Le meilleur service de GPRS en France

David Wuertele <dave-gnus@bfnet.com> wrote in
news:m3u0y55qds.fsf@bfnet.com:

Bonjour,

Je suis un Americain, et je voyagerai en France pour regarder le Tour
de France cette annee. Je voyagerai par le motorhome pendant quatre
semaines. J'ai un IBM thinkpad que je dois relier a l'Internet.

Je recherchant un service telephonique avec GPRS. Est-ce que quelqu'un
qui peut recommander un bon service bon marchee GPRS?

Orange seems to me the best choice, as it is the Tour's official sponsor :
http://www.francetelecom.com/en/solutions/mobile/tourdefrance.html

They have the more comprehensive cellular coverage nationwide, and they
usually add COWs (Cellular On Wheels = mobile base stations) where needed
during the Tour de France.

Last but not least, Orange has a prepaid offer called Mobicarte :
http://www.orange.fr/content/ge/high/offre/mobicarte/pe_mobicarte.shtml
which includes GPRS access. It's quite expensive :
http://animation.orange.fr/osa/fiche.php?SA=MOBFOW , but that may fulfill
your needs quite well.

Bon séjour !


--
A+,

Olivier

Merci beaucoup monseiur! Very useful information (sorry for speaking
English here).

Olivier> Last but not least, Orange has a prepaid offer called Mobicarte :
Olivier> http://www.orange.fr/content/ge/high/offre/mobicarte/pe_mobicarte.shtml
Olivier> which includes GPRS access. It's quite expensive :
Olivier> http://animation.orange.fr/osa/fiche.php?SA=MOBFOW , but that may fulfill
Olivier> your needs quite well.

I'm trying to understand these prices, but my French language skills
are too limited. Do these pages say what the data fees are per
megabyte?

Merci!
Dave

David Wuertele <dave-gnus@bfnet.com> wrote in
news:m34qq44e0c.fsf@bfnet.com:

Merci beaucoup monseiur!

You're welcome, sir ;-)...

I'm trying to understand these prices, but my French language skills
are too limited. Do these pages say what the data fees are per
megabyte?

There are two "Orange world" plans :

- 10 EUR/month for 10 megabytes,
- 6 EUR/month for 5 megabytes.

The cheapest way to subscribe to one of these plans is to connect to the
internet from a cybercafe after having bought a Mobicarte SIM (30 EUR)
and subscribe here : http://www.orange.fr/0/visiteur/PV?PS=COMPTEABO

The easyest way (but not the cheapest !) is to call a customer care
representative by dialing 722 from the phone.

You can download here the Mobicarte booklet which contains (too little)
explanations in English :
http://www.orange.fr/images/ge/high/themege/pdf/mobicarte/mobicarte_requi
n.pdf

Hope you've got a 900 MHz compatible GSM-GPRS phone, otherwise you'll
have to get one either in the US or as you arrive in France.


--
Cheers !

Olivier

Olivier> - 10 EUR/month for 10 megabytes,
Olivier> - 6 EUR/month for 5 megabytes.

That's a tiny amount of data. Do they count both download and upload
in that amount? I am hoping to upload about 5 megabytes PER DAY to my
website as I take photos of the TDF. I would be OK paying up to 150
EUR for a total of 150 megabytes. Can I just buy fifteen of the 10
megabyte cards?

Olivier> Hope you've got a 900 MHz compatible GSM-GPRS phone,
Olivier> otherwise you'll have to get one either in the US or as you
Olivier> arrive in France.

I plan to buy a Nokia 6310i or something similar. So I think I'll
have that covered.

Thanks again!
Dave

I am not sure that the Mobicarte SIM allows GPRS data... can anyone
confirm ?

Also don't forget to bring along a Wifi card. The Accor hotel chain has
Orange hotspots in every hotel (and there are lots).

http://www.orange-wifi.com/

U can get a login and password by sending an SMS message from your
Orange phone.

Mark

--
Interested in mobile mesh ?
http://mark.cabiling.free.fr/mobilemesh

David Wuertele wrote:

Olivier> - 10 EUR/month for 10 megabytes,
Olivier> - 6 EUR/month for 5 megabytes.

That's a tiny amount of data. Do they count both download and upload
in that amount? I am hoping to upload about 5 megabytes PER DAY to my
website as I take photos of the TDF. I would be OK paying up to 150
EUR for a total of 150 megabytes. Can I just buy fifteen of the 10
megabyte cards?

Olivier> Hope you've got a 900 MHz compatible GSM-GPRS phone,
Olivier> otherwise you'll have to get one either in the US or as you
Olivier> arrive in France.

I plan to buy a Nokia 6310i or something similar. So I think I'll
have that covered.

Thanks again!
Dave

I am not sure that the Mobicarte SIM allows GPRS data... can anyone confirm ?

Of course it does ! You can trust Olivier's informations and advices
:-)

--
Christophe

Couverture GSM Oléron 2003
http://chantoine3.free.fr

David Wuertele <dave-gnus@bfnet.com> wrote in
news:m3pt8s2fty.fsf@bfnet.com:

Olivier> - 10 EUR/month for 10 megabytes,
Olivier> - 6 EUR/month for 5 megabytes.

That's a tiny amount of data. Do they count both download and upload
in that amount?

I'm afraid they do...

I am hoping to upload about 5 megabytes PER DAY to my
website as I take photos of the TDF. I would be OK paying up to 150
EUR for a total of 150 megabytes. Can I just buy fifteen of the 10
megabyte cards?

Frankly, I find their website very unclear about this very issue. It
seems they provide both GPRS plans but also a "10 kilobyte per 10
kilobite usage" that may allow you to go far beyond the 6 MB/10 MB limit
(even though it might be more expensive).
Christophe, as your are the "commercial issues specialist ;-)", do you
have more information about that ?

Anyway I'll try to get more information about this issue at one of their
stores here in Paris.

Olivier> Hope you've got a 900 MHz compatible GSM-GPRS phone,
Olivier> otherwise you'll have to get one either in the US or as you
Olivier> arrive in France.

I plan to buy a Nokia 6310i or something similar. So I think I'll
have that covered.

The 6310i will be OK, but an E/// R520m (especially with the IAT-10
optionnal antenna) has outstanding RF performances at 900 MHz compared to
the 6310i. In the boonies it will certainly make a big difference...
Moreover, the R520m (what's the latest version for the stock firmware,
Christophe ?) seems very stable in GPRS mode and thus you can expect a
regular 43 kbit/s connection on the Orange network, even though it's a 3
+ 1 only phone.


--
Cheers,

Olivier

Olivier Boudot avait soumis l'idée :

Frankly, I find their website very unclear about this very issue. It
seems they provide both GPRS plans but also a "10 kilobyte per 10
kilobite usage" that may allow you to go far beyond the 6 MB/10 MB limit
(even though it might be more expensive).
Christophe, as your are the "commercial issues specialist ;-)", do you
have more information about that ?

Sorry, i'm not a Mobicarte gprs specialist, but i thought there was a 1
kb billing with a minimum of 10kb...

The 6310i will be OK, but an E/// R520m (especially with the IAT-10
optionnal antenna) has outstanding RF performances at 900 MHz compared to
the 6310i. In the boonies it will certainly make a big difference...
Moreover, the R520m (what's the latest version for the stock firmware,
Christophe ?)

R4A008

seems very stable in GPRS mode and thus you can expect a
regular 43 kbit/s connection on the Orange network, even though it's a 3
+ 1 only phone.

I'd say 30 kb/s... but in download, Olivier :-/

--
Christophe

Couverture GSM Oléron 2003
http://chantoine3.free.fr

C Antoine <chantoine99marreduspam@riendutoo.fr> wrote in
news:mn.d40a7d4559bbd81e.9614@riendutoo.fr:

Sorry, i'm not a Mobicarte gprs specialist, but i thought there was a
1 kb billing with a minimum of 10kb...

It seems to change all the time.
I'll need to have it sorted out at a store (if they understand the issue
;-) )...

I'd say 30 kb/s... but in download, Olivier :-/

You're right, my figure was about download only, and anyway it way
slightly too optimistic. But nevertheless I believe the 30 bit/s limit
was a *Nokia 8310 problem only* IIRC... 3 x 13,4 kb/s = 40,2 kbit/s DL
(with CS-2), so that is the average figure a R520m is supposed to cope
with.

As far as upload is concerned, I'm afraid it will only be 13,4 kbit/s...
Well, I've juste made a few test with Orange's GPRS and they seem to use
both CS-3 and CS-4 on the downlink here*. This means the data rate can
rise up to 21,4 kbit/s under excellent RF conditions.


--
Cheers,

Olivier


* Here in downtown Paris the BSS (Base Station Subsystem) is Motorola. In
the rest of the northern part of France it's Alcatel, and in the south
it's Nortel. I personnaly have no idea about the CS used in practice in
these places, but I'll probably be able to test both before July ;-).

Mark> Also don't forget to bring along a Wifi card. The Accor hotel chain
Mark> has Orange hotspots in every hotel (and there are lots).
Mark> http://www.orange-wifi.com/
Mark> U can get a login and password by sending an SMS message from your
Mark> Orange phone.

Do these hotspots charge by the megabyte?