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Mobicarte - Les Options Internet

Mobicarte is the France Telecom / Orange Prepaid SIM card, which is admitted to Orange's GSM/EDGE- and also UMTS/HSDPA-network.

options for internet access:

Option 'Internet Max' (please see actual Posts - looks like this option is not longer available)
€12/month for 'unlimited' web + 10 MB mail access.
Access may be terminated or capped after 500 MB download for the rest of the month, but it is reported, that this limit is not enforced (as of September 2008). It is not possible to renew this plan within the that same month to restore access.
Terms and conditions say the option is only for handset-based access, however it could be used flawlessly from a computer in September 2008.

  • A Mobicarte prepaid SIM can be bought without a phone in Orange shops for 30 euros or for less than € 10 at the French branch of that big auction site. The initial credit is € 4,50 for calls and 100kb for surfing.
  • Coupons for recharging can be bought at post offices, supermarkets and of course orange shops.

  • To activate the 5 MB option, additional credit (e.g. 10 euros) has to be bought. Current balance can be checked by typing #123# + dial button.

  • To activate one of the options described above, call '220' and select 'Découverte Multimedia' or 'Internet Max' from the 'Multimedia Menu'. The price for the option will be immediately taken from the prepaid account.

  • It's also possible to activate one of the options via the #123# USSD dialogue. When the current credit is shown, answer with '00' to go to the main menu and go to 'gerer vos option' from there. Here's a picture of how the screen looks like in that menu:

orange france menu

Mobicard recharging and Internet Max activation tutorial for non-french speakers (like me).
I tested it on 08/17/09 in Paris.

Part 1, Recharging:

  • Press #123# to activate to the mobicard menu.
  • Select 3 for the menu
  • Select 2 for "Recharger"
  • Select 1 "par recharge mobicarte"
  • Enter your 14 digit card code.

Part 2, Activating:

  • Again, select #123# to activate the mobicard menu
  • Select 3 for the menu
  • Select 3, Vos bons plans
  • Select 4, Votre multimedia
  • Select 3, Option Internet Max
  • Acknowledge the following general terms and conditions with 1 (several times)

That´s it. Keep in mind that the activation could take up to 48 hours. You won´t get notified.


GPRS/3G details:

  • APN: orange (tried with 'decouverte multimedia' option but should work for 'Internet max' as well)
  • Username: orange (might not be required)
  • Password: orange (might not be required)
iPhone users are lucky, the settings are automatically configured by orange (tested with my jailbroken iPhone).





thorsten.gehrig
thorsten.gehrig
Latest page update: made by thorsten.gehrig , Nov 1 2009, 12:08 PM EST (about this update About This Update thorsten.gehrig typo - thorsten.gehrig

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Started By Thread Subject Replies Last Post
Anonymous OO44''s French Data Bundle as alternative to internet max? 0 Nov 1 2009, 11:15 AM EST by Anonymous
 
Thread started: Nov 1 2009, 11:15 AM EST  Watch
I spend several months in France each summer and need daily internet access to monitor my business.

Internet max did the job this summer but now its gone, for next year I've been looking at the french data bundles from the UK simcard company 0044 at around £60/month. The main drawbacks seem to be

1) the need to purchase their Orange F dongle for around £100. However there seems to an option on their website to purchase a data bundle on its own. Presumably this could be used with an unlocked dongle with the appropriate APN settings????

2) per month means the 1st to last day of each month - this wouldn't be a problem for a long term user like me but not much good for someone going ,say, from last week July to first week August.

Anyone got any experience or thoughts on this?
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Anonymous Orange Mobicarte Confusion 0 Oct 31 2009, 8:06 AM EDT by Anonymous
 
Thread started: Oct 31 2009, 8:06 AM EDT  Watch
It's frustrating that the Orange Mobicarte offering has changed - and even more frustrating that it's now unclear what you will or will not be charged for. I've have kept a Mobicarte SIM active for some while and used it for Laptop/Dongle internet when in the country. Now I'm seriously wondering whether to bother. If I instead roam my normal UK Vodafone SIM, I pay only £5 per day for up to 25 Mb, with no port or user agent restrictions that I'm aware of. SO, for short trips, why would I bother with a French SIM ?

Still, FWIW, there might a couple of tricks it might be worth testing with Orange Mobicarte (and other providers who impose arbitrary filters of this sort)

One is to browse using FIREFOX with the USER AGENT SWITCHER installed and set to emulate "Opera Mini" (or whatever browser you think is 'free').

The other is to subscribe to an SSL VPN service, used by many to hide their country of origin (eg for iPlayer) but useful also because the network only ever sees you accessing SSL Port 443 which is always unfiltered. Hence they can't even tell if you're accessing email. You also get some data compression, which reduces you consumption. You have to pay for a VPN service, but some (eg "Ace VPN") are quite cheap.

Happy Roaming
TonyR
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Anonymous Final Word Still On Orange France Prepaid Sim For Data Mob 0 Oct 27 2009, 7:02 AM EDT by Anonymous
 
Thread started: Oct 27 2009, 7:02 AM EDT  Watch
hey guys, me again. Final entry as I am now in Spain.
Weirdest thing, I tried again this morning and everything works now for free. Fring, Mobiweather, Teethring with laptop. Its really weird. If I were you, I would not top up too much and check on my balance regularly.Orange has been spotty in some areas and, as mentioned previouisly, sometimes, your credit just vanishes. Just a heads up.
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