Internet and Dongle Information

We are possibly coming out to our place in February (3 months) and apart from going to Internet
establishments can I ask what people use for access.

We do not want a full blown home broadband/phone line as we will not be living there
full time so would prefer something without a contract.

We have a laptop, iphone and ipad if that helps with any replies.

Thanks in anticipation.

I used to have a telephone line with broadband with France Telecom and was able to "suspend" the telephone line/broadband when not in France (they charge a lower amount for the months you suspend it).

I am looking into using just mobile and dongle PAYG for broadband. It's all quite complex and "read between the lines". What I have discovered so far:

For broadband PAYG
1. You need a French credit card to "top up" on line
2. You can buy "top up" cards really easy in a tabac or supermarket.
3. You buy a dongle (which will come with some credit) and then top up, these come in at about €60 for the dongle and about €20 credit.
4. You can buy an unlocked dongle then buy a sim card for broadband for it, make sure it is unlocked for use in France before you go
5. Try ebay for dongle prices
6. https://www.thewifishop.net/ is a good place to look. You can pre-order and have them delivered to you at home before you go, they are also really good at answering questions you may have
7. When buying access make sure it is not time limited in case you don't use all the mb in the time allowed. Orange do one gig valid 7 days, two gig valid 30 days and 3 gig valid 6 months. Prices 10 euros, 20 euros and 35 euros

For Phone PAYG
1. Get a spare phone or get yours unlocked
2. Buy a french SIM when you get here (supermarket, tabac, dedicated shop in shopping mall)

You should also test the reception for where you are going to be. Various sites allow this (but I find then unclear in what they tell you. Try http://www.sensorly.com/map/2G-3G/FR/France/SFR/gsm_20810 and use the drop down menu on right to try different providers.

It will depend on location of phone mast to you, and if you want more on that see my post on this, just enter "Location of mobile phone masts" in the search box.

Hope this helps. If I discover more, then I'll post it here.

Great stuff Irena

Thanks