Le meilleur service de GPRS en France

D'apres Olivier Boudot <oboudotspam@freeaol.com>,
dans le forum fr.reseaux.telecoms.techniques...

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

Not sure you can subscribe if you are not living in France...

Marc Zirnheld <Marc.Zirnheld@teaser.fr> wrote in
news:rk9cb01d21muh8q0va76cuvpnn2evbue79@4ax.com:

D'apres Olivier Boudot <oboudotspam@freeaol.com>,
dans le forum fr.reseaux.telecoms.techniques...

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

Not sure you can subscribe if you are not living in France...

Well, for sure you must show an ID or a passport when subscribing, but one
shouldn't be refused a Mobicarte based on the fact he or she lives
overseas...


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A+,

Olivier

I found a site that sells mobicarte cards to Americans:

http://www.telestial.com/products/france_sim.htm

Nobody answers the phone number given on the website, so I'm worried
the company might be a little "fly-by-night." I would go ahead and
order a card, but I have two questions:

- Does this product use the Orange network?

- Does this product support GPRS?

If anyone has some insight on these questions it sure would help!

Dave

David Wuertele <dave-gnus@bfnet.com> wrote in
news:m3zn7l8nqz.fsf@bfnet.com:

I found a site that sells mobicarte cards to Americans:

http://www.telestial.com/products/france_sim.htm

Nobody answers the phone number given on the website, so I'm worried
the company might be a little "fly-by-night."

Well, their website is not quite up to date (there definitely peak and
off-peak times, depending on the plan you choose). Moreover, "222"
service is not free any more, you should now use the USSD command #123#
<send> to receive free information about the service, change plan and
subscribe to options.

I would go ahead and
order a card, but I have two questions:

- Does this product use the Orange network?

Yes, absolutely.

- Does this product support GPRS?

It's supposed to. Anyway, I'll get some info about GPRS activation at a
Orange store, probably by the end of this week.


--
A+,

Olivier

Olivier> Well, their website is not quite up to date (there definitely
Olivier> peak and off-peak times, depending on the plan you
Olivier> choose). Moreover, "222" service is not free any more, you
Olivier> should now use the USSD command #123# <send> to receive free
Olivier> information about the service, change plan and subscribe to
Olivier> options.

Doesn't reflect very well on Telestial. Unfortunately I haven't found
an alternative yet :-(

- Does this product use the Orange network?
Olivier> Yes, absolutely.

Excellent. They also have this deal called "French ConeXion", which
is an Ericsson R520 plus a sim card. Previously you recommended the
Ericsson R520m, is this the same phone?

http://www.telestial.com/products/e_r520_gsm_cell_phone.htm

Since all I care about are Blutooth and GPRS performance, if there is
no difference between the R520 and the R520m in this respect, I will
probably go for this deal.

Thanks!
Dave

David Wuertele <dave-gnus@bfnet.com> wrote in
news:m3pt8h8l8o.fsf@bfnet.com:

Excellent. They also have this deal called "French ConeXion", which
is an Ericsson R520 plus a sim card. Previously you recommended the
Ericsson R520m, is this the same phone?

Yes, it is, the R520 is always "m". But keep in mind you can get one at
half their price :
http://www.expansys-usa.com/product.asp?code=ERIC-R520M

Moreover, a Mobicarte SIM costs EUR 30 ($ 36) if you purchase it at an
Orange store in France.

I also strongly advise you to get a high performance IAT-10 "pull out"
antenna, it may be useful in some rural areas. This product is discontinued
(so is the R520m, by the way), but
http://www.111-mobiles.co.uk/acatalog/simfree_ericsson_r520m.html seems to
still have some in stock.


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Cheers,

Olivier

Olivier> http://www.expansys-usa.com/product.asp?code=ERIC-R520M

Just ordered it. Thanks for the tip!

Olivier> Moreover, a Mobicarte SIM costs EUR 30 ($ 36) if you purchase
Olivier> it at an Orange store in France.

Since I'm going to be flying into Germany and driving through Belgium
to France, I was planning on getting a Mobicarte SIM before I depart.
But I just realized that perhaps the Mobicarte SIM can't be used in
Germany or Belgium. Do you know?

Olivier> http://www.111-mobiles.co.uk/acatalog/simfree_ericsson_r520m.html
Olivier> seems to still have some in stock.

Just ordered that too. Thanks!
Dave

David Wuertele <dave-gnus@bfnet.com> wrote in
news:m34qps8r93.fsf@bfnet.com:

Olivier> Moreover, a Mobicarte SIM costs EUR 30 ($ 36) if you purchase
Olivier> it at an Orange store in France.

Since I'm going to be flying into Germany and driving through Belgium
to France, I was planning on getting a Mobicarte SIM before I depart.
But I just realized that perhaps the Mobicarte SIM can't be used in
Germany or Belgium. Do you know?

You can roam with a Mobicarte both in Germany and Belgium, but I'm afraid
the SIM must be activated on Orange France's network first :-(...

Probably should you get yourself a German "CallYa" perpaid SIM too ?
http://minilien.com/?580RFRt0Z3
Seems that you can't purchase it from Voda Germany (the best coverage
there) if you're abroad, unfortunately. But there are Voda stores
everywhere in German cities.
In fact, it looks like all the US online resellers ask twice their real
price for those European prepaid cards :
http://www.ustronics.com/inprepsimcar1.html


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Cheers,

Olivier

Olivier> You can roam with a Mobicarte both in Germany and Belgium,
Olivier> but I'm afraid the SIM must be activated on Orange France's
Olivier> network first :-(...

Ouch!

Considering that I'm only going to spend one day in Germany, and three
days in Belgium, it seems like it would be a waste to buy a card for
Germany and a card for Belgium. MAYBE if the German card would roam
in Belgium I could just buy the German card when I arrive in
Germany... But I would definitely want to make sure it did GPRS in
both countries.

It is starting to look like I need to have someone in France get a
Mobicarte for me, activate it on Orange France's network, and mail it
to me here in the US.

Dave

David Wuertele <dave-gnus@bfnet.com> wrote in
news:m3vfi86yqn.fsf@bfnet.com:

Olivier> You can roam with a Mobicarte both in Germany and Belgium,
Olivier> but I'm afraid the SIM must be activated on Orange France's
Olivier> network first :-(...

Ouch!

Unfortunately, yes ;-). I've checked the subscription issue at an Orange
store tonight. The card must be activated in France first. Then you can
activate the "Orange World" option, that allows GPRS access for data, by
subscribing to the relevant option in the "option" menu of the USSD #123#
server. Billing is kilobyte per kilobyte after a first 10 kilobytes step
(this is the minimum you'll be charged for each GPRS connection).

Considering that I'm only going to spend one day in Germany, and three
days in Belgium, it seems like it would be a waste to buy a card for
Germany and a card for Belgium. MAYBE if the German card would roam
in Belgium I could just buy the German card when I arrive in
Germany... But I would definitely want to make sure it did GPRS in
both countries.

I don't know anything about GPRS on German prepaid cards... But it's
quite sure you'll never roam on GPRS in a neighboring country with a
Mobicarte (you will only be able to make and receive voice calls).

The issue I've still been unable to make clear by now is whether or not
one can refill a Mobicarte account at a "Credit Lyonnais" ATM with a non
French credit card. If it works, this method would be much more
convenient than purchasing vouchers.

It is starting to look like I need to have someone in France get a
Mobicarte for me, activate it on Orange France's network, and mail it
to me here in the US.

This is clearly the easyest way to deal with the issue !


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Cheers,

Olivier