wifi in France..local French sim and a unlocked mifi (1 Viewer)

Heyupluv

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This may be a bit drawn out, but I always think the more info you have the better

Well this is a update on the good work VeeVee did as I was already going down the same lines as Jamie...
Jamie had purchased a unlock mifi off the internet Ebay and used a "3" 3gb UK sim in France and it worked in France.....But it would be on roaming chargers..I think the charge is 0.69p per mb:Doh: expensive.....
The French sim I purchased works out at £0.08 per mb...it will get a little cheaper the more mb you purchase

So I had to wait till I came back to the uk to try a similar exercise.

We purchased a "3" mifi from Argos a Three Huawei E5331 MiFi 1GB Prepay (PAYG) Mobile WiFi Wireless Modem -
like this one on ebay
Link Removed
...
This was £39.99 BUT you had to purchase a 1gb "3" sim at the same time that was the deal..making the total £49.99..the mifi was a Huawei E5331..this is supposed to be a budget mifi.....but what I had read on the forums it is the same as veevee's E586 but even though budget it was of a better spec and one the latest mifi's...... but you did not get a base charging station..is that the budget bit????instead you got a usb cable to recharge from your computer:Doh:
Also while we was in the uk we had come to purchase a new laptop computer from Argos ( as we were ready for a new one and we required the qwerty keyboard not a French keyboard..)

Now things are looking better we were given a £10.00 voucher for buying the lappy...Knock that off the £39.99 mifi from Argos ..making it only £29.99 as we still have the 1 gb sim for when we next come over to the UK untouched....as I used our 2 x 1gb sim cards purchased at Amazon uk at a cost of £3.99 each ...we used one of these to set up the MIFI up while still in the uk.

Then I purchased a unlock code off ebay for £1.95 and unlocked the Mifi.
We then ordered a French sim from Orange.....
This is so we can use a local French sim card in France and still use "3" when we come back to the UK.
The French ordered orange sim was done on the internet...took two days to come...entered into the mifi....

Then you look in the box for secured and unsecured networks....find the mifi..(when your mifi is charged up.). click on it...connected...

The cost of the French sim card as it came with 100mb to used in 15 days from when you set the sim up.....you can then recharge on the internet....or you could buy another sim....BUT there is always a BUT there is a piece of paper you must return before 15 days maximum 30 days or you will be cut off??????? not sure what happens after that,.... will you never be able to get another sim card.

We are also in the process of buying another sim from Orange as I would think the 100mb are just about used up setting things up.testing on the three laptop/netbooks to make sure all are working ok:cry::cry::Doh:

Also we will be buying a SFR and trying that sim out..

Once you are up and running the more mb you buy it does get a little cheaper and you can do it online.
The one I purchased was a package sim and 100mb...just to try it out
Also you should be able to do the same in Spain and Portugal..buy a local sim.

I will come back with more info on the form you send back when I have spoken with SWIMBO.

I have a day of it today as:Doh:....problems with the new HP lappy... not connecting wifi to my livebox:Doh

There is nothing Cheap in France especially WIFI...unless you are on a campsite with wifi:


I hope this info is of some help to you..............Mel
 
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That's good info on the French sim cards Mel, what are they costing for 100 MB?

The problem we have found with French sims (until now for phone and text use only) is the service you are buying expires so quickly (a matter of days and weeks not months) and the original sim costs so much.

Our last SFR sim had a 6 month expiry if not used and as we only use a French sim for a day here or a couple there we hardly ever use it and yes it has expired, that's 35 euros down the pan and we didn't bother to replace it. Now we just use our UK mobile for the few times we make or recieve calls on the move (most of our time in France we use our landlines so mobiles aren't critical unless we have to go off somewhere for a few days).

Have you found a French data sim that doesn't expire yet?

Thanks and keep up the good work as it all helps...
 

callumwa

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I have just ordered this sim for data use in some Euro countries where I do not have a cheap local sim. € 2 per day for 100mb. Not too bad for light use.

The SIM-Card is valid for 12 months. Every time you recharge your airtime credit, the validity of your SIM-Card is extended by another 12 months. No contract is needed.

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€39 for the sim including €5 credit.. A bit expensive to start with I must say, but then you can purchase further top ups, each top up transaction costs €3.90

Strangely enough in Italy it is €2 per day for 500 mb and we are now on the way to Sardinia.:thumb::thumb: Now that sounds good.....:thumb:

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Heyupluv

Heyupluv

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That's good info on the French sim cards Mel, what are they costing for 100 MB?

The problem we have found with French sims (until now for phone and text use only) is the service you are buying expires so quickly (a matter of days and weeks not months) and the original sim costs so much.

Our last SFR sim had a 6 month expiry if not used and as we only use a French sim for a day here or a couple there we hardly ever use it and yes it has expired, that's 35 euros down the pan and we didn't bother to replace it. Now we just use our UK mobile for the few times we make or recieve calls on the move (most of our time in France we use our landlines so mobiles aren't critical unless we have to go off somewhere for a few days).

Have you found a French data sim that doesn't expire yet?

Thanks and keep up the good work as it all helps...


Jamie sorry for the misprint it was 8 euros for the sim and 100mb...(NOT £8.00 as I had put)...that equals to £6.66 ....or £0.6,6p per mbn

WHOOOOOOPS sorry all .....its a old age thing, just come back from the Uk and still in £ sterling not euros
 

quarryjmiller

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This may be a bit drawn out, but I always think the more info you have the better

Well this is a update on the good work VeeVee did as I was already going down the same lines as Jamie...
Jamie had purchased a unlock mifi off the internet Ebay and used a "3" 3gb UK sim in France and it worked in France.....But it would be on roaming chargers..I think the charge is 0.69p per mb:Doh: expensive.....
The French sim I purchased works out at £0.08 per mb...it will get a little cheaper the more mb you purchase

So I had to wait till I came back to the uk to try a similar exercise.

We purchased a "3" mifi from Argos a Three Huawei E5331 MiFi 1GB Prepay (PAYG) Mobile WiFi Wireless Modem -
like this one on ebay
Link Removed
...
This was £39.99 BUT you had to purchase a 1gb "3" sim at the same time that was the deal..making the total £49.99..the mifi was a Huawei E5331..this is supposed to be a budget mifi.....but what I had read on the forums it is the same as veevee's E586 but even though budget it was of a better spec and one the latest mifi's...... but you did not get a base charging station..is that the budget bit????instead you got a usb cable to recharge from your computer:Doh:
Also while we was in the uk we had come to purchase a new laptop computer from Argos ( as we were ready for a new one and we required the qwerty keyboard not a French keyboard..)

Now things are looking better we were given a £10.00 voucher for buying the lappy...Knock that off the £39.99 mifi from Argos ..making it only £29.99 as we still have the 1 gb sim for when we next come over to the UK untouched....as I used our 2 x 1gb sim cards purchased at Amazon uk at a cost of £3.99 each ...we used one of these to set up the MIFI up while still in the uk.

Then I purchased a unlock code off ebay for £1.95 and unlocked the Mifi.
We then ordered a French sim from Orange.....
This is so we can use a local French sim card in France and still use "3" when we come back to the UK.
The French ordered orange sim was done on the internet...took two days to come...entered into the mifi....

Then you look in the box for secured and unsecured networks....find the mifi..(when your mifi is charged up.). click on it...connected...

The cost of the French sim card as it came with 100mb to used in 15 days from when you set the sim up.....you can then recharge on the internet....or you could buy another sim....BUT there is always a BUT there is a piece of paper you must return before 15 days maximum 30 days or you will be cut off??????? not sure what happens after that,.... will you never be able to get another sim card.

We are also in the process of buying another sim from Orange as I would think the 100mb are just about used up setting things up.testing on the three laptop/netbooks to make sure all are working ok:cry::cry::Doh:

Also we will be buying a SFR and trying that sim out..

Once you are up and running the more mb you buy it does get a little cheaper and you can do it online.
The one I purchased was a package sim and 100mb...just to try it out
Also you should be able to do the same in Spain and Portugal..buy a local sim.

I will come back with more info on the form you send back when I have spoken with SWIMBO.

I have a day of it today as:Doh:....problems with the new HP lappy... not connecting wifi to my livebox:Doh

There is nothing Cheap in France especially WIFI...unless you are on a campsite with wifi:


I hope this info is of some help to you..............Mel

Will Orange France post sim cards to UK addresses? We use Le French Mobile (www.lefrenchmobile.com) they are good and much cheaper than using UK sim cards but I doubt that they will be as cheap as a local sim.

I have mentioned Le French Mobile before on another MHF forum but do not have any connection with them by the way.

If you do use them make sure you convert your credit into a data package or it is expensive by they way, I found out the hard way!
 
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Heyupluv

Heyupluv

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Will Orange France post sim cards to UK addresses? We use Le French Mobile (www.lefrenchmobile.com) they are good and much cheaper than using UK sim cards but I doubt that they will be as cheap as a local sim.

I have mentioned Le French Mobile before on another MHF forum but do not have any connection with them by the way.

If you do use them make sure you convert your credit into a data package or it is expensive by they way, I found out the hard way!

Sorry that information, I do not have,.. we live in France......ask.....Orange do have a help line that speak's English.. the same with SFR... go onto there web site and start a chat box going, ask for a person that speaks English....I do this sometimes as it is a lot easier when asking for technical information, to ask in your own native tongue.

Tell them you want to use a local sim card, Orange 3G let's go's prepaid (pour Cle 3G+ et tablettes prepaid for mobile broadband, credit 100mo inclus valable 15 jours) 8 euros ..(in the uk pay as you go)....while you are touring in France...you are not starting a monthly contract, so I can not see why not

Return the piece of paper that comes with the sim card within 15 days
The paper you return ask's for date of birth , email and home address.....
But as I have mentioned before, Funsters from the UK have got a sim card from Cite Europe Calais SFR shop and they will set it running for you.
Hope that helps you.
:thumb:

Mel

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Heyupluv

Heyupluv

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This is the Update to the French sim...this time SFR...

3 Days ago we called at
CORA....this is a big shopping centre, and shopping area..with many outlets
Address...... 1115 rue de la Liberation, 62700, Bruay-la- Buissiere.

Just as you go into the shopping entrance there are a few clothes shops and eating places.
There is also a SFR mobile phone shop.

We purchased an orange dongle, with the sim included...
The cost for the Pay as you go package was 29.90 euros and that gave you a sim with unlimited usage for three days.......then after that you would top up the normal way either by phone and entering the top up number or by internet.
I also asked if the Dongle entitled you to connect to the SFR hotspots, he said oui / yes the cle/key/dongle will automatically take you to the hotspot:thumb:

Now I asked if people from England could purchase this package...oui / Yes.. but only to use in France not other countries:Doh:....
He asked me for my passport to photocopy....I said the passport still has my old UK address...but I do have with me a certificate of residence from our Mayor and valid electric bill ...he said no the passport is ok he does not need to look at anything else.

I hope this is of some help to you .

Me.
 

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