Using the 3 Network, 12 gb PAYG Data SIM .. in Germany ? (1 Viewer)

[scotjimland]

sorry if asked before..

I have the 3 12gb data sim in a mifi.. Germany is not one of the Feel At Home countries, so what happens if you use it in Germany .. or can't it be used ?

 

[Robert Clark]

It can be used Jim but it costs a fortune
When I visited Germany I bought a Vodafone sim in Germany from a Vodafone store
Worked great - VERY fast 4G, and not overly expensive from memory
Just take ID with you into the shop as they ask for it
They register your address as being c/o the shop

 

[Robert Clark]

I gave more detail about it here
http://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/german-data-simcard-success.110025/#post-1445971

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[scotjimland]

thanks.. but how can the bill you if they have no personal information .. no account ?

 

[Robert Clark]

thanks.. but how can the bill you if they have no personal information .. no account ?

On PAYG it wouldn't work as there is no local roaming partner (feel at home)
For account holders you would run up s bill if you had data roaming turned on

 

[scotjimland]

On PAYG it wouldn't work as there is no local roaming partner (feel at home)

that's what I suspected .. thanks for confirming

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[Minxy]

If they have details of your credit/debit card for when you top up they would be able to charge you via that if you ran up a bill, or they could just send you a bill to pay if they have your personal details from when you first bought it.

I have a '3' 12gb / 1 year data sim and 'unfortunately' didn't realise that Germany wasn't included in the 'Feel at home' bit!

There's gonna be an £11 bill waiting for me at some point for a few days use!

... haven't told hubby yet ...

 

[scotjimland]

I have no account and they have no debit card details or any other personal information.. and according to Robert the PAYG SIM won't connect .. this makes sense ..

So how did you get it to work Mel.. or wasn't it a PAYG Sim ?

 

[Robert Clark]

Just called the THREE sales team and was advised that their Pre Paid data only sim card would not work in Germany unless you had a contract, because there is no way for you to pay the extra cost of the data surcharge.

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[Minxy]

Just called the THREE sales team and was advised that their Pre Paid data only sim card would not work in Germany unless you had a contract, because there is no way for you to pay the extra cost of the data surcharge.

Well they're talking b*llocks then because mine did!

Its a 12gb preloaded data sim card which lasts for up to a year, or when the 12gb runs out, whichever comes first. Whether PAYG ones are different I don't know but I did have to register it on-line first so they DO have my details to bill me ...

 

[scotjimland]

Well they're talking b*llocks then because mine did!

but they don't do 12gb preloaded data sim card which lasts for up to a year, or when the 12gb runs out, whichever comes first, ... on account..
only PAYG http://store.three.co.uk/pricePlans?includedInternetAllowanceInMB=12GB

I did not have to register to make it active.. it put it in the MiFi and turned it on.. bingo.

However, I did go online and register the sim to check if it was set for roaming .. and it was, but that only needed the sim phone number and an email address .. so no way can they send a bill or debit a card ..

 

[funflair]

My 12gb/12 month 3 data card doesn't work in any of the countries it is not supposed to work in, it just says "searching".

Bought mine in store and put it into iPad so they have no details to bill any extra to.

We have just come back from Netherlands and it didn't work there either.

Martin

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[Minxy]

but they don't do 12gb preloaded data sim card which lasts for up to a year, or when the 12gb runs out, whichever comes first, ... on account..

When I mentioned PAYG I meant ones that came without ANY data preloaded.

This is the one I have which clearly states preloaded with 12gb:

http://store.three.co.uk/view/searc...f=0to49.99&includedInternetAllowanceInMB=12GB

It will be interesting to see if I DO get a bill but they sent me a message to my three dashboard (192.168.1.1) which said:

You have spent £ 11.22 on Internet since 28/04/2016
​

I suppose it may depend on how you bought it - I got my via the internet paying by card so they'd have my payment details that way - how did you pay for yours?

 

[funflair]

Hi @Minxy Girl have you got the card in a MiFi device?

Martin

 

[Minxy]

Hi @Minxy Girl have you got the card in a MiFi device?

Martin

Yes, its in my Alcatel 4G one so is a pure sim card, no minutes and although I can text with it, it would be charged if I did as only data is included.

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[funflair]

Yes, its in my Alcatel 4G one so is a pure sim card, no minutes and although I can text with it, it would be charged if I did as only data is included.

Not exactly sure how it work but I think the charge is to do with it being in a MiFi device, it would appear that if you have linked a card to your "dashboard" you can get extras that are charged for outside of your data bundle.

Martin

 

[Deleted member 29692]

From memory I don't think ours worked in Germany last year

Our UK contract Vodafone phones did work but the data was always terrible, never 4G, maybe 3G once or twice.

 

[scotjimland]

I bought my card from the 3 store, 12gb data card , it cost £30 ..

I used a debit card to purchase.. the debit card is NOT registered in my 3 account.. I checked.

am just off the phone to 3 customer help.. it won't work outside the 'feel at home' countries, i.e. Germany, unless I 'top up' and put 'credit' into my account.

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[Robert Clark]

Depending how long you're staying in Germany it may well be cheaper to buy a Vodafone sim locally than paying to roam on Three
I was quoted 4p a mb (on Three) which £40 a gb if my maths is right

 

[scotjimland]

Depending how long you're staying in Germany it may well be cheaper to buy a Vodafone sim locally than paying to roam on Three
I was quoted 4p a mb (on Three) which £40 a gb if my maths is right

Yes, it is expensive, so I won't be buying any 3 credit..

May consider a Vodafone sim , but to be frank.. personally I'm not that bothered about it.. we go away, to get away.. and in times past once we hit France we forget about internet... If we really need it there are always free wifi places to use..

 

[Lenny HB]

ID Sim run on the 3 Network but their Takeaway Sim covers a lot more countries although their cheapest Takeaway sim is £12.50/ month 12 month contract, their cheaper deals don't give free roaming.

Countries covered on Takeaway:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and USA.

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[Armytwowheels]

To get around this problem of 3 not including Germany, Colin has the 3 feel at home contract and I have a very cheap (£7 a mounth) O2 contract that gives me roaming at £1.66 per day, unlimited, including Germany and a few other country's not included in the feel at home deal.

The O2 deal covers calls text and data. The only downside is that once you have activated it for that day, either with a call, text or use data then that's your £1.66 charged to your account. The good thing about it is that you can tether another device.

 

[Imbiber]

I went into the main O2 shop in Cologne and bought the prepaid 5GB Flat Data sim card for use in our unlocked MiFi device. I think they do 1GB, 5GB and 7.5GB prepaid flat data sims.

Apparently not all O2 shops sell the data sims, just the larger stores so its better to look out for them in the larger towns and cities.

I wrote on a piece of paper 'Sim Karte zum mobilen surfen mit netbook, tablet oder surfstick' to make sure I was getting just the flat internet data package and not one that included minutes, data and messages for phones.

You will need your passport to initially register the sim and there was a set up fee to pay too.

My advice would be to get the staff at the O2 shop (or wherever you go) to set the card up for you, unless you are proficient in German and understand the correct procedure.

The data lasts for 30 days and then you can top up in any O2 store or online if you register at o2online.de.

The initial cost of the sim, including the set up fee, was just under 40 Euros.

I have topped up online at O2.de using PayPal and have also used Ding.

The good thing is that there appears to be a buffer zone so you can actually go over your data limit and they just slow the speed down accordingly; probably why the initial set up fee is higher than the top up fee?

Once registered the sim was good to go and we have used it several times on return trips to Germany over the past 18 months without problems. The O2 service and coverage appears to be very good where-ever we have ventured.

Hope this helps

Cheers
Andy

 

[scotjimland]

The initial cost of the sim, including the set up fee, was just under 40 Euros.

thanks..

how much data was included for the €40 ?


edit.. sorry.. just re read , you said 5 gb

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[Minxy]

I bought my card from the 3 store, 12gb data card , it cost £30 ..

I used a debit card to purchase.. the debit card is NOT registered in my 3 account.. I checked.

am just off the phone to 3 customer help.. it won't work outside the 'feel at home' countries, i.e. Germany, unless I 'top up' and put 'credit' into my account.

That's very interesting seeing as I have the message saying I've got a bill waiting! I'll have to get in touch when I get back from hols and see WHY I was able to connect and therefore run up a bill!

Still haven't told hubby though ...

 

[funflair]

Hi Mel

it sounds like your bill is related to your MiFi device dashboard/account as opposed to the 12gb 3 sim directly.

Martin

 

[Minxy]

Hi Mel

it sounds like your bill is related to your MiFi device dashboard/account as opposed to the 12gb 3 sim directly.

Martin

It doesn't make sense at all!

The dashboard is just the usual 192.168.1.1 one to access settings (such as profiles and messages etc), and isn't related to the mifi in any way, it is just the 'access channel' used to get messages and check connections etc so therefore doesn't have an account linked to it - if I put an EE sim in the mifi and look at the dashboard it can receives messages relating to that EE sim; if I put the 3 sim in the messages relate to that sim ... weird!

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