USB Dongle

[BLTflyer]

Anyone know if you can buy a usb internet conecter in France like the ones now available in the UK?

 

Orange have a UK pay as you go for £99 (i think its orange).

 

I thought this may be an easy way to get the internet without any comitment, i have looked on French phone sites but no luck?

[AnOther]

Not sure what you mean, can you explain a bit more.

AFAIK there are no PAYG broadband services in France. Other than through a normal residential phone line for which you will have to pay a monthly subscription of course the only other way to access the Internet would be via a mobile phone. I have no specific knowledge of what services are available down that avenue but I'm pretty sure they won't be PAYG !

[BLTflyer]

I am begining to think that these are not yet launched in France,

 

But I could buy (in the UK) a small device that I plug into my laptop which would conect me to the internet, similar to (but not a) mobile phone same sort of deal as a mobile, pay monthly or pay as you go.

It would be great if I could get one that would conect to a French network as I would only pay for what I use and I could conect a Skyp phone as well.

[Deimos]

When you subscribe to ADSL the phone line has to be patched and connected to the ADSL system of your chosen ISP.  When you have an ADSL modem (USB, Ethernet, WiFi, whatever), you need to configure into it (or you computer software) the username and password given to you by your ISP (i.e. the ISP you have a contract with who arranged for France Telecom (or whoever) to patch you phone line to their system).

ADSL is not like some open network where everybodys hone line is just part of some glorious network and you need more than a bit of hardware.

The Orange deal probably has nothing to do with the USB dongle but rather a different method of charging.  You can get USB dongle format ADSL modems in France - just they don't give you access to any free (or even PAYG) ADSL.  You need a contract with an ISP.

Unless of course you mean some sort of GSM device - which again you will need some sort of contract for.  You will need it enabled for international roaming and you will need to check with your phone service provider the coverage with whoever provides their network coverage in France.  A know that a year of so ago my brother purchased a PCMCIA version to do this and it cost a fortune (to access the internet) and was very slow with limited coverage in France.  You probably need to provide more details.

Ian

[Tim]

Unless I've lost the plot (in which case I'm sure someone will tell me) the op is not talking about Wi-Fi is he? In which case his laptop may already be equipped and he could make use of Wi-Fi Hotspots. Not much good for home use admittedly, unless you happen to live door to a Macdonalds or Starbucks. I think these may work as a sort of 'Pay as you go' but the prices vary depending on where you are and which café you are sitting in.

The open network you describe, by the way, is similar to what B.T. are pushing out in some areas of the UK.

Tim

[AnOther]

OK, now I know what you're talking about and it's one of these or similar.

[img]http://3gcard.myceloteh.com/Your%20Total%20Wireless%20Total%20Solution%20%20HSDPA_3GX_3G_EDGE_GPRS%20Data%20Card!_files/dscf00349kz.jpg[/img]

The USB reference threw me because these fit in the PCMCIA slot.

It's basically a mobile phone which interfaces with a laptop and you will need a contract to go with it. I don't know what the deal is in France but in UK it's still pretty expensive to use the Internet via this route.

If you had one on a UK contract I think you could use it virtually worldwide but I don't even want to think about the potential charges [:-))]

[Deimos]

[quote user="ErnieY"]

OK, now I know what you're talking about and it's one of these or similar.

[img]http://3gcard.myceloteh.com/Your%20Total%20Wireless%20Total%20Solution%20%20HSDPA_3GX_3G_EDGE_GPRS%20Data%20Card!_files/dscf00349kz.jpg[/img]

...

If you had one on a UK contract I think you could use it virtually worldwide but I don't even want to think about the potential charges [:-))]

[/quote]

Then add a zero to the number appearing in your nightmares and reduce the speed and you are getting close.  It was one of the PCMCIA cards my brother had for use when visiting France.  Very expensive, very slow and very unreliable.

Ian

[BLTflyer]

Not wifi, its one of these im after

http://www.mobiles.co.uk/3g-vodafone-usb-modem.html

 

I gess there not out in France yet?

You can get them from £10 a month here or PAYG.

[Deimos]

All it is is a USB "phone" - except it only works on data.  My phone (real mobile phone) does the same (connects to my computer via USB and can provide internet, etc.).  Benefit of a real phone is you can make calls and talk as well as using it for data.

What is the obsession with "Not available in France yet".  You keep coming back to that.  I would say the USB box I have got is superior as it does data (via USB) but can also make calls and I got that in France (its just a normal mobile phone with a USB cable).

But you are right in one respect - I have not seen anything T-Mobile in France (except of course that all T-Mobile are doing is paying somebody to put the T-Mobile logo on their non-T-Mobile product, something Orange, SFR or whoever could do).  It is nothing new or revolutionary.  I'd go for a normal phone - more flexible and as for using Skype over it - the mobile phone company would love you (just tell me so I can buy some of their shares first !!).

Ian

[AnOther]

It does basically the same thing as the PCMCIA one just a different form factor.

Don't know if any such service is available in France bit if it is it's unlikley to be any cheaper and I'd say 18 months @ £44 per month is a quite bit of a commitment which is what you said you didn't want [Www]

Not sure where you get the price of £10/mth from, sounds like a basic monthly rental plus additional charge per Mb for downloaded data = ££/€€.

If it really were that cheap we'd all be ditching our fixed line broadband service for it. Many both in UK and France would sell their first born for 3.6mb download speed.

It may be adequate for checking email but even that can gobble up quite a bit of data and by the time you've maybe booked a couple of flights on Ryanair you'll soon be well into your first couple of Mb.

Could you trust yourself not to do a bit of surfing too. What appears to be a "cheap" option could soon run away with you.

[BLTflyer]

Sorry, didnt mean to offend with "not avail in France"

Here is a link to the £10 a month one (scroll down a bit to find it)

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/commerce/servlet/gben-server-PageServer?article=MAIN.UK.INTERNET.STATIC.USBMODEM

 

It differs from a mobile in speed but mainly in cost, I have used one and its as good as a fixed broadband line (or wifi) but you can use it anywhere.

I was hoping to buy a PAYG one on a French network so I would only pay for broadband on the days I use it.

 

PS one of the mobile phone companys has recently launched a Skype phone, i will post a link if I can find it.

[BLTflyer]

http://threestore.three.co.uk/skype/

 

One of the Skype phones.

[Deimos]

Combined WiFi and GSM phones are basically "old news".  Readily available in this backward place called France.  However, Skype is not only old news but also bad news.  They software is just a disaster and their call charge rates are very high (easy to find much cheaper rates using standard telephones).  There seems a growing number of places starting to block Skype (including some US Universities !!).  There is also increasing concern about the security implications of it being "good at crossing  firewalls".  After it became encrypted, security systems cannot see what it is doing and its doing it through your firewall.  Malicious intent by Skype does not worry me as much as the fact that the software is basically crap and full of bugs so who knows what it is doing 'cos the writers don't.

Interesting to see how it is "better than a mobile" as it is a mobile (just without the bits to make a voice call !!).  Can I say my mobile is better than a mobile ? ('cos it reality is is a mobile and faces identical constraints as all other mobiles using the same technology).

Ian

[BLTflyer]

Have you got it in for me?

I am only trying to find out if I can buy one of these Dongles?

I can conect my mobile to my laptop but it is so slow and costs a lot when in France, I had considered buying a French sim card but then I tried one of these things and thought great this is just what I want, its easy and at £10 a mth seems quite cheep.

I dont regard France as a "backward place" and have visited several times a year for over 25 years and have owned my own property in France for the last 8 years, I am sorry if you misread my posts but in noway was I trying to run down France.

It is only in the last few weeks that these Dongles have been available in the UK and I presumed that they hadent been launched in France yet, my mistake if that is not the case, but I did look on lots of French mobile phone sites and couldent find any info.

If anyone knowes if I can buy one while I am in France please point me toards a web site.