In March 2021, I returned from Taiwan after a year.
Then I did not go on a trip for a year because of travel restrictions.
So in February 2022, I decided I would go on a trip again in March 2022.
Mostly because travel restrictions were being lifted left and right.
So, what is the best way to catch up on a year of lost travel time?
Visit as many countries as you can within a month.
I visited Portugal, Spain, Andorra, Italy, Malta, Greece, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia & Slovenia.
I really love how easy it is to travel throughout Europe!
During this trip, I (re-)tested 41 local SIM cards, like T-Mobile Netherlands, Airalo's Eurolink Europe eSIM, Nomad's Europe eSIM & SimCorner's Europe travel SIM cards.
If you have read any of my SIM card buying guides before, like the Dutch one, or watched a YouTube video of mine, you know that I am crazy enough to buy and test so many SIM cards.
If this is your first Phone Travel Wiz review – welcome.
I buy and test all/most SIM cards in a country and tell you which ones are the best so that you do not have to 😎.
You have probably heard of T-Mobile before, although it is mostly known as Telekom – perhaps you even use T-Mobile/Telekom's services at home.
Or you may have tried T-Mobile/Telekom in another country.
T-Mobile/Telekom is often the best in the country (except for in Romania… be warned!)
So what about in the Netherlands? Is T-Mobile Netherlands any good?
The only way to find out is to test T-Mobile Netherlands and compare it with the other Dutch SIM cards (KPN and Vodafone Netherlands).
And that is what I did – and I will share my experience in this review.
Let's get started, shall we?
Original publication: 22nd of August 2022. Last updated: 15th of January 2024.
Table of Contents
Who is T-Mobile Netherlands?
Being added.
T-Mobile Netherlands Coverage + My Experience
Being added.
How to Get a T-Mobile Netherlands SIM Card & Prices
Being added.
T-Mobile Netherlands Plans, Bundles & Offers
T-Mobile Netherlands has three data-featured prepaid plans:
- Overige Bundels/Other Bundles (combo)
- Combi Bundels
- Unlimited Data Bundels
Disclaimer: these were the available plans at the time I was in the Netherlands – the offering may have changed since then (including whether 5G NR is available to prepaid customers or not). To see T-Mobile Netherlands' current plans, check out my the Netherlands SIM card buying guide (which gets updated regularly – at least once a year).
I will list all the prices in EUR (Euro).
To convert EUR to your currency (let's say GBP – (British) Pound (Sterling)) with up-to-date exchange rates, use the Wise Currency Converter tool.
Click on the links above to jump to the plan you are interested in.
Overige (Other) Bundels
The Overige (Other) Bundels are combo plans with a unit system for data (without 5G NR access), minutes & SMS + a data plan.
1 unit is equal 1 MB, 1 minute, or 1 SMS.
Text the Activation Code to 4000 to activate Overige Bundels:
| Price | Plan | Units | Data | Validity | Activation Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.95 EUR | Unit S Bundel | 100 units | N/A | 1 month | UNIT S |
| 5 EUR | Internet S Bundel | N/A | 300 MB | 1 month | INTERNET S |
Combi Bundels
The Combi Bundels are combo plans with data (without 5G NR access), minutes & SMS.
Text the Activation Code to 4000 to activate Combi Bundels:
| Price | Data | EU/EEA Data | Local/EU Minutes 1 | Local/EU SMS 1 | Validity | Activation Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.50 EUR | 500 MB | Shared with data allowance | 5 minutes | Shared with call allowance | 1 month | COMBI S |
| 10 EUR | 1 GB | Shared with data allowance | 10 minutes | Shared with call allowance | 1 month | COMBI M |
| 15 EUR | 2 GB | Shared with data allowance | 15 minutes | Shared with call allowance | 1 month | COMBI L |
| 22.50 EUR | 4 GB | Shared with data allowance | 20 minutes | Shared with call allowance | 1 month | COMBI XL |
1 for calls/SMS within and to other EU/EEA member states and back to the Netherlands (NOT from the Netherlands to other EU/EEA member states)
Unlimited Data Bundels
The Unlimited Data Bundels are, as the name implies, unlimited data plans (without 5G NR access).
Text the Activation Code to 4000 to activate Unlimited Data:
| Price | Plan | Data | EU/EEA Data | Validity | Activation Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.95 EUR | Unlimited Data Vandaag | Unlimited | 2.6 GB | Until midnight | INTERNET DAG |
| 5 EUR | Unlimited Data Weekend | Unlimited | 4.3 GB | Friday 17:00 – Sunday 23:59 | WEEKEND |
EU Roaming
You can use your T-Mobile allowances in the following EU/EEA member states without paying roaming fees:
- Austria
- Azores
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Canary Islands
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- French Guiana
- Germany
- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Guadeloupe
- Guernsey
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Isle of Man
- Italy
- Jersey
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Madeira
- Malta
- Martinique
- Mayotte
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Réunion
- Romania
- Saint Martin
- San Marino
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
- Vatican City
Be aware that, in some cases, the EU/EEA roaming allowance is lower than the domestic allowances.
T-Mobile Netherlands Top-Up, Recharge & Balance Check
T-Mobile Netherlands top-up vouchers are sold in T-Mobile stores, grocery stores, corner shops & electronics shops throughout the Netherlands.
I did not have to recharge my T-Mobile Netherlands SIM card because the Netherlands was a short stop on my one-month Europe trip.
But I will still let you know about topping up your T-Mobile Netherlands SIM card.
To top up your T-Mobile Netherlands SIM card, you would text the VoucherCode to 1244 or call 1244 and follow the instructions.
For example, if your voucher code is 123456, you would text 123456 to 1244.
You can also recharge online with (international) debit and credit cards.
Text SALDO to 1244 or call 1244 to check your T-Mobile Netherlands balance.
You can also top up and check your balance on the My T-Mobile – Nederland app (Android/iOS).
T-Mobile Netherlands Speed Test Results (in Amsterdam, Breda, Dordrecht, Eindhoven & Rotterdam)
Alright, now it is time to talk about the speeds you can expect with T-Mobile Netherlands after covering all the other essential topics like coverage.
But before I share my eight speed test results from Amsterdam, Breda, Dordrecht, Eindhoven & Rotterdam, I do want to set the stage first and make a small comparison with T-Mobile Netherlands' competition.
T-Mobile Netherlands is regarded by Speedtest as the second-fastest mobile operator in the Netherlands in Q1-Q2 of 2022.
With a median download speed of 116.31 Mbps, ahead of Vodafone Netherlands (81.5 Mbps) but behind KPN (122.05 Mbps).
When we look at 5G NR, T-Mobile Netherlands is also the second-fastest, with a median download speed of 159.25 Mbps.
This is far ahead of Vodafone Netherlands (101.93 Mbps) but slightly behind KPN (191.51 Mbps).
Unfortunately, 5G NR is not available to prepaid customers (yet).
Well… I say yet – it will not be for a long time; it took the mobile operators ages before letting prepaid customers use 4G/LTE.
So do not hold your breath for 5G NR – you will not survive 💀.
I did eight speed tests with the Speedtest app at various locations throughout the Netherlands.
Here are the results:
Honestly, those speeds were slower than expected.
Sure, they are still fine, even for 4G/LTE; even Vodafone Netherlands was much faster – and it is supposed to be the slowest!
The results in green represent that that result was the fastest download or upload speed of all the Dutch mobile operators (T-Mobile Netherlands and Vodafone Netherlands).
What about KPN? KPN throttles prepaid speeds to 25 Mbps – and it makes sure you do not get faster speeds. I tested it at multiple locations, and I never got a result faster than 25 Mbps… so there is no point in including it in this comparison.
The results in red are the opposite; they are the slowest of them all.
And the results in bold tell you the mobile operator was the fastest with all the SIM cards and eSIMs I tested in the Netherlands (so the two SIM cards, the SimCorner Europe travel SIM card & Airalo Europe Eurolink eSIM).
Like I said, T-Mobile Netherlands' performance was worse than I expected it to be.
Even the Airalo Netherlands Hè Hè eSIM, using the KPN network, and SimCorner O2 Europe Travel SIM card, using Ben – aka KPN, had must faster speeds than T-Mobile Netherlands.
And they were roaming – not native users of the network.
So yes, I am sad 😭.
Anyway, let's deal with some T-Mobile Netherlands statistics based on the eight speed test results:
- T-Mobile Netherlands' average download speed was 59.39 Mbps
- The median download speed with T-Mobile Netherlands was 60.94 Mbps
- T-Mobile Netherlands' average upload speed was 27.66 Mbps
- The median upload speed with T-Mobile Netherlands was 28.72 Mbps
- T-Mobile Netherlands had the fastest download speed, compared to Vodafone Netherlands, in 1 of the 8 locations
- T-Mobile Netherlands had the slowest download speed, compared to Vodafone Netherlands, in 7 of the 8 locations
- At 5 of the 8 locations, T-Mobile Netherlands had the fastest upload speed
- At 3 of the 8 locations, T-Mobile Netherlands had the slowest upload speed
At least T-Mobile Netherlands has fast upload speeds – the fastest of them all (including the Airalo Netherlands Hè Hè eSIM and SimCorner O2 Europe Travel SIM card).
So, are these slow download speed fast enough?
Yes, it is – let me explain.
A download speed of more than 25 Mbps is enough to video stream content @ 4k resolution.
And I got an average download speed of 59.39 Mbps.
Social media sites that allow for live streaming, like Facebook Live, recommend an upload speed of at least 10 Mbps.
And I got an average upload speed of 27.66 Mbps – almost triple the recommended upload speed.
So, in short, these speed test results would be more than enough for watching videos at a high resolution and for uploading content like live streams.
But let's take these results to a global level – T-Mobile Netherlands is doing alright.
At the time of writing, the global average download speed is 75.78 Mbps – T-Mobile Netherlands is below this average.
But the average is skewed because of countries like the United Arab Emirates, with an average mobile download speed of 260.72 Mbps (insane!).
So let's look at the global median – 30.78 Mbps. T-Mobile Netherlands' median download speed was 60.94 Mbps.
T-Mobile Netherland's median download speed is double the global mean – awesome!
Then again, many countries have yet to roll out 5G NR… but that is why we looked at the median too instead of only the average.
Overall, you should have a smooth network experience with T-Mobile Netherlands.
But let's compare T-Mobile Netherlands with the other SIM cards and eSIMs I used there so that you can fully understand my disappointment (all on 4G/LTE):
What is funny, or sad honestly, is that the Airalo Netherlands Hè Hè eSIM is cheaper than T-Mobile Netherlands (+KPN & Vodafone Netherlands) because the Dutch mobile operators charge too much for prepaid.
Surprisingly, or luckily I have to say, postpaid plans are affordable.
I still have an unlimited data plan with KPN, costing me about 25.50 EUR a month.
Airalo will give you 10 GB of data for around the same price. KPN and T-Mobile Netherlands will hand you only 4 GB. For a bit more (29 EUR), Vodafone Netherlands will be generous and give you 10 GB (still more expensive than Airalo).
Yeah, data-featured plans for prepaid customers are not cheap 🥲.
My Overall Experience with T-Mobile Netherlands – Is It Any Good?
I would recommend T-Mobile Netherlands, although it may not be my first recommendation for Dutch SIM cards (or travel eSIMs).
Being expanded.
Dutch SIM Card Reviews
As mentioned earlier, I also tried out KPN and Vodafone Netherlands when I was in the Netherlands.
You should read those reviews too.
>>> KPN Netherlands Review | Vodafone Netherlands Review <<<
Later, I will make a comparison post of the three Dutch SIM cards I tried… but that will take a while (I have many reviews of other countries that I still need to write, so they are prioritized).
But you can still make an educated purchased after reading the Dutch SIM card reviews.
Check out my reviews page if you want to read all the other reviews I have written, including other European SIM cards from this trip.
Netherlands SIM Card Buying Guide
There are more than ten SIM cards to choose from in the Netherlands besides T-Mobile Netherlands.
I analyze and discuss them in-depth in my Netherlands SIM card buying guide.