Galaxy S5 DuoS (G900FD); BLU: Win HD LTE; Nokia: 1200; Asus: Fonepad 7 ME372CG; Huawei data: E3372, Vodafone R201, K3765, E1762; postpaid: O2 on Business XL; prepaid: DE: Aldi Talk, Lidl; UK: 3; BG: MTel, vivacom; RU: MTS; RS: MTS; UAE: du Tourist SIM; INT'L: toggle mobile VoIP: sipgate.de (German DID); sipgate.co.uk (British DID); ukddi.com (British DID); sipcall.ch (Swiss DID); megafon.bg (Bulgarian DID); InterVoip.com

	(#10)
aliceay (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 3 Join Date: 21 Feb 2015 Country:	18-03-2015, 13:21 One more option that nobody mentioned before. MTX Connect data SIM card. It has about 30 countries in a coverage zone, and it's a 3-in-1 SIM card with nano-. It seems to be more expensive than others: 0,1 EURO per 1 MB or 10 EURO per 1 day unlimited data, but it's free to get and easy, you just need to fill the form at their website. So you should compare carriers and decide what's better for you.