OUR FIRST month in Germany was ROUGH - It Was Like The STONEAGE...

Not to sound like people with first world problems, but really, what do you do when you've just moved to a new country, and realize you have literally 0 possible ways to connect to the rest of the world via technology?

When we first moved to Germany, we felt we had planned for everything, but yet overlooked something we hugely took for granted in the USA, which were Internet and Phone plans! We couldn't get either of them! Not for lack of trying, but we had landed ourselves in the perpetually negative circle of events, that could only really be resolved with time. So today, we are telling you about how something so simple, really had a huge impact on our initial adjustment to a foreign country.

Plus, if you ever move to Germany, now you will have some ideas of the best options for you!

Photos and more:

Obviously, these videos don't make themselves. If you are curious about what equipment I use, see below!

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[BigEd]

It is almost the same, when you move to the US: Without any credit history, you dont get a phone contract, SIM Card is very difficult and a US Credit card is a nightmare.

[lotharschepers]

Older native German here. The parts that confused you at the beginning are all based on the history of how communication was developed in Germany vs. the United States of America. If you like to know more about this look for a museum of communication or "Museum der Postgeschichte" in your area. I'm pretty sure you have at least one of them in the Ruhr valley. If not check out the one in Frankfurt/Main the next time you visit my region. As I have sawn you had already noticed the advice for the "Kleinmarkthalle" in Frankfurt but I missed any advice for the "Goetheturm" in Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen. First, the entrance is free and second, you got a complete view of the whole skyline plus one towards the airport.

[whattheflyingfuck...]

so you pay a less ... for more than three times the "product" ... you were kind of unprepared

just saying: of course NOT all german businesses are prepared for someone to show up, without an address, without a bank account, without a visa, without the wish to sign a contract, without the friends that give you sufficient tipps and explanation, apparently.

I wonder how many american tech companies are prepared for germans not having credit cards, wanting to pay with cash, while not having any paperwork, address etc. right there on the desk NOW, speaking german only?

And if they are quicker, faster and easier (just leave your fingerprint, retinascan, maybe your DNA?) germans would NEVER want a system like that anymore ... we had a streamlined system ... in the 1930ies ... catchin' ma drift?

These complications in germany are due to the fact that we do not trust any government, company or private person with our data.
Bureaucracy is the german version of "the right to own a gun". You have to run here to get that, then you have to run there to get this, afterwards all once again ... no dictator will be able to control all these handsigned papertrails from everyone. It is our AND YOUR safety to not have everything convenient.

[stefanweigl]

So you have Unfortunately experienced that Germany is a developing country in the look of digitalisation and Internet.👎👎😨😨😨🤮🤮🤮

[stefanweigl]

You may know Congstar is 100% daughter of Deutsche Telekom.

[claudiakarl]

For your video call you just could have parked in front of the next McDonalds. 😉

[pklausspk]

Yes, it's obviously a shame. Due to german over-enxiety everything has to be ruled until it allmost stops working. As an example my company now waits for 8 months to get an internet connection in our new building. As a workaround we pay a fortune running a LTE-Router which hangs out of a window. Several technicians came a along whith no idea what to do because of poor documentation in their system.

[MellowNomadicAdventures]

Hey Ellis & Lucas! Living without cell service is exactly like being in the Stone Age!! 😂 You all are crushing it! -Marshall 🇺🇸

[verenak]

When I got my Congstar Simcard I just did the regular Postindent (at the post office) instead of the video chat thingy. Because I also just moved und had no internet yet. When I moved to the US, I just used my german cell phone at the beginning.
For hiking: since I grew up there and it is not too far from where you live I recommend the Sauerland region. Near Winterberg there is also a nice Hochheide that is particularly beautiful in the fall when the blueberries and lingonberries are ready to be picked.
I also can recommend Teuteburger Wald. In particular, there is a nice round trip hike (ca. 6-7 hours) from the Hermannsdenkmal to Externsteine and back.

[burkhardfrohllich]

Hi, great video, nice view from outside on how things are in Germany. You were looking for nice bicycle paths. Some few recommendations: Try the Ruhrtalradweg, a nice path always near to the river, directly at the shore. As starting point in Essen you can go around the Baldenysee (14 km roundtrip) and extend river down to Kettwig, Mülheim, Duisburg and River up towards Dahlhausen and Hattingen. Or try the Niederberg Panoramradweg, an old railway line, starting in Kettwig, ivory exciting views, some old bridges crossing the valleys.

[ThePixel]

Sounds like my experience here in France. Had to buy a prepaid SIM to open a bank account to get a phone contract.

[franzfred]

congstar is telekom which is the company better known as t mobile in the US.

[rhalleballe]

Congstar is a brand from Telekom, the "cheap" Telekom...
The "Videocall" actually already is a sophisticated way of identiying you. NORMALLY you have to do a so called "Post-Ident" (Post = German Post). That means, you must go to a Post store, get your Passport (or in Germany you can also get your "Personalausweis", but Americans do not know Personalausweis), show it in the store, sign a certain formular and finally this formulay is signed by a worker (a kind of witness) and this formular finally is sent to the Provider or so. Thats how it usually works, same for opening a bank account and so on. The "Videocall" is a relatively new substitution to the Post Ident, but actually you have the choice. But IF you have a proper internet connection, Videocall may be easier for you. If you dont have Internet, of course Post Ident is the way to go.

[Kessina]

Also Internetprobleme kenne ich kaum! Einmal hatten wir einen Totalausfall, weil zwei Straßen weiter ein Keller überflutet wurde und die von der Feuerwehr sämtliche Leitungen gekappt hatten...

[an-an]

In the past you could activate a SIM card in only about 1-2 minutes. You only had to fill out a form on the Internet and you could write whatever you wanted. That was not checked.
This was changed a few years ago to prevent fraud and terrorism, as you said. But this system is mainly used for the prepaid phone plans without a long term contract.

In addition to video - T-Mobile (Deutsche Telekom), Vodafone and O2 are network operators. All other providers such as Congstar use these 3 networks as resellers.

You can say that T-Mobile and Vodafone are the two providers with very good network coverage. Unfortunately, O2 has one or the other area where there is a little weaker coverage, but they sometimes offer significantly cheaper contracts.

[Kivas_Fajo]

Most of the cheaper solutions have disadvantages that can't be circumvented. Like the phone's (Internet plan) not working in Switzerland for example.
If you choose a Telekom Prepaid card you basically pay the same as with congstar, but you have the same advantages a contract would give you being cheaper than the contract at the same time.
Granted, the internet plan on the prepaid Telekom isn't that big, but the reception is just better with Telekom.

[joachimlutz]

welcome in the country of bureaucracy. :-(((

[juergenschoepf]

I am late to the game but the best you can do is to sign up with t-mobile in the US. Then you can use your phone in Germany with unlimited data and all calls to the US are free. We use our US phones now since 2015 as it is cheaper than comparable plans from German providers. Sure, calls to German numbers cost a bit but in most cases we just use WhatsApp and that is free.

[wora]

Meine Internetprobleme waren genau anders herum. Ich hatte 9 Monate lang einwandfreies Internet. Dann bekam ich eine Mail von meinem Internetprovider: Sie hätten von der Telekom erfahren, dass über mein Kabel kein Internet möglich sei und müssten meinen Vertrag deshalb kündigen. Nr haben sogar die Gebühren für die 9 Monate gezahlt. Ich war sprachlos.

[jensschroder]

In the mobile network the order is: Deutsche Telekom, O2, Vodafon. Vodafon has developed very well in the cities, but it is thin in the countryside. O2 recently merged with E2 and so comes on to a good network. However, Telekom is the market leader, which is certainly due to the fact that most of the land lines also belong to them. Congstar is a good choice because they are the only resellers of Telekom-Mobil.

In the past, in addition to letters and parcels, the state-owned Deutsche Post also had telecommunications, radio licensing and Post Bank. The Post Bank is now owned by Deutsche Bank. The Deutsche Telekom, Telekom Imobilien (TV towers) were separated and privatized. But just like with Deutsche Bahn, the German state is the main shareholder.

This means that where there are no cable networks, all Internet providers have to rent cables from Telekom.
But prices and conditions are being pushed down by the government.
The connections are no longer connected to the previous exchanges, but instead are routed to the street with fiber optics. But Telekom copper cables still lead to the houses.
Only in a few cities are there other cable networks, in which case either cable television coaxial cables or fiber optics are used. This can also be used to implement the Internet.
A few places have commissioned private providers to set up Internet distribution where the Telekom does not have good lines.