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I am posting this courtesy of Orange France. I got their mobile broadband working today, so while the info is fresh in my mind, here's a 'how to':
Most of the information was lifted from this website.
You should get 500MB of data for €9.
You will need:
1. An unlocked broadband dongle. Mine is from Three (E160G) but there's no reason I can see why Vodafone and others wouldn't work.
2. An Orange France PAYG Mobicarte. Bought mine on Ebay.fr for about €16 including postage. You do not need a special data sim, any Mobicarte will do. You can buy them in France but you will need a French address (I later gave one that I said belonged to my brother's wife - they seemed happy with that).
3. An unlocked mobile phone (doesn't have to be 3G) to set up the service.
4. Connection software. I use MWConn by Markus Weber - freeware.
Once you have got the Mobicarte sim you need to activate it. Stick it in your phone and call 225. (Wait till you get to France to do this, or you may well find, like I did, that Orange get suspicious and suspend your sim until you turn up at one of their shops with ID and a French address.) Orange will text your mobile phone number to you. You should get a small amount of free credit with the sim, so test the phone works. Then buy a ten euro or more top up voucher at one of the many outlets that sell them and phone 224 to key in the 14 digit recharge code on the voucher. Once you have confirmed that the credit has been applied (call 221 and they will send an SMS with your credit), you need to change the tarrif. Phone 220 and listen for the option to change tarrif, then choose Options Multimedia and then tarrif 'Internet Max' (not Internet). €9 will be debited from your credit and you should get an SMS saying that you have selected Internet Max and it will be activated in under 48 hours. I expected a follow-up text to confirm activation, but never got one. Two days later I phoned 722 (not free) and found an English-speaking Orange employee who confirmed that it was activated. I then put the sim into my dongle and fired up MWConn and it worked! Note: you will have to type the APN 'orange' in the Network section of MWConn. I have used the shortcut UMTSGPRS.exe shortcut in the MWConn program group, and it seems pretty quick to me.
As I understand it, the €9 will continue to be taken off your credit every month thereafter. What happens if you want a break of a couple of months and then try to activate Internet Max again, I have no idea.
Hope this helps someone. Please read the link I gave above for further details.
Thanks for the info Doc.
However, to a technophobe like myself it sounds way to complicated.
I'm afraid you lost me at 'Connection software. I use MWConn by Markus Weber - freeware.'. Guess I will have to wait until the technology becomes simple enough for a thickie like myself
I have just followed "DocHolidays" instructions to the letter and I am now sending this from a site in Vichy using the orange mobicarte
The only problem for me was selecting the internet max option. The French
telephone operator or recorded voice is in rapid french with many options. I enlisted the help of a english speaking frenchman to assist. He thought it was a nightmare but was able to sort it out
Many thanks Doc for the info
Roger
We have recently purchased an Orange France dongle which was €9 online. When you receive the package you plug the dongle into your laptop and it automatically loads up the software. This is a PayGo dongle so that you can use it when you want. For our use it will be occasionally. We had to complete a form with our address and the sim card number plus the mobile number associated with the sim card and that was it. When you want to re-charge the dongle you can do this online with a credit/debit card and that's it.
I can only reiterate soapy1's post..........................
Thanks for the info Doc.
However, to a technophobe like myself it sounds way to complicated.
I'm afraid you lost me at 'Connection software. I use MWConn by Markus Weber - freeware.'. Guess I will have to wait until the technology becomes simple enough for a thickie like myself.
This is really useful info. I am going to france next month and currently have a Vodafone 3G USB modem which after much communication with Vodafone is I beleive unlocked. I dont understand why you need a French address for a PAYG sim though. Not sure how I will get around that one and I speak virtually no French so this may be an issue. Could I not just take my laptop and modem into an Orange shop and ask them to sort it? This was my plan until I saw your post. Do you get 3G coverage with this then? what is the speed like? for emails its not an issue but occasionally I need to access PC's remotely in the UK and a high speed connection is best for this.
We have recently purchased an Orange France dongle which was €9 online. When you receive the package you plug the dongle into your laptop and it automatically loads up the software. This is a PayGo dongle so that you can use it when you want. For our use it will be occasionally. We had to complete a form with our address and the sim card number plus the mobile number associated with the sim card and that was it. When you want to re-charge the dongle you can do this online with a credit/debit card and that's it.
Hi Randonneur
Did you actually get a dongle modem from Orange France or just the sim card? When you completed the form did you give a UK or French address. Its crucial for me that I get this sorted for my Trip in May as I cant go if I dont have internet access its as simple as that. Should I be sorting out all these bits and pieces here in the UK or can I wait until I am in France and call in a mobile shop?
I'm very intrested in doing this as well, if anyone finds someone that sells them deliverd to the uk could you please post.
In way of contribution if you need a modem thats unlocked cheap head over to o2.co.uk have bought 2 from there for £29 and they were both unlocked plus you get a o2 payg data sim for £2 per day access for the odd weekend your away.
All the ones ive had were unlocked and if they dont do that any more then just send it back within the trial period. I found the re-flash for them online to put them back to the non branded software, then its simply a case of creating a profile for the orange sim.
Oops just a thought use quidco.co.uk as well for extra savings, the two i bought at £29 both tracked on quidco for £40 though im sure thats a mistake the still list them as £40 now.
So
Unlocked E160 Modem
Payg Data Sim
Wait 4 months
They pay you £11, Im not giving a money back gurantee on this but thats exactly what i got from them.
Regarding MWConn - if you use an unlocked non-Orange dongle then it will not have the right connection software pre-installed, so you have to use third party software. MWConn is pretty simple to use - really you just have to enter the Orange France APN (Access Point Name) and ask it to find a connection.
But 9€ for a dongle is astoundingly cheap, Randonneur - does it come with any data allowance, and if so what duration? If you can buy it online in France that sounds the best solution, but you will of course need a French address for delivery.
I assumed that I was asked to go into an Orange shop and provide an address because I got hasty and activated the Mobicarte whilst still in the UK, then didn't use if for several weeks until I got to France, and that made them suspicious. But maybe it's just a legal requirement and we all have to do it? I gave the address of the Ebay woman I bought the dongle from, without her knowledge - bit naughty.
Yes, the tarrif options menu is hard to follow in French, but just keep trying and you'll get it done eventually. Or an Orange shop should do it for you.
As regards speed, I haven't used it for three months, but I think it was generally pretty quick. If you need to remotely access a PC in the UK, barryd, then will you have the option to move your MH a few miles until you get a better signal?
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