Internet access in France

[PaulRT]

Hi All
In the UK we keep 'connected' when touring via a prepaid Vodaphone dongle inserted into my netbook.
I am currently looking for a similar device for a month in France. As far as I can see from internet searches, there appear to be two possibilities for buying a 'Cle 3G' in France without a contract. SFR advertise a Cle at 39.9 euros with cards from 3-35 euros. Bouyges Telecom show a Cle for 59 euros (with a current offer of a reduction of 30 euros) with cards from 4-25 euros.
Has anyone got any recent experience of using either of these with any comments on their coverage etc.?
Thanks in advance.
Cheers
Paul

 

[DavidKlyne]

I have a Vodafone dongle which I have used in France and Germany but only in an emergency. I was in the small town of Sees, not far from the centre and I struggled to get a signal. It was not so bad in Germany. My own view would be that the cheapest option is often the campsite WiFi. The problem in buying a French Sim/Dongle is whether you can do this without a French address. If you succeed would be interested to know how you get on.

David

 

[NickinFrance]

You can buy a PAYG Cle 3g adapters without a French address.
The top-up cards are for a number of hours/days rather than the amount of data as in the UK though.
Coverage for any particular network is as random as the UK networks, one network can be good in one place but bad a few hundred yards away where another is better.
I don't know if it applies to PAYG data plans but I can connect to the routers of Bouygtel ADSL customers via WiFi with my Bouygtel contract smartphone, I know SFR offer the same thing.

 

[smiley]

I can't help you with dongles although I was thinking of getting something this year myself.

But I know the Flunch do free Wi Fi You just register with them and thats it.... in one day we sat outside and got on the net... no time limit with them and free can't be bad, and they have places all over france.

I know you have to go to the flunch but thee nice places.... its a bit like a cyber cafe here I think....

Hotspots do free net but haven't cracked that yet!!

 

[chocohen]

Hi
We are just back from France and we took a Netbook and a Kindle 3G with us.
The Netbook was used on the wifi hotspots in our campsites and cafes etc. Before we left the UK we registered with our local Macdonalds WIFI hotspot as they had quite a few branchs near our various stopover sites. I will make a mental note of "Flunch" for our next holiday though - Good tip.
The Kindle 3G is the Amazon Ebook Reader which also has its own Mobile Broadband built in so that you can download Ebooks whilst out and about. It was £154 and it has a very basic greyscale internet browser which you can do some basic FREE surfing on. I was able to check my emails and my bank account using this Kindle. Although slower than the Netbook, I felt that it was slightly safer for online banking than using the Netbook on the public WIFI hotspots. Obviously this purchase is only worthwhile if you want an Ebook Reader anyway but, as a family, we all had great use out of it. I saved various books for us all to read, audio books, some MP3 music and some Coffee Break French Podcasts also. I was also able to check ferry timings and motorway traffic news whilst travelling in the car.

 

[Robbie]

I have an SFR dongle that cost me about €49 two years ago. You then have to purchase a top up which is quite expensive. They last for anything from seven to fourteen days - I think I paid about €39 for fourteen days. It was very slow and virtually useless for surfing. I didn't use it last year as there was a Cyber Base in Gourdon - funded by one of the local councils - that allowed you free use for about three weeks, and then charged €12 for unlimited use for a whole year.

 

[RayS]

Has anyone experience of wifi in public libraries and town halls in France. In Spain you can often find free connection here, although probably not too secure.