Report on using Orange Mobicarte in France

[Trallig]

If the mobicarte is only intended for phones, what can i use for my ipad2 , with os5, to have 3 g service while on the road in france? My ipad is " jailbroken".

[Trallig]

Originally Posted by scirocco

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.

Can the ipad 2 be set up same as you describe for iphone. Ebay sim states ipad2 with o5 won't work or did i misunderstand.

[drama queen]

Originally Posted by Trallig

If the mobicarte is only intended for phones, what can i use for my ipad2 , with os5, to have 3 g service while on the road in france? My ipad is " jailbroken".

Orange do not appear to have any Prepay options for Dongles or Tablets.
I think you would need to sign up to Bill pay. They do have a Bill pay option "sans engagement" for €9 per month. I guess you could cancel after 1 month?

Another option is to get a prepay card from another country which offers cheap roaming for data. Vodafone Ireland are the cheapest I know in Europe. They offer 50MB for €3 per day of Internet usage on Prepay. You can get a prepay SIM from Vodafone Ireland for €10 with €10 credit. Beats any other roaming offer hands down.

[Usas]

I have successfully used mobicarte in France about six months ago. My problem is I am not sure when I last recharged my phone and so I am not sure when my number will expire.
Would greatly appreciate it if someone could tell me where I might find info regarding dates of recharging or time until line expires.
I have tried to work through the #123# menu, but with limited french, had no luck.
Thanks

[ashtastically]

Originally Posted by Trallig

Can the ipad 2 be set up same as you describe for iphone. Ebay sim states ipad2 with o5 won't work or did i misunderstand.

Do I need to jailbreak my iphone 3gs from AT&T before I can go through these steps?

[scirocco]

Originally Posted by Usas

Would greatly appreciate it if someone could tell me where I might find info regarding dates of recharging or time until line expires.

There is some information available from the #123 menu.

#123# (call)
Select 5 (suivi conso)
This will give you the amount of credit left and the date of expiry of the credit. But it doesn't display the expiry date of the line.

I'm not sure what that selection will display if your credit has all expired. It might display the expiry date of the line.

[drama queen]

Originally Posted by scirocco

There is some information available from the #123 menu.

#123# (call)
Select 5 (suivi conso)
This will give you the amount of credit left and the date of expiry of the credit. But it doesn't display the expiry date of the line.

I'm not sure what that selection will display if your credit has all expired. It might display the expiry date of the line.

Orange also have quite a user-friendly user portal on their website. It gives all the same info as the #123 menu - but is easier to follow. It gives the date of expiration of credit and of the number as well as the amount of credit left. It is very easy to register and uses cookies so you don't need to enter your password each time you return.

[kuba.g]

Thanks for the detailed information, drama_queen!

Although I will never use French Orange with what they offer at the moment - prepaids from abroad are much better for one-time-usage in France.

[jsteinhu]

An update, months later I have not received a refund from the popular France ebay seller. He admits that they didn't set up the SIM properly, after I mailed it back, and has promised a refund several times but claims paypal/ebay problems. He is certainly not a scammer, but I am out ~$45 none the less. So, there is that.

[jb9]

Hello,

The folks on this forum have been so helpful in the past, I was wondering if someone might be able to help me setup Voicemail with the Mobicarte. I tried the last time I was in France (I think my greeting got set), but I never really needed it so I didn't want to mess around with my phone too much. Can anyone offer instructions (that work based on experience) for how to set up the Voicemail after dialing 888 in France? Basically, I am interested in the keystroke flow for the following:

1. setting a greeting
2. checking one's messages

thanks,

jb9