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

[inquisitor]

A German bank account is neither required for registration nor for recharge for more than a year now. Passport number was never required and a German address, which you will still be asked for upon registration, will not be checked, so you can provide just any German address.

[inquisitor]

Originally Posted by Lucy

Thanks.
I'll check Solomo, but issue for me is time; I'm only in Berlin for a month, might not want to wait for mailed sim.

solomo SIMs are deliverd within 2-3 days after ordering. If you order them in advance, they will be with you in time.

[Lucy]

So the new rules just issued by the EU must change things a bit, no? Now everyone must charge by the second after the first half minute. Does that change what is the best mobile in Germany?

[dg7feq]

All these rules only apply when you are roaming with a EU SIM-card in another EU country. That does not affect the national tariffs.

[inquisitor]

As you mentioned you would arrive only in late July, I anticipated the recent decline of roaming-price caps and so all mentioned roaming prices (€ 0,51 for outgoing and € 0,22 for incoming calls) already took yesterday's changes into account. Hence solomo pro is the cheapest German prepaid SIM while roaming.

[inquisitor]

Today three new dayflat tariffs were announced by German providers.

Tchibo introduced a dayflat for € 2.99/calendar day on the O2 network. Since Fonic already offers a dayflat on the same network for € 2.50 Tchibo's offer isn't overwhelming, but the fact you now have the choice between Germany's cheapest monthly flat on a HSPA-enabled network for € 20, a 500MB volume pack for € 10 and a dayflat for € 3 with a single SIM, is absolutely attractive.

Ja! mobil and Penny mobil, which are subsidaries of Rewe and Penny supermarkets and whose prepaid SIMs are sold in these, announced a dayflat for € 2.49/calendar day on the T-Mobile network. Since T-Mobile provides superior coverage with widespread HSPA-coverage and nationwide EDGE-support, in my eyes this is the best dayflat for Germany so far. Against the background of T-Mobile's dayflat costing € 4.95/day, the price decline is quite impressive.
The dayflats will only be available for special SIM cards called "ja! mobil data" and "Penny Mobil Data", which will also support voice calls at € 0.09/min to all national networks. Both SIMs are rechargable by regular T-Mobile vouchers, so-called "Xtra Cash".

All three offers will be subject to bandwidth-throttling to 64 KBit/s after exceeding 1 GB of traffic per calendar day.

[luk2011]

Internet Stick inkl. Prepaid SIM-Karte

simply data - Deutschlands gnstige Datenflat

Tchibo = 3.6Mb/s and work in O2 network

Simply = 7.2Mb/s and work in D1 - T-mobile 19.95EURO/Monat without contract , prepaid .


Why it's Tchibo better ?

Which network have better coverage : O2 or D1 - T-mobile ?


Anyone have an experience with Simply ?


What it's the best USB stick like Modem for : HSDPA connection ?

HSDPA work just in major city's from Germany?


Pre-paid Internet Mobile
Mobile Prepaid Internet Anbieter


Price from various offers:
Preisvergleich Mobile Internet Anbieter


What do you say about all this offers? Which it's the best ?

In which network it work the Internet with the best speed?

[luk2011]

What about Simplydata?

simply data - Deutschlands gnstige Datenflat

[Lucy]

Based on the information I got on this site, I got a Tchibo stick for internet and Fonic for a cell phone. Both were very good choices. The Tchibo, with a promotion, cost 60 euros and included a month on line. Normally 20 Euros a month. And I keep the stick for next time. The Fonic cost 10 euros and included 111 minutes. I didn't even use them all. Problem with Germany in general is that you can't pay for things on line with a credit card, including to top up minutes. Inconvenient.

Question: I was in Berlin with my boyfriend. We had to keep switching the Tchibo stick between his computer and mine. Is there a program or device that would allow us to share the stick and both get online at the same time?

Lucy

[inquisitor]

Originally Posted by Lucy

The Tchibo, with a promotion, cost 60 euros and included a month on line. Normally 20 Euros a month.

That free first month is not longer offered, just FIY.

And I keep the stick for next time.

Actually you could use the stick in the US, if you have a data plan there. It supports 3G at 850 and 1900 MHz, so except for T-Mobile (who use 1700/2100 MHz) the stick is compatible with any UMTS-based 3G-network in the US (e.g. AT&T).
You would just need to unlock it, which simply requires a code to be entered. The codes are available for less than $6 from eBay sellers (e.g. "3g-fever").

The Fonic cost 10 euros and included 111 minutes. I didn't even use them all. Problem with Germany in general is that you can't pay for things on line with a credit card, including to top up minutes. Inconvenient.

Top ups can be bought online and paid with credit card for both, Tchibo and Fonic, at Aufladen.de - So macht man das!. Further compared to the US recharge vouchers are available nearly everywhere and anytime, at least at gasstations and those vending machines.
In general you are right, credit cards are less accepted in Germany than in the US. In Germany we mostly pay with debit cards (Maestro) and direct debit, which is siginificantly cheaper in regards of processing fees and in the end it's us customers who pay for those.

Question: I was in Berlin with my boyfriend. We had to keep switching the Tchibo stick between his computer and mine. Is there a program or device that would allow us to share the stick and both get online at the same time?

Yes, there are WiFi-routers with integrated 3G-modem and also WiFi-routers with a USB-jack, where you can plug in your existing stick and share the connection over WiFi. Both types of devices are not really cheap. Those WiFi-routers with integrated 3G modem, like the Novatel MiFi 2352 cost ~ $300, while those in which you would plug in your existing stick cost ~ € 100.
You will find a choice of devices at 3G/WiFi-routers - 3G modem wiki

@mods Could you please move this and Lucy's post to http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/euro...ny-merged.html ?