Germany | simyo to launch 1GB/month-pack for € 9.99

[inquisitor]

internet.eplus.de is correct.

According to this press release Blau SIMs (not only refill vouchers) are sold also at gas stations, which are supplied by Lekkerland (a company supplying gas stations and kiosks). According to Blau's sale point search Aral, Shell and Esso gas stations, which are opened on Sundays, should sell Blau SIMs. So you could search on that page for a gas station in your proximity.

[sleepy]

Originally Posted by inquisitor

internet.eplus.de is correct.

According to this press release Blau SIMs (not only refill vouchers) are sold also at gas stations, which are supplied by Lekkerland (a company supplying gas stations and kiosks). According to Blau's sale point search Aral, Shell and Esso gas stations, which are opened on Sundays, should sell Blau SIMs. So you could search on that page for a gas station in your proximity.

Thank you again! I have already followed your advice and found a couple of them near to where I intend to dinner (but I will try to get there before, maybe they are going for dinner and close as well!)!

All the best,
Sleepy

[babble]

The Simyo "Handy-Internetpaket 1GB" at gprs data rates is too painful to describe! I am sure that most users will abandon the service next month. Lets hope that eplus starts its UMTS roll out early in 2009.

By the way, Simyo sends two activation sms messages:

First message: "Die Buchung des Handy-Internetpaketes 1 GB wurde entgegengenommen. Die Option beginnt mit Erhalt der Start-SMS. Die nächste Verlängerung erfolgt am 17.12.2008."
-"Your request for the 1 GB Handy-Internetpacket has been received. The option begins when you receive the Start-SMS. The option will be continued automatically in 30 days time (unless you cancel the option sooner)."

The option only begins when you receive the second message: "Ihr Handy-Internetpaket 1GB ist nun eingerichtet. Viel Spaß beim Surfen im mobilen Internet. Eine Verlängerung erfolgt in 30 Tagen."
-"Your 1 GB Handy-Internetpacket has now been activated. Have fun surfing the mobile internet (at unbearable gprs data speeds)! We hope that you will use the same package next month - even though we know that you won´t!"

After suffering gprs speeds for one month, most people will gladly upgrade to HSDPA with Telekom, Vodafone or O2.

[inquisitor]

O2's network has also suffered from the run on their latest data offers (Fonic with the € 2.50-dayflat and O2 Loop with the € 25 monthly flat). Anyway O2 supports EDGE and HSDPA, so the situation is not that bad.

[khaertel]

Any known options for prepaid blackberry push (BIS) in Germany? I've searched the usual suspects - it seems for data there are some prepaid options now but wasnt able to find any prepaid blackberry options.

[inquisitor]

Allthough there are are rumors about Blackberry service for prepaid customers for more than a year now, such is still not available yet.

[sleepy]

After my first ill-fated attempt in November (in the end I could not find a SIM card late on a Sunday evening and then it was too late to be useful), I decided to order a Simyo SIM in advance for my trip in Germany this time.

The SIM card arrived with no problems at my hotel (it took some days, though, so do not do that if you decide at the last minute. I think a week of advance buying is advisable.).
Using it was straightforward. Topping up with the SMS system was also very easy and immediate (though I find it a bit destabilising to have my credit card details on their server...). The SMS is not free, though.

In 30 seconds I was online with my PC, putting the correct APN and user/password (simyo/simyo).
More difficult was with my PDA. Though every setting was correct, it did not work until I did not set a profile for Simyo in my mobile (not needed for the PC). Usually putting the APN right is enough, even without a profile, but this time it was not the case.
No big problem, though.

I then activated the 1GB option. It took some hours to get active. Keep this in mind if you really need it in a specific occasion. Activate it some hours in advance. I received the second SMS, which, as it was correctly reported here before, starts the validity of the option, only 6 hours after I had sent the request.
Fortunately, at 0.24 Euro/MB, if you do not go in YouTube and only use it for moderate browsing and email checking, you are not going to get seriously hurt in the meantime.

Browsing speed: when you are in a city/town, chances are you are going to get connected in 3G, with reasonable speed.
Otherwise you are stuck with vanilla GPRS. But hey, we are talking here about moving around in another country. Roaming fees would be 6-15 Euro/MB (depending on our generous national providers) and here we are talking of 0.24 at the worst. You can exercise some patience...
German people can probably find better options or higher quality ones anyway (with longer commitment contracts). So we are talking about people coming from abroad.
I also tried the connection on an ICE between Ulm and Frankfurt. I had 3G only in the stations in the city, but I lost connection only twice in the whole journey. I would not call this bad service.

I now only have to figure where 3-4 Euros have gone... They vanished from my account without any notice. There is no trace of them in any account balance I consulted... mystery!

All in all: be patient, do not always expect lightning fast connection, but it is reliable, cheap and functional.

I would only hope that our national provider would not be as stupid as they seem to be to me: they charge us outrageous sums of money when we go abroad. But bit by bit, also in previously impossible countries, good options for talking and connecting are showing up. It is a waste of money for everyone: our national providers do not get any money from us (as they were getting until recently) and at the end of the game we shell out more money (but not outrageously any more) that we would in a better market organisation.

Sleepy

[dg7feq]

Originally Posted by sleepy

I now only have to figure where 3-4 Euros have gone... They vanished from my account without any notice. There is no trace of them in any account balance I consulted... mystery!

There were some difficulties when the data option started some weeks ago. Technically when you open a GPRS connection the system locks 1 Euro of your balance and releases it again after you disconnect (to prevent getting a negative balance while surfing). Unfortunately sometimes this 1 Euro didnt come back. As far as i read on the german webboards customers who notify them by email get refunded after manually checking the database.

Chris

[sleepy]

Originally Posted by dg7feq

There were some difficulties when the data option started some weeks ago. Technically when you open a GPRS connection the system locks 1 Euro of your balance and releases it again after you disconnect (to prevent getting a negative balance while surfing). Unfortunately sometimes this 1 Euro didnt come back. As far as i read on the german webboards customers who notify them by email get refunded after manually checking the database.

Chris

Actually I discovered today by checking my balance that the reason for the vanishing Euros has appeared: all the connections AFTER the second confirmation SMS have still been charged.
I have already sent Simyo through the website a note asking for information (and implicitly a refund...). Let's see what is going to happen!
No big damage anyway, but I would prefer that things run well at the first attempt!
I am anyway positive and for the moment I can easily exercise patience!

Cheers,
Sleepy

[sleepy]

Originally Posted by sleepy

I have already sent Simyo through the website a note asking for information (and implicitly a refund...). Let's see what is going to happen!

I am anyway positive and for the moment I can easily exercise patience!

Problem solved with Simyo. They replied one day after I wrote them, telling me I am right. And in another day they have refunded me.
Good service.
I am not used to that in Italy... It used to be like that, but not anymore...

Cheers,
Sleepy