Mobile Networks

My only regret is having to deal with SMS 2FA in the countryside

Admin edit: this post was moved from The Ball Pit

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<< retry >> << retry >> << retry >> << retry >> << retry >> << retry >>

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Do you every sleep? :stuck_out_tongue:

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My biggest regret was leaving SMS 2fa on before a flight two years ago.

Once I paid for the in-flight wifi, I tried to sign into Google only to have it ask for a SMS code.

13 hours w/o the YouTube playlist I created just for that flight lol

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Interesting concept, but I’m not in the IT industry at all. Thanks for the idea anyways. :slight_smile:

I will make some decisions over the weekend if I want to stay in my country and work here or just move to another one and start everything from scratch.

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Couldn’t be more happy with my new mobile sim card plan. Cancelled my old plan and got a new offer: 9,99€/mo for Phone&SMS Flatrate + 1GB Highspeed LTE (up to 225 Mbit/s which for O2 usually means 18-20 Mbit/s) and after that with their “fair flatrate” they introduced a few years ago unlimited LTE data only limited to 1 Mbit/s…which is totally fine for anything I’d do on my phone. A couple months ago their fair flatrate would kick you out of LTE and only allow you to stay in 2G/3G network which can be a pita but now it’s also in the 4G/LTE network so I couldn’t be more happy. Before I paid 25€/mo for 10GB “full speed LTE” + Phone+SMS flatrate and fair flat (1 Mbit/s but in 3G network) but barely used it all and wanted to pay no more than 10€/mo with my new contract. So overall, really happy now :slight_smile:

1 Mbit/s allows website browsing, YouTube videos in 480p without buffering, 720p even with a little buffering, Netflix SD or HD (if downloaded).

@Falzo would probably know that O2 officially has the worst network coverage in Germany, but in my area it always works so it’s all good. Also when I’ve been traveling through Germany I always had sufficient reception in cities.

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@Solaire “replying…” for the last 10 minutes lol

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I pay like 8 EUR / month for 2000 minutes / texts / megabytes here. Unlimited speed (~200 Mbit/s). I basically get 2000 units I can use however I want (e.g. 500 minutes, 500 texts and 1000 MB or simply 2000 MB, 0 minutes, 0 texts).

Your country is a hell of a lot cheaper, though. But I always like to think that my operator isn’t earning any money off me since I travel a lot and they can’t charge me any extra for my traffic across the EU anymore but they do get charged for this traffic. So I’m paying them like 96 EUR / year but they’re paying other operators over 3x that for the traffic I use abroad.

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Hahahaha I was in a Skype meeting and on mute / writing this post / unmute / talking some gibberish / back on mute / back to this post / etc

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Grass is always greener at the other lawn haha :smiley: Here in Germany most ppl (including me) still think our mobile internet plans are a rip-off when looking towards Austria etc… :smiley:

The first “true” unlimited highspeed flatrate has been introduced by FreenetFunk for 1€/day (= 30€/month) recently. That includes Phone&SMS flatrate.

The “unlimited highspeed” flatrate from O2 is 60€/mo, Vodafone and Telekom even more expensive.
Technically with the O2 unlimited “highspeed” ppl probably rarely get more than 20-30GB anyways due to O2 avg. network speed you get is far off from 225 Mbit/s advertised. Usually 10-20 Mbit/s. Vodafone and Telekom plans usually at least come closed to their advertised rates.

We also do have plans like yours here, where you currently pay 10€ for 3000 units which you can distribute as you described. Or plans with data limit for like 5GB + Phone + SMS for 10€/mo but since that’s from an O2 reseller and doesn’t include the “unlimited fair flat” of 1 Mbit/s I opted for O2 even though I only get 1 GB highspeed. The “fair flat” makes it worth it. Usually providers would limit your to 16-64 Kbit/s (only whatsapp text if you’re lucky) after using your data. The 1 Mbit/s “keep surfing forever” feature is super cool in that regard.

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Don’t they often have the same companies throughout Europe though? Telekom/Vodafone/Orange/Movistar etc all kinda belong together. Pretty sure they have deals among them to let them use traffic in their country and in exchange offer traffic in their own. Anyway, no facts here^^

Hahaha yep. Though admittedly, while you guys are cheaper, your networks are crap compared to ours. Especially on the countryside. So I don’t mind paying a bit extra and have decent speeds / coverage.

They do, but they’re different legal entities and they do have to pay each-other for the traffic consumed on other networks, even if both are owned by Vodafone or Deutsche Telekom.

Side-note: I worked on innovation in the roaming area for a year or so. So I’ve come to understand the process quite well.

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In the UK, I pay £18 (c €20) for unlimited everything including 4G and probably 5G when it arrives to the three network. That is a SIM only deal as I buy my phones outright.

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Ehm… you pay too much…

unlimited calls and SMS

4G :

5 GB 10 euro
7 GB 15 euro
10 GB 20 euro

add 5 euro/mth for unlimited calling in EU and 17 other countries

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Lebara… thanks but no thanks.

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Even cheaper :

200 min/SMS included

unlimited SMS and calls 3 eu/mth extra

4G :

7 GB € 10
20 GB € 15
Unlimited GB € 20

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Tele2, though…

Anyway, it’s not cheaper for the smaller bundles which is exactly what I was looking for. I have a dual SIM phone that has a business SIM that is unlimited everything and I can use as much as I want for private use. And then another SIM for my own company and for number preservation, as I’ve had that number for a loooong time. I don’t need a large bundle on that one, as it’s mainly for phone calls. But looking price / performance ratio, I’d rather pay 8 EUR for 2000 units than 6 EUR for 200 minutes alone.

I’ll likely switch to a triple pay subscription later this year. Internet at home / TV / mobile SIM only. That should be slightly cheaper. But again, not Tele2 or Lebara or any other shitshow. I’d rather pay 2 euro’s extra than have issues with billing / connectivity in general.

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the other options are not less shitty… KPN, T-Mobile… omg

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Compared to Tele 2 and Lebara, it’s a hell of a lot better. I’m currently with both Telfort / KPN (internet @ home) and Vodafone (mobile SIM only). My grandma is also with KPN and after her router died after 7 years I had to phone once and tell the guy that I tried to reset, force reset, telnet and the lot. The guy sent a replacement the same day to arrive the next day (Sunday!).

Someone I know has Tele 2 at home and was experiencing similar issues with his router. I phoned Tele2, took ages to get through (and was disconnected like 3 times), and once I got through they didn’t even hear me out. They tried to reset the router 5 times remotely, even after explicitly mentioning that the whole thing was dead. “If it isn’t picking up a DSL signal, you can’t reset it” I mentioned, after which the guy became rude. Three calls and three persons later, they finally sent a replacement only to arrive two weeks later.

But as with everything else, it just comes down to personal experience and preference.

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Holy balls, think I would have cried. Or made it public :stuck_out_tongue:

I think I live by every timezone apart from my own :stuck_out_tongue:

As a general rule of thumb I always stick to ÂŁ10/month on PAYG, until I got a contract where it was pennies for the first few months then all of a sudden ÂŁ10, ÂŁ15, ÂŁ20 bills, oopsies.


I didn’t realise this was going to be a topic. But ironically the reason I was trying to SMS 2FA was to confirm my SIM card for my old PAC code :smiley:

I was with Tesco Mobile with 500txt, 500min, 500mb for ÂŁ15/m avg. Now EE PAYG.

Edit: For those that don’t know EE is the UK merger of T-Mobile/Orange

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