# Fastest ISP in NRW



## SSovets

Hello everyone!

I will be moving to the Dusseldorf area (Hilden, to be precise) at the beginning of August and, as my work is totally dependent on having a fast and reliable internet connection, I'm looking for the best provider in the area - I hope someone can help me with that. I'm not looking for "business" connections that cost over 100 euros per month, just a normal connection (preferably FTTB or FTTH, as they usually offer higher speeds). I haven't learn too much German yet, so reading forums in German is still not an option, I hope I can get some advice here.

I found the Unity Media and Telekom offers - they look ridiculous to me (30 and 40 euros for a basic 100 MBPS download, and upload speeds that seem adequate for maybe 5-10 years ago). Does anyone know of a better offer?


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## ColinEvans39

Hi,

The upload speeds are usually much less than download speeds. If you need a high upload speed, then you should look for a synchronous connection which is offered usually with business plans.

Deutsche Telekom and United Internet are very similar. They basically share the same network. You could also check out Kabel Deutschland. They have there own network operated via TV cable and maybe they offer synchronous connections.

Colins


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## SSovets

Thank you, I checked Kabel Deutschland, they don't seem to offer anything better. It seems I will have to get used to the slow internet, as I don't intend to pay "business" rates (the normal ones are already pretty outrageous).

Since all these ISP's also offer TV, I guess I will have to consider this factor too. So another question would be: which ISP/TV provider has channels in English, not dubbed in German? I am used to watch movies with the original soundtrack and subtitles, and I also don't speak German yet, so this would be an important aspect. I'm mostly interested in history and science channels, also news, maybe movies. Don't care at all about sports. All the places that I've stayed in in Germany only had a couple international new channels like BBC and CNN in English, all the rest were dubbed in German. I couldn't find a clear channel list on neither Telekom's nor Unitymedia's website, but they are so confusing that I wouldn't be surprised to hear that they exist somewhere.

So can I hope to find a provider with more English speaking channels (not dubbed)?


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## Nononymous

In case you don't already know, be careful using torrents to download movies and TV shows, Germany has some very predatory lawyers who will quickly send you demands for money. It should be fine if you use a decent VPN to mask your IP.


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## Nononymous

Also, on regular German cable TV you probably won't find much in terms of English programming beyond BBC and CNN news channels. You're better off streaming from the US or UK (get around country restrictions with a VPN that fakes your IP address) or using torrents.

On edit - I stand corrected, Kabel Deutschland offers around a dozen English-language channels, though in an extra package. Not sure if they're any good, but it's more than just news.


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## SSovets

Thank you, I will check Kabel Deutschland's website more thoroughly, maybe I can find a list of their English-language channels.


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## SSovets

Found it, the "TV International Englisch" package, unfortunately there's only one documentaries channel, and it's not one of my favorites (NGC).


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## kaju

SSovets said:


> Hello everyone!
> 
> I will be moving to the Dusseldorf area (Hilden, to be precise) at the beginning of August and, as my work is totally dependent on having a fast and reliable internet connection, I'm looking for the best provider in the area - I hope someone can help me with that. I'm not looking for "business" connections that cost over 100 euros per month, just a normal connection (preferably FTTB or FTTH, as they usually offer higher speeds). I haven't learn too much German yet, so reading forums in German is still not an option, I hope I can get some advice here.
> 
> I found the Unity Media and Telekom offers - they look ridiculous to me (30 and 40 euros for a basic 100 MBPS download, and upload speeds that seem adequate for maybe 5-10 years ago). Does anyone know of a better offer?


German internet speeds average about half that of Romania - but that is only because Romania has some of the fastest speeds in the world! Germany's speeds are quite reasonable by world standards.

Although I don't live in Germany at present, I used to. Watching the German news on TV and comparing it to newspapers helped me a lot when I was trying to learn German, I arrived there with none. 

You might consider getting a VPN, maybe $100 a year for something like VyperVPN, that would allow you to access things like BBC iplayer, etc. (You can do the same thing for free through Firefox with a Hola add-on, but it's not secure. Or Filmon, with not great quality, but acceptable.)

You could also use (with a VPN) an android media player box. Or, either free or subscription (HD/no ads - 100E) version of Zattoo. Has all the main BBC and ITV UK channels.


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## SSovets

Thank you for the tips, I will think about this option! I do consider watching German TV, especially news, to help me learn the language, but I prefer the original soundtrack wherever possible in movies, but also documentaries (especially since, in my experience, the translation is not always accurate and in sync, and in documentaries it matters).

As for the difference between internet connections in Germany and Romania: you could approximate that in Romania it's about twice faster, but you should consider that it's also around 4 times cheaper. I mean I now have a 11 euro per month fiber connection (yes, the media converter is in my apartment) with 500 mbps download and 200 mbps upload (speeds confirmed with SpeedTest.net and real download/upload scenarios). Can you blame me for perceiving the offers in Germany no less than atrocious?


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## kaju

SSovets said:


> Thank you for the tips, I will think about this option! I do consider watching German TV, especially news, to help me learn the language, but I prefer the original soundtrack wherever possible in movies, but also documentaries (especially since, in my experience, the translation is not always accurate and in sync, and in documentaries it matters).
> 
> As for the difference between internet connections in Germany and Romania: you could approximate that in Romania it's about twice faster, but you should consider that it's also around 4 times cheaper. I mean I now have a 11 euro per month fiber connection (yes, the media converter is in my apartment) with 500 mbps download and 200 mbps upload (speeds confirmed with SpeedTest.net and real download/upload scenarios). Can you blame me for perceiving the offers in Germany no less than atrocious?


No, you've been VERY spoilt! 

Try in Australia, much higher cost, much worse value than Germany, (80E/month for 500GB, without any TV channels) and generally even slower than Germany too! And hopefully, you'll be paid more in Germany than Romania too... either way, it is what it is, you just have to hunt for the best deal and live with it, I guess! 

Good luck! 

kaju


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## SSovets

True, that's what I'm trying to find: the best deal for me.

But the prices in Romania show me the real costs of providing internet connections (and be sure, no company provides them at a loss) and the extremely high profit margins and lack of real competition in Western Europe. It's saddening to see Western Europe so behind on this, and for no real reasons. Almost the same regarding mobile telephony, although where authorities got involved (see the roaming charges) - things changed to the best, quite considerably. Maybe they should get involved more often.


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## SSovets

A quick update: the situation is actually not as bad as it seamed in the beginning - it's worse! Research revealed that Unity Media is not available at my address, Telekom and Vodafone (who took over Kabel Deutschland) can only offer 25 mbps connections at my location, so I have to go with 1&1, which can at least offer 50 mbps. It's like I'm travelling not only in space, but also in time, the trip to Germany will take me some 10 years back, to the times before smartphones and HD movies. I feel extremely disappointed and discouraged.


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## Nononymous

You were getting 50 Mbps ten years ago? I only just got that last year...


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## Nononymous

Yep, had a look, 52 Mbps download, 8 Mbps upload, on fibre that was only available last year, costs about 40 euro/month here in Canada.


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## SSovets

Just checked now in the archives, the first 50 Mbps connection was offered by the ISP I use in the second part of 2006, so 9 years ago, for an initial price of 19 USD per month, which in 1 year dropped to under 15 USD. So yeah...


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## SA Feather

Just to compare, how spoilt you are 

South Africa: 
EUR 65 per month, for 24 months gives you up to 10 Mbps and 50GB Telkom Internet data - IF your area is connected ("up to" being the deciding part in this offer)... And unlimited landline call minutes. I don't know anybody with a landline...

At my location now I get 1 Mbits/sec down, 0,2 Mbits up and I feel priviledged.

From Germany, living in SA


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## SSovets

You might call it spoiled, but I can't help but think that this should be the norm. Romania doesn't have any advantage over Germany regarding Internet connections, in fact Germany is the home of the biggest Internet nodes in the world. It's not like Internet is "manufactured" in Romania and that's why it's cheaper here. No. The only thing that I can think of that makes the prices so much lower and the quality so much higher in Romania is that the ISP market in Romania is free, while in Germany (and probably the rest of Western Europe) there's probably and agreement between ISP's to keep the prices high. Thus, they get lots of money without any effort and have no incentive to invest in upgrading their services. I keep asking myself how they are getting away with this, why nobody does nothing about it. I'm extremely disappointed.

Oh, another thing that kinda proves my theory: yesterday I found out (after calling 1&1 a week after the equipment was supposed to arrive to my German friend who I asked to arrange this for me in advance) that 1&1 have changed their mind and cancelled the contract with me, because I don't have a German bank account yet. Even though my friend (a German national) gave them his account number and agreed to pay until I open one. And they did that by sending a letter by post (have they never heard of emails?) to my address, even though they were explicitly told that I am moving in on the 2-nd of August. What a joke! It's not enough that they change a fortune for something that costs pennies, but they are making so much money that they are not even interested in new clients. I'm sorry, but this is not a market economy, this is a farce!

@SA Feather: I don't understand why you have such a poor connection in Cape Town, wikipedia says there are lots of good land connections in the big cities of SA, but anyway can't you get greater speeds through a mobile connection? Maybe you don't have 4G there yet, but even standard 3G is up to 7.2 MBPS and I'm sure you have that in SA.


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## NorbertV

Not sure if they're avaible in your area but Netcologne offers up to 200 Mbps.


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## SSovets

Thanks for the tip, 200/40 Mbps looks acceptable, unfortunately their services are not available at my address (Leider ist dieses Produkt für Ihren Anschluss nicht verfügbar.)


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## SA Feather

Not to hitch.hike the thread, internet in SA is erratic at best. My iphone may give me 15 Mbits at the cofe shop but 1 km away I can't even send a whatsapp.

My DSL has 1 Mbit one day, 0.1 the other. Everybody complains and nothing changes.

My mother has a €25 pm internet (don't know the speed) near Mainz (Germany), which includes TV (100 channels) and free landline calls. I should to a speed test next time I visit.


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## SSovets

Aster a somewhat unpleasant procedure (if you don't speak German) I finally managed to order an internet connection from 1&1. But my saga on this is not finished yet!

I did it online, ordered the 50 Mbps DSL connection, which I checked both online and on the phone and had confirmation that this is the best they can offer at my address. First thing: as soon as I pressed the last button to finalize my order, I instantly receive an SMS telling me that they will be late one day with the "Sofort-Start-Option" (the Quick Start Option, a 3G modem that I can use until they install the wired connection). It seems they never planned to send it next day, as they advertise, it's just a cheap trick to make you sign up. Next step - they call me next day to tell me that they can't actually offer me 50 Mbps, only 25, for some technical reason. Why they always said 50, and cam with this only after I made the order - do I need to explain? Yet it's for the same price, they don't feel they should give me any discount for halving the contractual speed. I'm still investigating what I can do about this situation. So I am supposed to get the 3G stick tomorrow, and the wired connection in a week (I'm quite skeptical about that, even though I know, as do they, that the previous tenant had DSL from the same company, so they don't need to send any technician, but still charge me 40 euros for that). In the end, I will have a connection that's (at peak speed, which I hope can be achieved) *20 times* slower than the one I have in Romania (a 3-rd world country for many Germans) for almost 3 times the price. I have not enough words to express my feelings about this...


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