GPRS in France

DaveRo · **GPRS in France -** 02-03-2007, 20:33

In April I will be sailing from the south of France to Corsica and then Italy. I need access to the internet by GPRS for weather forecasts. Once I get to Italy I can use a Wind offer but I'm looking for the cheapest GPRS deal in France - which has to beat the 5GBP (€8.5) / Mb which Virgin UK gives.

I see that Orange FR offers 'option internet' which gives 10Mb for €6 per month. I think that can be used with a prepaid 'mobicarte'
http://animation.orange.fr/frameset/....php?SA=MOBOIM

(It says on that page that the 'option plus internet' is not available with mobicarte.)

Can someone confirm that 'option internet' is in fact available with a prepaid SIM?

Any cheaper options for France? Ideally I'd want >30Mb a month.

Réponses en français bienvenues.

Dave

DaveRo · 14-03-2007, 09:59

Follow up: I now have an Orange FR mobicarte and I've been trying to see how to subscribe to this (though I'm still in the UK with no credit so I can't actually subscribe).

Result: I don't think this 'option internet' actually exists - or if it exists it's unavailable to mobicarte. When I log in I can't subscribe to the option. Although the web page above obviously exists I think it's an orphan; if you follow the crumbtrail back you can't return to it.

So, with a combination of high GPRS cost and ludicrous credit expiry rules, I don't think I'll be using this card.

I'll have to stick to my UK virgin card at 5GBP/Mb.

Dave

DaveRo · 25-03-2007, 13:44

I asked on French forum and was told that 'option internet' is available with mobicarte: #123# or 220 to subscribe. 6€ for 10mo
I'll try it when I'm there in April.

RTuesday · 25-03-2007, 19:26

Looks like the details are on this page:
http://mobile.orange.fr/0/visiteur/P..._internet.html

Seems that mobicarte can get 10MB for 6 euro, or 5MB for 3 euro, but not the middle option, and no free initial month. No wi-fi. Has to be used within 31 days of activating.

dg7feq · 25-03-2007, 22:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by RTuesday

Looks like the details are on this page:
http://mobile.orange.fr/0/visiteur/P..._internet.html

Seems that mobicarte can get 10MB for 6 euro, or 5MB for 3 euro, but not the middle option, and no free initial month. No wi-fi. Has to be used within 31 days of activating.

Yes, absolutely correct. The mobicarte users get charged once for the money and have 31 days to use up the volume that they purchase. As far as i understand the option does not renew itself on the prepaid cards.

Chris

DaveRo · 25-03-2007, 23:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by dg7feq

Yes, absolutely correct...

Yes, that's what it says, but have you actually used it? If so can you tell me the APN, username, password, and SMTP server? (I've found various suggestions for these on the web but I'm looking for confirmation from someone who's actually used it.)

I tried 'configuration' on the orange website and it offered to send me a WAP config. I've also downloaded the 'kit connexion' - which is for a PC card. It contains an APN - but it's not one that I've found elsewhere. TIA

joeuser · 29-03-2007, 13:37

any luck with the orange mobicarte gprs yet? i tried to buy one online but it only works when you're french. the question is, can you simply walk into a store in france and buy one? or will they require french passports etc?

also... can you have several of this 10mb/6e options after another (in the same month) or are you sort of fucked when the 10mb are gone?

greetings,
joe

DaveRo · 29-03-2007, 13:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeuser

any luck with the orange mobicarte gprs yet? i tried to buy one online but it only works when you're french. the question is, can you simply walk into a store in france and buy one? or will they require french passports etc?

I'm not in France until mid-April so I haven't tried it yet.

I bought the SIM on French ebay. It was already registered (I assume by the seller - though the SIM was still in its carrier). I looked online and the number's in somebody else's name. I have no credit and because of the stupid credit expiry rules I'm not going to recharge it until I get there.

I expect to have to ring their helpline and have an argument!

I don't know how easy they are to buy in France.

Dave

joeuser · 21-04-2007, 10:56

any news yet with the frenchie sim? does it work

?

DaveRo · 23-04-2007, 16:45

First the good news. I confirm that you can subscribe to Option Internet with an orange.fr mobicarte. It involved ringing 722 (not free) and asking. I got an SMS confirming.

I don't think it would normally be a problem except I got this card in the UK from ebay.fr and it's actually registered in someone else's name. This caused a protracted discussion; they wouldn't do it until I could remember that person's name.

Now the bad news. I can't make a GPRS connection. I'm using APN="orange.fr" user="orange" pswd="orange". My PDA makes a PPP connection, authenticates (PAP) OK, gets DNS info - and then gets thown out. The phone (Nokia 6310i) says "subscribe to GPRS service first" or something similar. This suggests to me that I need to subscribe to a data service separately but I can't see how to do that on the orange.fr website. Anyone got any ideas?

I'm back in France next week, and I'll try ringing 722 again: I still have €2 credit from my €10 - having transferred zero bytes so far. But I'm not any more throwing away any more euros on this.

Having subscribed I can see nothing on the orange.fr website to tell me how much of my 10Mb I've got left. As to whether Option Internet automatically renews every month - something the helpdesk said suggested it did but I don't know.

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	(#1)
DaveRo (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 153 Join Date: 07 Jul 2006 Country:	GPRS in France - 02-03-2007, 20:33 In April I will be sailing from the south of France to Corsica and then Italy. I need access to the internet by GPRS for weather forecasts. Once I get to Italy I can use a Wind offer but I'm looking for the cheapest GPRS deal in France - which has to beat the 5GBP (€8.5) / Mb which Virgin UK gives. I see that Orange FR offers 'option internet' which gives 10Mb for €6 per month. I think that can be used with a prepaid 'mobicarte' http://animation.orange.fr/frameset/....php?SA=MOBOIM (It says on that page that the 'option plus internet' is not available with mobicarte.) Can someone confirm that 'option internet' is in fact available with a prepaid SIM? Any cheaper options for France? Ideally I'd want >30Mb a month. Réponses en français bienvenues. Dave

	(#2)
DaveRo (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 153 Join Date: 07 Jul 2006 Country:	14-03-2007, 09:59 Follow up: I now have an Orange FR mobicarte and I've been trying to see how to subscribe to this (though I'm still in the UK with no credit so I can't actually subscribe). Result: I don't think this 'option internet' actually exists - or if it exists it's unavailable to mobicarte. When I log in I can't subscribe to the option. Although the web page above obviously exists I think it's an orphan; if you follow the crumbtrail back you can't return to it. So, with a combination of high GPRS cost and ludicrous credit expiry rules, I don't think I'll be using this card. I'll have to stick to my UK virgin card at 5GBP/Mb. Dave

	(#3)
DaveRo (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 153 Join Date: 07 Jul 2006 Country:	25-03-2007, 13:44 I asked on French forum and was told that 'option internet' is available with mobicarte: #123# or 220 to subscribe. 6€ for 10mo I'll try it when I'm there in April.

	(#4)
RTuesday (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 344 Join Date: 28 Mar 2005 Location: See flag Country:	25-03-2007, 19:26 Looks like the details are on this page: http://mobile.orange.fr/0/visiteur/P..._internet.html Seems that mobicarte can get 10MB for 6 euro, or 5MB for 3 euro, but not the middle option, and no free initial month. No wi-fi. Has to be used within 31 days of activating.

	(#7)
joeuser (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 3 Join Date: 29 Mar 2007 Country:	29-03-2007, 13:37 any luck with the orange mobicarte gprs yet? i tried to buy one online but it only works when you're french. the question is, can you simply walk into a store in france and buy one? or will they require french passports etc? also... can you have several of this 10mb/6e options after another (in the same month) or are you sort of fucked when the 10mb are gone? greetings, joe Last edited by joeuser; 29-03-2007 at 13:55..

	(#9)
joeuser (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 3 Join Date: 29 Mar 2007 Country:	21-04-2007, 10:56 any news yet with the frenchie sim? does it work ?

	(#10)
DaveRo (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 153 Join Date: 07 Jul 2006 Country:	23-04-2007, 16:45 First the good news. I confirm that you can subscribe to Option Internet with an orange.fr mobicarte. It involved ringing 722 (not free) and asking. I got an SMS confirming. I don't think it would normally be a problem except I got this card in the UK from ebay.fr and it's actually registered in someone else's name. This caused a protracted discussion; they wouldn't do it until I could remember that person's name. Now the bad news. I can't make a GPRS connection. I'm using APN="orange.fr" user="orange" pswd="orange". My PDA makes a PPP connection, authenticates (PAP) OK, gets DNS info - and then gets thown out. The phone (Nokia 6310i) says "subscribe to GPRS service first" or something similar. This suggests to me that I need to subscribe to a data service separately but I can't see how to do that on the orange.fr website. Anyone got any ideas? I'm back in France next week, and I'll try ringing 722 again: I still have €2 credit from my €10 - having transferred zero bytes so far. But I'm not any more throwing away any more euros on this. Having subscribed I can see nothing on the orange.fr website to tell me how much of my 10Mb I've got left. As to whether Option Internet automatically renews every month - something the helpdesk said suggested it did but I don't know.