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Internet that can be turned on and off at will


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I think I mentioned previously that I was trying Joemobile. Well, I am using it now and it seems pretty good. This is probably most useful for owners of holiday homes. Joemobile runs on SFR's mobile network, and allows you to switch on and off your monthly subscription as and when you wish. Obviously you pay for a minimum of a month at a time, but if you stop it say at the end of one month and then restart 6 weeks later, your "month" runs from the restart date, not the original start of the month or whatever it was. Where a 4G signal is available, you get 4G speeds. Obviously usage is capped, but it seems to be worth considering if your need for internet usage is intermittent. To use it, I bought a UK "3" network PAYG 4G Huawei 5372 mobile WiFi box which provides a WiFi hotspot.

I am a mere user; I have no link with the provider other than as a user.

 

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A timely post Pickles, I was trying to find out about mobile internet for France, I know of someone who has a mobile internet via Vodaphone in Spain and although slow, their's is unlimited.  Slow is good as it means childrens (and adults) won't be tempted to try and download loads or game on it.

I was also going to look at 3's network as I have some friends who use that service when in France and were delighted when it went on their UK service bill at UK costs.

What does the Joemobile supply, if you need the Huawei box as well?  SFR, doesn't work in my village, I have one of their dongles and the charming manager suggested I moved house rather than refund!  French customer service, a true legend.

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[quote user="Théière"]I was also going to look at 3's network as I have some friends who use that service when in France and were delighted when it went on their UK service bill at UK costs.

[/quote]

3 UK is very good for UK-based people who occasionally travel abroad: its "Feel at home" service, currently available in 16 countries including France, gives usage abroad at the same cost as in the UK if you are on a contract. PAYG skinflints like me have to buy a month's bundle to get the same, but even without that, incoming calls are free in France etc. My smartphone is on 3.

[quote user="Théière"]What does the Joemobile supply, if you need the Huawei box as well?  SFR, doesn't work in my village, I have one of their dongles and the charming manager suggested I moved house rather than refund!  French customer service, a true legend.

[/quote]

Joemobile only provides SIM cards; you supply the kit. It has two offerings, a 5€/month basic plan (probably best suited to a dumb phone or low-data smartphone use and a 20€/month 3GB 4G plan, suitable for smartphones (VOIP and Tethering are allowed), dongles or MiFi boxes. It is the latter that I am using. You can add-on more data or minutes to either as you wish, but the key thing is that you can turn it on and off easily.

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Pickles, I never confuse skintflints with the wise [geek]  I am on GiffGaff payg now and seen a big saving over contracts.  I intended to get a 3 sim but as I will have to look carefully at their contracts first that may not happen.

I got a LeClerc sim on my last visit and that's on Vodaphones network so good reception in our village and it's not the usual ones it's for cheap calls abroad which it is indeed at 2 or 3 cents a minute to the UK from France. (smart phone with dual sim)

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[quote user="Théière"]I am on GiffGaff payg now and seen a big saving over contracts.  I intended to get a 3 sim but as I will have to look carefully at their contracts first that may not happen.

[/quote]

Aha! We were on GiffGaff PAYG: the only reason why I changed was the foreign usage deal with 3.

Of course, the market may be shaken up again after Dec 2015, when the EU abolishes voice and data roaming charges ...

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I had a similar deal at €9 a month with cancellation at any time through Bouygues, until just recently. It probably costs a bit more now but it gave me a reasonable monthly data allowance and once that was used it slowed down rather than cut off. I only cancelled because Bouygues reception has deteriorated in my little area and it had become useless.

I got the mini wifi hotspot thingy from them too, and if I want to start the contract again I can get a new sim for €5 or I could simply use the equipment with a sim from another network.
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[quote user="Pickles"]I think I mentioned previously that I was trying Joemobile. Well, I am using it now and it seems pretty good. This is probably most useful for owners of holiday homes. Joemobile runs on SFR's mobile network, and allows you to switch on and off your monthly subscription as and when you wish. Obviously you pay for a minimum of a month at a time, but if you stop it say at the end of one month and then restart 6 weeks later, your "month" runs from the restart date, not the original start of the month or whatever it was. Where a 4G signal is available, you get 4G speeds. Obviously usage is capped, but it seems to be worth considering if your need for internet usage is intermittent. To use it, I bought a UK "3" network PAYG 4G Huawei 5372 mobile WiFi box which provides a WiFi hotspot.

I am a mere user; I have no link with the provider other than as a user.

 

[/quote]

Thank you for this info. I don't want to appear thick but have a problem fully grasping this type of technology. I'd like to be able to temporarily connect to the internet when (often and regularly) staying at internet-deprived in-laws in rural France, but where nonetheless, a mobile signal is operative. Perhaps you can help me to understand better the principle: you say you bought a UK 3 PAYG example. Does this mean that you "connect" to the UK 3 network whilst using this item when in France? Is the Huawei 5372 "locked" to the 3 network? Or is it unlocked and  you just put in a French sim card when in France? Are there special sim cards for this type of set-up....a Joemobile one for example? Does this company have shops where you can buy them? (and how much are they?)

I'd appreciate any advice you can give.

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For 3 mobile you might like to look at the following link.

http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Roaming_and_international/Mobile_Roaming?content_aid=1214306374696

Read the bottom bit about who the partners are and make sure when you get here (don't forget to activate roaming on your phone before you leave the UK) make sure it selects one of the partners. Apart from the extra cost for calling a French landline everything comes out of your limit as normal. If you have the 'all you can eat data' addin then its happy days as Internet access on your phone won't cost you a penny here.

I don't know the date yet but it is sometime in 2015 all roaming charges in the EU will have ended.

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[quote user="Deepdale"]

Thank you for this info. I don't want to appear thick but have a problem fully grasping this type of technology. I'd like to be able to temporarily connect to the internet when (often and regularly) staying at internet-deprived in-laws in rural France, but where nonetheless, a mobile signal is operative. Perhaps you can help me to understand better the principle: you say you bought a UK 3 PAYG example. Does this mean that you "connect" to the UK 3 network whilst using this item when in France? Is the Huawei 5372 "locked" to the 3 network? Or is it unlocked and  you just put in a French sim card when in France? Are there special sim cards for this type of set-up....a Joemobile one for example? Does this company have shops where you can buy them? (and how much are they?)

I'd appreciate any advice you can give.

[/quote]

There are two things going on here.

1: Joemobile is a SIM-only provider. They are effectively a virtual mobile phone and internet service provider, using SFR's network.

To keep things simple: I bought in the UK a "Mi-Fi" device, which takes a SIM and connects to the mobile phone network and gives a Wi-Fi signal that you can connect to with your tablets or whatever. All equipment sold by 3 in the UK is unlocked (hence the Huawei 5372 was unlocked), so you can just put the SIM of any other provider into it.  In this case I put the SIM from Joemobile into it, it connects to the mobile network and gives me internet access.

The Joemobile SIM is really intended for smartphones and allows you to use VOIP (eg Skype) and to use the smartphone to provide a wi-fi hotspot to connect other devices by wi-fi (eg tablets etc). This is called "Tethering". It was just convenient for me to use it in a Mi-Fi device - I could have just put it into my smartphone instead. 

Joemobile does not have shops: you can order one via the internet for delivery to a French address - but you do not have to provide proof of address. It arrives VERY quickly when ordered. Have a look at their two offerings at www.joemobile.fr

The main advantage of the 20€/month offering is that you can use it for one month, suspend the service (by logging into the website) and thus saving the monthly fee, and then, as long as you restart it again within 6 months, your account will remain active.

2: The 3 network in the UK does good voice and data roaming deals: pay-monthly contracts can use their mobile voice and data in France and 15 other countries as if they were still in the UK, with calls and data usage being counted towards their normal UK allowance. There is a slightly more complicated system for PAYG users like me. The one thing that they do not allow is tethering whilst roaming.

When you roam in France with say a UK 3 SIM, you connect to the French partner mobile network and are effectively accessing the internet from there.

My understanding is that the date for abolishing mobile voice and data roaming charges in the EU is December 2015.

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[quote user="BJSLIV"]1: Joemobile is a SIM-only provider. They are effectively a virtual mobile phone and internet service provider, using SFR's network.

And they are even owned by SFR![/quote]

Morning [:)]

Any other alternatives you know of as SFR doesn't have any reception in my village as this does sound a possible solution for my needs.

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Pickles, thank you very much for the simple and concise further info. If only everything concerning this type of new media could be explained as comprehensively clearly as you have done, then there would be a lot less misunderstanding and confusion circulating! I went in to my local 3 shop today, asked similar questions, and received answers that were as clear as mud in reply, full of "ifs, maybes, could bes, dunnos and oo-ers-that's-a-difficult-one-sir.....you'd-have-to-check"....which is what I went in for in the first place! Thanks again.

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Just a couple of additional details:

1) I bought the Huawei 5372 because it can receive 4G signals where they are available - this results in a faster data connection than using 3G.

2) Some of the "um ... errrr" comments from 3 UK staff might have arisen because if you are away for complete months in "Feel at home" destinations more than twice per year, 3 UK will consider this to be a breach of the contract. As it says in the small print, it is intended for occasional visits abroad, not for use abroad for a significant part of the year. This was why we investigated Joemobile for use in France in the first place.

Of course our plan was overtaken by events in that we subsequently accepted an offer on our apartment and thus our needs are about to change again, but that's life.

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I just noticed this; The Knowhow Mobile Wifi in the Currys Christmas catalogue.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/phones-broadband-gps/mobile-phones-and-broadband/mobile-broadband/knowhow-mobile-wifi-10024034-pdt.html?intcmpid=display~RR

As I see it the benefit is that for £7.99 a month you get 1gb of data , or for £25.99 10gb of data.

You can change the subscription each month.

The excess usage charges aren't too excessive

You can use it in the UK or France you even get a free top of 10% in France

It includes 4G where available.

Seems pretty good all round.

It's actually the first thing I have ever seen in a Christmas Gift catalogue that looks even vaguely enticing!
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  • 4 months later...
Since I have mentioned and recommended Joemobile several times, I thought I'd better update this thread. Since SFR and Virgin Mobile were recently taken over by Numericable, Joemobile has been scrapped with effect from today - there is a run-out period in which you can transfer your number elsewhere but basically it is closed to new customers and is being scrapped. The replacement offerings are of course continuous subscriptions which cannot be turned on and off at will.

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