Mobile Wifi HELP!!!!!

[APowell8]

Happ New Year All
Can any one recommend a mobile wifi unit to take to France this year please, so many which to choose?

 

[Craigyoung]

Its cheap enough to get it through the site when you get there , that's what we do.

 

[APowell8]

Thanks Craig

 

[Bojeryng]

I go along with Craig, most of the sites that we stay on WiFi are free, more so in France than Spain

 

[Hutch]

Hi AP, I do the same as the others, use the sites WiFi, but I read somewhere recently that the 3 network lets you use the data as in the UK for no extra cost, so if you were to purchase a sim only deal for £10 a month or a Pay as you go sim that could be an option.
Have fun.
Hutch.

 

[Woodentop]

Hi AP, I do the same as the others, use the sites WiFi, but I read somewhere recently that the 3 network lets you use the data as in the UK for no extra cost, so if you were to purchase a sim only deal for £10 a month or a Pay as you go sim that could be an option.
Have fun.
Hutch.

I would check that out. 'Feels like home' on 3 PAYG requires the credit to be converted into a bundle before you go and only lasts 30 days. Generally 3 PAYG does not permit tethering but contract use does. 3 however do a data SIM which is designed for tablets and mi-fi but whether you can use this with Feels Like Home you will have to ask.

The simplest solution is to get a data SIM for one of the French SPs - Bouygues Telecom seem to have good rates - but make sure you can top it up easily by some means if you don't speak the local language. Also in France the only way to keep a PAYG SIM active is by top-ups - usage is not enough - and some providers use shortform dialling codes which you may not be able to access from a UK mobile. If you don't use your French SIM for a relatively short time - ISTR 8 weeks - they cease the number and you forfit the credit.

As someone else said, use site wi-fi where you can albeit it is often slow and very rarely secure.

Back to the original question, any wi-fi unit will do provided it is unlocked (which is usually simple and very cheap.) Most of the units you will find in Expensive World are made by Huawei, but look carefully at model numbers. A caravan is a pretty effective Faraday Cage and good at screening signals. Several of the Huawei units have an external aerial capability which can help enormously. Do do your homework though as there are two different types of aerial connector and you need to make sure you buy an aerial with the right plug fitted.

 

[Craigyoung]

Or you could waltz up to recption pay a few euros get a code , enter it it the device and you have Wi-Fi within seconds !! simple as that. No arials and easy peezy !

 

[TonyH1]

There is one consideration that hasn't been mentioned - security. Site provided WiFi isn't secure whereas your own would be so it depends on what your using the internet for.

 

[Jaydug]

more so in France than Spain

I travelled down through Spain in November stopping at five sites in all. They all had site-wide wifi, and all except one was free. The charged one was €2.50 for 24 hours. The site where I am now is also free but usually it's very slow because so many people are using it - hence I'm on at 6 in the morning.

 

[emmerson]

Herself has an 18 month old Sony xperia which we bought so that we can have internet access in Europe, but it has never been successful, with or without site wifi.We have returned the phone twice, but each time they say it is OK. So what are we doing wrong?
I should add here that I am a dinosaur, and Herself does all the magic stuff!

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

Have you enabled wifi in the settings???

 

[emmerson]

Have you enabled wifi in the settings???

Yes she has, WC, but still cannot receive internet, even when others can. Eg, we're all sat in an awning somewhere, Fred asks a question, George looks it up on internet, but our Xperia remains useless, whether in Europe or UK.

 

[emmerson]

Have you enabled wifi in the settings???

Yes she has, WC, but still cannot receive internet, even when others can. Eg, we're all sat in an awning somewhere, Fred asks a question, George looks it up on internet, but our Xperia remains useless, whether in Europe or UK.

I should add that it does work sometimes.

 

[Craigyoung]

Hi again emmerson , can I just say when we were in France last year and the year before we purchased Wi-Fi from the site didn't cost much but we used the kids' iPad but once you have connected with a device to the site Wi-Fi it will only work on one device not all devices that you have if you want all devices to be connected to the Wi-Fi you have to purchase a code per each device , i think that's how it works. Once that device has the code entered into it, that's it , its paired t that device

 

[emmerson]

Understood Craig, but we only have one device.

 

[Craigyoung]

Oh ! :huh: