Questions about data usage - O2 / Lidl / FONIC

[jennifermehl]

Hello, we are going to be taking a trip to Germany for about 6 weeks. For 10 of those days we will be travelling to Belgium, France, Spain and through Andorra, Italy and Switzerland as well.

I have an old AT&T unlocked iPhone 3GS that we will be taking with on this trip. (Also have an AT&T iPhone5 and Verizon iPhone5, but am thinking of leaving these home if the speed is adequate with the 3GS... less worried about losing it or having it stolen) We will mostly be using the phone for light travel-related data usage, but there is potential for the need to tether my laptop to do something in a work emergency. Also basic phone and SMS usage - to/from German festnetz and mobile phones, and possibly back to US once or twice.

I have an O2 SIM card currently from a previous trip - could I re-activate that on one of O2's current plans like O2 Loop Smartphone Freikarte? Would it have the same phone number? I have been reading that they also offer an EU Internet Tages pack for data roaming that would cover the EU countries at 10MB/day @ 3 EUR.

Alternatively, I am looking at the FONIC and Lidl plans - as they also run on the O2 network do they have the same roaming options?

Who is going to give the fastest data speeds?

We do have the ability to use a German bank account with family when we get there, so would the Lidl/FONIC Smart Tarifs or the regular Tarifs be a better options, to then also add the EU roaming package?

thank you for any info,
Jennifer

[andy]

Apologies for the delay in approving one of your posts. The forum is set to sometimes pre-moderate posts by new users, but I thought the strictest setting was only for people adding a link in their post. And it took a while to notice ...

German networks do maintain the credit associated with the account, and will refund it on request, but some seem to reserve the right to cut the SIM off if it's not used for a time.

I don't know exactly what O2 policy is on this, and one of our German members can advise, but I would guess you might be able get the old credit transferred to a new SIM. This might be more trouble than it's worth if there's only a Euro or so there.

Fonic or Lidl would be fine in Germany, but I don't know about their roaming options.

Another possibly useful option is that eplus and some of the brands on it, such as Aldi, have an interesting data roaming bundle of 50 or 60 (Aldi) MB for €5 for a week

[dg7feq]

The SIM should be alive for at least 2 years if its a original o2 card. If it was deactivated you can request the remaining balance to be refunded (but for that you need a german bank account).

you have to write a informal letter stating that you want to cancel your prepaid contract and get the money refund to

Telefonica o2 Germany
o2 Prepaid Kundenbetreuung
90345 Nürnberg

glue the SIM on the letter, state the name and adress of the person who registered the card, state your bank acct data and sign the letter. refund takes about 2 weeks.

[jennifermehl]

Thanks for the feedback. I don't think there is much credit on the O2 SIM card, so it would be easier to just start again with a different provider then.

I'm trying to figure out my best options for data EU roaming - looking at Lidl/FONIC/O2 and will look into the Aldi/E-Plus prepaid option you list below. I'll probably be back with more questions after my (German-speaking) husband looks over the various tariff options.

Thanks!

[dg7feq]

Simyo.de and Blau.de both offer a EU roaming option which gives you 50 MB for one week and it cost 5 Euro. (similar offer can be found on Aldi Talk which can be bought in Aldi stores) Blau.de cards can be purchased in electronic stores and supermarkets, simyo only online.

Fonic has a data daypack in EU countries, it cost 3 Euro/day including 10MB/day

On T-Mobile xtra-card you also have a 10 MB daypack for 3 Euro, additionally a 50 MB daypack for 7 Euro.

Vodafone is much more expensive

[jennifermehl]

Thanks - that was very helpful.

I may be tethering my Macbook to my old iPhone 3GS and want to know if the higher 3G speeds are supported with Blau/Simyo (E-Plus/BASE). HSDPA to 7.2MBps? I know FONIC/O2 supports higher speeds and I'm checking the various coverage maps for the areas in Germany where we will be staying to see what coverage looks like.

I really like the iOS app "My Festtool" that Simyo has - looks really helpful to understand the tariff and how much various things cost while travelling - they also have a pretty good webpage with APN settings all listed out etc. which I find very attractive!

So, I'm weighing the network coverage, as well as data prices and ease of usage/understanding of the plans to make this decision...

Any further advice is appreciated!

[dg7feq]

Eplus in general has slower data-rates than o2 (Fonic). But o2 also has some congestion problems in urban areas. Good enough on smartphones anyway, for high speed data usage T-Mobile and Vodafone are the better (alas, more expensive) choice.

[jennifermehl]

Ah well, it looks like I can only buy German Simyo card online with a German bank transfer. I had read before that one could buy initial card with credit card (not just for refills) but that appears to no longer be the case.

Does anyone know?

I was hoping to purchase the card online for delivery to my in-laws' house and setup to bill to my credit card.

[willydat]

it still works, i have just tryed it!
At "4.Zahlart" you just choose "Per Kreditkarte bezahlen"
(hope there are no issues with us-cards)
Note that at "3. Persönliche Daten" you can only enter a German adress!

and some german helps too

[lover08]

Try to look at ebay.com
There are sellers that sell fonic, t-mobile congstar
Vodafone etc. the prices seams reasonable