PAYG Internet

[cooperlola]

I know we've discussed this before but no matter what I put in the Search box it comes up with a nil result so appologies for going over old ground!

When I was in hospital in the summer, Mr C invested in an Orange 3g internet dongle so that I could get on line and keep in touch with you lot (amongst other things!)  This proved to be a total pig in a poke as once the free time was used up it refused all my attempts to top it up, register and use the bloomin' thing so it's languised in a drawer ever since.

I now have another stay coming up in the early new year and I'm determined to crack this.  At the same time, my mates who come over here for the race like to stay on line whilst they're here and some need to send photos back to editors in Belgium and the UK so want to get on line but don't want an annual contract.  I've had a look at a company called Le French Mobile who seem relatively reasonable but need a French address, plus now I see that LeClerc have introduced a package for 9 or 15 euros a month dependent upon download amounts.  The latter seems like the perfect thing for me and there are plenty of good value dongles available Sim Free from Amazon so it seems that all I need to do is upgrade my present calls-only account for the month I'm in hospital then revert to the old contract afterwards.

How do the rest of you do it?  How, for instance, do those who don't live here but visit regularly, run their smart phones in France?

All thoughts and ideas for both scenarios gratefully received!

[pachapapa]

Used to be done by Alice but now by Free after taking over Alice.

Note 56k/s  It is slow and modern websites with lots of flash image goodies and adverts will take an eternity.

http://www.busyspider.fr/Alice-aide-connexion-internet-acces-bas-debit-free-libre-facturation-carte-france-telecom.php

[cooperlola]

[quote user="pachapapa"]

Used to be done by Alice but now by Free after taking over Alice.

[/quote]Orange, Leclerc or Le French Mobile?

 

I coped fine for the three days that the Orange 3g worked, the speed was fine for the stuff I use.  But after that, setting it up was well-nigh impossible and as Norman and others on here had similar probs with them I'm determined to change.  Also, it's no help to UK residents as far as I can see.

[pachapapa]

[quote user="cooperlola"][quote user="pachapapa"]

Used to be done by Alice but now by Free after taking over Alice.

[/quote]Orange, Leclerc or Le French Mobile?

 

I coped fine for the three days that the Orange 3g worked, the speed was fine for the stuff I use.  But after that, setting it up was well-nigh impossible and as Norman and others on here had similar probs with them I'm determined to change.  Also, it's no help to UK residents as far as I can see.

[/quote]

Orange bas debit:

http://abonnez-vous.orange.fr/residentiel/bd/bdacceslibre.aspx

If all you want is emails and the Complete France antiquated software forum then bas débit should be enough.

Any mobile 3G will be expensive. I would say prohibitively! well at least on my modest budget;

 

[cooperlola]

So are you telling me that one of these sim cards in my sim-free 3g dongle:

http://www.leclercmobile.fr/formules/options-sms-internet.html

wouldn't work?  Does it only work on WiFi?  Will it only work in a Smartphone, for example? That's really what non-techy me is trying to figure out! 

[pachapapa]

[quote user="cooperlola"]

So are you telling me that one of these sim cards in my sim-free 3g dongle:

http://www.leclercmobile.fr/formules/options-sms-internet.html

wouldn't work?  Does it only work on WiFi?  Will it only work in a Smartphone, for example? That's really what non-techy me is trying to figure out! 

[/quote]

Pass on that...no idea....always presumed that at end of quota the bandwidth would be very limiting.

Also live in a mobile reception black hole.[:)]

[bettyboop]

We had an orange 3g internet dongle,bought it 2 years ago, worked fine, topping up was easy then all of a sudden last time we tried no go, went into the orange shop, she said the sim had expired, had to buy a new one (8 euros) to top it up by 10e mobicarte, ring through the number and it should work. Think I will take the lappie into the orange shop with the mobicarte and get them to do it for us - fingers crossed.

[cooperlola]

Hmm.  I'm not keen on buying more into Orange when they have so  far failed me.

I'm going to give Leclerc a go as I already have their phone and their system is very flexible so if the internet thing doesn't work I can just go back to the normal tarrif.  I assume it's actually aimed at Smartphone users thus I'm struggling to understand what the difference is between them and ordinary internet and thus whether the internet tarrif can be used for my netbook or not.  The dongle I now have  is sim-free so I have a few more options if this doesn't pan out.

[Gfplux]

I live in Luxembourg and have struggled with PAYG Internet on my iPhone4 that is UNLOCKED but contract in Luxembourg.

I need to get Internet connected in France and the UK where I often visit.

Things have been changing recently.

In London last month I payed £15.99 micro sim included for one month of all you could eat Data, 300 minutes talk and 300 SMS's from 3 (a Uk phone company)

My daughter who has an iPhone 3GS also paid £15.99 for the same deal but had to pay £1.99 for a mini sim.

In Luxembourg ( a country not known for competition in telephonica) if you have an UNLOCKED iPhone 4s you can get a similar deal from Tango for €15 but with some strings.

It would appear that things are changing in France looking at the Leclerc link.

Has anyone had personal experience of any of these deals in France.

[Richardbk]

you can get a PAYG mobicard from orange for €7.99 with €5 of voice credit. Once you have this you can subscribe to the option unlimited (500Gb) internet "INTERNET MAX" for 9€ / month. This option can be cancelled at anytime (but you pay for a whole month at a time). You can set this up this option on a telephone starting by dialing #123# and then using text message exchanges.

http://prepaidwithdata.wikia.com/wiki/France for full details.

Then pop it in a dongle. An orange dongle should workfine.

A word on dongles. These are locked to the operator. If your dongle came from a french operator and is over 6 months old you can simply phone them and get the sim unlock code. example here http://assistance.orange.fr/desimlocker-votre-cle-huawei-e1752-4494.php

if not you can either unlock an exisiting dongle or purchase an unlocked (use any SIM) dongle. e.g http://www.unlocked-dongle.co.uk

[cooperlola]

How funny, Richard, that you should pick this moment to post as I have just (literally the minute before I logged on to the forum) upgraded my Leclerc phone to their internet package (I got an Android phone for Christmas) which you can turn off and on day by day at will.  I had an Orange dongle but in common with Norman H, could not get the thing to work once its free couple of days had run out so eventually gave up in disgust!  I've tried to top up the SIM which it came with, have written to them, phoned them, e-mailed them, but to no avail - it continues to tell me that it does not recognise the SIM card any more. 

I have an unlocked dongle so am hoping that with the help of an Ap' I have that I can use the phone as a 3g modem for my netbook.  Which I reckon is pretty much what you are suggesting?  I do think I'm getting there slowly but thanks for the suggestions.  All sounds great in theory but my experience last time was that I never really figured out how bloomin' difficult it was to run the Orange offer until I tried it, thus the more ideas I have the better off I will be.  At least the phone works on 3g and WiFi now, even from my house in the middle of nowhere, Sarthe!

[Richardbk]

The problem is that the mobicard internet option is not widely publicised. Many people have had difficulty using orange customer service and orange shops getting it enabled. the lesson here is do it yourself by dialing #123#. Also what you need to remember is that you need a phone to set the card up and go for the Internet max option rather than a daily usage. The only problem with the mobicarte is that it does not have a blackberry internet/mail option, but for all other smart phones it works just fine.

For your current solution remember that to "tether" (relay) e.g use the phone as a modem for a PC the SIM card has to be enabled for this function. Orange charge extra for this. Maybe with leclerc it is included, unless you are using some App that gets around this block.

using the dongle directly in the PC with the SIM inserted is not the same as tethering, so the tether options is not required.

[cooperlola]

Excellent.  So - just to do a dimbo recap': If I put my Internet Illimite enabled Leclerc SIM into my unlocked dongle, it should work with the netbook?  Do I have this correctly?

[Richardbk]

should do - you should even be able to send SMS texts from your PC with it :)

[cooperlola]

Sorted.  You're a star, thanks.  Daft, I know but somehow the stay in hospital seems far better with the internet available.

You are right, btw,  the use of the Leclerc card via my phone acting as a modem is forbidden!