getting on the internet in France (1 Viewer)

[Heyupluv]

Could any Funster help.
I have purchased a "3" unlocked dongle (so I can use it in france where I live)
I would like to go onto the internet for emails and surf the web
I would like pay as you go if posible at the cheapest rate
I would want to use when i am travelling in France.

is any body already useing a unlocked dongle in France and what are you paying and where did you purchase the sim and what kind of a sim is it.

Thank you Mel

 

[Heyupluv]

sim

what do other people use in france

 

[hilldweller]

what do other people use in france

Fingers crossed for WiFi.

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[VeeJay]

Could any Funster help.
I have purchased a "3" unlocked dongle (so I can use it in france where I live)
I would like to go onto the internet for emails and surf the web
I would like pay as you go if posible at the cheapest rate
I would want to use when i am travelling in France.

is any body already useing a unlocked dongle in France and what are you paying and where did you purchase the sim and what kind of a sim is it.

Thank you Mel

I would also be interested in the answer to this question as I am intending to buy a mobile broadband dongle (although I did not know you could buy them unlocked) for internet access in both England and abroad

I would think that if the dongle is unlocked then you would buy a 'local' sim (French in your case) to avoid paying roaming charges

Can I also ask where you bought your unlocked dongle (or is it illegal - if so please send me a PM with the info LOL)

Thank you
VeeJay

 

[Randonneur]

We bought an Orange Dongle a couple of months ago for 9 euros, pay as you go.

Once you have registered the Sim that comes with it you just re-charge moneywise from the Orange France website. You have different options but most only last for one month.

This is the link:

Orange

On the Orange France website there is also another option for, I think, 6 months and 12 months. Not gone into that one yet as we have only used the Dongle once and charged it with 8 euros just to make sure that the thing worked.

This link:

Link Removed

Then look on the right hand side and click on E-Boutique.

This appears to allow you to use any of the 30000 Orange hotspots throughout France by subscribing to however many hours you want to pay for. This means that you don't need a dongle if you have a WiFi enabled laptop.

 

[Heyupluv]

Dongle in France

We bought an Orange Dongle a couple of months ago for 9 euros, pay as you go.

Once you have registered the Sim that comes with it you just re-charge moneywise from the Orange France website. You have different options but most only last for one month.

This is the link:

Orange

On the Orange France website there is also another option for, I think, 6 months and 12 months. Not gone into that one yet as we have only used the Dongle once and charged it with 8 euros just to make sure that the thing worked.

This link:

Link Removed

Then look on the right hand side and click on E-Boutique.

This appears to allow you to use any of the 30000 Orange hotspots throughout France by subscribing to however many hours you want to pay for. This means that you don't need a dongle if you have a WiFi enabled laptop.

I was looking at the Orange.fr website re. dongles and sims yesterday and the cheapest I could find was 29 euros which included a 2hr pass which like you said lasts 1 month but it only gives you 2hrs within that month? Where did you buy your dongle for 9 euros? What 'on-line' time have you got with your 8 euros recharge - is it only 1 hour (although the validity lasts 1 month)?

Thanks for your kind reply.

Mel.

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[Randonneur]

Yes, I looked today and they are now back to 29 euros with a 2hr Pass. When you put the time credit onto the Dongle they now last for 1 month where before it was only 15 days. We thought that this would suit us as we would only be using it to check emails, anything other than that we would use a free WiFi hotspot, McDonalds or similar. In some of the larger Supermarkets now over here they are providing free WiFi in the Mall sections so there is no need to purchase anything.

 

[JJ]

I know it is nothing to do with the dongle question but many MacDonalds in France have free wi-fi...

 

[DavidRapido]

I too am trying to solve the problem of maintaining web access in France. Whilst I understand the ease of use of Wifi (used it in several campsites and shops last weeK) I would like to find a good value "dongle" solution as well.

I bought a "3" dongle earlier this years and it was great in Ireland last month - good value (£10 for 3GB over 30 days PAYG works fine for me) and fast. However, I did not fancy the £3 per MB roaming charge in France.

Last week I visited a "Phone House" in France (identical branding to "Car Phone warehouse", other than the name) and was pleased to find a very similar package - however, I needed a french bank account even for PAYG. So there is the problem.

Randonneur - you suggested Orange - did you need a French Bank Acount to set this up?

Anyone got any other options?

Many thanks

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[Baggins]

Dongles

I found the '3' payg dongle pretty useless in UK. VERY slow and only worked in towns or under relay masts. Pretty much a waste of 50 squid that I paid.

However I just signed up to BT Broadband - for better or for worse - and got an excellant BT dongle for £9.99 including one months free UK roaming (usually £10 top-up) AND it picks up BT hotspots for unlimited free use even in Europe - although I have not yet tryed it out of the UK. ALSO VERY FAST.

3 dongle consigned to the bin.

BW

 

[Parcverger]

Come on down to Parc Verger - unlimited wifi for free, though you can make a donation to our charity fund if you wish. We are just erecting an outside aerial to improve coverage of our site, though if we see motorhomes queuing outside our site to use the wifi we may need to up the security!!! 10% discount from pitch and individual charges for MHFunsters, too:thumb:.

Cheers

Bob and Di

 

[Randonneur]

I too am trying to solve the problem of maintaining web access in France. Whilst I understand the ease of use of Wifi (used it in several campsites and shops last weeK) I would like to find a good value "dongle" solution as well.

I bought a "3" dongle earlier this years and it was great in Ireland last month - good value (£10 for 3GB over 30 days PAYG works fine for me) and fast. However, I did not fancy the £3 per MB roaming charge in France.

Last week I visited a "Phone House" in France (identical branding to "Car Phone warehouse", other than the name) and was pleased to find a very similar package - however, I needed a french bank account even for PAYG. So there is the problem.

Randonneur - you suggested Orange - did you need a French Bank Acount to set this up?

Anyone got any other options?

Many thanks

Yes, we live here so it was no problem. Can't understand why you need to supply details of a French Bank Account as you can pay by Credit/Debit card. I think that it is probaly French bureacracy (excuse spelling), they like to have people shuffling paper. As long as you can supply security information at the time it should be okay as you are doing PayGo.

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[DavidRapido]

Thanks Randonneur

I had a very frustrating conversation with the staff in the shop on that point!!

Will try again in July

David