Orange France data dongles

[franksingleton]

Having used the Orange Internet Everywhere in Spain, we wanted to do the same in France. In Arcachon, I found an Orange shop. They could not sell me a dongle because I do not have a French bank account. This was even though we were going ro use Pay as you go and not a contract.

Apparently, they could only take a debit card, not cash or a credit card, and could only verify it by typing onto a pre-formatted screen. French banking numbers are in a different format to ours. They said that they could not swipe the card. My French is not good enough to find out what was the real problem. Nor was their English. I tried to persist having had such a good service in Spain, They became rude.

We then went to the SFR shop next door. They were absolutely the opposite. After a couple of hours, it seems good.

If what they said was correct, nobody can buy an Orange service in France unless they have a French bank account. I am a happy Orange UK customer and had good srvice in Spain. Orange France are a bad advertisement for Orange as a whole.

 

[bendyone]

I use an orange data sim brought from the supermarket €8 for 1 day and then you can top it up. No ID or anything but a card in the box which you had to send off within 14 days or it would be cut off. Card in English and French
At first it wouldnt work so I went to the orange shop in City Europe who adjusted the setting - APN. They said Auchean should not have sold it without my info. The orange shop man entered all my details into his system. All works now but the only problem is you cant seam to top it up using an English credit card - only by buying a voucher in France. Early days yet to see how this works.
Get a very good signal in Calais and around 3 - 4 MB download.

 

[RAI]

Go to an SFR shop. They are more flexible. But you will only be able to top up in SFR shops, not online or with ATMs.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

I tried to persist having had such a good service in Spain, They became rude.

We then went to the SFR shop next door. They were absolutely the opposite. After a couple of hours, it seems good.

If what they said was correct, nobody can buy an Orange service in France unless they have a French bank account. I am a happy Orange UK customer and had good srvice in Spain. Orange France are a bad advertisement for Orange as a whole.

Rude? They are French - thats what they do. Like dogs bark.

Orange are French . I try to support British companies like Voda.

 

[Chuteman]

Not the Best

Just signed up for Orange WiFi at Benodet marina - it would not stay connected long enough to do an e-mail........there was a thunderstorm in the area so don't know if that was making the mice on their antenna treadmill nervous

BTW netabord has worked extremely well where available - Camaret & Lorient
are two places I've used it.

3UK Dongle - was outstanding when I was in the UK.........would be great to find a sim(s) that I could use with it as I proceed. Since I'm not going to be in France very long - I'll wait & see what is working for others - and stay away
from Orange.

 

[snowleopard]

Another question re. Orange international use. I have an Orange phone with a UK account. Can I use it with an Orange PAYG SIM in other countries, e.g. could I buy a SIM in Australia to use in my phone?

 

[RAI]

It depends

Another question re. Orange international use. I have an Orange phone with a UK account. Can I use it with an Orange PAYG SIM in other countries, e.g. could I buy a SIM in Australia to use in my phone?

It depends whether your PAYG SIM is locked to the handset. If it is, another SIM card will not work until the phone is unlocked. Some providers charge to unlock, others refuse. Talk to Orange UK.

 

[bendyone]

BTW netabord has worked extremely well where available - Camaret & Lorient
are two places I've used it.

Netabord in Calais is hard work, poor signal even though the is a mast 20 metres from the boat. It does work but very slow.

 

[maxi77]

Netabord in Calais is hard work, poor signal even though the is a mast 20 metres from the boat. It does work but very slow.

Yes I agree Netaboard whilst a not bad deal has real coverage problems in most marinas. Good berth and you are laughing, bad berth and it is a real pain. If I was doing it again I would get one of those little amplifier aerials from Ebay which does really improve reception.

 

[Chuteman]

Lucky

Guess I was fortunate a first time netabord user.....Camaret is small -so that might be easy.........but in Lorient I was on end tie of Visitor pontoon.....it was
very strong.
Unfortunately, it a roll of the dice at every spot and when You are on the move
it is almost critical to have reliable service.
I do not have a special antenna but it's on the never ending list. Right now in Santander I'm sitting in the cockpit because I can't pick up the weak signal
down below.........must be the engine in the way

Dongle is still my preferred choice but moving between countries makes that
more complicated & have not had (or taken) the time to sort out..... it's on a different list

 

[prv]

This page lists French prepaid data options: http://prepaidwithdata.wikia.com/wiki/France

I know when PAYG first came out, there were complications because the French authorities didn't like the idea of anonymous phones making it awkward to spy on their citizens, so you had to register when buying one. I don't know to what extent this is still the case but it might explain some of the requirements.

Pete

 

[Mrnotming]

Orange, SFR etc.

Thank you very much Pete for this link above, most revealing indeed, and a valuable resouce for the future,
Good sailing and boating!