Dongles

[polremy]

I have a 3 dongle here in England which is really useful.
Cost 19.99 and came with enough credit to last for a month. After that you have to top up anyway.
They seem to be very very expensive in France - some 69 euros and then you need to buy the credit.
On the 3 website it says that I can use my English dongle in France and there will be coverage from Orange or Bougues at a cost of £1.25 per MB for data.
First of all, do you believe there will really be coverage?
And, second of all, how much internet access do you get for a MB - how many emails for example?
Thanks for any advice.

[Nigel and Karen]

I pluged mine in a few weeks ago in St Cyp, I had no credit on it but wondered if I would get a signal.
I did and it took me through to the "top up page", so I know it works but I think it would be very expencive to use?
The main problem with the French ones is you pay "per Day" so it costs a lot to just check the weather!! if I could find a French one where you pay as you use even if it runs out after a month I would get one.

[polremy]

Well, that's one question answered. Looks as if I would be able to get a signal after all.
Thanks, N and K.
About the expense, I have this blind spot about MB and G's and so on.
How much email time would I get for my MB please?
What came with my 3 dongle is a G I think and is meant to be plenty to last a month provided I don't start downloading stuff.
Can't think properly through this rotten ENGLISH cold. This is the first one either of us have had for 8 years!!!!!!!! Do I really want to leave thePO?

[Existentialbricks]

Hi

I used to have one of those 3 dongles in the UK. A gig would last me a month but not if I wanted to watch youtube clips or do anything with images....however a gig is 1000 MB so the equivalent based on 3 foreign usage charges would be £1250 for what I was getting for £4.99 over there....

Can't help with cost per email, obviously more if contain images...suggest looking at the file sizes in your inbox to see an average.

Hope this helps!
Sharon

[polremy]

That is really helpful, Existential.
Will write 1000 times: 1000MB = 1 G
Blimey, how can they charge £1.25 for that?
Think I might be going to McDo's after all for my internet use.

[Kate]

From Ian

No idea why the Dongles thread is locked so here is a continuation.

This is a subject I am interested in as our fixed line and broadband costs are quite high just for the luxury of having the internet whilst on holiday.

I went into the 3G shop this morning, (in UK), and asked if it would work in France. Yes of course it would, but the 1GB over thirty days would be diminished to about 20 minutes time surfing due to the roaming effect..

So I need to buy the French equivalent. I am struggling with the Orange.fr site – all their deals seems to be monthly contract style which is way too expensive and not necessary for the casual holiday user.

Can anyone help? what I need is a Pay As You Go setup for mobile broadband that takes a direct debit from your bank account when it needs topping up.

[Kate]

From Polremy

I asked about this on another forum.
I was told that Orange sell one, normally 69 euros but reduced to 30euros at the moment. No contract. Pay as you go.
It comes with ONE MINUTE of internet time.
You then need to purchase more.
As we will probably only be in France for 2 weeks and then permanently in England/Tenerife, this didn't seem a good option for us.
However, it might suit you.
And orange have an English helpline too apparently. They might jut be able to explain the deal properly.

[russell]

And, second of all, how much internet access do you get for a MB - how many emails for example?
Thanks for any advice.

It depends on the emails and how you access them.

First
1 KB = 1024 Bytes
1 MB = 1024 KB = 1048576 Bytes
1 GB = 1024 MB = 1073741824 Bytes

Now that's clear I switched on a network monitor to check how much data is received for various activities. Results follow:

Opening Thunderbird (similar to MS Outlook email program) and reading three simple messages - 12 KB received.
Opening this forum with Firefox and reading six messages 200 KB received
Logged into Facebook and looked at two pictures in my daughters album - 1.1 MB received
Clicked on a link to a video in one of mpprh's posts - 10 MB received

So, if you are only going to check emails and this forum a pay as you go dongle should be fine but if you want to look at pictures and especially videos you could find the costs very quickly rack up. Also beware, if a friend emails you a message with a photo attached it can also be expensive to download.

Hope that helps.

Russell.

[polremy]

Yes, it does. Thanks.
I think it is still burgers for me!
Come to think of it, I have a feeling that our local bar has wifi so we may be propping it up a good deal during our visit.

[russell]

Come to think of it, I have a feeling that our local bar has wifi so we may be propping it up a good deal during our visit.

Wifi and a glass of wine - sounds good to me

Russell.

[mrob343]

Come to think of it, I have a feeling that our local bar has wifi so we may be propping it up a good deal during our visit.

Wifi and a glass of wine - sounds good to me

Russell.

WiFi and an I Phone, and few glasses of wine sounds even better...!

[Nigel and Karen]

Can any one help me out ?

I am thinking of geting this Dongle at 29e but i can not work out if its an internet only deal?

http://mobile-shop.orange.fr/forfait/fo ... ial-0-mois

I am also strugeling to work out the top ups, do they last for a set number of days before they run out??