Unpopular view perhaps, but public WiFi seems obsolete except for where cell signal can’t reach. 5G is usually faster and somewhat more secure than connecting to access points.
Just had a look at Ubigi, which I used when on vacation in Japan, and they sell a data only recurring monthly Germany 20 GB data subscription for 19 USD. It's 8 USD more if you want all of Europe. So a bit more pricey.
I haven't looked at other vendors, but I don't think there is anything special with my choice of data esim vendor, nor their prices.
I haven't seen anything, on their pages, that indicates, that there are stay limits, and if there where, you would expect them to flag that?
I wouldn't view these prices as expensive, and they seem not that far from what I pay I Norway. But what is cheap for some, is expensive for others, so what do I know?
This also won't help with coverage, of course, and if you want a phone number, you would need an extra SIM for that.
I have some friends in Germany who have been using much cheaper Spanish pay-as-you-go SIMs for the last couple of years. Admittedly not as their daily drivers though - they use them intermittently for hotspots when they don't have access to decent wired/wifi
My “solution” for a while was a stack of prepaid throwaway SIM cards with unlimited data from a nearby country and a cheap USB powered 4G hotspot in my bag powered by a power bank. They would last about a month.
They will charge you for roaming if you're clearly abusing the system (ie, not living in the place you bought the SIM). How long that takes to happen depends on the individual provider - if they didn't then everyone would predictably just use cheaper eastern Europe SIMs.
Agree but despite the roaming at times it can be way cheaper. For instance paying for BElgium operator (not necessarily the cheapest) you can buy an unlimited 5G (limited to 90G in BE without throttle) which in roaming is 31G costing 25 Eur.
I’ve also seen some cheaper providers than this in DE but they limit 5G to 50mbps :(
Yep. I’ve gamed it a lot, but it’s a pain in the arse.
You can do the trick of buying up a stack of prepaid SIM cards when travelling and using a cheap dongle, but it’s a lot of effort and eventually stops working - probably due to the IMEI being banned though I’ve not confirmed that.
It’s less effort to just snag a new local SIM upon landing at most airports and using it as a hotspot.
Or, you know. Rolling out WiFi as a public service. Which would be kinda cool.
Cell signal is terrible for privacy, uniquely identifying each individual’s location at all times. Though Wifi can also be tracked, it at least is possible to use anonymously with MAC randomization as is the default on many phones. (Leaving aside countries like Switzerland which outlaw wifi without mandatory registration.)
Technically this is the case, but due to operator pricing wifi is is still good option. 5G comes with the roaming charges (not so much problem within EU, although there are data caps) and at least local operators here in Finland don't really have good 5G packages for people with multiple devices.
Data caps are still a thing for mobile data, coverage is often shit (as a result the speed is hit and miss), and basically only smartphones can use it so you have to faf around with making a hotspot. P2P stuff like webrtc is also blocked because we can't have nice things.