3G Mobile Broadband in France

[Pixie Toadstool]

I wonder if anyone has more information on this. 

I have been told by 3 in the UK that if I buy a dongle modem from them for £100 I can have 1GB of broadband download for a month for £10 (more money for higher downloads)  plus a £3 roaming charge whilst away from the UK.  Although the initial outlay is high this might be worthwhile in the end since we have managed to spend about £100 on broadband alone just in the month of August when we are there for the school holidays (we only have dial up and I am still not convinced of the value and practicalities of going for broadband in France until we are resident - which probably won't be for at least another couple of years).

1. Does anyone know of an internet tool that can assess accurately my usual broadband download so that I can work out what I need/what I can afford?
2. Does anyone know of a better offer from anyone else?
3. Does anyone have any information about how reliable this type of broadband would be.  3 reassured me that it is actually at a very high throughput and that the service is good.

Thanks in anticipation![8-)]

Pix

[Ecossais]

Hi Pix, 

The price your pay for the 3 Mobile Broadband (HSDPA) modem varies according to how long a contract you take and the amount of download you require.  You can buy it on a Pay As You Go basis for £100 (£50 if you are a student according to their website).

The download allowance is for use in the UK only.  Your allowance has to be used within 1 month (no carry over like with a UK mobile).

If you use a 3 Mobile Broadband modem in Europe (PAYG or contract) it will cost you £3 per mB (NOT gB) – its not that there is a £3 roaming surcharge.

The 3 Mobile Broadband service is good – it’s cheaper than the other networks and they have the largest HSDPA coverage area.  I have one, in HSDPA coverage areas surfing the internet, it feels as if it’s working at a similar speed to at home.  Outwith HSDPA areas the speed will drop to 384 kb/sec (3G – still nearly as fast as the slowest landline broadband) or to GPRS in remote locations (slow!).

I don’t think any UK network Mobile Broadband service will be cheap to use abroad.  Maybe the French networks will offer PAYG HSDPA at some point – HSDPA has only been promoted in the UK for about 4-5 months and PAYG has only recently become available.

You don’t have to buy Mobile Broadband modem – some mobiles, like Nokia 6120, N95 and some others are HSDPA compatible – you can connect the phone to your laptop via the data cable or Bluetooth and use it just the same as if it was a modem (charges on 3 are just the same as if you were using a modem).

Regarding measuring your actual broadband usage – I have McAfee Security Centre anti-virus / firewall etc.  This has a “traffic monitor” which details uploads and downloads month to date and last full month.  Your protection software may have something similar?

[Pierre ZFP]

3 Mobile certainly does have the best deal at present but guess what - they don't operate in France which is annoying as they have many innovative features.

In France both Orange and SFR have a mobile ADSL offering (so does Bouygues but it's baffeling) .  To my mind its not bad, some options a bit expensive and the speeds not as high as they could be.  For example, unlimited download at 3.6Mb will cost around 60 € per month.  In Luxembourg, same thing at twice that speed costs 18.90€.  Having said that, for me it could be worth it as I'm too far from an exchange for proper Broadband and would maybe have to have dial-up  (which is not broadband as in OP - pedant's hat off)

SFR has an occasional use tariff of 7.50€ (I think) but they require you to pay 149€ for the dongle! Outrageous! I'm wondering if any 3G dongle would work and just pay for the time used?  I can see in the near future that laptops will come with 3G built in, they same way that they all have Wi Fi and Bluetooth now.

[Pixie Toadstool]

Thanks Pierre and Ecossais for your help.  It seems like it is mostly a case of "watch this space" as things are sure to change in the next 12-18 months in Europe in terms of coverage and then (hopefully) some competition.

Will post if I hear of anything else which is relevant.

Pix

[briwy]

Anyone looking at this needs to be sure that you can get a 3G signal in the area you want to use it in before paying out.

I have a Vodafone 3G card through work which is set up for international use and I have problems getting a signal here in the UK a lot of times let alone in France.

I get the impression that large urban areas are generally OK but rural areas area a nono. Perhaps France has better coverage than the UK but the only place I have tried it is in the Pyrenees and it was totally dead.

Best bet is buy a house close to  MacDonalds and get free WiFi access.

[fortyfive]

I just bought an SFR dongle(3g+) as the price has come down(69 Euro+28Euro prepay use - 30 euro cashback). It works really well in Town but the 3G coverage in France is still thin and non existent outside towns; GPRS Edge is the best you can hope for in the CountrySide. 3G+ is approx 1.2 meg, but GPRS/Edge is worse than a dial up modem.

So I am still a frustrated Internet User in france . I can recommend Quick Hamburger joints as well as Macdonalds....

[musicworkhorse]

Hi Fortyfive,

I am currently considering purchasing a 3G USB Dongle for internet access in France. I feel foreced down this route because Ican't get what I really want, which is a fixed line ADSL connection that I can turn on  and off berore and after my four visits per year to France, so that I don't have to pay the regular monthly charges. I am curious if such a service is available and if not, then apart from taking up residence at the local McDonald what alternatives exist? I guess that 3G Mobile is one option.

[JacquesW]

Hello Music

I have just called FT and signed up for this after reading about it on the forum - looks ideal for what you want.

Cheers

M