From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.mobile

I've had a German Fonic prepaid SIM (was Lidl Mobile) for years, from the
days before mobile internet was a thing. I'm cruising east down the Danube next week and in case the boat's internet is flakey I thought I'd use it
to buy a bundle of data.

The SIM works here on O2-UK. (I've send an SMS every 6 months to keep it alive.) But I can't sign into my account at <https://www.fonic-mobile.de>.
It says my password is wrong: it isn't. I tried 'forgot my password' but I
do not receive either the email or SMS that it says it has sent.

Any Germans here with a Fonic account? Is the site working normally?
Failing that what's an appropriate .de group to post this to? The forum I
used for this sort of query has closed down! <https://prepaid.mondo3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9670>

I used to be able to buy data bundles using SMSes and check the balance
with an SSC, but none of that works now - it all needs an account login.

I suspect that they've semi-frozen my account because it's been little
used, and mostly when roaming. I'd ring them up, but I don't speak German.

I'd like to keep this SIM going. It's the only one of my local foreign
SIMs left: the US, French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, and Turkish ones died
long ago :(
--
Remove numerics from my email address.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.mobile

Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> wrote:

I've had a German Fonic prepaid SIM (was Lidl Mobile) for years, from the days before mobile internet was a thing. I'm cruising east down the Danube next week and in case the boat's internet is flakey I thought I'd use it
to buy a bundle of data.

The SIM works here on O2-UK. (I've send an SMS every 6 months to keep it alive.) But I can't sign into my account at <https://www.fonic-mobile.de>. It says my password is wrong: it isn't. I tried 'forgot my password' but I do not receive either the email or SMS that it says it has sent.

Any Germans here with a Fonic account? Is the site working normally?
Failing that what's an appropriate .de group to post this to? The forum I used for this sort of query has closed down! <https://prepaid.mondo3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9670>

I used to be able to buy data bundles using SMSes and check the balance
with an SSC, but none of that works now - it all needs an account login.

I suspect that they've semi-frozen my account because it's been little
used, and mostly when roaming. I'd ring them up, but I don't speak German.

I'd like to keep this SIM going. It's the only one of my local foreign
SIMs left: the US, French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, and Turkish ones died long ago :(

In case that doesnrCOt work out for you have you considered 1p mobile? -u10 will get you 14Gb of roaming data (50 Gb UK use) that will last 30 days.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.mobile

On Wed, 30 Apr 2025 14:16:30 -0000 (UTC)
Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> wrote:

I've had a German Fonic prepaid SIM (was Lidl Mobile) for years, from
the days before mobile internet was a thing. I'm cruising east down
the Danube next week and in case the boat's internet is flakey I
thought I'd use it to buy a bundle of data.

The SIM works here on O2-UK. (I've send an SMS every 6 months to keep
it alive.) But I can't sign into my account at
<https://www.fonic-mobile.de>. It says my password is wrong: it
isn't. I tried 'forgot my password' but I do not receive either the
email or SMS that it says it has sent.

Any Germans here with a Fonic account? Is the site working normally?
Failing that what's an appropriate .de group to post this to? The
forum I used for this sort of query has closed down! <https://prepaid.mondo3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9670>

I used to be able to buy data bundles using SMSes and check the
balance with an SSC, but none of that works now - it all needs an
account login.

I suspect that they've semi-frozen my account because it's been
little used, and mostly when roaming. I'd ring them up, but I don't
speak German.

Try them using English. Most German people and companies speak English,
often better than many English folks do.
--
Davey.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.mobile

Davey <davey@example.invalid> Wrote in message:

On Wed, 30 Apr 2025 14:16:30 -0000 (UTC)
Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> wrote:

I've had a German Fonic prepaid SIM (was Lidl Mobile) for years, from
the days before mobile internet was a thing. I'm cruising east down
the Danube next week and in case the boat's internet is flakey I
thought I'd use it to buy a bundle of data.

The SIM works here on O2-UK. (I've send an SMS every 6 months to keep
it alive.) But I can't sign into my account at
<https://www.fonic-mobile.de>. It says my password is wrong: it
isn't. I tried 'forgot my password' but I do not receive either the
email or SMS that it says it has sent.

Any Germans here with a Fonic account? Is the site working normally?
Failing that what's an appropriate .de group to post this to? The
forum I used for this sort of query has closed down!
<https://prepaid.mondo3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9670>

I used to be able to buy data bundles using SMSes and check the
balance with an SSC, but none of that works now - it all needs an
account login.

I suspect that they've semi-frozen my account because it's been
little used, and mostly when roaming. I'd ring them up, but I don't
speak German.

Try them using English. Most German people and companies speak English,
often better than many English folks do.

I'll probably do that. But I'll do it when I'm next in Germany; if
the account /is/ semi-frozen because it's only been seen in the
UK for two years then they're more likely to re-enable it if I'm
back there.

This Lidl SIM was originally attractive because you could get an
'EU Packet 150' bundle - 150MB for a week, anywhere in the EU! It
saved the bureaucracy of buying SIMs for separate countries -
especially after the Madrid train bombings of 2004.
--
Remove numerics from my email address.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.mobile

Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> Wrote in message:

Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> wrote:

I've had a German Fonic prepaid SIM (was Lidl Mobile) for years, from the >> days before mobile internet was a thing. I'm cruising east down the Danube >> next week and in case the boat's internet is flakey I thought I'd use it
to buy a bundle of data.

The SIM works here on O2-UK. (I've send an SMS every 6 months to keep it
alive.) But I can't sign into my account at <https://www.fonic-mobile.de>. >> It says my password is wrong: it isn't. I tried 'forgot my password' but I >> do not receive either the email or SMS that it says it has sent.

Any Germans here with a Fonic account? Is the site working normally?
Failing that what's an appropriate .de group to post this to? The forum I >> used for this sort of query has closed down!
<https://prepaid.mondo3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9670>

I used to be able to buy data bundles using SMSes and check the balance
with an SSC, but none of that works now - it all needs an account login.

I suspect that they've semi-frozen my account because it's been little
used, and mostly when roaming. I'd ring them up, but I don't speak German. >>
I'd like to keep this SIM going. It's the only one of my local foreign
SIMs left: the US, French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, and Turkish ones died >> long ago :(

In case that doesnrCOt work out for you have you considered 1p mobile? -u10 will get you 14Gb of roaming data (50 Gb UK use) that will last 30 days.

It's not important enough to get yet another SIM. I put re430 on the
Fonic SIM when I wss last in Germany and I thought I'd better use
it before it vanishes. I've got some giffgaff SIMs I can
use.

Besides, I suspect that if the boat's wifi isn't working it might
be because there not much mobile coverage along the river as we
go east into Romania. But maybe I'm wrong.
--
Remove numerics from my email address.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.mobile

Besides, I suspect that if the boat's wifi > isn't working it might be because there
not much mobile coverage along the
river as we go east into Romania. But
maybe I'm wrong.

Cruise ships wifi is satellite Internet.
--

Graham.
%Profound_observation%
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.mobile

"Graham. " <graham-usenet@mail.com> Wrote in message:

Besides, I suspect that if the boat's wifi > isn't working it might be because there
not much mobile coverage along the
river as we go east into Romania. But
maybe I'm wrong.

Cruise ships wifi is satellite Internet.

Viking cruise boats claim to use both terrestrial and satellite
internet in Europe and Egypt. I suspect this TUI cruise boat is
terrestrial only.
--
Remove numerics from my email address.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.mobile

Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> wrote:

"Graham. " <graham-usenet@mail.com> Wrote in message:

Besides, I suspect that if the boat's wifi > isn't working it might be because there
not much mobile coverage along the
river as we go east into Romania. But
maybe I'm wrong.

Cruise ships wifi is satellite Internet.

Viking cruise boats claim to use both terrestrial and satellite
internet in Europe and Egypt. I suspect this TUI cruise boat is
terrestrial only.

I'd guess an ocean cruise ship may use satellite, perhaps with terrestrial
when in port. A river cruise ship probably has good enough terrestrial coverage not to need satellite, unless it's going somewhere particularly remote.

Theo
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.mobile

Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> Wrote in message:

"Graham. " <graham-usenet@mail.com> Wrote in message:

Besides, I suspect that if the boat's wifi > isn't working it might be because there
not much mobile coverage along the
river as we go east into Romania. But
maybe I'm wrong.

Cruise ships wifi is satellite Internet.

Viking cruise boats claim to use both terrestrial and satellite
internet in Europe and Egypt. I suspect this TUI cruise boat is
terrestrial only.

(I should have mentioned that Viking cruises are much more expensive.)

We're currently in Serbia. Before entering Serbia from Croatia we
were advised over the PA to turn our phones off unless we were
sure that our roaming package included Serbia. The onboard wifi
lost internet connection for several hours; perhaps until TUI
bought some more data, perhaps until the police had checked our
passports.

Demonstrations against government corruption by students and
teaching unions here continue. (The president of Serbia is
currently in Moscow.)

Soon we will have Romania to port and Serbia to starboard. With my
old Nokia phones I could select which to conbect to. Is that
possible with an iPhone?
--
Remove numerics from my email address.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.mobile

Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> wrote:

Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> Wrote in message:

"Graham. " <graham-usenet@mail.com> Wrote in message:

Besides, I suspect that if the boat's wifi > isn't working it might be because there
not much mobile coverage along the
river as we go east into Romania. But
maybe I'm wrong.

Cruise ships wifi is satellite Internet.

Viking cruise boats claim to use both terrestrial and satellite
internet in Europe and Egypt. I suspect this TUI cruise boat is
terrestrial only.

(I should have mentioned that Viking cruises are much more expensive.)

We're currently in Serbia. Before entering Serbia from Croatia we
were advised over the PA to turn our phones off unless we were
sure that our roaming package included Serbia. The onboard wifi
lost internet connection for several hours; perhaps until TUI
bought some more data, perhaps until the police had checked our
passports.

Demonstrations against government corruption by students and
teaching unions here continue. (The president of Serbia is
currently in Moscow.)

Soon we will have Romania to port and Serbia to starboard. With my
old Nokia phones I could select which to conbect to. Is that
possible with an iPhone?

You can do manual network selection on an iPhone by going to
Settings > mobile service > click on your sim under the SIMs section >
network selection > turn off automatic

Then it will take quite a while doing a network scan to list the available networks.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.mobile

Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> Wrote in message:

Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> wrote:

...
Soon we will have Romania to port and Serbia to starboard. With my
old Nokia phones I could select which to conbect to. Is that
possible with an iPhone?

You can do manual network selection on an iPhone by going to
Settings > mobile service > click on your sim under the SIMs section > network selection > turn off automatic

Then it will take quite a while doing a network scan to list the available networks.

Thanks. I've locked it to TELEKOM.RO which is good for the
remainder of the trip south/east.
--
Remove numerics from my email address.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.mobile

On 09/05/2025 21:50, Dave Royal wrote:

I should have mentioned that Viking cruises are much more expensive.

It must be so they can pay that woman with the annoying 'posh'
affectation on the radio adverts.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2