📜 Cheap German Internet & Phone Providers Compared

So, I assume things went well for you: You’ve found a cheap apartment in Berlin’s competitive rental market, and you’ve also secured an electricity provider. Now, you need to tackle the next step on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Internet!

Luckily, getting internet service is pretty straightforward within the city limits of Berlin (and other major German cities). To find the best deal, I recommend using this comparison tool by Check24^[1], which is regularly updated.

Check24 is one of the biggest German comparison services. They compare not only internet providers but also electricity and gas contracts for your home. They don’t just compare various providers—they often have exclusive deals. This means it can be cheaper to order a contract through Check24 than directly from the provider’s own website.

So, let’s get started with comparing!

Below the table, I’ve also included some general tips and best practices for signing a contract with a German internet provider.

(And if you just want a quick tl;dr: Go with Vodafone. I’ve used them for years; they are reasonably priced, and their customer service has never disappointed me—even calling me back on my mobile number after an issue.)

Open the Check24 Internet comparison^[1:1]

How to Use the Check24 Comparison and Order Form

You can adjust the parameters in the form above and let the results recalculate.

To understand everything better, I’ve also made a video for the whole article. You can either read about each step, from finding the best plan to ordering it, or just watch how it works.

What is My Area Code?

The table will ask for your (phone) area code. This is the code that all landline numbers start with in your city. If you don’t know the code, simply check this website by entering your city name or zip code. For Berlin, it is 030, which is the default.

What Internet Connection Types Are There?

The table lists contracts for three connection types:

• DSL (phone line)
• Cable (TV line)
• LTE (mobile)

The connection types are not always clearly visible in the table.

DSL is the most common type: It uses your phone line. If the contract name in the table does not include cable or mobile, it’s a DSL connection.

Cable comes through your TV cable line. These offers will include the word “cable.” (And don’t be confused: Even if the offer includes TV service, it can come via DSL. 😉)

LTE/mobile plans contain “mobile” and are relatively new to the market. They can be quite useful if you move frequently, but you need to ensure you have good mobile reception at your place.

Which Bandwidth Should I Select?

16 MBit/s might seem low, but it’s usually adequate for surfing the web and watching YouTube clips. I used it for two years without complaints, though I found uploading my YouTube videos too slow. So, I switched to 50 MBit/s with 10 MBit/s upload, which is now sufficient.

Note also that DSL is often limited: In many areas, speeds above 50 MBit are not possible.

What’s the Ideal Contract Term? Really 24 Months? What if I Move Out Before?

A common concern is: “How long should I commit to a provider? Really for 2 years? What if I move out before?” Some people prefer a short-term contract, even if it means paying more.

If you have doubts about signing a 2-year contract, here’s what you should know:

If you move during the contract period, you are legally allowed to transfer your contract to your new place. If the provider cannot offer their service at your new location (or can only offer a slower connection), you have the right to cancel the contract early (German: Sonderkündigungsrecht).

That’s why I’m comfortable with my 2-year term.

In fact, most cheap offers are only available with a long-term contract.

Beware: (Wi-Fi) Router Often Costs Extra

If the offer doesn’t specify something like Router inclusive, you will need to:

• Rent a router from your provider (typically around 2 EUR/month extra)
• Bring your own (compatible) router

What is a Cashback?

Many of the cheap offers come with a Cashback: This means Check24 will pay you back some money after you’ve successfully ordered the contract. To receive this, you need to send your first monthly bill from your internet provider to dsl-bonus@check24.de. After verifying the bill, they will transfer the Cashback amount to your bank account.

After Clicking Continue

When you find your preferred offer and want to order it, click continue. You will then be redirected to the actual Check24 website.

Summarized Contract Details

On the first page, you will see a summary of the contract details: A table will list all the costs, separated by einmalig (one-time) and monatlich (monthly).

You might notice that the monthly costs are often higher than what you initially saw in the table. This is because Check24 factors in all the bonuses you receive:

• Check24 lists all costs that will accumulate over the contract term (e.g., 24 months),
• then subtracts all bonuses and cashbacks,
• and divides that sum by 24 months. This will be your effective monthly rate (Effektivpreis).

Optionen (Router, Extras)

In the next step, you can add options. As mentioned, a router is often not included in the package. If you don’t have your own, you need to rent one from your provider for a monthly fee. Look for a WLAN (= Wi-Fi) router.

Ihr Anschluss / Wünsche (Connection / Extra Wishes)

Here, they first want to know:

• Art des Gebäudes: What type of building you are living in:

  • Einfamilienhaus: Single-family house
  • Mehrfamilienhaus: Apartment building (in Berlin: probably your building)
    • Vorderhaus/Hinterhaus: Front / rear building
    • Etage: Level
      • Erdgeschoss: Ground level
      • 1. Etage: 1st level
      • … (Note that in Germany, the ground level is the 0th level, and counting starts only with the first level above the ground)
    • Wohnung (links, mitte, rechts): Apartment position (left, middle, right)

• Besteht ein laufender Vertrag?: Is there an existing (internet) contract (in your name)? If you’ve just moved in, select Nein/No. If you select Ja/Yes, choose the name of your current provider.

• Anschlusstermin: Contract start date

  • schnellstmöglich: As soon as possible
  • Wunschtermin: Custom date

Here’s some bad news: Starting a DSL contract can take up to 3 weeks because your provider often needs to get approval from the company that owns the phone lines in your building.

• Einzelverbindungsnachweis: Itemized bill. This is mostly a privacy issue: Here you select whether all the numbers of the phone calls you make via your new contract should be listed on your invoices fully, partially, or not at all.
  • kein: None
  • verkürzt: Shortened
  • vollständig: Full

If you choose full or shortened, you need to acknowledge this by clicking the checkbox that all your flatmates will be informed.

Kundendaten (Address, Payment Details)

This section starts with Anschlussadresse, the address of your home where the internet connection will be installed:

• E-Mail-Adresse: Email address
• Anrede: Salutation
• Geburtsdatum: Birthdate (in day-month-year format)
• Handynummer für Rückfragen: Mobile phone number for questions. Note that this must not start with +49! So a number like +49152123… should be entered as 0152123..
• PLZ / Ort: Postal code, city
• Straße / Hausnr.: Street and house number. Note that the street field is actually an autocomplete box: You start typing, and available streets will appear below. You need to pick one of those.
• Diese Adresse auch als Lieferanschrift (für Hardware/Zubehör) nutzen: Asks whether this address is also for sending the hardware. Leave it checked.

Next is Zahlungsdaten (payment details):

• Bankdaten (Kontonummer/BLZ, IBAN): Simply enter your IBAN.

Abweichender Kontoinhaber?: If the bank account belongs to someone else. Probably No.

• IBAN: Enter your IBAN account number. (It can be any European account in EUR. If you don’t have a German bank account yet, find a free one here.)

Your monthly payments will be automatically withdrawn from that bank account via direct debit (Lastschrift). If that sounds concerning, don’t worry: It’s very common in Germany, and you usually have the right to reverse such withdrawals. Read more on Wikipedia about Lastschrift.

My Tips

Having lived in Berlin for most of my life, here are some tips I follow:

Before You Order: Can You Share?

Many internet connections are not fully utilized, so before committing to your own contract and paying maybe 20 EUR per month, consider finding a friendly neighbor who might be willing to share their connection for around 10 EUR.

Yes, the downside is that if the connection is down and they are on vacation, you might be offline for a while—but you’ll also get to know your neighbors.

Long-Term: Cancel Right After Signing

A common “trap” is signing a 2-year contract, then forgetting about it, leading to automatic extensions year after year (sometimes with increasing rates!). Often, cancellation periods are easy to miss, as some providers require you to cancel even 3 months before the contract ends—if you miss this, you’re locked in for another year.

To avoid this, and especially if you’re forgetful, cancel your long-term contract in advance, maybe even immediately after signing.

Don’t worry—the provider will then think of you when the contract is about to end and will likely offer you good deals to keep you as their customer.

No File Sharing!

This deserves its own article, but for now: Do not engage in (torrent) file sharing! (At least not without a VPN connection.)

If you share copyrighted material using your IP address on a file-sharing network, content owners (or their lawyers) can record your IP, approach your Internet provider, obtain your address, and send you a pesky Abmahnung, demanding hundreds of Euros from you.

So, make sure your torrent clients are off and inform your visiting friends about this before sharing your Wi-Fi details with them.

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1. This is an affiliate link. If you click on it and then buy something or sign up for a service, I may earn some money. This does not change the price for you. ↩︎ ↩︎