Before you start

Passport or national ID for verification
A German address, for postpaid contracts
A German bank account, for postpaid direct debit

Step-by-step

1
Buy a prepaid SIM and verify your identity
Available from supermarkets, phone shops and online. Activation requires identity verification — in shop with your passport, by video call, or through the Post's identification service.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
2
Do not attempt a postpaid contract in your first weeks
Contracts run a Schufa check and require a German bank account and registered address. With no credit history you will be declined or asked for a deposit.
OnlineWho: You
3
Order home internet the day you sign the lease
German broadband provisioning routinely takes several weeks and can require an engineer visit. Ordering on move-in day means a month of tethering.
OnlineWho: You
4
Check the address the provider actually stored
Availability checkers and installation systems are built around street names. A Quadrat address gets entered inconsistently, and an engineer sent to the wrong side of P7 counts as a failed appointment and goes to the back of the queue. Read the confirmation email and check it matches your contract character for character.
OnlineWho: You
5
Ask what the previous tenant actually got
The Quadrate hold a lot of subdivided older buildings alongside post-war rebuilds, and what is in the street is not what is in the riser. Ask the landlord or the outgoing tenant what they measured, not what was advertised.
In personWho: You
6
Know the cancellation rules
Since 1 December 2021, when the reformed Telekommunikationsgesetz took effect, a telecoms contract continuing past its minimum term can be cancelled at any point with one month's notice rather than auto-renewing for a full year. Check your specific terms — older contracts may still run on the old basis.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport or national ID for SIM registration
Meldebescheinigung, for postpaid contracts
German bank details, for direct debit
Schufa report, which some providers request

Things most newcomers don’t know

A Quadrat address breaks forms that assume a street name.

Every national provider's ordering system expects Strasse plus Hausnummer. 'P7' is a block, not a street, and it gets entered as a street, a house number or a postcode suffix depending on who types it. The consequence is failed availability checks and engineers at the wrong address. Check the stored address on the confirmation before the appointment, not after.

Source: community-reported

Even prepaid SIMs require identity verification in Germany.

Every SIM must be registered to an identified person, so a supermarket prepaid card still needs a passport check. Arriving expecting to buy an anonymous SIM off a shelf wastes an afternoon of your first week.

Source: Bundesnetzagentur

Home internet takes weeks, so order at lease signing.

German broadband provisioning routinely takes several weeks and can require an engineer visit. Order the day the lease is signed, using the future address.

Source: community-reported

The reformed telecoms law fixed a real contract trap, and it dates from 1 December 2021.

German telecom contracts historically rolled over for another full year if you missed the cancellation window. Since the Telekommunikationsmodernisierungsgesetz took effect on 1 December 2021, §56 TKG caps the initial term at 24 months and lets you cancel at any time with one month's notice thereafter.

Source: Bundesnetzagentur / §56 TKG

Common mistakes to avoid

Letting a provider store a Quadrat address in the wrong field and losing an engineer appointment to it.
Expecting to buy an unregistered prepaid SIM off a shelf.
Applying for postpaid before you have any Schufa record.
Ordering home internet on move-in day rather than at lease signing.
Believing a postcode checker over what is physically in the building.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.