Mobile for CH and DE?
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My Merkin self and my brood will be in Europe next month - Munich for a day or so, then Switzerland for two weeks. Our mobile service here doesn't offer international roaming, but a couple companies (Orange, Three, some others I haven't heard of) offer SIMs and short-term plans through Amazon that I can buy and activate before we head Over There. Which service sucks the least?
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@lolwhat Can't speak on German providers, but be aware that cell services in the EU use (or historically used) different frequency bands than in the US. Ensure your phone is compatible.
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@lolwhat said in Mobile for CH and DE?:
Munich for a day or so, then Switzerland for two weeks
Since you're in Germany only for a day, and that in a big city, don't bother too much with German mobile providers. Make sure the Swiss one work.
Btw, German providers suck donkey balls.
A hotel in Rastatt had prefixed their phone number (to call when reception is not staffed) with the international code for Germany. I wondered why. When I looked at my mobile, I knew: it was in the French network - more than 10 km away from the french border.
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When I went to Germany and Austria in 2013 I didn't get anything ahead of time, but got simcards locally. IIRC they were €10 each for the simcard, and the Austrian one had some service included, while the German one I had to add another €10. I don't recall which providers I used though, and :who_nose: if the prices are going to be the same these days
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I don't think Orange/Three are in Switzerland. Switzerland isn't EU, so you don't get cross border roaming by default either.
From memory (for Switzerland): Salt has a prepaid option that gives you unlimited data for CHF2/day. Combine with mobile hotspot for other devices.
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@cvi said in Mobile for CH and DE?:
you don't get cross border roaming by default
But some/many providers do give it anyway. At least, that my (
) provider did the last few times I crossed 
.
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As mentioned above: if you'd go anywhere else than Switzerland, you could get a single SIM and use roaming. But since it's not EU, there's no sensible prepaid options with that included. (There are some packages for the more expensive contracts, but that's not useful in this case.) Maybe the opposite direction would work: get a SIM for Switzerland that can roam in Germany. Not sure, but I doubt that's cheaply available.
For Germany, you can still get a prepaid SIM for 10€ (card) + 10€ (data+calls), maybe less. I searched for something with eSIM, assuming you'd save half the cost, but didn't really find good overviews at the usual price comparison sites. One I found is Edeka smart (local supermarket chain, never heard of them having mobile offers) with eSIM. Their cheapest offer "Kombi S" should be good enough for a day at €4.95 (1GB data, 50 mins call). (ETA: even with super cheap price, this might be nowhere near as comfortable as booking online implies. It says you should keep ID ready for identification purposes. EU laws due to Muh Terrorists.)
Other than that, just not getting anything, maybe hoping for a few spots of public wifi, could be a reasonable alternative.I have no clue about the mobile landscape in Switzerland, but this showed up in my search:
The Cheapest Mobile Internet for Travel in Switzerland
Switzerland is a must-see destination for many travel enthusiasts. In this guide, online comparison service moneyland.ch explains the cheapest way to get mobile Internet as a tourist in Switzerland using Swiss prepaid SIM cards.
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@robo2 said in Mobile for CH and DE?:
@cvi said in Mobile for CH and DE?:
you don't get cross border roaming by default
But some/many providers do give it anyway. At least, that my (
) provider did the last few times I crossed .These things do change over time and position on Switzerland may have changed since the UK left the EU, or with EU requiring free roaming to other EU members. For extra
these kinds of changes may not affect existing contracts.
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@cvi said in Mobile for CH and DE?:
I don't think Orange/Three are in Switzerland. Switzerland isn't EU, so you don't get cross border roaming by default either.
They're not in Switzerland but Orange Travel do holiday plans which cover roaming in both the EU and Switzerland (and the UK).
Which for 1 (e)SIM that works in both seems a good option.
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@loopback0 - looks like Three does something similar. I have no idea how good Three is vs. Orange.
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@lolwhat Three are fine (not the best, not the worst) in the UK. Orange FR vs Three probably doesn't make much difference when you're not going to be on the home network for either anyway.
I assume you're looking at getting an eSIM rather than a physical SIM?
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@loopback0 said in Mobile for CH and DE?:
I assume you're looking at getting an eSIM rather than a physical SIM?
I'm good with either.
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@lolwhat said in Mobile for CH and DE?:
@loopback0 said in Mobile for CH and DE?:
I assume you're looking at getting an eSIM rather than a physical SIM?
I'm good with either.
A physical SIM from Three would need activating in the UK. An eSIM should activate outside of the UK but it might be worth checking with Three.
