5 ms·

From the "WLAN" café I spent 2 weeks to find in Kiel (currently in a seminar, no internet access), and having just paid my €40 bill for 6 GB (bad) 3G Internet t

by pm3003 11y ago

From the "WLAN" café I spent 2 weeks to find in Kiel (currently in a seminar, no internet access), and having just paid my €40 bill for 6 GB (bad) 3G Internet this month, I fully approve this bill. I also hope at some point cellular internet will get cheaper in Germany... France 20€ 20 GB, Latvia 10 € 20GB with LTE, Germany 500MB 12€.

kogepathic 11y ago
What? I pay 15€ per month and have 5GB. And when I exceed that I can pay 3€ again to have full speed. ALDI Talk/MedionMobile
- pm3003 11y ago
  O2. 28€ / 5 GB + 10€ "Datensnack" (exceed). The 500 MB thing is a commercial I saw a few days ago "LTE Einsteigertariif" with a flat rate telephone. Actually not that bad, but 500MB LTE... I have a feeling I'll switch soon. I just took O2 because I had a good experience with their prepaid rates, and having checked T-Mobile and Vodafone I didn't find it better.
  - junto 11y ago
    I've just signed up to WinSIM who are O2. They have some good cheap packages if you are a low user of SMS and calls but do use data. I'm paying €4,99 per month for 1GB. Calls are €0,15 per minute. I've just started so I'm not sure what the catch is yet!
denzil_correa 11y ago
> From the "WLAN" café Is there any other country which calls WiFi as WLAN? I have traveled to many countries in Europe but I assume Germany, France and Luxembourg seem to be the only countries that use this term.
- pm3003 11y ago
  Never heard it in France (in France you usually use the word LAN or WLAN for local networks, as it should be).
  - denzil_correa 11y ago
    I think the proximity of the place I visited in France to the German border might have a role in the "WLAN" term usage.
  - eis 11y ago
    Maybe that's because it stands for Local Area Network? WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) are not long distance networks so it's a correct term. A WiFi network is a WLAN but not all WLANs are WiFi networks. WiFi is a trademark used for certified devices that adhere to the rules defined by the WiFi-Alliance consortium.
    - detaro 11y ago
      Is a WiFi powered directional link between two towers really a WLAN? ;)
      - eis 11y ago
        Yes, unless your towers are that far away from each other that the distance would be considered a "large geographical distance" making it a WAN (Wide Area Network).
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
- pluma 11y ago
  Just a sidenote: I think the reason the term "WiFi" never caught on in Germany is that 1. It sounds really awkward in German (most speakers will pronounce the "W" as in German, i.e. "Vi-Fi"). 2. WLAN is easier to say (think "V-LAN"). 3. It can easily be confused with "HiFi" (which, btw, is commonly pronounced as "Hi-Fee" for some reason, creating additional confusion about the acceptable pronunciation of "WiFi" in German). Another interesting(?) note: unlike WLAN, LAN is commonly pronounced with a long "a" in German. I'm pretty sure I've heard the word "LAN" used a lot less since WiFi became so widely used and most people seem to just use the German word "Netzwerk" (network) or even simply "Netz" (net). Confusingly, a lack of "Netz" ("Ich hab kaum Netz" -- "I have barely any net") can also refer to mobile connections (because "Handynetz" = cellular network -- and yes "Handy" is a faux-English word commonly used in German to refer to mobile phones because marketing is stupid).

by pm3003 11y ago

kogepathic 11y ago

What? I pay 15€ per month and have 5GB. And when I exceed that I can pay 3€ again to have full speed. ALDI Talk/MedionMobile

pm3003 11y ago
O2. 28€ / 5 GB + 10€ "Datensnack" (exceed). The 500 MB thing is a commercial I saw a few days ago "LTE Einsteigertariif" with a flat rate telephone. Actually not that bad, but 500MB LTE... I have a feeling I'll switch soon. I just took O2 because I had a good experience with their prepaid rates, and having checked T-Mobile and Vodafone I didn't find it better.
- junto 11y ago
  I've just signed up to WinSIM who are O2. They have some good cheap packages if you are a low user of SMS and calls but do use data. I'm paying €4,99 per month for 1GB. Calls are €0,15 per minute. I've just started so I'm not sure what the catch is yet!

denzil_correa 11y ago

> From the "WLAN" café Is there any other country which calls WiFi as WLAN? I have traveled to many countries in Europe but I assume Germany, France and Luxembourg seem to be the only countries that use this term.

pm3003 11y ago
Never heard it in France (in France you usually use the word LAN or WLAN for local networks, as it should be).
- denzil_correa 11y ago
  I think the proximity of the place I visited in France to the German border might have a role in the "WLAN" term usage.
- eis 11y ago
  Maybe that's because it stands for Local Area Network? WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) are not long distance networks so it's a correct term. A WiFi network is a WLAN but not all WLANs are WiFi networks. WiFi is a trademark used for certified devices that adhere to the rules defined by the WiFi-Alliance consortium.
  - detaro 11y ago
    Is a WiFi powered directional link between two towers really a WLAN? ;)
    - eis 11y ago
      Yes, unless your towers are that far away from each other that the distance would be considered a "large geographical distance" making it a WAN (Wide Area Network).
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
pluma 11y ago
Just a sidenote: I think the reason the term "WiFi" never caught on in Germany is that 1. It sounds really awkward in German (most speakers will pronounce the "W" as in German, i.e. "Vi-Fi"). 2. WLAN is easier to say (think "V-LAN"). 3. It can easily be confused with "HiFi" (which, btw, is commonly pronounced as "Hi-Fee" for some reason, creating additional confusion about the acceptable pronunciation of "WiFi" in German). Another interesting(?) note: unlike WLAN, LAN is commonly pronounced with a long "a" in German. I'm pretty sure I've heard the word "LAN" used a lot less since WiFi became so widely used and most people seem to just use the German word "Netzwerk" (network) or even simply "Netz" (net). Confusingly, a lack of "Netz" ("Ich hab kaum Netz" -- "I have barely any net") can also refer to mobile connections (because "Handynetz" = cellular network -- and yes "Handy" is a faux-English word commonly used in German to refer to mobile phones because marketing is stupid).