4 ms·

No. That's a Germany thing and it resulted in the conplete lack of public wifi hotspots.

ptaipale 11y ago
More precisely: for example hotels typically have a public wifi for their customers, but you must get an individual login account from the reception. This protects the hotel or its service provider. It is quite silly, of course, and is generally a little hassle with your hotel.
- Scoundreller 11y ago
  It's more problematic when you're transiting through a German airport, and practically fall off the face of the earth. Ohhhh, they have a wifi hotspot portal: "Enter your cell phone number to get an SMS with a 30 minute code". You want me to turn on my cell-phone and potentially incur roaming charges now? I hear things have gotten better in Frankfurt and you only have to provide an email address. How did they skirt this law?
  - ptaipale 11y ago
    Are there really subscription plans where merely turning a phone on and receiving an SMS incurs roaming charges? Typically people just disable "data roaming" when travelling internationally, at least until one reaches and can lock to a "friendly" 3G/4G network. Thus there are no charges for IP traffic including MMS, and SMS reception is always free because you cannot turn it off. (I still agree that WLAN at German airports is abysmal and at restaurants practically non-existent. Another downside of Germany is the unavailability of Google Street View.)
    - Scoundreller 11y ago
      > Are there really subscription plans... Welcome to Canada... (It's not as pricey as it used to be, but who knows how many SMSs you might have queued up)
  - detaro 11y ago
    > I hear things have gotten better in Frankfurt and you only have to provide an email address. How did they skirt this law? By being run by companies that claim to be ISPs. What exactly counts as an ISP is at the core of the entire issue, because ISPs are protected from this. A company which only exists to provide internet access has a better standing (and better lawyers) to argue that it is an ISP, compared to a private person or a coffee shop owner. Most coffee shops I use Wifi in thus have access points provided by such companies. They offer AP/captive portal etc as a package and send the traffic through their systems, taking responsibility for it. (for good measure, some of them probably send the traffic out to the internet in other countries, to make it harder to harass them over it)
  - Kliment 11y ago
    For reference, CGN airport has no-login free wifi and gives you zero bullshit.
kuschku 11y ago
Not really – public hotspots are everywhere. Alone in Kiel, most stores, and the whole downtown area have free public WiFi. You just need to log in via a website, where you have to press "yes, I read the ToC".

More precisely: for example hotels typically have a public wifi for their customers, but you must get an individual login account from the reception. This protects the hotel or its service provider. It is quite silly, of course, and is generally a little hassle with your hotel.

Scoundreller 11y ago
It's more problematic when you're transiting through a German airport, and practically fall off the face of the earth. Ohhhh, they have a wifi hotspot portal: "Enter your cell phone number to get an SMS with a 30 minute code". You want me to turn on my cell-phone and potentially incur roaming charges now? I hear things have gotten better in Frankfurt and you only have to provide an email address. How did they skirt this law?
- ptaipale 11y ago
  Are there really subscription plans where merely turning a phone on and receiving an SMS incurs roaming charges? Typically people just disable "data roaming" when travelling internationally, at least until one reaches and can lock to a "friendly" 3G/4G network. Thus there are no charges for IP traffic including MMS, and SMS reception is always free because you cannot turn it off. (I still agree that WLAN at German airports is abysmal and at restaurants practically non-existent. Another downside of Germany is the unavailability of Google Street View.)
  - Scoundreller 11y ago
    > Are there really subscription plans... Welcome to Canada... (It's not as pricey as it used to be, but who knows how many SMSs you might have queued up)
- detaro 11y ago
  > I hear things have gotten better in Frankfurt and you only have to provide an email address. How did they skirt this law? By being run by companies that claim to be ISPs. What exactly counts as an ISP is at the core of the entire issue, because ISPs are protected from this. A company which only exists to provide internet access has a better standing (and better lawyers) to argue that it is an ISP, compared to a private person or a coffee shop owner. Most coffee shops I use Wifi in thus have access points provided by such companies. They offer AP/captive portal etc as a package and send the traffic through their systems, taking responsibility for it. (for good measure, some of them probably send the traffic out to the internet in other countries, to make it harder to harass them over it)
- Kliment 11y ago
  For reference, CGN airport has no-login free wifi and gives you zero bullshit.

kuschku 11y ago

Not really – public hotspots are everywhere. Alone in Kiel, most stores, and the whole downtown area have free public WiFi. You just need to log in via a website, where you have to press "yes, I read the ToC".