New EU roaming rules from May 2016 - which SIM for roaming

[wolfbln]

Originally Posted by lover08

This is not the best solutions as they offer small data bundles only, mostly combined with calls that one may not need(400 MB, 750 MB, 1GB is the biggest that I see)

750 MB data bundle is not serious in 2016

LIDL connect has confirmed today, that they have opened the "surf stick plan" of monthly 5GB at €15 for EU roaming too. Now we have 5GB for €15 in roaming in 3G. That's amazing!

To everyone reading here: there is no secondary market for Lidl Connect. You have to visit a Lidl store in Germany. And you have to buy this USB dongle (that's an unlocked Huawei E3531) in the starter for 29,99€ with 10€ credit. Nobody knows what to do with it. Needless to say, that the SIM works everywhere else too.

[dchs]

Hello,
I'm thinking of buying Vodafone callya sim card(smartphone special 750mb and 200min/sms) on ebay.Could anyone please clarify when the pack gets activated-on the date of order,on the date the card registered,on the date the card it's activated or on date of first chargeable event?As I don't speak any German I used google translate but it something is translated as ''on the date booking'' and I'm not sure what means.
I can also see a listing for 500mb rather than 750mb and 200min/sms but I'm not sure if it's valid for EU roaming?I imagine this might be a previous offer on vodafone.

[lover08]

I have sent you a private message. From my experience with Vodafone Germany. It can't be activated by end client, only seller has a special portal, where he activates it (some other German prepaid can be activated by end user, but Vodafone can't) so seller usually can activate it to Germany Ausweis ID only, maybe some sellers can activate to International Passport. They will activate when they will ship it so 30 days will start to countdown.
Maybe you can ask seller by message to activate it later and ask also if he accepts non-German passport for activation. There are also other sellers sell already activated ready to use SIM cards, usually without balance on it. You can buy it and then add money and then activate package but again you will need some support from seller how to do that
Read my Private message and if you want you can contact me by Private message because this maybe irrelevant to other forum visitors
Alex

[dchs]

Thanks for the offer.From what I gather ebay sellers usually register the card against the payment details-address and so on and some mention that if the buyer wants the card registered to someone else/another address,then they need to provide those details.I haven't seen anyone asking for a passport,is that really required?I thought that registration and activation were different things(i.e. the card can be registered but activated yet while the it's obvious that it can't be activated if not registered yet)?
Some sellers stated this
2 Für alle Optionen gilt: Der Nutzungszeitraum von 4 Wochen beginnt mit Tag d. Buchung.

Google translates this
The usage period of 4 weeks starts with Day of booking
which is not quite clear.

[lover08]

I just checked on ebay, first of all I didn't find anyone who ships outside of Germany
And also all sellers write this details:
"Für die Freischaltung brauchen wir Ihre Daten.
Name,Vorname, Adresse, Geburtsdatum und Ausweisnummer" (that means they they need your details Ausweisnummer is Germany ID number
I was a seller of Vodafone, I had that portal for activation and it required Ausweisnummer, I didn't have an option for foreign passport at all (maybe other sellers yes have)

When seller activates a SIM card so the plan starts to countdown. If you have a plan without monthly charge so no charge at all, but if we are talking about plan Smartphone Special so it has 10€ on account and from the moment you activate it (Seller put your details to his portal) so 10€ taken and first 28 days (4 weeks) starts to countdown
Der Nutzungszeitraum von 4 Wochen beginnt mit Tag d. Buchung I think he means from the date of purchase, I may be wrong. I didn't sold these SIM cards I sold CallYa Talk&SMS in past

[dchs]

Thanks for clarification.It;s not a problem for me that some sellers do not ship outside Germany as I have German forwarding address.I can't see Ausweisnummer at the listings I monitor.

[wolfbln]

about Vodafone CallYA activation:

I really don't understand the problems:
1.) There are the "Freikarten" = free SIMs. They are still sent all over Germany by mail already pre-activated connecting to the network rightaway. They don't have credit preloaded and you still need to top them up. The plan starts when you top it up. This is the easiest way, if you know anybody with a German postal address as they can be started anytime or later too. They can be ordered for free to any German postal address on the Vodafone website only: https://www.vodafone.de/freikarten/?redo - click on purple jetzt kostenlos bestellen
2.) There are starter packs which are sold in service stations, small shops, super markets etc. all over the country for €10. They have 9.99 € credit on it and are set to either Talk&SMS rate (without monthly fee) or Smartphone Special (for 9.99€ with free roaming included). These starters are redistributed on eBay.de or Amazon.de. Most of the shops will send it abroad. It's not a problem of activation or passport data, but of postage. So ask them directly. Amazon warehouse shops aremore open to foreign distribution. But you can ask the small phone shops selling on eBay too.
These starters can be activated on this Vodafone site that can be switched to English: https://www.vodafone.de/komfortaufla...uest_locale=en
You don't need a German passport or registered address. This is nonsense. Vodafone says: "Please enter your personal data correctly.
If you have no permanent residence in Germany, please state the address of your current residence."
So you can use any address you know of in Germany, like a hotel, apartment etc.
These starters start the moment they are activated and charge the 1st 28 days of Smartphone Special from the preloaded credit. But you can activate a Talk&SMS SIM too, stay on the plan without monthly base rate and change to Smartphone Special (with free roaming) later.

So all the people talking about passport data etc. Some merchants want to take advantage of a customer referal bonus. But this is for their own benefits as they sell the SIM below the recommended sales price of €10. All the SIM cards Germans still buy in shops need to be activated online. Only the SIMs you buy in a Vodafone shop, they may activate them there, if you are lucky. For all 6 SIMs I bought for Spain for testing roaming for the WIKI and to give them to my friends here, I didn't need an German ID no. or any special ID check.

I will feature this SIM plan on a new featured site on the prepaid WIKI soon. Please be a bit patient. I'm working on it. Having said this, it's harder to get a LIDL Connect or a Rossmann mobil SIM abroad because there is no secondary market. For the moment, there is no other way but to go to a Lidl store or Rossmann market in Germany and buy it there. But again, these SIMs are to be activated online, without the need of any ID no.

P.S. If you are so scared about the German activation (which is still a joke), take a Vodafone Netherlands SIM instead. They have the same scheme and no activation at all. I'm in contact with merchants there too. They will offer it on eBay soon.
In both countries discussions are going on to tighten the laws on unaccounted prepaid SIMs, but nothing has been finalised yet. So you are not breaking the law.

One final word: It's still unclear if the Lidl Surf Stick plan (5GB@€15) is included in the roaming without surcharges scheme. I was not able to try it yet and users got opposite statements by the customer service. But on all other Lidl Connect (that's the NEW Lidl brand) packages and included allowances you are safe to go. For the Surf Stick pack, we need to wait until confirmed by an user.

[dchs]

Many thanks for the detailed and helpful reply. lover08 sent me a private message with links to their sim cards on different network and hence offered a pretty biased advise suggesting passport requirement,etc for the alternatives.
Anyway,as you noted some merchants on ebay offer the starter packs(including 10EUR credit covering the first month fee) and the price is well below 10,most around 2EUR,there's even one for 1EUR and it states 500MB as opposed to 750MB,which I assume is some older offer.I don't know what the deal is-whether they want a referral bonus or expect to get a commission on future top ups but it was unclear when the cards are activated. IT's pretty clear that 1 or 2 EUR can hardly cover the postage and ebay fees,but EE for example sell sim cards for 0.99GBP which has 5GBP in it loaded .I sent messages to some ebay sellers in English asking if they can activate the cards at a later stage so the countdown starts when I need the card but only one replied vaguely to buy when I need it.There are offers on amazon but the buyers there complain that the starter packs have low credit(1eur or pennies)not enough to activate the first month.I have no problem with postage as I have a forwarding address in Germany I can use and postage upto 1kg will be delivered to my country for 1.70EUR,but I can only buy online.I think people might be able to use shipito like services but I'm not sure if it's viable.
As far as I know there's no easy option to top up if you don't have a German bank account/credit(debit) card?
Hence,I decided to go for starter packs on ebay as they are cheaper and if I manage to get a couple I won't need to top up ever(will just bin them after package expires)but I'm still unclear if the starter packs on ebay are pre-activated by sellers for some reason.

[wolfbln]

and the next Vodafone network is opening prepaid bundles without surcharges for roaming:
We welcome Vodafone ITALY to the family.

http://www.telecompaper.com/news/vod...aming--1142501

And they even go beyond and include roaming in the US. So customers of Vodafone RED in Italy, prepaid or postpaid can use included allowances for roaming in the EU, Switzerland, Turkey and the US at their domestic rates - amazing.
That's 4GB and unlimited voice/SMS at €39 for 28 dayd or 8GB and unlimited voice/SMS at €49. RED is available on post- and prepaid in Italy:
http://www.vodafone.it/portal/Privat...e?icmp=TeP_Abb

P.S.: Italian SIM cards are only sold in Italy.

[peterdoo]

Unfortunately it looks like in RED Start only 100 minutes, 100 SMS and 100 MB per day are included in price.

Click on "+Estero" on the following page:
http://www.vodafone.it/portal/Privat...VOCE_RED_Start