Internet plans for international students & expats in Austria

Internet plans for international students & expats in Austria

You are visiting Austria for one (or even more) semesters abroad? We welcome you to the Austrian telecommunications market! We know that especially as a student you need fast Internet access to register for your courses and exams, to stay in touch with family and friends or to get access to learning materials.

You`re looking for internet? Find it here.

Apart from that, you deserve to sit on the couch after studying and relax while streaming and surfing. We are excited to give you a quick overview of the Austrian internet providers and show you step by step what you should consider and where to watch out when looking for a tariff, so you won’t fall into a horrible cost trap.

If you also need a mobile phone tariff in Austria, you should read our guide on mobile phone tariffs for foreign students & expats!

Internet in Austria

There are three major mobile network operators (A1 Telekom Austria, Magenta Telekom and Hutchison Drei Austria). These provide fibre optic Internet, cable Internet, DSL Internet and LTE Internet via mobile communications. In addition, there are also other brands of mobile Internet via the mobile network.

In Austria, there are many MVNOs, i.e. mobile phone providers who do not operate their own mobile network, but lease into an existing one. One of the reasons for this is that the state monopoly for the telecommunications market in Austria only ended in 1996. Previously, the PVT (Austrian Post and Telegraph Administration)📯 was exclusively responsible for this market, which ended up becoming A1 Telekom Austria after privatisation.

Apart from the large providers, there are also many small providers, especially via cable, who only operate on a regional basis.

Free Internet access 🆓

Are you a student and living on a tight budget? If you have a good mobile phone tariff for when you are on the road and are otherwise spending a lot of time at university, you can also dispense the Internet tariff. At Austrian universities there is the Eduroam network, which you can log into as a student. As soon as you are enrolled at university you will have a u:account-UserID (with password), which also grants you access to the Eduroam network.

In many pubs and coffee houses there are also free WLAN hotspots. The city of Vienna also has public Internet, which is marked as "wienatPublicWLAN".

However, free internet access is usually a bit slower and not all pages are allowed. Keep in mind - for security reasons, you should always have good anti-virus software installed when logging into free WLAN.

You can also always create a WLAN hotspot for your laptop via your mobile phone. However, make sure that your data volume is sufficient and not overloaded.

Own Internet

But you want your own internet to stream series, play games and have access to all websites? Of course we will tell you what to consider and pay your attention to.

  • Easy installation: As soon as lines have to be drawn in separately, it becomes expensive and complicated. In this case, we advise you to use WLAN boxes with LTE or 5G. All you have to do is plug them into the power supply.
  • No binding: 📆 You cannot cancel from minimum binding periods, so you should definitely take a tariff without binding.

Need for SpeedMap 💨

Our site provides two speed tools. One is the “SpeedTest”, where you can test your current internet speed directly. The other one is the so called “SpeedMap”, where you can enter the location you want to see the speed for. Here you can see where in Austria which network operators are available and especially which speed is actually reached (“estimated speed”) and which can be reached (“highest measured speed”) as a maximum.

Step by step to the new tariff

Our comparison for Internet for home is in German, but not complicated. Even if you do not speak a word of German, you can master it without any problems. We will give you step-by-step instructions and use our rate comparison to list the most important points that you should pay attention to when choosing a rate, especially as a foreign student 👽

Home is where the WiFi connects 📡

Under “Internet for your home” in the upper left corner under our logo you will find all the cheap internet rates for your student dormitory. In the mobile view it is the third point in blue if you clicked on the three lines in the upper right corner for a further selection.

If you have internet access in your dormitory or in your shared flat and only need additional data volume on the road, for example for your laptop, search under “mobile internet”. In the mobile view the fifth symbol in grey is the one you are looking for.

We also list other tariffs not explicitly designed for students, if they are cheaper. The most important thing is, that you have to pay as little as possible for your tariff, but get all the services you want.

Your desired rate

The two controls "Download Speed“ and "Upload Speed“ show the data speed you want your tariff to include. Is a high download speed essential for you or is a lower one sufficient? This is your very own decision. There is no separate control for the data volume on the Internet at home, because all providers offer unlimited use. With mobile Internet, on the other hand, you can specify the amount of data volume you want to be included as a minimum.

If you are surfing on the mobile Internet, you will find further settings that will be particularly important for you under "weitere Einstellungen". If you are sitting in front of a large screen, they will be shown automatically.

Connection wanted

There are several ways to access the Internet at home:

Kabel denotes cable Internet via television cable (coaxial cable). Cable Internet allows very high bandwidths at reasonable prices. Unfortunately it is not available nationwide, but especially in larger cities.

DSL / Telefon stands for Internet over the telephone line. The connection is very stable, but the speed is very depending on the distance to the internet provider.

LTE / Mobilfunk means Internet via the mobile phone network, here via the 4G network. The data rate can sometimes vary considerably, but it is a popular alternative to DSL, especially in rural areas.

5G / Mobilfunk stands for Internet via the mobile network, here via the 5G network. The data rate can vary considerably, but is a popular alternative to DSL, especially in rural areas.

With the mobile internet 📡 you only use the mobile network. With the tab “5G network possible” you can activate whether tariffs in the 5G network should also be considered.

A heart for students 👨‍🎓 👩‍🎓

Put on the tab “Jugend- & Studententarife” (for Youth & Student Tariffs). This activates the selection for the special tariff offers for students and everyone under 27 years of age. If you do not activate this slider, you may miss the chance finding your best personal offers.

If you are over 26 years old, activate it anyway, because with some providers the age does not matter, but only whether you are a student (e.g. educom). If the text field of your tariff shows for example "Jugendtarif - Bis maximal 26“ (meaning “Youth tariff - Up to a maximum age of 26”) and a yellow callsign, you will be shown an age limit: In this case you must not be older than 26 years. If this message is not displayed, there is no age limit.

Binding & Contract duration 📅

Under “Bindung” (for binding) you can choose how long the minimum binding should last. This is the time you are contractually bound to your provider. “Ohne Bindung” (for without binding) means that your internet can be terminated at any time. “1 Jahr” (for 1 year) and “2 Jahre” (for 2 years) mean that you are bound to the contract for one or two years. You should only consider this if you plan to stay here longer than one semester.

Perfect rate found

So there it is, your perfect tariff! But you’re feeling insecure because you don’t know exactly what it says? We’d be happy to explain it in detail to you. Since our rates are listed by price, the cheapest is at the top.

The first writing in the box is the name of the provider and the name of your tariff. It also tells you what type of connection you have, in which network the provider operates and whether there is a minimum commitment.

Next thing in line is the description of your tariff and the monthly effective price. This is the price that includes all costs, fees and offers/discounts. In the normal view it is shown to the right of the tariff name, in the mobile view it follows the description. If you want to see it broken down in detail, you can click on the question mark next to it. Underneath it you will find the “hard facts” of your tariff: Data volume, maximum download and upload speed.

Take another look at the name of your tariff. If you click on the green button now, you will be taken directly to your desired tariff. Take the deal and stay in touch!

You`re looking for internet? Find it here.

( Artikel veröffentlicht: 06.05.2020 )

Jetzt Internet finden!



Über die Autorin
Geschrieben von Mag. Victoria Breitsprecher, MA
Mag. Victoria Breitsprecher, MA
Victoria ist technische Redakteurin bei tarife.at. Sie bringt hochkomplizierte, technische Begriffe in eine verständliche Sprache. Unterstützung bekommt die Technik-Liebhaberin von ihrem Büro-Hund, Herr Baron 🐶.