Mobile Internet with prepaid... finally yes!

Tech, TV, Mobile, Internet and Geek Corner
1
I arrived to Switzerland in December 2008, and after realizing I couldn't get any prepaid SIM that included a fair amount of data usage without paying a small fortune every month, I decided to get a contract with Orange.

But it seems things have changed.

My contract with Orange is up this month, and I have already arranged to port my number to Coop Mobile (which is not really porting it because Coop uses Orange's network).

So, in case there are other people that would like to use some data from their phone but not sign a contract with a phone company, I will share the results of my thorough research of the Swiss prepaid mobile market with you.

I ended up with two interesting offers. 1. The first one is Coop Mobile , which I chose for myself.

Ignoring the rest of the rates, which is not the scope of this thread, it gives the option to buy a 100 MB bundle each month for 9.90 francs. The first three months are offered for free.

My flatmate was very happy to discover he can use VoIP in his smartphone with his Coop Mobile SIM card (he didn't have to wait for his contract to expire).

2. The second option is Talk-Talk .

It doesn't offer a specific volume of data, but it charges 0.19 francs per MB, which is quite OK compared to the rest of the market. With Talk-Talk you would have to pay 9.5 francs for using 50 MB in a month (this is my monthly average if I don't use my phone as a modem), which is almost reasonable in my opinion.

Apparently Coop will appeal more to most people (it also has better tariffs for calls and messaging), but I mentioned both.

If you happen to know some other prepaid offer with an interesting data tariff please let me know.

I'd like to see Migros Mobile raising the bar. Their prepaid offer has better tariffs than Coop Mobile, but no data option at the moment...

2
Hi there,

I was looking for some informations on the coopmobile prepaid data services and found your thread on my away. What i was looking for in particular was details on the type(s) and the bandwith of the available data network. I think it's the one from Orange but i don't know if there is any limitation... and the coop website isnt very precise on the matter.

Since you seem to have experienced it yourself, can you tell me if the network is GPRS only or can we use a 3g connection? What is the average bandwith you can get with the maximum connectivity level?

And do you know how the payment is done ? Does it automatically use the credit on the account in the begginning of every month or only on the first connection ? If it is the former, can we send an other SMS to stop the "abbonnement" or do we have to call directly the services center?

Thanks in advance for your help

3
Thanks for the info. Yallo's mobile rate for prepaid is outrageous.

4
Yes, you can use 3G, data rates always vary depending on time and location, but I think 1-2Mbps would be average.

PS- You can add the "surf" opton to Sunrise pre-paid cards too, for 250MB for 7.50CHF per month

http://www1.sunrise.ch/Surfoption-cb...L7t9fheJqBgCs=

5
I agree, as I have one but, looking for a good pre paid phone with internet.. Will watch the thread today..

6
I wonder if I could use a Coop Mobile prepaid card on my Swisscom-locked iPhone?

Has anyone ever tried this?

7
Hi,

First of all - CoopMobile uses Orange network, so You can't use it with Swisscom-locked phone. Orange-locked would do :-)

My girlfriend uses CoopMobile Internet and it's OK. All the comments to the Orange Mobile Internet apply - there were quite some posts in this topic on the Forum.

I am with OrangeClick (currently Orange PrePay) and got a SMS from them yesterday that I get 50 MB for this month for free. Don't know if this will continue, I hope that they will also introduce some prepay offer. Something is certainly going on...

If You want higher volumes, but occasionally (e.g. on weekends) get a Swisscom Natel Easy BeFree card and surf for 4 CHF/day.

Marcin

8
i thought the answer is rather obvious...

if your phone is "Swisscom-locked" then only Swisscom cards will work on it.

9
I can confirm, I am on Sunrise prepaid and I pay 7.5 francs for 250 MB.

If I ever want to use my mobile as a modem and need more data, I can convert my data bundle to an "unlimited" one for 12.5 francs.

All is done via SMS and as long as you have prepaid credit on your cell, you're good to go.

10
Do you have further details on the 12.50.- per month unlimited thing for pre-paid? I can only find the 250mb option on the pre-paid website. I'd love to use my Sunrise SIM in my notebook (has a WWAN port) - 12.50.- for unlimited data would be an absolute steal.

11
That would be a steal. But...it is a promotional price for 6 months with the Abo 50 deal. Normal price for unlimited is 19 chf.

Sunrise surf flat Die Option Sunrise surf flat eignet sich für alle, die mit ihrem Handy regelmässig im Internet surfen oder Videos anschauen. Unlimitierte Nutzung.

Jetzt 6 Monate für nur CHF 12.50 / Mt.!

12
So this is only for subscriptions? 19 Fr. for unlimited data would still be very good...

13
It's not very clear on the website. It's only listed under "Abos" but with the same conditions as the 250MB plan (which is available for pre-paid):

http://www1.sunrise.ch/Surfen-via-Ha...de_CH-CHF.html

I guess if you have a Sunrise pre-paid SIM card you could send a SMS to 5522 with the the text " SURFFLAT " and see what happens...

14
But anyway. The 250MB surf option combined with prepaid is perfect if you're only interested in the data and not in regular calls. I got it for mobile VoIP.

Additional MBs cost 0.10 (instead of 5.-) with this option btw.

15
I got internet surfing activated on my Sunrise voice SIM at CHF12.50 a month unlimited usage on a mobile for 6 months, after which it goes up to CHF19 a month unlimited - can be cancelled upon giving one month's notice.

Did it all by phone to Sunrise, confirmed by a TXT.

This is on a CHF20 monthly abo account.

16
Is it prepaid?

17
Nope, a subscription ( Abonnement )

18
Well, for subscriptions there have always been plenty of options. The real issue was to get mobile data without a contract.

Thanks nevetheless.

19
Orange has launched pre-paid surfing plans for the iPad. Unfortunately, the iPad requires a micro-SIM - which is probably not compatible with your mobile. You could enquire whether these plans / options could be booked on a normal SIM.

Being pre-paid, you pay CHF 5/day (with unlimited usage) only on the days you actually use the net.

20

the below works for an iphone on the O2 network (UK), but i suspect that other networks do similar.

if you have a locked iphone, it is now possible to get it unlocked so that you can use any SIM. it's free to do if you're on anything apart from a pay as you go tariff (PAYG unlock is 15 quid).

you just need to go onto the O2 website and register your details to get it unlocked. takes up to 14 days. if you are in the middle of a contract, then you will, of course, still have to honour the remaining payments, but can still get it unlocked.

once you're unlocked, you're good to go to use a Swiss prepaid SIM.