France: SFR: prepaid offer internet for Iphone - can it be used on other phones?
 

Hi,

SFR are offering top-ups for the Iphone which include unlimited internet access, at the bottom of this page -

SFR La Carte seul , téléphones portables et mobiles : SFR

they're offering top-ups on SFR La Carte for iphone users -

3 euro top-up - 24hr unlimited internet
10 euro top-up - 7-days unlimited internet
20 euro top-up - 20-days unlimited internet
24 euro top-up - 20-days unlimited internet + 10 euro calling credit

So it works out to 1euro/day for unlimited mobile internet, but does anyone know if it can be used on other phone's if just topped up onto any SFR La Carte, and for tethering (connecting to computer)?

If anyone has the SFR La Carte and is willing to test the if the 3 euro top-up card works for internet access on a non-iphone, it would be much appreciated, as would solve all the hassle of using orange internet access in France which doesn't allow email. I'll be trying next time i'm in France, but it'll be a while until my next visit.

They're available to buy-online, and I presume these special iphone top-up cards can be purchased at SFR shops, but don't know this for sure.

thanks for any info on this.....

The caption says "Offre exclusivement réservée aux clients disposant d’un iPhone 3G"

(Offer exclusively reserved for customers having an iPhone 3G)

On the other hand, the info sheet attached to that page says that the applicable Network/Technology is "GSM/GPRS/3G/3G+ (sous réserve de disposer d’un mobile 3G ou 3G+)." "GSM/GPRS/3G/3G+ (under the conditions that one has 3G or 3G+ mobile"

I'm sure SFR are intending this offer for iphone users only, but does anyone know if it'll work on other phones?

I am new to iphone.

With this SIM card offer you pay for a local French card
and get unlimited email, internet, SMS (everything but voice)?

Is that correct?

I will be taking my US iphone which is now with ATT in the US.

Will this work or do I need to have it unlocked before traveling
to France?

Thanks!

The iPhone would have to be jailbroken & unlocked

SFR la carte iphone top up did not work for me!
 

Hi, in case anyone is thinking about getting an SFR sim card to use with a jailbroken/unlocked iphone 3GS you might want to know that I tried and it didn't work!
I have an iphone 3GS which was originally blocked to O2. The phone is now unblocked and I can use it here in France with any sim card BUT when I bought the top-up for the iphone I got the 10 eur calling credit (I went for the 24 eur "recharge" for 20 days of unlimited internet plus 10 eur of calling credit) and NO INTERNET!
I would recommend anyone thinking about buying this top-ups to try the 3 eur one first which allegedly gives you unlimited internet for 24 hours and then, if it works, buy the 20 day one.
Also if anyone has managed to get internet/mails on their iphones using this please let me know. I'd like to know if the problem is my phone or what.

I had the same problem as Ivanlyon. I bought the 24EU top up only to have the internet not work! Even worse SFR would not refund the top up card for me, even though they admitted it was their fault. Their rationalle for the internet not working was that my iPhone was from Canada. I have it jailbroken, and was using data from UK providers so I think that excuse is wrong. I have a feeling it has something to do with the settings...any help!!!!!

Works for me
 

I have a Rogers 3GS 3.0, jailbroken (redsn0w) and unlocked (ultrasn0w) and an SFR prepaid SIM. I purchased the 24euro data offer from the SFR website, and it works perfectly. All the settings were loaded automatically, I just enabled 3g on my iphone.

ivanlyon
 

More problems with these SFR La Carte Iphone top-ups...
I tried again with the 3 eur (internet for 1 day) top-up and it worked fine. Then I bought the 24 eur one and again it worked perfectly. When it expired I went again for the 24 eur top-up and it worked fine for about 10 days and then suddenly one day the internet stopped working. The error message I get when I try to open a website is something along the lines of... "Safari could not open the webpage because the server stopped responding"
I'll probably keep trying because I have no choice but if you have other options don't bother with these top-ups. They're unreliable and very very annoying!

You must change your data settings in the iPhone to the following, or it won't work with SFR

Operator: - SFR
GPRS APN: - websfr
Username: - {blank}
Password: - {blank}
DNS: - 172.20.2.10, 194.6.128.4

AT&T iPhones phones restricts you from changing it manually. You cam go to unlockit.co.nz for instructions.

I have an AT&T phone so the settings are hidden, anyone know where I can get the file for websfr?

Thanks in advance.

MBN

PS: unlockit.co.nz only has the sl2sfr

Go to unlockit.co.nz on your iPhone Safari, Custom APN, and enter what I listed above. You can manually edit the APN, just tap on it.

spdickey, thanks a million! I didn't even realize that it was editable...

Man, this really addresses my last remaining concern about using my iPhone over there (I leave in two weeks).

Your reply is VERY MUCH appreciated!

MBN

Posted last night, not sure why it's not up...

Thanks a million spdickey...all this time and I didn't realize you could edit the profiles from unlockit.co.nz!

Makes it really simple for me...again thnx!

MBN

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


So, are you in France?

Did the data work at that SIM card?


Is your iphone unlocked?

Thanks!

I got here on Friday and have been trying to get this thing working for internet since then...no such luck.

Checked and changed all the settings; sync'ed with iTunes and it detected updated carrier settings, rebooted, hard rebooted, removed and reinserted SIM....nothing.

There's something else in here that is different. Oh and I also have an app that allowed it to show me the APN settings and they are all correct.

Dunno how to proceed next other than to keep researching.

If anyone gets an idea or gets it worked out, post it please!

Thanks in advance to anyone who licks this.

MBN

Oh and yes, my iPhone is jailbroken and unlocked. Phone and text work fine, just no internet.

...and today I found that my GPS also works.

How about wifi at a cafe? (French say 'wee fee')

Any luck with that?

oh I have wifi (I have wireless in my apt) and I also have GPS out on the street (which is GREAT), but no luck on the websfr.

Insterestingly, I do somehow get connected without error when I use wapsfr, but only to the extent that I do not get the "no active data connection"...looks like the connection is just way too slow to do anything.

....but I'm still looking.

MBN

quick update, depending on where I am in Paris, ,the wapsfr is working perfectly and with a fast connection. I think the main problem I had in the beginning with wapsfr was my location (latin quarter, 5th arrond.) surrounded by a lot of buildings.

Moving over to the 6th, my speed was fantastic.

MBN

MBN - i've been following this thread closely and thanks for the constant updates. i'm looking to do the exact same thing in a few weeks with my unlocked 3gs.

what is wapsfr?

and where did you find the sim card? would any sfr or virgin store have it? any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

musigny, here's the full poop! Go to an SFR store and ask for an iPhone SIM card...in comes in several flavors: 1 day for 3euro up to 20 days for 24euro and this top one includes unlimited internet and 10euro "communication".

You will have to buy the SIM card first, then add the iPhone package. In all I spent approx 40-something euro for the package. Then to recharge, you can use a Tabac and ask for a card. It has a code you scratch to see, then follow the directions on the back.

Easy-peasy!

thanks!

so, it's working now for you?? as expected?

Any news on the original topic of this thread?

musigny, I find the connection a bit flaky....but it has served its purpose.

inquisitor...I'm sure if anyone had anything relevant to say on the original thread topic, they would have added it by now. =)

MBN

thanks MBN -- really appreciate the updates and information. i'll be there soon, so it's worth doing.

wondering if i can buy a SIM here in the states and take it with me?

[QUOTE=MustBNuts;31753]musigny, here's the full poop! Go to an SFR store and ask for an iPhone SIM card...in comes in several flavors: 1 day for 3euro up to 20 days for 24euro and this top one includes unlimited internet and 10euro "communication".

You will have to buy the SIM card first, then add the iPhone package. In all I spent approx 40-something euro for the package. Then to recharge, you can use a Tabac and ask for a card. It has a code you scratch to see, then follow the directions on the back.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=


Does the iphone need to be un-locked and/or jailbroken
to get that French SIM card to deliver data?

bukzin, yup, you need to jailbreak and unlock. Musigny, yes you can buy in the US but I found them to be way more expensive with no better a guarantee that they would work (just my opinion)

UPDATE: Persistence pays off! I found websfr did not work but wapsfr did. HOWEVER, it seemed to be eating up my phone call credits - which it shouldn't have been touching. I went back to the store I bought it from and explained the websfr vs. wapsfr, they got on the phone with the sfr folks and opened up my acct to work WITHOUT charge utilizing the wapsfr setting.

I had gone in and explained that it was eating my credits and I thought it was because the wapsfr may be a different package/program...that was, in fact, exactlly what was going on.

So if it doesn't work, be persistent, try everything, and go back to your store and talk to them.

Oh, one more thing...the store I bought from had a young lady who spoke english...all be it very broken english, but between the two of us, we managed to work it out and she made at least three or four calls to get me straightened out. If you're in Paris you may want to show up at the store on 15 Rue Soufflot in the 5th arrondisement. I am female (so this isn't a sexist comment) but there have always been the same two girls there...if you go there, look for the slimmer, cuter one of the two, she was the one who went out of her way to help and got me up and running...FANTASTIQUE!

oh, and if I haven't mentioned it before, you need to have "communication" credit on your card in order for your internet and wifi to even work. If you get too low, you will find that even though you have "unlimited" internet and wifi should be a non-issue, they will all of a sudden stop working. That is a clue that you are getting too low and need to get to a tabac and buy a recharge.

Bonne chance to all....I don't even really need the phone part, and having the interenet instantly available has been fantastic....(and the GPS is a no-brainer, must-have).

MBN

Tethering?
 

My wife is going to be in France for about a month this July. I'd love to send her with an iPhone so she can get internet access as where she's staying out in Bretagne doesn't have any internet connection.

Using the phone itself for email, chat, and skype would be ok but would be great if the internet tethering hack for unlocked phones would work. Anyone tried? Also, hows the whole APN srfwap/other name situation going? What currently works? Thinking about doing the 24 euro unlimited connection with 10 euro talk time. However if the internet starts depleting from the call credit she won't be near a store to get that resolved...

Any advice would be appreciated.

Jonathan

Using 3G unlocked/jail broken iPhone with SFR sim & get Internet
 

Must b nuts your great!!! Can we work on a set of instructions??


1. I have a an old SFR card, I guess I need to get a new one with data a 3G for €30, and I hear if you re charge you get a bonus of free Internet usage.
2. Ok I have My phone, so I should go to Unlockit - APN Changer for your iPhone on your iPhone Safari, Custom APN, and enter what I listed above. You can manually edit the APN, just tap on it.

3. Then follow the instructions laid out to modify the dns and make changes to the wap name as you point out above etc. I will cut and paste I hope that section, Here::: but if I can do it, you all can go back a few threads and see the instructions.
4. Then it should be whala fin fixed ready to rock and roll!!!!

We should be able to make and receive calls, and have our internet working on the phone?????
Should we set the settings on the iphone to 3G as well????

Anything that I'm missing?
Is there a limit to data? Or is it done by time?
I can't wait to try this!
Thanks for the great posts! Really helpful to those of us that travel in france.
I'm using the 3G key on my lap top from SFR, I thought maybe I could just pop it out and in my iPhone and in would be good to go, I wasn't before but maybe with the apn mod, maybe it will work??? Does anyone have a comment?
Thanks again.

please...i need on SFR sim card. I'm from portugal and i really need it to activate my iphone. how can i get one??? thanks

My experience with with SFR and Orange
 

Hi,
I was in paris for 10 days and I asked a local friend of mine to purchase me two sim cards.
1. prepaid Orange
2. prepaid SFR with iphone package.
i have an Iphone 3gs with ios4 unlocked (not jailbreak)

the orange sim card worked right away but the price for internet was very high.
I had 5 euros credit on the phone and after 1 minutes of use i had 3 euros.
the SFR never worked for me.
I went to two different places and they didn't manage to activate it.
At the end I gave up and use the SFR to receive calls.
Also I used then service to place calls with call back services.
The call back service was blocked with the orange sim.

In France Now - making iphone work for Data on SFR
 

Hi All

I am currently in France and after 3 days of hard work I think I have the definitive answer on making an iphone work for Data using a SFR sim.

1. I do have an unlocked (not jailbreak) iphone running IOS4 (4.0.2 - but that doesnt matter really). The big thing is I can edit my APN

2. You go to any SFR store and have to do two things
A. get a SIM card - this costs 14 Euro.

Note: You seem to get 10 Euro of free calling and text with this.

B. get the data only plan

Note: You can pay by the day or get a maximum of 20 days for 24 Euro.

3. When it runs out - go and top it up again. You can also do this online (use good translator to navigate the essential bits)

Other Notes:
1. I think you need to voice minutes for anything to work (but this is part of your 14 euro SIM card)
2. Its a prepay plan so you need to ring and activate your minutes with the carrier (dial 952). Get the people in the store to do it
3. You can go to their website and register your SIM and see online minutes. It takes about 3 days for this to start working. Enter your mobile number and get them to text you the password reminder. Mine took about 2 days to turn up.


Technical Setup

1. As soon as my SIM was in my phone and they guy from the shop redeemed my top up (they call it recharger) my voice and SMS started working.

Note: This was a surprise as I thought I only had a data plan.

2. Data wouldn't work! I made these changes and got partial data.

A. go to settings
B. General
C. Network
D. Cellular Data Network
E. CHANGE THE CELLULAR DATA APN to wapsfr
Notes:
1. Leave username blank
2. leave password blank
3. Also try websfr
4. You may need to reboot your phone.

Issues

1. Google maps works
2. Browsing works
3. I still haven't got native email working (but you can obviously use the web interface)

Let me know how you get on!

Lastly..... the EASY WAY FOR THIS

Get the carrier to send you a text with the data settings. It arrives as an SMS and you open it and it automatically updates your settings.

Vodafone allows you to do this for any of their operating companies worldwide - from their website:

Hi All

I am currently in France and after 3 days of hard work I think I have the definitive answer on making an iphone work for Data using a SFR sim.

1. I do have an unlocked (not jailbreak) iphone running IOS4 (4.0.2 - but that doesnt matter really). The big thing is I can edit my APN

2. You go to any SFR store and have to do two things
A. get a SIM card - this costs 14 Euro.

Note: You seem to get 10 Euro of free calling and text with this.

B. get the data only plan

Note: You can pay by the day or get a maximum of 20 days for 24 Euro.

3. When it runs out - go and top it up again. You can also do this online (use good translator to navigate the essential bits)

Other Notes:
1. I think you need to voice minutes for anything to work (but this is part of your 14 euro SIM card)
2. Its a prepay plan so you need to ring and activate your minutes with the carrier (dial 952). Get the people in the store to do it
3. You can go to their website and register your SIM and see online minutes. It takes about 3 days for this to start working. Enter your mobile number and get them to text you the password reminder. Mine took about 2 days to turn up.


Technical Setup

1. As soon as my SIM was in my phone and they guy from the shop redeemed my top up (they call it recharger) my voice and SMS started working.

Note: This was a surprise as I thought I only had a data plan.

2. Data wouldn't work! I made these changes and got partial data.

A. go to settings
B. General
C. Network
D. Cellular Data Network
E. CHANGE THE CELLULAR DATA APN to wapsfr
Notes:
1. Leave username blank
2. leave password blank
3. Also try websfr
4. You may need to reboot your phone.

Issues

1. Google maps works
2. Browsing works
3. I still haven't got native email working (but you can obviously use the web interface)

Let me know how you get on!

Lastly..... the EASY WAY FOR THIS

Get the carrier to send you a text with the data settings. It arrives as an SMS and you open it and it automatically updates your settings.

Vodafone allows you to do this for any of their operating comapnies worldwide - from their website

Hi All

I am currently in France and after 3 days of hard work I think I have the definitive answer on making an iphone work for Data using a SFR sim.

1. I do have an unlocked (not jailbreak) iphone running IOS4 (4.0.2 - but that doesnt matter really). The big thing is I can edit my APN

2. You go to any SFR store and have to do two things
A. get a SIM card - this costs 14 Euro.

Note: You seem to get 10 Euro of free calling and text with this.

B. get the data only plan

Note: You can pay by the day or get a maximum of 20 days for 24 Euro.

3. When it runs out - go and top it up again. You can also do this online (use good translator to navigate the essential bits)

Other Notes:
1. I think you need to voice minutes for anything to work (but this is part of your 14 euro SIM card)
2. Its a prepay plan so you need to ring and activate your minutes with the carrier (dial 952). Get the people in the store to do it
3. You can go to their website and register your SIM and see online minutes. It takes about 3 days for this to start working. Enter your mobile number and get them to text you the password reminder. Mine took about 2 days to turn up.


Technical Setup

1. As soon as my SIM was in my phone and they guy from the shop redeemed my top up (they call it recharger) my voice and SMS started working.

Note: This was a surprise as I thought I only had a data plan.

2. Data wouldn't work! I made these changes and got partial data.

A. go to settings
B. General
C. Network
D. Cellular Data Network
E. CHANGE THE CELLULAR DATA APN to wapsfr
Notes:
1. Leave username blank
2. leave password blank
3. Also try websfr
4. You may need to reboot your phone.

Issues

1. Google maps works
2. Browsing works
3. I still haven't got native email working (but you can obviously use the web interface)


The EASY WAY FOR THIS

Get the carrier to send you a text with the data settings. It arrives as an SMS and you open it and it automatically updates your settings.

Vodafone allows you to do this for any of their operating companies worldwide - from their website. My french isnt good enough to find it on the SFR site. You fill in your mobile and handset tyoe and they send the settings for data, mms etc to you. Saves all this bollocks of editing APN etc!

Configure your mobile phone settings - Wireless OTA - Help - Vodafone NZ

Note: I could not get anyone at SFR to understand that this could be done!



Let me know how you get on!

I've been unable to buy any data services or a SIM card for data from SFR. No one at the closest SFR shop or the independant shop all said that data is not possible without a contract.

I did buy a basic SFR card for voice and text. Works fine on my iPhone, but am dying to get data services!

Any suggestions?

Hi Guys,

Does anyone know what the data limit of this day 3 euro day pack is? I couldn't find it anywhere.

Also, if SFR is beging so problematic, I am wondering why not to try M6 Mobile which also offers 3 euro / day package?
(also with M6 Mobile I can't find the data limit anywhere)

With the sim card you have you need to buy some special recharge for iphone
in different values and duration. Check here Recharges SFR La Carte : SFR Mobile
But the service is spotty and not always working

What is the minimum age in France to buy a prepaid SIM card?

I'll be in France on March 2012 with my school.

I will also be in France in June 2011 with my family so my dad will can buy "La Carte" (I have an iPhone 3GS) but I don't know if the SIM will be able to be used after 10 months I don't recharge it.

Thanks to all :)