Reduzierte Surfgeschwindigkeit

Here are some basics you need to know:

-O2 is a phone company in Germany (and I think basically throughout Europe, I know they're at least in the UK too)

-Most internet providers are through the phone companies

-pretty much all internet contracts are 24 month contracts

So back in September when I was looking for a way to feed my internet connection, I searched desperately for internet that had a simple 12 month contract instead of 24 months. But it was to no avail. I was finally directed to O2 and their "surfsticks". Basically a USB stick with a regular SIM card in it that connects you to the internet. It's pay as you go, and you can buy a day long or month long flat-rate. It seemed like the perfect solution back in September. So much so, even, that after I got mine, I recommended it to our Franken group, out of which 5 of the 7 of us bought one. However, over the past 9 months I've come to have a very love-hate relationship with this little O2 stick. 

Love 

• No contract
• You can use it anywhere in Germany. Which is very useful for traveling as most hotels in Germany do not provide free wifi
• it gives me internet. period. 
• it's really quite simple and you don't have to rely on lots of different parts like a modem, router, etc. 
• It saved the day on two separate occasions (the first at the Fulbright conference in Berlin when everyone brought their laptops only to find there was no internet in the hotel, the second when my friend was in the hospital and she could stay connected the whole time)

Hate

• it only provides internet to one computer at a time, so if you have friends over, no lame internet parties.
• there is a data transfer limit of 5gb per month. And while this might seem like a lot, it takes away the freedom of spending hours a day on youtube, streaming tv shows from home, or even downloading (legally, of course) movies and such.
• After you reach the 5gb limit, you are forced to use "reduzierte Surfegeschwindigkeit" - or reduced surf speed until the end of the month. meaning you basically go through a time warp to 1996 when you had to wait about 5 minutes for even the simplest of pages to load. fru-stra-ting. 

For the past 5 days I was sentenced to reduzierte Surfgeschwindigkeit. And it was pretty miserable. Because of these limitations, we spend a lot of our time at our fave cafe in Erlangen and enjoy the limitless freedom of wifi. 

While I wouldn't necessarily go with the O2 option forever, it's not a bad fall-back plan. But I think there are some new internet providers that no longer require a contract... Now I know for next year.