In Monaco there's Orange F coverage. Monaco Telecom is an MVNO on the Orange F network.

Hello,

I'm planning to go in France for 8 days next week and i've been trying to figure out which is the best way to have web access and especially to google maps.

By reading this forum i became really disappointed. Excessive charges and time gap from purchase to activation.

Is there a cheap option for data usage or should i forget a-gps?

I visited France last month for about 25 days and used the Orange data network for calls and data for an iPhone 4, using a prepaid Mobicarte. Coverage was excellent and data speeds were usually at least as good as I usually get with Telstra in Australia. Congestion did sometimes occur in busy areas but was not too bad. I was also in a lot of rural areas and was pleasantly surprised by how often I could get 3G; if 3G wasn't available it was only in extremely remote places that Edge was not available.

I subscribed to Internet Max (500MB) for 9 euros and Mail for 6 euros. This meant that once these had been deducted I only had to worry about the balance for call charges (I hardly made any) and had effectively unlimited surfing and proper mail rather than webmail. VPNs worked fine as did video streaming. I didn't try Skype calling as the terms and conditions specifically prohibit it.

I had internet from the time the plane taxied in at CDG until I left the country. And no, I don't have a French credit card or a friend in France to buy the SIM card for me. Here's how to do it:

1. Buy a prepaid, pre-activated Orange Mobicarte SIM card on Ebay. There is a seller with about 2000 positive feedback - he is legit. Ensure you buy the one with 15 euros credit. The credit expires within a month so don't buy it too early before travel.

2. Turn data off and put the SIM in your phone in your home country (you will have to cut the SIM to micro-SIM size for an iPhone4). You may have to try a few different local carriers before you get one that will allow the SIM to work on its network.

3. Log on to the "Portail Orange" website Portail Orange : Actu, Sport, Assistance Internet, Web Mail Orange (French only) and create a user account using the phone number. To get the password you will have to send a SMS to the phone from the website - this is why you need the phone turned on. The SMS will cost 50 euro cents or so.

4. Once you receive the SMS, finish setting up your account on the Portail Orange. At least two or three days before you travel, activate the Internet Max Option - it takes up to 48 hours to come on line. You will not have enough credit left to activate the Mail option yet.

5. For an iPhone, sync with iTunes with the SIM card in before you leave home - this will ensure that the correct carrier settings for the SIM card are loaded.

6. Once you arrive in France you will have phone and internet available immediately. You can buy 5 or 10 euro recharges at any newsagent so that you have some credit for calls. You can recharge and also activate the Mail option through the #123 phone menu (French only).

Benefits:

No wasting time in France buying the SIM card and waiting 48 hours for activation;
Know your phone number in advance to tell friends and family.
No messing around with carrier settings in France - get it all set up before you leave.

A few more clarifications:

1. You don't absolutely have to set up an account on the Portail Orange website; if you prefer you can use the #123 menu from the phone in your home country to activate the Internet Max option before you leave. My local carrier (Telstra) did allow the #123 phone menu to work on its network and it was free. But it was a bit flaky and did not work all the time. I can read French not too bad so the Portail Orange website option worked well for me and you can see exactly what's going on.

2. The Ebay seller sells the SIM cards with 15 euros credit. In theory this is enough to activate both the Internet Max and Mail options (9+6 euros) but the SMS to get the Portail orange password uses up 50c and prevents you from doing so. I found a different Ebay seller selling Orange recharges so I bought one and activated the Mail option prior to travel.

3. I have seen some people complain that they don't see the Internet Max option in the phone menu. You have to have enough credit (9 euros) on the phone for the option to become available.

4. If you are searching for the Ebay seller and you can't find him on your local Ebay, try searching on the French Ebay site.

5. Obviously this whole procedure only works with phones not locked to a carrier. You need to unlock if your phone is locked.

Hi Scirocco,

Could you please share the link where you find the sim card (mobicarte) on ebay?

Thanks a lot

I won't post the seller's name or a direct link to the product, because that's probably against the forum rules, but simply go to Ebay France http://www.ebay.fr/ and search for "orange prepaid 15". The seller I used had more than 2000 positive feedback. He is obviously used to selling to foreigners because the item description is in English.

The seller is now selling micro-sims as well as regular sized sims with the 15 euros credit. Note that the item description says that you need 12 euros for the Internet Max - this is incorrect - it's now only 9 euros.

OK thanks

If you want, you can send me the name in private message !

Thx

sems very good!!
how is the settings for internet on the phone? (Android)
chr

"4. Once you receive the SMS, finish setting up your account on the Portail Orange. At least two or three days before you travel, activate the Internet Max Option - it takes up to 48 hours to come on line. You will not have enough credit left to activate the Mail option yet."

Check to all of the above: SIM Purchased, Portal account setup on-line can see my number etc. But I can't see this Option to setup ...

I have 14 Euro credit on my account. Says's my sim is set up as a "le Pass Let's Go" no contract account.

Where is this option? Do I need more credit to see it? This is for an iPad2 3G.

I can get someone to top me up a bit if that's the issue.

I did already use this in France last month but what to set up the Internet Max + Popmail

The way it works for my account (a standard prepaid Mobicarte) is:

Start from login page "espace client" (client area)
Click on "mes options / bons plans" (my options / good plans)
You will see two tabs within that window, one "Gerer mes options" (manage my options) and another called "Souscrire une nouvelle option" (subscribe to a new option). Click on the Subscribe one and a list of all the valid options for your Sim will come up. Click on "Souscrire" against the ones you want to subscribe to.

In my account shown below I am already subscribed to Internet and Mail.

http://www.users.on.net/~ianleeming/...mesoptions.jpg

The "Subscribe" tab:
http://www.users.on.net/~ianleeming/.../Souscrire.jpg

hi
i think i will try this next time i come to fr!!

is there a away to keep the sim /data plan working for a longer time?
thanks Scirocco for share this with us!!
Chr

The credit expiry time is related to how much credit you buy. 15 euros will expire within one month. If you want two months you have to buy 25 euros or more. The time is calculated from the "last recharge" time, so if you top the card up when in France, the clock is reset to zero at that point.

The Ebay seller that I mentioned does now sell the Mobicarte in SIM and micro-SIM form with 25 and 35 euros credit as well as the 15 euro version.

I'm in France now and I bought an Orange Mobicarte SIM today. As usual, the guy who sold it to me didn't really know very much about the options, etc. I loaded up the phone with 20 Euro credit. When I tried to activate the Internet Max Option on the phone using the menu, I got a message saying that I was not properly identified and needed to go back to the point of sale to get my documents verified.

I did go back and the Orange rep did put in the information that he thought was required. I'm still getting the same error message several hours later and I'm unable to sign up for Internet Max. Is this the issue with having to wait 48 hours, or is this another problem? I thought that the 48 hour thing kicked in after you signed up for Internet Max, not before.

Can somebody clarify this for me?

I don't know whether there is a delay between the entry of your details and the "system" allowing you to access the Internet Max option, or whether the local sales guy just got entering your details wrong.

Whatever, this is another reason to go the pre-paid, pre-activated Ebay purchase route that I outlined. You avoid all the hassle, delay and uncertainty that woody1 is experiencing (not to mention the multiple trips back to the store). I'm sure most people have better things to do with limited time when visiting France.

hey woody,
i dont know about your identification problem.
just wanted to let you know that i activated the internet max option via internet (activating via phone didnt work for me).

Portail Orange : Actu, Sport, Assistance Internet, Web Mail Orange
-->identifiez-vous

then you have to option to enter your phone number and the password for the online account will be sent you via short message. you receive a "mot de pass" and you are able to log in

when you are logged in:
--> espace client
--> mes option / bon plans
--> Gérer mes options
--> Souscrire une nouvelle option
-->mes bon plans

then you can "Souscrire" to the internet max option (9 euros)

thats how it worked for me. cheers

woody, why dont you try the online sing.up. scirocco wrote a nice how-to earlier in this thread

Update. I did try to set up my account on the internet last night, but I never received the SMS with the password. This morning, I tried again from the phone and this time, I was able to sign up for Internet Max. The guy at the Orange store told me that there would be a delay before my identity was confirmed, but he didn't know how long.

I agree that the best approach is to buy the SIM and set everything up before you leave home, but I didn't have time to receive the SIM card this time. Now, I have to wait 48 hours from this morning before my Internet is working, but at least it looks like everything is properly set up now.

OK, another update. I successfully subscribed to Internet Max and, after the 48 hour wait, it has been working fine. I also subscribed to the Mail option, just to be safe.

I have a couple of questions, in case anybody can answer them:

1. I've read that Internet Max is supposed to have a 500Mb data limit. Does anybody know if that is actually enforced? Also, is there any way to check your usage? I can't find anything on the Orange website that shows how much data I've used so far.

2. It sounds like the charge for email is for POP3 and SMTP usage. I use an Android phone with the standard gmail app. Does the gmail app run up email usage, or does gmail use a different protocol in the app?

If anybody knows the answers, please let me know.

I second the request from Woody1. I am heading to France with an Orange SIM I just bought from the E-bay seller mentioned previously. I have also heard of the 500mb data limit and am curious if it is enforced at all, and if there is a way to monitor usage.

And to answer your question Woody1. Android / iOS both use the POP3/IMAP protocols to download and store incoming e-mail. The way to avoid this is to use your browser, chrome or other, to go to the mobile Gmail site. The email will not be available offline this way, but it will work without paying for the email add-on.

What if I need more than 500MB?
 

I'm travelling to Paris next month for a week, and I'm quite sure I'm going to need more than 500MB, as I plan to use my phone + data plan as an access point for 2 laptops.
Is there any option to go more than 500MB (at extra cost, off course)?

Thanks.

I have read somewhere that the 500MB is not rigidly enforced, but I can't provide a link. 500 MB is quite a lot even if you are tethering a couple of laptops. There is also plenty of wi-fi in Paris, even in the public parks, so no need to use 3G data all the time.

For anyone using Gmail, provided you only use browser access, there's no need to pay for the 6 euro Mail option. But don't be tempted to use a proper mail client to access mail via POP or IMAP or you will quickly chew through the credit on the SIM.

Unfortunately, I'm in woody1's situation. I tried to buy a prepaid microsim for my iphone4 from eBay only to have it get lost in the mail.

So is there any other option for a decent voice/data plan for an iphone4 for a limited 5-day stay in Paris? Wanted to access Google Maps & Metro apps on my iphone4.

For maps in Paris, take a look at the 'Smart Maps - Paris' app. I have used it before and found it quite helpful. It works offline so you don't need data on demand to load new maps. And I believe it includes a good selection of metro maps.

Sorry I can't answer to your other question.

I'm not sure if this will work, but you could buy the Orange Mobicarte and try using the day-by-day internet option instead of the Internet Max option. I'm not sure if the other options require the same 48 hour waiting period. Seems to me that I used the day-by-day option a couple of years ago and I don't think I had to wait.

If you do use the day-by-day option, you will need to carefully enter the code to purchase each day. It's much less convenient than the Internet Max option, but it might work in your situation.

So, I have received my mobicarte from the ebay seller. It appears to be working, but I can't seem to register online. I have entered the phone number however I am not receiving the text with the password. Any ideas what I might be doing wrong?

I did test the number by sending a text from another phone, and it is correct.

I'm not sure what's wrong, but I have the following suggestions:

1. Check on the handwritten information the ebay seller has sent you. There was some sort of password on that but it was probably the SIM card password not the Orange account.

2. When you enter the phone number on the Orange portal, it needs to be in the form 06 xx xx xx xx (your number but without the spaces, I just put them for clarity). Don't put country codes or anything.

3. Did you definitely enter the phone number in the first time users section? Don't enter it in the "déjà utilisateur" section (existing user), instead look for where it says: "Si vous ne vous êtes jamais identifié sur orange.fr, recevez votre mot de passe par SMS." (If you have never previously been identified on orange.fr, receive your password by SMS). If you are successful, you should see the message "Votre mot de passe a été envoyé sur votre mobile Orange" (your password has been sent to your Orange mobile).

4. Try another local carrier in your home country. Maybe whatever carrier you are on does not allow international SMSs.

5. Maybe wait a little longer with the phone turned on. It may take some time for the information from your home country carrier that the phone is actually in your country to get back to France, so that the Orange network knows where to send the SMS. (make ultra sure you don't have data turned on on the phone while you do this as a smartphone will chew the phone credit at half a euro per minute.)

Thanks for taking the time to answer!

I've done what you said, and double checked everything. I have tried both of the networks available to me at the moment, but I'm inclined to believe they might be blocking the texts.

I'll just work with the #123# menu for now. Besides the minor glitch with the online registration everything seems to work smoothly.

Update! I finally, after entering the phone number..30 or so times over the last 24 hours...got the password by SMS. Nothing changed in that time, so I'm not sure what the issue was. Anyhow, for general knowledge here, it may take a while for the password to be sent. Just keep trying.

Good news. Come to think of it, I didn't receive the password straight away either, because I was messing round in the #123 menu for a couple of days before I tried the Orange Portal. So maybe the #123 menu triggers something off, or maybe it just takes a while after first switching the phone on with the SIM card in before it can be reached by text message.

It took me a day or so before I could get my SMS code. I think there's an intentional delay after you register before they will let you have a web account.

hi
so got sim from France ! 25+8+8 Euro arived in 5 days!
But there is no tlf nummber with sim? I thought the phone nr was with sim? or maybe I will have to Aktivate sim myself?
So I resive phone number when i insert sim in phone? (se attached jpg
start guide)
(would like to aktivate internet max before i get to france ind week 3 by locking in to web page orange france to aktivate both pop mail and internet)
Chr

What sort of SIM did you buy? If you purchased a pre-activated SIM it would already have been allocated a phone number. The ebay seller that I used writes the number on a paper docket that he sends you with the SIM, like in the scan below. But maybe the system has changed and you should just follow the instructions in your thumbnail.

http://www.users.on.net/~ianleeming/images/Phone.jpg

hi
I got the 25 euro prepaid sim
FRENCH ORANGE PREPAID SIM CARD WITH 25 EUROS CREDIT !!! | eBay

I asked seller for phone nr /pin/puk code, and he said they where send with
seprate mail.
but now i tryed sim ind phone and there where no pin code and called my self so i got the phone nr now.
The "card memo" is with sim but no sim/puk/nr on it!

As it is the 25 euro card it should be working for 2 month ?
and 1 month from aktivation off "max internet" option on orange home page?
I will be traveling ind week 3 so i will aktivate data next week on home page!
chr

hi
i am tryning to activate interner max on home page orange: I put sim in phone but got sms :will the sim expire on 09/01/2012?
or will I manage to activate internet max and use it from 14/01/12 -21/01/12?
chr

hi
got internet max and mail option aktiveted on orange home page but under:
vous êtes ici : espace clientmon compte mobile : 06895xxxxx
"can i se Debits and credits on orange home page?
wish i could set money on sim so i was sure there was enough !
chr

You can purchase recharge vouchers from eBay.fr.

hi and recharge on home page orange.fr?

Sendt fra min GT-I9100 med Tapatalk

I don't know if you can enter the recharge code on their website, but it should work by USSD (enter #123# pick up and follow the text menu on your display), which is free of charge even while roaming. You could actually try to access the USSD menu before purchasing a recharge code to make sure it works outside France (I suppose you are still in Denmark).

Hi se pic when i #123# on phone!
hhum my option on orange.fr "internet max" and "mail" is not there !
chr

Apparently you can access the USSD menu. For recharges you would just need to press "2" and in the following screen you will be asked for the recharge code.
Regarding your internet options these are probably listed somewhere in the domestic USSD menu avaiable by pressing "6" ("Page accueil France"), while your photo shows the roaming menu ("Vos services a l'étranger" = "Your services abroad"), which is probably shown automatically while roaming.