free mobile offer - Page 2

wolfbln · 17-04-2015, 20:10

@ TUX: Slowly we get info about the Free offer.
After Joe Mobile is gone many users may look for another choice:

Now, we know, that you can buy their card at their vending machine with foreign credit cards and we know that you can get a 1 month SIM which terminates automatically (or a running contract) as alternative. Fine.

But completing the WIKI about France, there are much more questions which come to my mind and i'm still not sure if Free is a viable option. Because I'm simply not aware of the final price and included data of the offer.

- 1.) The 19.99 EUR fee for one month is added by a 10 EUR "maintenance fee" for the machine ?!? Is this machine made out of gold

Does this apply to the 1-month SIM cards too or only to the contracts (forfaits). So simply, is the one month given out for 19.99 or 29.99 EUR in the end?

- 2.) Free sells 3 GB of data on its own 3G and roaming on Orange. And if they detect a "compatible" 4G device, they give out 20 GB of data on their own 4G/LTE and 3G on Free and roaming on Orange.
Well, it's a slight difference whether you get 3 GB or 20 GB.
So to be precise, how does Free detect exactly what: a LTE enabled device on 2600 MHz? They suppose to show which data allowance they give you in the user account. So this seems to be fixed then. How can one be sure (even having a 4G/LTE enabled device on 2600 MHz) to get the larger data allowance for instance if you happen to log in outside of Free's 4G zone?

Sorry about all the questions, but I'm still trying to verify if Free is an option to replace JoeMobile ore not.

tux · 17-04-2015, 23:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolfbln

- 1.) The 19.99 EUR fee for one month is added by a 10 EUR "maintenance fee" for the machine ?!? Is this machine made out of gold

Does this apply to the 1-month SIM cards too or only to the contracts (forfaits). So simply, is the one month given out for 19.99 or 29.99 EUR in the end?

It's made of true 18k gold

Anyway, it's 10€ for the sim card + 19.99€ for 1 month of contract. So it's 29.99€ for 1 month.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolfbln

- 2.) Free sells 3 GB of data on its own 3G and roaming on Orange. And if they detect a "compatible" 4G device, they give out 20 GB of data on their own 4G/LTE and 3G on Free and roaming on Orange.
Well, it's a slight difference whether you get 3 GB or 20 GB.
So to be precise, how does Free detect exactly what: a LTE enabled device on 2600 MHz?

I guess they check your IMEI, but I don't know really...

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolfbln

They suppose to show which data allowance they give you in the user account. So this seems to be fixed then. How can one be sure (even having a 4G/LTE enabled device on 2600 MHz) to get the larger data allowance for instance if you happen to log in outside of Free's 4G zone?

The only way to know this is to check the MNC of the network you're currently on, because free tweaked the STK to make the phone recognise Orange network (208-01) as 'free' (so you can't avoid roaming). Free network code is 208-14/15.
If you happen to be outside Free's 4G network, but you're still on their own 3G network, provided that you're using a 4G phone, you still get
the 20GB bundle. Otherwise you'll get only 3GB.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolfbln

Sorry about all the questions, but I'm still trying to verify if Free is an option to replace JoeMobile ore not.

No problem

wco81 · 17-04-2015, 23:13

Can you tether?

Not sure how good 20 GB is, even with LTE, if you only use on a mobile device.

Hmm, 30 Euro is too steep for me, especially for a 5-day visit.

Free doesn't seem too interested in catering to tourists or for that matter, the PAYG clients in general. You could say that about all the French carriers compared to carriers in other EU nations but at least some of them offer some kind of prepaid product. But the prepaid situation has been worse in the past so maybe there will be progress.

See now with 20 GB, if there was roaming within the EU, it would make sense to go to the trouble of seeking those sparsely distributed kiosks.

tux · 18-04-2015, 10:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by wco81

Can you tether?

It seems so.

But you can't put the sim in a Mobile WiFi router or dongle.

wco81 · 18-04-2015, 17:34

Well I'd tether through my iPad anyways, better battery life than any Mifi, not to mention support for a lot of LTE bands.

	(#11)
wolfbln (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 206 Join Date: 14 Jul 2014 Country:	17-04-2015, 20:10 @ TUX: Slowly we get info about the Free offer. After Joe Mobile is gone many users may look for another choice: Now, we know, that you can buy their card at their vending machine with foreign credit cards and we know that you can get a 1 month SIM which terminates automatically (or a running contract) as alternative. Fine. But completing the WIKI about France, there are much more questions which come to my mind and i'm still not sure if Free is a viable option. Because I'm simply not aware of the final price and included data of the offer. - 1.) The 19.99 EUR fee for one month is added by a 10 EUR "maintenance fee" for the machine ?!? Is this machine made out of gold Does this apply to the 1-month SIM cards too or only to the contracts (forfaits). So simply, is the one month given out for 19.99 or 29.99 EUR in the end? - 2.) Free sells 3 GB of data on its own 3G and roaming on Orange. And if they detect a "compatible" 4G device, they give out 20 GB of data on their own 4G/LTE and 3G on Free and roaming on Orange. Well, it's a slight difference whether you get 3 GB or 20 GB. So to be precise, how does Free detect exactly what: a LTE enabled device on 2600 MHz? They suppose to show which data allowance they give you in the user account. So this seems to be fixed then. How can one be sure (even having a 4G/LTE enabled device on 2600 MHz) to get the larger data allowance for instance if you happen to log in outside of Free's 4G zone? Sorry about all the questions, but I'm still trying to verify if Free is an option to replace JoeMobile ore not.

	(#13)
wco81 (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 304 Join Date: 17 Jun 2007 Country:	17-04-2015, 23:13 Can you tether? Not sure how good 20 GB is, even with LTE, if you only use on a mobile device. Hmm, 30 Euro is too steep for me, especially for a 5-day visit. Free doesn't seem too interested in catering to tourists or for that matter, the PAYG clients in general. You could say that about all the French carriers compared to carriers in other EU nations but at least some of them offer some kind of prepaid product. But the prepaid situation has been worse in the past so maybe there will be progress. See now with 20 GB, if there was roaming within the EU, it would make sense to go to the trouble of seeking those sparsely distributed kiosks.

	(#15)
wco81 (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 304 Join Date: 17 Jun 2007 Country:	18-04-2015, 17:34 Well I'd tether through my iPad anyways, better battery life than any Mifi, not to mention support for a lot of LTE bands.