Advice on choosing a mobile phone service

i have a vodafone prepaid sim card
i plan in the next few weeks to buy a contract phone
any ideas or suggestions as to who i should go with?
vodafone? eplus? etc.

The streets, papers, junk mail, magazines, telly, radio are stuffed with ideas. If you've missed the world out there I'd stick with the prepaid Vodafone simcard and buy a mobile.

I dont know why anyone signs up with anything other than o2 Genion with Homezone

See also: O2 Genion: Mobile phone service at home - Any experience or comments?

€10 a month (€5 if you're a student), and with Festnetz prices if you're in your Homezone area (at least 500 metre radius). Your homezone needn't be your home; it could be your office, or The Arc, or Marienplatz. If you don't have DSL at home, you can get rid of your Festnetz line altogether.

I agree with STB, O2 is the best way to go. I have used it for years and they have the best deal in my book.

I would do some shopping around, prices really vary. There are alot of good phones to had for free you have to watch the phone plan, I got a great phone but with a bad plan, 69 cents a min till 20 oclock, that hurts as make most of my calls during the day. I've seen a few ads for 15 cent calls round the hour but am waitng for the contract to end

Or get the new Nokia N90 with built-in VOIP support, and never pay for calls again.. (As long as you have a Wi-Fi signal to leech off)

hi I hope somone can help me, all i need is a german pre paid sim card for sending out SMS AND MMS to the UK. I asked tshcibo but its not possible to send out mms to uk (only sms). so does anyone know if theres a german prepaid sim card which sends both sms and mms to the UK?

I have tried Vodafone, T-Mobile cards but international MMSing seems to be a problem although there was some talk about Vodafone doing it in June 2005 but nothing came of that.

Because O2 have the worst coverage outside of cities in Germany and the smallest number of roaming partners, so for anyone moving aorund alot or travelling abroad they are not recommended.

The first question is why you want to go contract with all the commitments and impositions it implies...

O2 I do not believe allows this. Cheack out T-Mobile. I used their pre-paid service when living in Austria and I was unable to use MMS initially. I went into one of the stores and they had to authorise it somehow, but was available then. I would say, go to one of the T-Mobile offices I know you can find them around Marienplatz and one defintely is on Leopoldstrasse by the Geiselestr. (sp?) U-Bahn stop. Ask them if this is available if you get a sim card with them.

Hiya again, thanks to everyone who replied.
I actually foned the Tschibo (o2) hotline and was told the wrong imformation about sending a MMS to the UK they told me I could and it would cost 39 cent. I also wrote them an email to have written confirmation on this there reply was

The same thing happened when I foned T mobile de, they told me its possible and would cost 79 cent to send a MMS nach UK their written confirmation on this was


When T mobile wrote "in the auslandishe netz kostet 0,79 euro dont they mean Roaming?

I may go for the Xtra Click and Go just top up my Orange UK fone to send an MMS but shall talk to T mobile again, which will probably get me nowhere.

In other words to send a message to a non-German number costs 79cents. This is not ncessarilly roaming (you might be in Germany when you send them message), but could be (e.g. you are in UK sending to a UK number). It's not clear if MMSs sent when roaming cost any more (I doubt it, however...)

YL6

ok thanks YorkshireLad6

This is quite a good site for visitors or ex pats living in Germany

http://alan.uni-hd.de/Handy/Telecom-Tips.html

But bear in mind in this constantly changing business that site is almost 3 years old...

Which providers are good for roaming abroad, in that case? If O2 have a small number of roaming partners, is it sufficiently bad that you might actually not have any access at all in another country, or just that you don't get much choice and prices are therefore higher?

I also foned Vodafone and received a E mail about sending a SMS and MMS,
Voda being the most expensive to send a SMS nach england

SMS aus dem Vodafone-D2-Netz in ausländische Netze kosten 0,29 Euro.
Der Versand von MMS nach England kostet bis zu einer Größe von 300 KB je Nachricht 0,79 Eur.

so im now im kinda happy with the firm I chose, I received a Xtra Click and Go sim card today from T-mobile
an can send a SMS nach england for 15 cent

if you sign up for an O2 Genion contract, do you get any free smses when you log onto the O2 website and send them from there (as opposed to using your phone to send the message)?

With an Irish O2 contract I can send up to 250 smses every month completely free to any number worldwide, once I send them via the O2.ie website. Since I have broadband at home, this is a useful way to contact people who may not be checking email.

I'm not sure if something like this is possible with a German O2 contract, does anyone know?

I have o2 pay as you go which costs 9 cents during happy hour (6-8pm) including texts to england. And yes it does cost you to send an sms via their website. People can send you a free sms via email though as far as i know.

Having recently had to reveiw O2 offerings, I'm not aware of any currently available O2 contract with a "happy hour" or anything other than SMS costing 19cents 24/7. Most O2 contracts charge 29cents for SMS to foreign networks (also 24/7). O2 currently have a special offer providing 2400 SMSs for free over the life of a 2-year contract (100 per month, but Germany to Germany only), for postpaid deals only which are ordered online.

YL6

Oh perhaps they've stopped doing it then. Mean bastards. it was this one anyway http://www.teltarif.de/arch/2005/kw25/s17544.html

can anyone recommend where to buy a new or used phone without a contract? I'd like to make use of one of the cheaper providers recommended on another thread but you need your own phone, so looking to pick a bargain from somewhere.

thanks.

As that link points out, new customers can no longer take the "Happy Hour" option since 01.07.2005

Decide on the phone/model you want, then Ebay it with a sniping tool for the price you want to pay. Many new phones go for knock down prices (often MUCH less than the trade price) sold by people who got them cheap or free when renewing or starting a contract, similarly, used phones go cheap when they have been replaced under similar circumstances. I have access to very good trade price deals on new equipment, but for mobile phones EBay has always worked out cheaper...

need to buy a new phone on bill/contract
personally I dont like Vodafone as they use their own software in phones instead of the phone manafacturers
anyone know of some good deals around at the moment?

suggestions appreciated

Topics merged by admin

dont really understand the offers/plans they have
it seems alot clearer in the uk/ireland

It's a jungle out there, but for the light/general phone user I think the pre-paid packages from Aldi or Simply are the best. €20 gets a you a SIM card and phone number, with €10 credit. You need to buy, steal or borrow a phone (€60-70 upwards, maybe even used from Ebay) Calls cost 14cents/minute (for Simply, Aldi is 15 cents) to all German numbers 24/7, including mobiles. Simply charge 11 cents per SMS, Aldi 15cents. No monthly charges. Add credit at any Aldi or over the internet (Simply). I think Simply has the edge, not only because it's that bit cheaper, but it's based on the T-mobile network which has better coverage.

YL6

@ YL6 - That's great info. Do you know how much it costs to send an SMS or make a call to another European country with the Aldi or Simply pre-paid packages?

If you have a link that would be great, thanks

Edit: Think this might be the Simply pre-paid card you mentioned ... on that basis it costs 30 cent per sms sent abroad, not bad!

Here's the ALDIwebsite for mobile phones in case anyone is interested

Sending an SMS to abroad from Germany with Aldi costs 20 cents, or 15 cents within Germany
Receiving an SMS when abroad costs 49 cents in Europe, 59 in North+South America, Asia and Australia.

i want a good phone with mp3, cam etc

Hello everyone
My wife and I are moving from Dallas,Texas to Munich in early 2007.(I am a German citizen and have been in the US for 16 years)
I need some rants/raves/recommendations for cell phone service.
My calls will be within Germany-business /personal only (Fitness/Personal training/weight management,nutrition counseling/health club management/consultant)

Any advice will be greatly appreciated,thanking you in advance

braunfit

Topics merged by admin

Hello,
There've been lots of discussions on the subject of cell/mobile phones on the forum. Just use the search function (top right corner of your screen). Typing in "mobile phones", for example, gives you these results. Some of the threads won't be relevant but I'm sure you'll find plenty of useful information as well.

I am looking for a contract mobile phone, does anyone know of any good deals or which is the best shop to buy it from.

Topics merged by admin

Mobile phone shops are pretty good places to get them.

I also need to buy a German phone. Back home I had a prepaid phone that had a deal of $10 (5 euros) for 500 txt messages a month. Anything like that on offer here?

Can anybody recommend a provider that offers good reception? I cancelled my eplus contract and it's running out beginning of January. I need to start looking at alternatives. I was happy enough with eplus, but for the fact that I hardly had reception anwhere. I was told that O2 does not offer better reception either. I don't see the point of having a mobile and not being able to talk anywhere because of the weak radio signal. Thanks for your advice.

I'm on vodafone, and have yet to have any signal problems around Munich.

How much do you pay and what do you pay for?

i have a really writed question:
Is it possible to wipe off all the data/destroy sim card on a mobile phone with a magnet?
or how else can i destroy it without it being visible.

thanks

...

Do you want to make it unusable? If so just snap the thing in 2.

unusuable yes but not visibly

Okay, doesn't have to be visible. Just a crack in the casing will do.

...

Zap it with 6v of power.. that will fry it yet not look damaged...

so magnet doesn't work?

No a magnet won't work and zapping it with 6V might not work either depending on the card.

I'ts not a magnetic media like a Harddrive of Floppy Disk... A magnet might work but you would have to get one very strong magnet..
not the kinda stuff you might have on your fridge... Try by zapping it with 6v.. If it still works in the phone, then zap it with 9v or 12v
It will fry.. Garenteed

Most cards are 3.3-5v and have no overvoltage protection...

Some cards do have voltage protection though.

Zap it with 24v and we'll see just how that voltage protection works (Or doesn't)