Going Online in Germany and Europe

Telephone Tips > The Internet and Computers in Germany

An Internet Access Guide for Expats and Tourists

Below you’ll find helpful information for both residents and travelers in German-speaking Europe. We’ll discuss a wide range of options: Wi-Fi hotspots, DSL and cable internet, cyber cafés and computer tips, MiFi, and bundled packages for internet, telephone and TV.

Using your own laptop at a hotel in Germany is not a problem, but you may have to pay for Internet access. PHOTO © Hyde Flippo

Cybercafés • Internet Cafés
Austria, Germany, and Switzerland all have many Internet cafes in cities and towns across the land. With the widespread availability of Wi-Fi in traditional cafes and restaurants, the distinction between an Internet and a regular cafe is blurring, but an Internet cafe offers computer terminals, while most traditional cafes offer only wireless Internet access for your own laptop or smartphone.

Web cafe access rates can vary considerably, but range from free (for paying customers) to as little as 50 eurocents per half hour to three euros per hour, depending on the location and the services offered. In large cities, there is an Internet cafe on almost every corner in high-traffic areas. Many serve food and drink, while others are just a room full of computers with a snack or beverage vending machine.

The German QWERTZ Keyboard

A German computer keyboard (Tastatur) is QWERTZ rather than QWERTY. Can you find the @ key? This is the T2 variation. More below. PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons

When you’re not using your own computer in German-speaking Europe, you’ll encounter the German QWERTZ keyboard that has some familiar keys in unfamiliar locations. As the QWERTZ term implies, the German keyboard (Tastatur) has the Z where the English keyboard has the Y. Actually, there are two QWERTZ configurations: T1 and T2. The T2 version is newer, but you may encounter both types. That’s only the beginning of the confusion. Unlike an American or UK keyboard, the German key layout includes special keys for the umlauted characters (ä, ö, ü) and the ß (sharp s). That means certain important keys, such as the @ key, are missing completely. To type @ on a German computer you have to learn to use a special key combination: press the AltGr key (right of the space bar) and the Q key. Some German internet cafés post small helpful signs on or near the computers telling foreigners how to type @. Other characters, including {, [, ], }, \, |, µ, ~, and €, are also accessed by holding the AltGr key and tapping the other key. See the photo above for a typical T2 keyboard.

Web-based Email
With the advent of smartphones, the iPad, the iPhone and the “cybercafe,” it is now possible to stay online while traveling without a computer. Business people and others have bought into the universal access offered by having a web-based email account with Gmail (googlemail.com in Germany), Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, or some other free Web email service. Many firms also provide web-based email for their employees. They can go into a web cafe (or use a friend’s computer) to access their email and surf the web at a Wi-Fi hotspot. Of course, a web cafe doesn’t offer this service for free, but the cost is usually very reasonable.

Wi-Fi and High-Speed Access in Germany – Hotels
Wi-Fi (called W-LAN in German, pron. VAY-lahn) internet access in Germany and Europe is increasingly widespread. Most German business hotels offer Ethernet or Wi-Fi high-speed internet access for either an hourly or a daily charge. For example, the last time I was there, the Kempinski Airport Hotel in Munich (now a Hilton) charged 20 euros per 24-hour period for unlimited Internet access. But a modest hotel in downtown Munich offered free internet access in its rooms, something fairly rare in Germany. Smaller hotels and pensions can be more problematic, but it’s rare to not have paid or free Internet access in European hotels today.

See more about Wi-Fi and hotspots below.

DSL- und Kabel-Anbieter (DSL and Cable Providers)
For expats living in Germany, the list of DSL providers is long, but the biggest ones include: 1&1, Telekom (Call&Surf), Tele2, and Vodafone. Cable service with high-speed internet is provided by Kabel BW, Kabel Deutschland, Tele Columbus and Unitymedia. Other than Telekom, not all of these firms offer service in every region or city in Germany. Some offer bundled services (Komplettpaket) for cable/DSL internet and telephone, plus TV and HD digital recording. There are also many regional providers in Germany. To find out which providers serve your area, you can use an online service (“Internet-Anbieter finden”) or each provider’s own finder that uses your area code (Vorwahl) or postal code (PLZ) to locate ISPs in your area – often with price, download speeds, and service comparisons. (Also see the link below.) As in the US, cable offers higher download speeds than DSL in Germany.

Wi-Fi and Hotspot Locations – Free or Fee
In 2009 Berlin’s city-state government announced it would offer free Wi-Fi in the central parts of the city, but — like similar plans around the world — that plan never got off the ground in Germany’s largest city. That was partly due to a German legal hitch (Störerhaftung) that made hotspot providers liable for problems they had no control over. As of early 2018, court decisions and federal legislation aimed at eliminating the liability of businesses wanting to provide free public Wi-Fi still left Germany behind most modern countries in that area. German law remains a roadblock to wider expansion of free Wi-Fi (WLAN) in cafes, hotels, and public areas. Part of the problem is the German tendency to over-regulate everything. (Yes, this is one of the few countries in the world that once required modem users to register their dial-up modems!) The original Störerhaftung provisions were intended to prevent illegal music and video downloads. As of 2019, the revised law and court decisions still left potential free Wi-Fi providers with unnecessary requirements and uncertainty about their legal position. As a result, Germany still lags behind in this area.

But there are currently locations all over Germany with Wi-Fi hotspots (free or fee). According to one website, there are over 500 free Wi-Fi locations in Berlin alone, mostly at cafes, restaurants, and hotels. The most common commercial Wi-Fi service in Germany is the Telekom HotSpot Network. (See HotSpot finden – find hotspot locations, in German). Just in Berlin there are over 1,000 locations (not all free), including the airport, Starbucks, most McDonald’s, the Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz, and many hotels and restaurants. If you are a T-Mobile USA customer, you can sign up for the HotSpot service, but US customers may be subject to an 18-cents-per-minute or a flat per-day roaming charge in Europe and at some international airports. But you can buy a prepaid pass online for such services that may save you money. Contact T-Mobile USA for details and current information.

MiFi for Your PC, Mac or iPad
Another option to stay connected while you’re in Europe is a mobile device called the MiFi (a trademarked brand that stands for “My Wi-Fi”). The MiFi is a portable hotspot that, together with a data plan, emits a Wi-Fi signal that you can use to connect to any device that has Wi-Fi capabilities – the vast majority of devices. This device is recommended for its ease of use and flexibility. You basically turn it on, enter your password, and you are connected. Another plus is that up to five users can connect to this device simultaneously.

Security Concerns
Just as in the US or anywhere, when using public Wi-Fi locations, you should be careful about online security. Wi-Fi service in public locations is not always safe from password or identity theft. Use common sense when using Wi-Fi in Europe. For instance, avoid doing online banking at a public location.

Modem Tips
As mentioned above, Germany was one of the few countries in the world that once required modem users to register their dial-up modems with the telephone company. Because the law was widely ignored – even by usually law-abiding Germans – and because the law was stupid, it’s no longer necessary to register your modem in Germany. Now Wi-Fi/broadband access has eliminated dial-up connections – even in Germany.

Next | The iPhone in Germany
Back | Cell Phones in Europe

Related Pages
AT THE GERMAN WAY

• Cell Phones in Europe – An introduction to using a mobile phone in Europe
• Telephone Tips for Germany – What expats need to know.
• Buying an iPhone for Germany – Make sure you get the right one!
• Mobile Phone Glossary – A guide to cell phone terminology
• Electrical Facts – The shocking facts about 220 volts and all that
• City Guides: Germany – Explore German cities
• Hotels and B&Bs
• Driving in Europe – Tips for driving in Germany and Europe
• Air Travel – Flying to or in Germany
• Rail Travel in Germany
• Travel and Tourism – Travel-related information for Germany, Austria, Switzerland
• Hedy Lamarr’s – The Austrian actress was the co-inventor of “frequency hopping”—a technology that later became known as spread spectrum, a technology adapted for cell phones.

Legal Notice: We are not responsible for the content of external links.