Report on using Orange Mobicarte in France - Page 3

meko · 23-05-2009, 17:55

Im using the mobicarte with Internet Max option (posting using it right now

)
The salespeople are indeed completely clueless about it, so might as well not even bother asking.
Everything works fine for me, aside from the data transfer speeds, which are terrible. Im in Paris, my phone supports every fancy transfer protocol known (nokia 5800XM), it shows a 3.5G icon next to the network, but I'm getting 400-500kbit/sec speeds at most. 3.5G should mean 10-20 times that. Any ideas? Its absolutely crucial for me to get at least 1mbit speeds.

wisniak · 25-05-2009, 06:48

Meko, can you update regarding direct HTML (Web) browsing (ie not through the Orange portal), and regarding emailing costs and feasibility? (ie POP3, IMAP4, Gmail...)

Thanks.

meko · 25-05-2009, 22:25

Dont know about pop/imap, I use web-based gmail (the phone app doesnt work for me, dont know why, it asks for my password on every page. way too annoying).
"orange portal"? They set some orange page as my homepage when they entered the settings on my phone at the store (hint: save yourself a few hours and do it yourself), but the browsing is just normal browsing. And it works (apart from being slow).

superflysocal · 03-06-2009, 17:17

Gosh, why couldn't I have discovered this website before i went o europe 3 weeks ago????

I bought the mobicarte but because of the clueless orange reps, I did not get internet because they said i couldn't. a whole week without internet!!

By the way I was charged 20euro for the card that came with 5 or 10 euro of calltime (probably 5 euro).

Can someone elaborate on the process of getting the internet? If i don't speak French, how hard is it to understand the telephone menu to pay for it? maybe someone can outline the numbers to press (although it may change) at each menu?

Thanks!

(O2 in UK was so much better!!)

superflysocal · 03-06-2009, 17:19

by the way while I was in district 1 in paris and had a O2 UK card roaming, it always picked Bourgues over orange or SFR, since it always had a stronger signal with bouygues, but it may have been where i was at.

Lobby · 17-06-2009, 17:29

I see that the Option Internet Max now says that email (POP3 etc.) is no longer available. However there is an option "mail illimite" available for €9 per month which gives unlimited email access.

I presume both can be bought together and used that way?

mail option:

http://www.orange.fr/bin/frame.cgi?u...s/options.html

wisniak · 18-06-2009, 05:52

Well, I just got home from a week in Paris.

In the 2nd day there I found an Orange shop (seems that there're aren't that many around, at least not in the areas I visited), and I purchased a SIM card (it cost 15EUR) and an 25EUR refill card.

Initially the guy didn't know what I was talking about (regardind a pre-paid SIM), but after I showed him a printout from this site and some of the "internet max" option, he finally got it.

He also proposed purchasing a 3G/EDGE USB plug (like a disk-on-key), which could also be refilled, but I explained I need it for my PDA, so this option wasn;t applicable for me.

In any case, for some reason or other they weren't able to turn on the internet max option in that occasion, so I went on using the refill card, hoping that it would hold for a couple of days.
Sadly, the credit was eaten up pretty quickly.

I tried setting up the internet max option by myself, using the (free) SMS menu system that Orange uses in France, but wasn't able to.
So I then called (at a charge of 0.37EUR/min) the Orange support, but they told me that I needed to go to an Orange store to turn on the Internet max option, and then it'd take at least 2 days for it to be useable (she didn't explain why). And since I had only 2 days left, I gave up on it and purchased another refill card.

I can report that reception is pretty good in all the areas I visited (which is most of the tourist areas in Paris).

Further, there are quire a few free Wifi hotspots, so I used them whenever I could.

I wanted to thank all the members here who helped me prior to my visit to France.

xylem · 31-05-2009, 17:16

Update on Internet Max option:
- costs 12 EUR (Orange Shop, Corsica)
- have to manually activate new access point (settings were set up automatically) on Nokia, Symbian

I'm selling my Mobicarte SIM if anyone interested:
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/buy-...te-france.html

DaveRo · 18-10-2009, 11:42

This post
Mobicarte Orange [topic unique] - Page : 27 - GSM - Technologies Mobiles - FORUM HardWare.fr
suggests that internet max is no longer available with mobicarte.

Teddy-bear · 18-10-2009, 11:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveRo

This post
Mobicarte Orange [topic unique] - Page : 27 - GSM - Technologies Mobiles - FORUM HardWare.fr
suggests that internet max is no longer available with mobicarte.

TX a lot, thas what I was thinking

	(#1)
meko (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 2 Join Date: 23 May 2009 Country:	23-05-2009, 17:55 Im using the mobicarte with Internet Max option (posting using it right now ) The salespeople are indeed completely clueless about it, so might as well not even bother asking. Everything works fine for me, aside from the data transfer speeds, which are terrible. Im in Paris, my phone supports every fancy transfer protocol known (nokia 5800XM), it shows a 3.5G icon next to the network, but I'm getting 400-500kbit/sec speeds at most. 3.5G should mean 10-20 times that. Any ideas? Its absolutely crucial for me to get at least 1mbit speeds.

	(#2)
wisniak (Offline) Member Advanced Member Posts: 92 Join Date: 12 May 2009 Country:	25-05-2009, 06:48 Meko, can you update regarding direct HTML (Web) browsing (ie not through the Orange portal), and regarding emailing costs and feasibility? (ie POP3, IMAP4, Gmail...) Thanks.

	(#3)
meko (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 2 Join Date: 23 May 2009 Country:	25-05-2009, 22:25 Dont know about pop/imap, I use web-based gmail (the phone app doesnt work for me, dont know why, it asks for my password on every page. way too annoying). "orange portal"? They set some orange page as my homepage when they entered the settings on my phone at the store (hint: save yourself a few hours and do it yourself), but the browsing is just normal browsing. And it works (apart from being slow).

	(#4)
superflysocal (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 4 Join Date: 03 Jun 2009 Country:	03-06-2009, 17:17 Gosh, why couldn't I have discovered this website before i went o europe 3 weeks ago???? I bought the mobicarte but because of the clueless orange reps, I did not get internet because they said i couldn't. a whole week without internet!! By the way I was charged 20euro for the card that came with 5 or 10 euro of calltime (probably 5 euro). Can someone elaborate on the process of getting the internet? If i don't speak French, how hard is it to understand the telephone menu to pay for it? maybe someone can outline the numbers to press (although it may change) at each menu? Thanks! (O2 in UK was so much better!!)

	(#5)
superflysocal (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 4 Join Date: 03 Jun 2009 Country:	03-06-2009, 17:19 by the way while I was in district 1 in paris and had a O2 UK card roaming, it always picked Bourgues over orange or SFR, since it always had a stronger signal with bouygues, but it may have been where i was at.

	(#6)
Lobby (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 4 Join Date: 13 May 2009 Country:	17-06-2009, 17:29 I see that the Option Internet Max now says that email (POP3 etc.) is no longer available. However there is an option "mail illimite" available for €9 per month which gives unlimited email access. I presume both can be bought together and used that way? mail option: http://www.orange.fr/bin/frame.cgi?u...s/options.html Last edited by Lobby; 17-06-2009 at 17:31.. Reason: Typo and added link

	(#7)
wisniak (Offline) Member Advanced Member Posts: 92 Join Date: 12 May 2009 Country:	18-06-2009, 05:52 Well, I just got home from a week in Paris. In the 2nd day there I found an Orange shop (seems that there're aren't that many around, at least not in the areas I visited), and I purchased a SIM card (it cost 15EUR) and an 25EUR refill card. Initially the guy didn't know what I was talking about (regardind a pre-paid SIM), but after I showed him a printout from this site and some of the "internet max" option, he finally got it. He also proposed purchasing a 3G/EDGE USB plug (like a disk-on-key), which could also be refilled, but I explained I need it for my PDA, so this option wasn;t applicable for me. In any case, for some reason or other they weren't able to turn on the internet max option in that occasion, so I went on using the refill card, hoping that it would hold for a couple of days. Sadly, the credit was eaten up pretty quickly. I tried setting up the internet max option by myself, using the (free) SMS menu system that Orange uses in France, but wasn't able to. So I then called (at a charge of 0.37EUR/min) the Orange support, but they told me that I needed to go to an Orange store to turn on the Internet max option, and then it'd take at least 2 days for it to be useable (she didn't explain why). And since I had only 2 days left, I gave up on it and purchased another refill card. I can report that reception is pretty good in all the areas I visited (which is most of the tourist areas in Paris). Further, there are quire a few free Wifi hotspots, so I used them whenever I could. I wanted to thank all the members here who helped me prior to my visit to France.

	(#8)
xylem (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 1 Join Date: 12 Apr 2009 Country:	31-05-2009, 17:16 Update on Internet Max option: - costs 12 EUR (Orange Shop, Corsica) - have to manually activate new access point (settings were set up automatically) on Nokia, Symbian I'm selling my Mobicarte SIM if anyone interested: http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/buy-...te-france.html

	(#9)
DaveRo (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 153 Join Date: 07 Jul 2006 Country:	18-10-2009, 11:42 This post Mobicarte Orange [topic unique] - Page : 27 - GSM - Technologies Mobiles - FORUM HardWare.fr suggests that internet max is no longer available with mobicarte.