SIM card for Germany

mandrake04

I'm going be working in Germany for 6 weeks, just wondering if I can get a local SIM card for wifi hotspot. Also what is the best value?

Irishmale0399

mandrake04 wrote: »

I'm going be working in Germany for 6 weeks, just wondering if I can get a local SIM card for wifi hotspot. Also what is the best value?

Would depend on how much internet you would be using. Lidl and Aldi do prepaid sim cards with internet options on them however I am not sure if they allow tethering/hotspot....Germans seem to be able to monitor it on the network.

Lidl:
Free calls in all German networks and 2GB internet in 3G network for €19.99. You would have to book it for 2 months and cancel it more or less directly as there is a 30 days cancelation period.

Aldi:
More or less the same as Lidl....only minor differences.

The one I would take if I was you:

Vodafone Callya(Prepaid) 4G/LTE
Limited calls etc. €9.99 or All Net Flat (free German calls and sms) €22.50 for 30 days. Advantage also is if you venture over a border you can use your phone as you would at home at no extra cost.

CallYa Smartphone Special
1GB + 10GB as a present ontop.

murphaph

If you're going after the 15th of June you're covered by the new roaming rules which abolish roaming charges completely from that date.

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/telecoms-internet/mobile-roaming-costs/index_en.htm

mandrake04

Irishmale0399 wrote: »

Would depend on how much internet you would be using. Lidl and Aldi do prepaid sim cards with internet options on them however I am not sure if they allow tethering/hotspot....Germans seem to be able to monitor it on the network.

Lidl:
Free calls in all German networks and 2GB internet in 3G network for ?19.99. You would have to book it for 2 months and cancel it more or less directly as there is a 30 days cancelation period.

Aldi:
More or less the same as Lidl....only minor differences.

The one I would take if I was you:

Vodafone Callya(Prepaid) 4G/LTE
Limited calls etc. ?9.99 or All Net Flat (free German calls and sms) ?22.50 for 30 days. Advantage also is if you venture over a border you can use your phone as you would at home at no extra cost.

CallYa Smartphone Special
1GB + 10GB as a present ontop.

Thanks the Callya one sounds good but only need data, im going in July but using my Aussie work phone for calls. I also got a 4G wifi device that I can use for data while not in office or Hotel.

If I am able to use this for roaming in UK and Ireland at no penalty even better as I will be traveling there at the weekends.

Irishmale0399

mandrake04 wrote: »

Thanks the Callya one sounds good but only need data, im going in July but using my Aussie work phone for calls. I also got a 4G wifi device that I can use for data while not in office or Hotel.

If I am able to use this for roaming in UK and Ireland at no penalty even better as I will be traveling there at the weekends.

Whilst roaming you have 1GB 4G data use per month, free calls back to Germany and also in the country of you stay if I am not mistaken.
It is certainly what I recommend when work mates come to Germany from UK/US etc.

mdebets

Don't know if you are already in Germany or not, but if you are not, just be aware that from July 1, there will be two identity checks done, one when you buy the card and one when you activate it. In Germany, they do it with the ID car, not sure how this will work for foreign nationals (and there are already lots of confusion about how to do it for Germans). It will also probably mean that the prices will rise and you won't be able to buy a SIM card in a supermarket or petrol station anymore.

Irishmale0399

mdebets wrote: »

Don't know if you are already in Germany or not, but if you are not, just be aware that from July 1, there will be two identity checks done, one when you buy the card and one when you activate it. In Germany, they do it with the ID car, not sure how this will work for foreign nationals (and there are already lots of confusion about how to do it for Germans). It will also probably mean that the prices will rise and you won't be able to buy a SIM card in a supermarket or petrol station anymore.

All very simple it seems. You will have to show your passport/passportcard when buying the sim card, which should be possible if you enter the country legally. Passport will be photocopied, assigned to the number and stored in a central database.

Why should prices rise??? Before you sign a normal contract you have to show your passport anyway to prove that you are who you are. They note your passport number and this is used to cross reference your regisitered address if you dont pay bills etc.
Should you sign up online I assume they will do one of 3 things:
1. You will receive the sim card per regisitered post and have to sign for it. Postman will check your identity.
2. You will have to pick the sim card up in a post office and identify yourself there. Same system as online banking when opening any account.
3. You will have to email the supplier a copy of your anmelde bestätigung (formal registration of your home address) and a copy of your passport before they send you out anything.

dr.fuzzenstein

Be aware that data allowances are pretty stingy on mobile devices in Germany. 1-2 gig a month seems to he pretty standard here and 5 gig is advertised as some kind of monster data packet.
I was a little bit surprised, because in Ireland I was using Three pay as you go and had gotten used to unlimited data.
Upside is my internet here is completely unlimited, I could never have signed up to Netflix and Amazon Prime with my crappy 20 gig monthly allowance in Ireland. So not too upset.

mdebets

Irishmale0399 wrote: »

All very simple it seems. You will have to show your passport/passportcard when buying the sim card, which should be possible if you enter the country legally. Passport will be photocopied, assigned to the number and stored in a central database.

That's only step 1. This step will also mean, that you most likely won't be able to buy a SIM card for example in a supermarket, as you can do now, as it would just take too long to do the checks on the check-out.
There will also be a second ID check, when you actually activate the card (the ones you buy are not activated).
This all will cost money. Add to that, that the number of prepaid cards will fall, as people coming from other countries will probably use their local cards (no roaming now) and the convenience is taken away to just pick up a SIM card in your supermarket while doing other shopping. This all will rise the cost of pre-paid SIM cards.

Irishmale0399 wrote: »

Why should prices rise??? Before you sign a normal contract you have to show your passport anyway to prove that you are who you are. They note your passport number and this is used to cross reference your regisitered address if you dont pay bills etc.
Should you sign up online I assume they will do one of 3 things:
1. You will receive the sim card per regisitered post and have to sign for it. Postman will check your identity.
2. You will have to pick the sim card up in a post office and identify yourself there. Same system as online banking when opening any account.
3. You will have to email the supplier a copy of your anmelde bestätigung (formal registration of your home address) and a copy of your passport before they send you out anything.

That's all for post-paid cards (which you are anyhow not going to get if you are in Germany for just a few weeks). The changes are only for pre-paid cards.

Irishmale0399

mdebets wrote: »

That's only step 1. This step will also mean, that you most likely won't be able to buy a SIM card for example in a supermarket, as you can do now, as it would just take too long to do the checks on the check-out.
There will also be a second ID check, when you actually activate the card (the ones you buy are not activated).
This all will cost money. Add to that, that the number of prepaid cards will fall, as people coming from other countries will probably use their local cards (no roaming now) and the convenience is taken away to just pick up a SIM card in your supermarket while doing other shopping. This all will rise the cost of pre-paid SIM cards.



That's all for post-paid cards (which you are anyhow not going to get if you are in Germany for just a few weeks). The changes are only for pre-paid cards.

I can assure you that this will not happen. Yes the processing will become a lot more difficult but that has nothing got to do with the supermarket, the user or the price. Anything bought in a supermarket today will most likely be ordered online in future via a code received at the counter and activated at a later date.
Take Aldi ....... O2/Eplus will have to activate and manage data as they do today.
Lidl.....Vodafone will have to do the same....

The supermarkets are in the position to dictate the price as they are the new market for the traditional mobile companies. They are loosing custom every day and need new sales channels.

Irishmale0399

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Be aware that data allowances are pretty stingy on mobile devices in Germany. 1-2 gig a month seems to he pretty standard here and 5 gig is advertised as some kind of monster data packet.
I was a little bit surprised, because in Ireland I was using Three pay as you go and had gotten used to unlimited data.
Upside is my internet here is completely unlimited, I could never have signed up to Netflix and Amazon Prime with my crappy 20 gig monthly allowance in Ireland. So not too upset.

Deutsche Telekom are now doing unlimited streaming data....

Vodafone allow you to take unused data into the following month and are offering new users 10GB (LTE+) as a welcome present.

mdebets

Irishmale0399 wrote: »

I can assure you that this will not happen. Yes the processing will become a lot more difficult but that has nothing got to do with the supermarket, the user or the price. Anything bought in a supermarket today will most likely be ordered online in future via a code received at the counter and activated at a later date.
Take Aldi ....... O2/Eplus will have to activate and manage data as they do today.
Lidl.....Vodafone will have to do the same....

The supermarkets are in the position to dictate the price as they are the new market for the traditional mobile companies. They are loosing custom every day and need new sales channels.

This will happen, as the new rules can't be properly implemented in a supermarket. At the moment, you just put the SIM on the converter belt and pay for it like you pay for your other shopping. From next month, they need to check your ID, copy it, register it on the system. You can't do this at the check-out, because it takes too much time. And most supermarkets wouldn't have spare staff just for this. Online buying might be ok, if you are in the country for longer, but it will add additional time to the purchase. All this, with the now "free" roaming in EUrope, will mean that less pre-paid cards will be sold in Germany at a higher cost per card, so the prices will rise.

mdebets

Irishmale0399 wrote: »

Deutsche Telekom are now doing unlimited streaming data....

That's only for contract customers, not pre-paid. It only includes a few streaming services, not all, and it is only valid as long as you haven't used up your data limit with other stuff. Once you have, the unlimited streaming stops as well.

Irishmale0399 wrote: »

Vodafone allow you to take unused data into the following month and are offering new users 10GB (LTE+) as a welcome present.

The carry over is only for contract pay SIM cards, while the 10GB additional is prepaid, but for the following months, you will get only a maximum of 2GB.

redcup342

Irishmale0399 wrote: »

Deutsche Telekom are now doing unlimited streaming data....

Vodafone allow you to take unused data into the following month and are offering new users 10GB (LTE+) as a welcome present.

T-Mobile are Unlimited up to a point, then they stick you on a dog slow connection once you go over your plan

"64 KBit/s im Download und max. 16 KBit/s im Upload"

https://www.telekom.de/unterwegs/tarife-und-optionen/prepaid-tarife