Google just released its new image creation tool.
Using it is free (for now): https://deepmind.google/technologies/imagen-3/
Monday, August 19, 2024
Surveillance Watch: They Know Who You Are
Do you want to know how (among the known entities) is spying on you?
Here is a list: https://www.surveillancewatch.io/
Of course, this is a list of companies, not of governments and their spying activities, that might be purchased at one or more of these companies but could also be built in-house. Or bought at a company that we just don't know about yet.
Thursday, August 08, 2024
European roaming eSim price comparison
For this price comparison, I've looked at eSim cards that are valid for 30 days or more. What I didn't know was that there are eSim cards that can be purchased without an expiration date
I've written before about the bliss of having a tablet with 4G/5G functionality built in. I'm using an iPad Air that has 4G LTE built in, and can function with both a physical sim card was well as en eSim card.
All the providers there will give you an eSim that can be activated at the time of purchase.
So what if I am somewhere unreachable of Wi-Fi and I don't want to share my iPhone's data plan (tethering)? For just 7 cents per day, my iPad could have internet on its own 😊.
Conclusions: depending on your needs, either BNESIM or MobiMatter are great options.
Webshop | APN | Data only? | GB | Days valid | Price | Price per GB | Price per day | Link |
BNESIM Surf 20GB in Europe REGIONAL | ? | Yes | 20 | 365 | € 25,58 | € 1,28 | € 0,07 | |
MobiMatter Europe and USA Yearly 40 GB | Sparks | Yes | 40 | 365 | € 38,50 | € 0,96 | € 0,11 | https://mobimatter.com/travel-esim/sparks-europe-and-usa-yearly-40-gb-esim |
MobiMatter Europe and USA 3 GB | Sparks | Yes | 3 | 30 | € 5,00 | € 1,67 | € 0,17 | https://mobimatter.com/travel-esim/sparks-europe-and-usa-3-gb-esim?destination=europe |
Bitrefill eSIM Netherlands | drei.ai | Yes | 3 | 30 | € 6,98 | € 2,33 | € 0,23 | |
eSIM Europe Unlimited Data Lite | cmhk or cmlink or internet.proximus.be | Yes | Unlimited (but only fast for 0.5 GB per day) thereafter 384kbit/s | 30 | € 23,00 | € 1,53 | € 0,77 | |
MobiMatter Europe and USA 50 GB 60 Days | Sparks | Yes | 50 | 60 | € 48,50 | € 0,97 | € 0,81 | https://mobimatter.com/travel-esim/sparks-europe-and-usa-50-gb-60-days-esim?destination=europe |
O2 Mega eSIM | O2 | Yes | 300 | 30 | € 26,00 | € 0,09 | € 0,87 | |
Bitrefill eSIM Europe | drei.ai | Yes | 20 | 30 | € 35,26 | € 1,76 | € 1,18 | |
Holafly eSIM with Unlimited Data in Europe | ? | Yes | Unlimited (fair use policy) | 90 | € 129,00 | € 1,43 | ||
eSIM Europe Fixed Data | cmhk or cmlink or internet.proximus.be | Yes | 30 | 30 | € 45,00 | € 1,50 | € 1,50 | |
Holafly eSIM with Unlimited Data in Europe | ? | Yes | Unlimited (fair use policy) | 60 | € 99,00 | € 1,65 | ||
Bitrefill eSIM Netherlands | drei.ai | Yes | 50 | 30 | € 62,02 | € 1,24 | € 2,07 | |
Holafly eSIM with Unlimited Data in Europe | ? | Yes | Unlimited (fair use policy) | 30 | € 69,00 | € 2,30 | ||
mtalk-esim-europe | ? | Yes | 50 | 30 | € 70,00 | € 1,40 | € 2,33 |
What options are there for rural, fast and uncapped internet in 2024 in the Netherlands?
My parents live in a rural area in the Netherlands. So they don't have coax-cable via the monopolist player Vodafone/Ziggo, nor can they take an internet subscription via copper wire (POTS) on ADSL or VDSL. Well, technically they can, but the speed would be roughly 6/1 Mbps which was pretty good in 1996, but that was long ago.
Growing up, we had a dial-up at 56 Kbps (remember those?) and then ISDN that was, if you were willing to pay for the use of 2 phone lines, faster at 128 Kbps. For kids today, that means our home internet was about 0,1 Mbps. Yes, that is slow. Very slow.
My parents are currently using Odido (until recently called T-Mobile) "4G for home" which is a solution of sorts. It's advertised as 30/5 Mbps at € 43,50 per month. Too bad that it's way slower when the air is charged (in a storm), when the leaves of the trees are wet (like in the rain) or when there are many people visiting the nearby area because they are now all sharing the one antenna that covers the area.
You might think that that is expensive. And it is. The lack of competition in Europe leads to higher prices for internet connections, especially in countries that only have 3 large players in the market. See the Rewheel reachers paper here: The state of mobile and broadband pricing – 1H2024.
But nowadays, next to the option of using 4G/5G internet, there is another option for rural areas: satellite internet. 🛰️📡
A comparison chart for uncapped internet with at least 50 Mbit/sec download speed, both for 5G and sattelite options:
Provider and bundle name | Max speed? | Up-front costs | Comment | Price per month | Price after 2 years including upfront costs | Price per month, all-in after 2 years | Source | |
KPN Unlimited50, but via Ritel | 50 Mbit/sec | You need to buy a 4G/5G router *1 | I am shocked at the price difference. This reseller Ritel offers €5 per month discount. | 21,50 | 816,00 | 34,00 | ||
KPN Unlimited50 | 50 Mbit/sec | You need to buy a 4G/5G router *1 | 26,50 | 936 | 39 | |||
Odido 4G voor Thuis Sim Only | 30/5 MBit/s | A router is supplied with this subscription | This is the "official" way to get a SIM-only card for home internet | 43,50 | 1056,00 | 44,00 | ||
Odido Unlimited Basis | 300/80 Mbit/s | You need to buy a 4G/5G router *1 | This is the un-official method. Every day you get 10GB, when you need more you have to request extra (free) data in the Odido app. | 32,50 | 1080,00 | 45,00 | ||
Vodafone Red Unlimited | 360 Mbit/s | You need to buy a 4G/5G router *1 | 32,50 | 1080 | 45 | |||
Odido 4G voor Thuis Sim Only | 30/5 MBit/s | You need to buy a 4G/5G router *1 | This is the "official" way to get a SIM-only card for home internet | 35 | 1140 | 47,5 | ||
Starlink Residential | ±100-300 Mbit/s | 249 | Standard Actuated antenna and WIFI 5 router for €249 + 23 shipping | 50 | 1472 | 61,33 | ||
Starlink Residential | ±100-300 Mbit/s | 349 | Standard antenna and WIFI 6 router for €349 + €23 shipping | 50 | 1572 | 65,5 | ||
ASTRA2CONNECT *2 | 20/2 Mbit/s | 489,5 | The speed is below the minimum 50Mbit and there is a 50GB/m data cap | 72,91 | 2264,34 | 94,35 | ||
SkyDSL2+ Home L with premium | 75/6 Mbit/s | 99,8 | You rent the sattelite antenna | 50,075 | 1301,6 | 54,24 | https://www.skydsl.eu/en-NL/Personal/Internet-via-satellite/tariff/details/345 | |
Tooway Connect | 30/6 Mbit/s | Both the speed and data cap discuallify this internet provider from the comparison | https://www.deschotelshop.nl/tooway-internet-via-satelliet-complete-set | |||||
* 1 Bring-your-own-router, so about €300 if you buy one like: https://www.coolblue.nl/product/948628/acer-connect-x6e-5g.html | ||||||||
* 2 I meantion this option even though the speed is below 50 Mbit/s and even though the data plan is limited to %) GB/Month | ||||||||
My conclusion is that if a 4G/5G router with a subscription is not an option for you, then Starlink is your best choice. They are by far the cheapest option for hardware, as well as the cheapest per month subscription price. You can also cancel anytime, so you aren't stuck with a data plan for 12 or 24 months.
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