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Asking on behalf of a friend who would like internet access while in France at their "renovation project". 

Is it possible to get an internet package that is like Pay As You Go, with no monthly fees, here in France.  Friends only come over maybe 3 or 4 times a year for a maximum stay of a fortnight and would like to be connected and pay for only what they use while they are here.

Any suggestions?

Jan

xx

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Many tourist offices offer free wifi. Also branches of McDonalds and, I noticed today, the branch of Flunch in my local hypermarket.

Unfortuately, all the above would require time away from the renovation project, and would not be available 24/7.

Angela
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[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]If they are in an area of suitable signal strength how about a PAYG 3G dongle? You don't have  a contract and of course not even a phone line.  Not super fast in France but OK for most things.  If you get a good mobile phone signal you should be OK for a dongle[/quote]

Agree - we use one of these when on holiday

http://boutique.orange.fr/ESHOP_mx_orange/?tp=F&ref=54848&IDCible=1&type=11&donnee_appel=ORESH

but it does not work everywhere (or only has a 2G signal).

If you go for this option, I recommend buying the dongle online from the Orange boutique, as last time I looked they cost more than double in the Orange shop in town!

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I have a Bouygues dongle. Well, actually it's not a dongle but a mobile router because ipads don;t have USB ports. It was the cheapest deal and it's on a "cancel anytime" contract for just under €10 a month. Not brilliant but it works well enough to let me check emails and stuff when I'm in France. Much less faffing about than having to set up and cancel Orange every time I'm in France, and it's there waiting for me when I arrive. I can't remember how much data I get for the month, but it's definitely more than enough and if I use more it just slows down rather than cutting off or having to pay more.

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We have an EE dongle - just charge the card up in Blighty, then buy a Eurobooster when required. They come in various 'sizes' depending what you want to see on the Internet.

It is possible to recharge your card over the Internet if you misestimated how much you want to use.
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Not wishing to contradict Betty but you can use Skype (at least voice not video) but it all depends on your connection and supplier.

Here in Luxembourg I get a solid 7.2 Mbit/s using on HSDPA and 10.8 on HSPA+ in most areas.

In France generally I get 3G or even worse EDGE but as long as you are getting around 2Mbit/s or more Skype will work fine

Free Wi Fi in Flucnch will work but you have to sit near the aerial and hope they remembered to start the router in the morning.  It's not fast either so you can get old just waiting for the weather report.

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Hi

We too have a Bouyges Telecom 3G dongle which works well. Sometimes we can only get Edge but mostly have 3G. It was easy to set up but you do have to have a French bank account (unless that has changed), and it is easy to top up. Skype can be a bit hit and miss but again, sometimes is ok. You do have to have a bit of patience especially if you are used to super fast broadband but it is good to be able to keep in touch, book tickets and pay bills etc.
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[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]

Not wishing to contradict Betty but you can use Skype (at least voice not video) but it all depends on your connection and supplier.

[/quote]

Which is what I said, but rather badly, I admit! I certainly can't use that or facetime unless I'm standing on one leg in the bedroom (which doesn't make for pretty video viewing) but one advantage of a dongle is that you can wander about )at home or further afield) until you find a signal that's good enough to allow you to do these things, if you're really desperate to see the person you're talking to, or to call them for free. However, something else to take into account is that often you're paying more for the data than you would for a normal phone call so it's a case of weighing up which is your best option.

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Changing tack  a wee bit but if you are a UK resident and have BT Broadband they say you have the use of loads of hotspots all over Europe, would this work? or is it only localised in built up areas.

Something we have looked into as well is satellite broadband, one I have found is on a PAYG tariff,  I think its 7 pounds per gigabyte. Also I would be tempted to have a UK contract against a French contract. Saves getting any HADOPI letters.

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It's worthless! Effectively unless you are invited into the home of someone who has enabled their wifi as a hotspot, your only chance is parking up outside their house and hoping their wifi signal is strong enough for you to link in with your BT credentials....

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