Überlingen: Switzerland is far away, your phone is still not safe
Sites: BAKOM (retrieved 2026-10-07), map: © OpenStreetMap contributors. Straight line, not radio coverage.
Haldenhof above Sipplingen
At the Haldenhof above Sipplingen, just under 7 kilometres northwest of Überlingen, my phone connected to the Swiss network.
The Haldenhof is a viewpoint high above the lake. The photo metadata says about 675 metres, the lake lies at about 395 metres. The nearest Swiss site is 13.0 kilometres away according to BAKOM, to the south. Swiss sites within 15 kilometres: 1, within 20 kilometres: 41.
From up there the phone sees far across the lake. I cannot prove that the height makes the difference. But it fits the data: even without a Swiss site nearby, the Swiss network can be the stronger one.
- 13.0 kmto the nearest Swiss site, to the south
- 1site within 15 km
- 41sites within 20 km
Switzerland is on the other side
In Überlingen the nearest Swiss mobile site is 10.9 kilometres away in a straight line according to BAKOM, to the southwest. There is none within 10 kilometres. Unlike Konstanz, the town does not border Switzerland.
What we know, and what we don't
Radio signals travel far over water. Regional newspapers report this for Friedrichshafen, Lindau and Konstanz: phones there connect to Swiss networks at the shore. We found no newspaper report about the town of Überlingen itself. At the Haldenhof above Sipplingen, just under 7 kilometres from Überlingen, it did happen to the author of this site (see above).
Whether your phone stays on the German network in Überlingen can be seen in the status bar. If it shows your provider's name, everything is fine. If you do not want to take any risk at the shore, at viewpoints or on the lake, fix your network.
What helps in Überlingen
Überlingen in brief
Is there a Swiss network in Überlingen?
The nearest Swiss site is 10.9 km away according to BAKOM, none within 10 km. At the Haldenhof above Sipplingen, about 7 km from Überlingen, a phone nevertheless connected to the Swiss network. The place lies high above the lake.
What is the safest setting?
Fix your network (option B in the instructions). Then the phone does not switch secretly, not even for calls and SMS.
Sources
- Schwäbische Zeitung, 2017 (updated 2019)Friedrichshafen, Lindau and Konstanz named as places where phones easily connect to a foreign network; €1.49 per minute for calls to Germany, 23 cents and more per megabyte; cost cap of €50 plus tax for mobile data abroad. (German)
- BAKOM, mobile antenna sites (geo.admin.ch)Figures and distances on this page, retrieved 7 Oct 2026; straight line from the town centre, not radio coverage.