ROUTE
Home Internet in Germany
Home internet without overpaying: real availability at your address, your rights under the new telecom law and what happens to the contract when you move.
✓ Checked: 15/08/2026
Home internet in Germany is chosen by address rather than by tariff: what actually arrives is determined by the line, not the advertising. Checking availability for your specific address is the first move and eliminates half the offers immediately.
COSTS AND DEADLINES
Deadlines you cannot miss
- After the minimum term: cancellable any time with 1 month noticeInternet Contract: Terms, Moving, Switchingguideline
Amounts follow official fees as of each step’s verification date. Your city may charge a different rate — check the step itself.
› More about this route
This two-step route covers everything: choosing a provider and tariff with a realistic view of what is technically possible in your building, and the contract with its terms, your rights when moving and the procedure for switching.
The route deals separately with rights under telecommunications law that few people know: where speeds fall persistently short of what was agreed, customers may reduce their payment, and after the minimum term contracts end on short notice rather than rolling over for a year.
WHERE PEOPLE MOST OFTEN LOSE MONEY AND TIME
- Believing advertised speeds instead of checking the address. What arrives depends on the line; advertising describes the maximum.
- Signing a long minimum term without needing to. Afterwards a short notice period applies, and that changes your flexibility considerably.
- Not documenting the shortfall. The right to reduce payment arises from measurements under the prescribed procedure, not from an impression.
- Ordering the transfer too late when moving. Providers need lead time; without it you pay for two flats or an empty line.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ROUTE
How do I find the actual available speed?▾
Through the provider’s availability check for your exact address, which accounts for the line running to the building. Advertised figures describe the technology’s maximum rather than what reaches you.
What if the speed is well below what was promised?▾
The law gives a right to reduce the payment where there is significant and continuous deviation from the agreed values. Measurements under the prescribed procedure are required — those, not your impression, form the basis.
How does terminating work?▾
Once the minimum term ends the contract can be terminated on short notice and does not roll over for a long period automatically. That improved customers’ position considerably compared with the old rules.
What happens when I move?▾
Order the transfer of the connection in good time. If the service is technically impossible at the new address a special right of termination arises — but the provider must confirm that impossibility.