Primer for cellular access in Germany?
 

Is there a basic guide for the best (and cheapest) ways to get cell phone access and/or internet access while in Germany? (Yes, I saw the thread on SIM cards for internet available through ALDI ... not quite sure I understand exactly what's available there and how useable that system is yet, i.e., if such a SIM card will work in any aircard or whatnot ...)

Get an unlocked GSM phone, go to any phone shop in Germany, buy a pre-paid sim card from the carrier of your choice (I use a T-Mobile pay-as-you-go sim card), put it in the sim card holder of the phone and you're ready to go. Top up the card as needed. It's a very easy process.

I suggest you go with one of the four main GSM carriers T-Mobile, Vodafone, E-Plus or o2 and buy the card in one of their retail shops. The virtual carriers like Aldi (which uses the E-Plus network) often require you to activate the SIM card over the internet or sometimes you need a German mailing address where they ship you the SIM-Card. Being a tourist this can be tricky. If you don't have a GSM phone you often get cheap bundles of a basic GSM phone and a SIM Card.

+1 Another vote for using a T-Mobile SIM card in an unlocked GSM phone. I originally bought my SIM at the T-Mobile store in the TXL shopping area three or four years ago, and I load more minutes over the Internet, no matter whether I am in Germany or elsewhere (I recently re-loaded over the 'Net in the UK and from the U.S.).

Do these retailers have a shop at the airport - or is shopping at the airport never a good idea?

As stated above, T-Mobile has a shop in the TXL (Berlin - Tegel) main shopping area. It's a company-owned store, not just a general "authorized dealer", so the price for a SIM is the same as if you were to buy it at a T-Mobile shop in the center city.

Do the phones typically run like 20 euros or something when you buy from the T-Mob shop at TXL? I have a GSM phone but its locked to ATT. I don't plan on making alot of next week but it would be nice to not have to worry about paying a 1 dollar per min to use my ATT plan.

No. Your cheapest solution might be to buy an AT&T rechargeable calling card at Sam's Club, if you want to call back to the U.S.. The card is rechargeable and very easy to use. I use it with my unlocked European cell and from landlines in hotels, etc.

A T-Mo card is going to cost the same no matter where you buy it, at least in my experience. I frequently recharge mine at the airport after landing.

That's good to know and I do have a Sam's Club membership.

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Another nice thing about T-Mobile is that you can top up over the Internet from anywhere using the Xtra website. Last
September, I topped up while in Helsinki and again when in London; completely painless. ^

I have AT&T and I am going to see about getting my phone unlocked. Anyone recommend an inexpensive SIM card to buy at FRA? Also, I also have a onesuite account. Are there still payphones in mid and smaller German cities? If so, maybe I'll just use that calling card. Thoughts?

Best of luck in getting ATT to unlock your phone. I purchased the ATT Worldwide Prepaid Phone Card yesterday from ATT's website. The rates are very good from landlines and ok from cellphones.

The ATT store made it a selling point that unlike Verizon, their phones can be unlocked. I'll see if that's true. If not, will there still be payphones? NYC, for example, has cut back on payphones but one still can see plenty of them.

AT&T is pretty good about unlocking if you've been a customer for at least a few months. I've gotten unlock codes over the phone. The bigger issue is making sure your phone is tri-band (acceptable) or quad-band (best); if it isn't, unlocking it won't matter.


There's previous discussion of prepaid SIM cards in Germany.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...nute-cost.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/germa...e-germany.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/germa...-1-99-day.html

Yes, there still are pay phones in Germany, but there are fewer than there used to be. Many do not accept coins--phone cards only (either via a toll-free access number or via a proprietary phone card with a chip on it). Some take credit cards as well, but the rates are quite high.

I got my phone last spring. How would I know if my phone were tri-band or quad-band? Also, and please understand that I am not cell phone savvy, once my phone is unlocked, I'll just replace the SIM card that's already in there with a German SIM card. Then when I return to NYC, I'll put back the original SIM card and have my original service....is that right?


Thanks.

I have a toll-free # to call to use onesuite.com to make calls.

If it works in Germany...that's one way to tell. :D
Seriously: you could look in your user's manual if you still have it or you could go to the manufacturer's website to check it out. US bands are 850 MHz and 1900 MHz; European bands are 900 MHz and 1800 MHz (900 being the most common).

What's the make/model?

Exactly!

It's an LG CU515. I've got the manual. Where do I find the band info?

Oh good!

Just did a search and Cnet's review says that the bands are: Band / mode: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900.

http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/...-32730358.html

Ok, I went to cnet's website for a review of my phone. Here's what they said about band:
What does this mean for me regarding use of my phone in Germany?

We went to the same place at the same time! So I'm good to go with this phone?

It means that you will be on 2G (EDGE) and not 3G b/c you need the 2100 band for that. The link below shows you the carriers in Germany. You're good to go.

http://www.wireless.att.com/travelgu...L=276&MNC=CING

Of the carriers, who has the best deals for calling to States
 

For example, O2 in the UK has better deals for buying a SIM card with intl minutes, and free incoming calls; T-Mobile was not nearly as good, even though it, too, had free incoming calls.

Also, anyone have recs for where to buy in Munich?

Excellent, thank you!

Went to the ATT store this afternoon and they unlocked the phone. Very nice professionals working there.

So now I need to do the research to find an inexpensive SIM card not only in rate/minute in Germany and to the US but also a cheap one-time purchase price. I assume they'll charge for the card itself. I'll still put some money into my onesuite account just in case I can't find a good deal on a SIM.

When I purchased my T-Mobile SIM about four or five years ago at Tegel Airport in Berlin, it cost about €15,00, of which €10 was airtime credit. The clerk at the T-Mobile store inserted the SIM into my unlocked U.S. phone and processed the activation - the phone was active and working before I left the airport.

Analise, if you read through some of the threads I linked to you'll find some discussion of prepaid voice.

How long are you going to be in Germany and how much use of the phone do you want to do?

I'd recommend one of the discount cards, such as those sold at Aldi, Tchibo, or Lidl.

I wouldn't pay any attention to rates to the US. It will be cheaper to use a voip/calling card provider with a local German access number and call that from the cell.

I am going for one week and I plan to use my cell phone VERY SPARINGLY. I have a discount calling card with onesuite and plan to use that for my calls to the US unless I cannot find a payphone anywhere. The cell phone was to call my friends and let them know what time to meet and things like that. It is also for them to call me if they need to reach me. Again, I plan to be with them most of the time but I do plan to be on my own in the mornings at least. My husband may want to reach me from New York on my cell during the day.

So in theory, I really don't want to use the cell phone very much but it may depend on how plentiful payphones are.

That sounds quite good. I'll check that out and hopefully the rate won't be something like €1/minute!

Verizon unlocks my Blackberry Tour for free..... i'll be using it next summer!

Blauworld is the cheapest Provider for making international calls from your cellphone. You can either buy the SIM-Card at cetrain stores or order it online. Don't know if they ship to addresses outside Germany.

You can buy blauworld SIM cards in real, Saturn, and some other stores.
While blauworld does offer the best international calling rates, I prefer to use a German local access number to make international calls from other SIMs. It adds a step, but it is cheaper that way (depending of course on overall usage).

Why would I need an access # to make calls from my cell if I have purchased a SIM card? Why not just dial directly?

It looks like the current rate for an Xtra SIM Card is €19,95, which includes €10 of airtime (they offer the same starter SIM online only for €10 with the €10 airtime inclusion (essentially the SIM is free) - however, I don't know if they would ship this ouside of Germany (or if there is enough time before your trip). here's the website for your reference:

http://www.t-mobile.de/xtraclick/0,1...8369-_,00.html



And also, a link to an April 2008 price listing for Xtra (I don't know if the prices are current, but again, provided for your reference):

https://www.t-mobile.de/downloads/t-..._april2008.pdf

http://www.t-mobile.de/T-D1/cds/Shop...60,703,00.html

Thanks. I'm hoping I'll find something at FRA or maybe in the Dortmund area if I don't have time at FRA do get the SIM. Maybe T-Mobile has stores over there?

It's often cheaper.

For example, you can get a monthly ~15€ domestic German landline flatrate through blau.de, AldiTalk, Tchibo mobile, or some other carriers. Then you can just use a domestic access number and make calls worldwide paying just for the international leg. For example, I can call out to the US via a German access number via Voipstunt/Voipcheap and others offer 300 minutes/week of calling to the US for 3-4 months if you deposit 10€.

There's no shortage of cell phone stores and electronic stores in Dortmund. There are some near the train station--the best place to wander would be the pedestrian zone on Westenhellweg.

T-Mobile has an interesting plan on their prepaid cards called Xtra Nonstop Plus. You pay 1,49€/month from the card (can deactivate that after 1 month) and then 0,29€ each day you use it to make a landline/T-Mobile call and 0,29€ each day you send an SMS ("free" calls (2 hours) and SMS (up to 100) after that).

However, direct dialing the US from T-Mobile will cost 1,09€/minute. Hence, the previous suggestion for dial-arounds.

I'm leaving today so I'll take all of this down with me.

Guten morgen from Frankfurt Airport! I'm at the Zurich Insurance kiosk in Terminal 1 and I love it. Free internet on great computers. Nice guys too. I looked for SIM cards and all I seem to find are electronic stores who want a minimum of €40 for a SIM. Sorry, not happening. ;) I'll wait a bit.