bilcotwo
New Member
mywife and i are taking our boat into the french and dutch inland waterways next year and would like peoples feedback on staying in touch with the uk via mobile phone/e mail services, thanks.
which mobile network is best
- Thread starter bilcotwo
- Start date
vyv_cox
Well-Known Member
In both cases for mobile you are far better off buying a local SIM card than roaming with a UK network. Our French Orange SIM is cheaper to operate in UK than the British equivalent.
Many PAYG cards will not allow data transfer for GPRS, although I have read on these forums that French Orange will do so. Others are far more knowledgeable on this subject. Internet shops and cafes are fairly common in both countries, although you have to shop around for them. Wifi is increasingly common and you will be able to use these in many locations, at far more reasonable cost than in UK.
Many PAYG cards will not allow data transfer for GPRS, although I have read on these forums that French Orange will do so. Others are far more knowledgeable on this subject. Internet shops and cafes are fairly common in both countries, although you have to shop around for them. Wifi is increasingly common and you will be able to use these in many locations, at far more reasonable cost than in UK.
justdrifting
Well-Known Member
Orange is VERY difficult to arrange a sim online their web page & tariffs are anything other than clear
SFR is far better and still has an offer open for a half price sim
Hear: http://www.sfr.fr/offre-sfr/particulier/
Its the offer bottem left it says you pay 15 euros in place of 30 euros for the "kit" which comes with 2 euros credit!
I have an international number so i can use any operator though i only use orange SFR or tele 2 as the others cost more for the caller anyway in short even in the middel of fields (on the canal) both orange & SFR are there SFR is more often the better signal??
Id go for SFR
Next if you order online they will add a postage charge of 5 euros i think? BUT when you know which cannals youll be on you can collect it from an SFR shop FREE
Good luck you will love the French canals and the Belgium ones great food great wine good landscapes villages & towns allow plenty of time as youll find many delights
SFR is far better and still has an offer open for a half price sim
Hear: http://www.sfr.fr/offre-sfr/particulier/
Its the offer bottem left it says you pay 15 euros in place of 30 euros for the "kit" which comes with 2 euros credit!
I have an international number so i can use any operator though i only use orange SFR or tele 2 as the others cost more for the caller anyway in short even in the middel of fields (on the canal) both orange & SFR are there SFR is more often the better signal??
Id go for SFR
Next if you order online they will add a postage charge of 5 euros i think? BUT when you know which cannals youll be on you can collect it from an SFR shop FREE
Good luck you will love the French canals and the Belgium ones great food great wine good landscapes villages & towns allow plenty of time as youll find many delights
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
SFR (Vodafone subsididary) and Orange (France Telecom) are the two, largest - other is Bouygues. In terms of cost (I've used the 1st 2) Orange was slightly cheaper than SFR (mainly to do with the discount on large value top-ups). Bouygues is the cheapest, but least effective coverage.
Suspect you'll find increasing availability of WiFi LANs, so why not use Skype which is FoC even if you have to pay some for the privilege of ADSL connection.
Certainly best to use local PAYG SIM, you'll find how expensive UK mobile tariffs are.
Best in my experience was Crne Goro, €8 for a SIM giving €5 credit and calls at €0.03/min.
Suspect you'll find increasing availability of WiFi LANs, so why not use Skype which is FoC even if you have to pay some for the privilege of ADSL connection.
Certainly best to use local PAYG SIM, you'll find how expensive UK mobile tariffs are.
Best in my experience was Crne Goro, €8 for a SIM giving €5 credit and calls at €0.03/min.
samwise
Well-Known Member
Skype is the cheapest option but of course your contacts have to be subscribers as well. Wifi is generally becoming more avaiable, but we were surprised on our trip ast year, how thinly spread the availability was, especially in France. In Spain and Portugal the bars were often the best bet. Buy a couple of drinks and sit there all night ( no hardship!) Many places promised that they would have wifi up and running this year (2007) it would be interesting to see if it has happened.
Richard10002
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
Skype is the cheapest option but of course your contacts have to be subscribers as well.
[/ QUOTE ]
With SkypeOut you can call landlines for about a penny a minute. You can also pay about £40 a year to have a local UK number, (wherever you are), and voicemail.
Janet could call me on an 0161 number, and I could call her for 60p per hour, all via a mobile sim 3G connection, (Italy & Malta), or wifi if I could get it.
Skype is the cheapest option but of course your contacts have to be subscribers as well.
[/ QUOTE ]
With SkypeOut you can call landlines for about a penny a minute. You can also pay about £40 a year to have a local UK number, (wherever you are), and voicemail.
Janet could call me on an 0161 number, and I could call her for 60p per hour, all via a mobile sim 3G connection, (Italy & Malta), or wifi if I could get it.
Grehan
Well-Known Member
France
Currently, no French network provides complete data access on a PAYG basis** - you have to take out a contract (abonnement) and to do that you need a French bank account for which you (effectively) need a French address^^^. We have just opened an account using the Port de Plaisance's address, which they were kind enough to provide an 'official' letter confirming us living there. Or you might be able to do it via a Carnet de Circulation, which is really meant for Travellers but can be provided to travellers as well. We started down that route (following advice from Credit Agricole) but stopped the process when another bank provided an easier route. In France it seems lots of things are possible, if you know the right person or make the 'right' approach . . .
My information is that although SFR has the best overall coverage, with Orange you stand the best chance of accessing a high-speed connection.
** but see http://mobilesociety.typepad.com/mobile_life/2007/08/incredible-fran.html - Martin Sauter is of the opinion that 10MB/month is not enough for anything other than sporadic emailing, not web browsing.
^^^ However, you can open a Credit Agricole French account from the UK using Britline http://www.britline.com/g1/ - you'll need to satisfy 'normal' banking criteria in terms of income status etc. You might not need a permanent French address if you can show you're a regular visitor for reasonable periods of time.
There is always PocketMail http://www.pocketmail.com/ , which users that I know think is great, easy and cheap to use.
I have an idea that most mobile networks providing data access block using it for VOIP (i.e Skype).
Is that right?
Currently, no French network provides complete data access on a PAYG basis** - you have to take out a contract (abonnement) and to do that you need a French bank account for which you (effectively) need a French address^^^. We have just opened an account using the Port de Plaisance's address, which they were kind enough to provide an 'official' letter confirming us living there. Or you might be able to do it via a Carnet de Circulation, which is really meant for Travellers but can be provided to travellers as well. We started down that route (following advice from Credit Agricole) but stopped the process when another bank provided an easier route. In France it seems lots of things are possible, if you know the right person or make the 'right' approach . . .
My information is that although SFR has the best overall coverage, with Orange you stand the best chance of accessing a high-speed connection.
** but see http://mobilesociety.typepad.com/mobile_life/2007/08/incredible-fran.html - Martin Sauter is of the opinion that 10MB/month is not enough for anything other than sporadic emailing, not web browsing.
^^^ However, you can open a Credit Agricole French account from the UK using Britline http://www.britline.com/g1/ - you'll need to satisfy 'normal' banking criteria in terms of income status etc. You might not need a permanent French address if you can show you're a regular visitor for reasonable periods of time.
There is always PocketMail http://www.pocketmail.com/ , which users that I know think is great, easy and cheap to use.
I have an idea that most mobile networks providing data access block using it for VOIP (i.e Skype).
Is that right?
trouville
N/A
Re: France
QUOTE:et could call me on an 0161 number, and I could call her for 60p per hour, all via a mobile sim 3G connection, (Italy & Malta), or wifi if I could get it.
My question:
I hear many telling others to save by using their 3G or other mobile data access.Yesterday i was checking the price of data and it stood at around 30 cents for 1 kilo byte having used "portable" date service in the Baltic where prices are far far less(the only thing that is) i was still spending around 300 euros PM in top ups
From whom or how do you get a 3G or other data card that can be used throughout Europe? Or which warm contries provide such a payable service.Ive been looking and never found one that was afordable
Where
QUOTE:et could call me on an 0161 number, and I could call her for 60p per hour, all via a mobile sim 3G connection, (Italy & Malta), or wifi if I could get it.
My question:
I hear many telling others to save by using their 3G or other mobile data access.Yesterday i was checking the price of data and it stood at around 30 cents for 1 kilo byte having used "portable" date service in the Baltic where prices are far far less(the only thing that is) i was still spending around 300 euros PM in top ups
From whom or how do you get a 3G or other data card that can be used throughout Europe? Or which warm contries provide such a payable service.Ive been looking and never found one that was afordable
Where
peter60
Member
we live in france and use our tesco internet phone through the computer. Call costs 2p a min to any land line on earth and 10p a min to any mobile on earth nothing cheaper and it only costs £15 to buy.
Grehan
Well-Known Member
Are you using a fixed landline to a building? Mobile comms are a bit more difficult.
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
Skype
only works if you have an ADSL connection - the original question was about mobile networks (wasn't it).
The assumption that you can find Wi-Fi connections wherever you go is not accurate.
In fact I use my G3 phone as a modem over considerable areas of the Med.
Until Wi-Max is a fact the cellular radio network is still the most ubiquitous and available.
only works if you have an ADSL connection - the original question was about mobile networks (wasn't it).
The assumption that you can find Wi-Fi connections wherever you go is not accurate.
In fact I use my G3 phone as a modem over considerable areas of the Med.
Until Wi-Max is a fact the cellular radio network is still the most ubiquitous and available.
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
French Banks
One doesn't need a permanaent address in France - a boat does.
I still have a Credit Agricole account, and that was the cheapest (if not fastest) way of transferring UK funds, write a cheque to yourself, send it to Credit Agricole and they'd transfer it at interbank rate about 5 working days later.
When last I was there, Orange would provide a data-link on your PAYG SIM for a pre-paid fee. It was a very expensive way of data-transfer.
I was getting 15Mb from T-Mobile Hrvaska at the equivalent of 1p/1Mb, this summer in Croatia.
One doesn't need a permanaent address in France - a boat does.
I still have a Credit Agricole account, and that was the cheapest (if not fastest) way of transferring UK funds, write a cheque to yourself, send it to Credit Agricole and they'd transfer it at interbank rate about 5 working days later.
When last I was there, Orange would provide a data-link on your PAYG SIM for a pre-paid fee. It was a very expensive way of data-transfer.
I was getting 15Mb from T-Mobile Hrvaska at the equivalent of 1p/1Mb, this summer in Croatia.
Richard10002
Well-Known Member
Re: France
[ QUOTE ]
From whom or how do you get a 3G or other data card that can be used throughout Europe? Or which warm contries provide such a payable service.Ive been looking and never found one that was afordable
Where
[/ QUOTE ]
Nice to see you!!
Depends where you are:
UK - I use T Mobile PAYG for £1 per day.... fair usage 40Mb per day, so I dont use Skype or watch videos or TV.... although I'm sure there are many days when I have used much more than 40Mb, and I havent heard from them.
For those based in the UK, T Mobile Web n Walk seems best to me, although the others are now catching up.
Spain - Yoigo PAYG GPRS unlimited for 1.40 euros per day - OK for web browsing, (not fast), but not for Skype or video stuff.
Italy - 3G WIND PAYG 5Gb per month for 30 euros per month.
and/or 3G TIM off peak 9Gb per month, (not between 0900-1730 mon-fri), for 25 euros per month.
Malta - Go Mobile 3g contract with 1 months notice and 250 Maltese liri deposit, (about 600 euros).
I think Greece and Croatia also have deals on 3G PAYG
Hope this helps
Richard
[ QUOTE ]
From whom or how do you get a 3G or other data card that can be used throughout Europe? Or which warm contries provide such a payable service.Ive been looking and never found one that was afordable
Where
[/ QUOTE ]
Nice to see you!!
Depends where you are:
UK - I use T Mobile PAYG for £1 per day.... fair usage 40Mb per day, so I dont use Skype or watch videos or TV.... although I'm sure there are many days when I have used much more than 40Mb, and I havent heard from them.
For those based in the UK, T Mobile Web n Walk seems best to me, although the others are now catching up.
Spain - Yoigo PAYG GPRS unlimited for 1.40 euros per day - OK for web browsing, (not fast), but not for Skype or video stuff.
Italy - 3G WIND PAYG 5Gb per month for 30 euros per month.
and/or 3G TIM off peak 9Gb per month, (not between 0900-1730 mon-fri), for 25 euros per month.
Malta - Go Mobile 3g contract with 1 months notice and 250 Maltese liri deposit, (about 600 euros).
I think Greece and Croatia also have deals on 3G PAYG
Hope this helps
Richard
trouville
N/A
Re: France
Italy sounds really good by now thanks all noted.
The first thing i intend to do or planed to do was get a new TIM SIM sadly mine finally died of old age and i had to be IN Italy to get a (free) replacement the old cards i was told are low voltage cards.Thats why the new sims dont work in my motorola 18w OP portable phone (looks like a fix phone and same size)
Italy sounds really good by now thanks all noted.
The first thing i intend to do or planed to do was get a new TIM SIM sadly mine finally died of old age and i had to be IN Italy to get a (free) replacement the old cards i was told are low voltage cards.Thats why the new sims dont work in my motorola 18w OP portable phone (looks like a fix phone and same size)