PrePaidGSM.net Forum (Archived) - View Single Post - Report on using Orange Mobicarte in France

drama queen · 29-07-2012, 23:02

I am currently in France and also managed to get Orange Mobicarte working. France is the most difficult country I have encountered for visitors to purchase and activate SIM cards. Without the information in this Forum, I would not have succeeded. I have a few refinements following my experience. See below,

Mobicarte Orange PREPAID SIM info
Orange Mobicarte is €9.90 for card, and €9 for 500MB for use up to 1 month- Min top-up €10 - so total €19.90. "BP Mois internet Max" add-on (after 500MB speed gets throttled). It seems like the best option for short term visitors to France, who require Data.

Preparation:
Before purchasing the Orange SIM, take the following important precautions.

Switch off all packet-data before activitating new SIM. This is necessary because default tariff on a new SIM charges for data at an exorbitant out-of-bundle rate. You need to avoid using data/voice/SMS until you have changed your tariff from the default to the Internet Max tariff.
Disable any Lost/Stolen phone apps that cause an SMS msg to be sent when you insert a new SIM.
Disable email clients - as email protocols are charged out-of-bundle (webmail - eg gmail ok)
Disable Skype/Viber/VOIP Do not activate - as they can invalidate bundle.
No Tethering!

Purchasing & Registration of card on default Tariff:
Registration of card can take up to 24 hours - before which the next step below won't work! After setting up my registration, the shop assistant inserted the €10 top-up for me. The Orange shop logged my passport details on registration, but they made a serious mistake - they didn't send a copy of my passport to HQ. The shop assistant admitted to never having done a registration for a non-national before. She assured me that the registration was ok and would be completed after lunch! My registration was blocked because of this failure by the shop assistant. I sent an email afterwards to <blois.contrats@orange.com> with a photo of my passport and my Orange phone number, to get unblocked. I tried several other shops - and none were familiar with the process for non-residents. My advice would be to assume that all Orange shop assistants are clueless in this regard - and send an email with a copy of your passport to the above address, just in case. This means you will need other Internet access (WiFi etc) because your Orange Internet will not be working until this step is complete.

Tariff change to Internet Max:
Tariff change can take up to 48 hours - but only took a short time for me! On the default tariff, you are charged out-of-bundle rates for data, so do not switch on packet data until you have followed the process below and changed the tariff.

Dial #123#
You get a startup USSD menu showing the credit on your prepaid account. You need enough credit on your account to buy the €9 data plan.

Choose 1-Menu
Choose 4-Bons plans
Choose 3-Internet et emails
Choose 3-Option Internet Max
Choose 2-Souscrire (Subscribe).
Choose 1=Valider (Confirm).
That should be it. Officially the option may take 48 hours to come into effect, however in reality it can take less.

One really frustrating thing about this process is that Orange sent no messages to indicate progress/failure with the subscription process at any time. You can work out which stage you are at by probing for subtle changes in the USSD menus following the #123# command, or by setting up your on-line account on Orange : téléphones, forfaits, Internet, actualité, sport, video, and checking account settings

The Orange APN was set up automatically when I inserted the Orange SIM card.

	(#147)
drama queen (Offline) Member Advanced Member Posts: 65 Join Date: 02 May 2010 Country:	29-07-2012, 23:02 I am currently in France and also managed to get Orange Mobicarte working. France is the most difficult country I have encountered for visitors to purchase and activate SIM cards. Without the information in this Forum, I would not have succeeded. I have a few refinements following my experience. See below, Mobicarte Orange PREPAID SIM info Orange Mobicarte is €9.90 for card, and €9 for 500MB for use up to 1 month- Min top-up €10 - so total €19.90. "BP Mois internet Max" add-on (after 500MB speed gets throttled). It seems like the best option for short term visitors to France, who require Data. Preparation: Before purchasing the Orange SIM, take the following important precautions. Switch off all packet-data before activitating new SIM. This is necessary because default tariff on a new SIM charges for data at an exorbitant out-of-bundle rate. You need to avoid using data/voice/SMS until you have changed your tariff from the default to the Internet Max tariff. Disable any Lost/Stolen phone apps that cause an SMS msg to be sent when you insert a new SIM. Disable email clients - as email protocols are charged out-of-bundle (webmail - eg gmail ok) Disable Skype/Viber/VOIP Do not activate - as they can invalidate bundle. No Tethering! Purchasing & Registration of card on default Tariff: Registration of card can take up to 24 hours - before which the next step below won't work! After setting up my registration, the shop assistant inserted the €10 top-up for me. The Orange shop logged my passport details on registration, but they made a serious mistake - they didn't send a copy of my passport to HQ. The shop assistant admitted to never having done a registration for a non-national before. She assured me that the registration was ok and would be completed after lunch! My registration was blocked because of this failure by the shop assistant. I sent an email afterwards to <blois.contrats@orange.com> with a photo of my passport and my Orange phone number, to get unblocked. I tried several other shops - and none were familiar with the process for non-residents. My advice would be to assume that all Orange shop assistants are clueless in this regard - and send an email with a copy of your passport to the above address, just in case. This means you will need other Internet access (WiFi etc) because your Orange Internet will not be working until this step is complete. Tariff change to Internet Max: Tariff change can take up to 48 hours - but only took a short time for me! On the default tariff, you are charged out-of-bundle rates for data, so do not switch on packet data until you have followed the process below and changed the tariff. Dial #123# You get a startup USSD menu showing the credit on your prepaid account. You need enough credit on your account to buy the €9 data plan. Choose 1-Menu Choose 4-Bons plans Choose 3-Internet et emails Choose 3-Option Internet Max Choose 2-Souscrire (Subscribe). Choose 1=Valider (Confirm). That should be it. Officially the option may take 48 hours to come into effect, however in reality it can take less. One really frustrating thing about this process is that Orange sent no messages to indicate progress/failure with the subscription process at any time. You can work out which stage you are at by probing for subtle changes in the USSD menus following the #123# command, or by setting up your on-line account on Orange : téléphones, forfaits, Internet, actualité, sport, video, and checking account settings The Orange APN was set up automatically when I inserted the Orange SIM card.