iPad Data SIM Card for France
Aug 25th, 2012, 08:07 PM
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iPad Data SIM Card for France
Hi folks:
I recently travelled to Israel and easily bought a data SIM card to slip into my GSM iPad so I had cellular coverage during the trip and didn't have to rely on WiFi. Has anyone done this successfully for a trip to France?
Thanks,
Ken
I recently travelled to Israel and easily bought a data SIM card to slip into my GSM iPad so I had cellular coverage during the trip and didn't have to rely on WiFi. Has anyone done this successfully for a trip to France?
Thanks,
Ken
Aug 25th, 2012, 11:22 PM
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We bought a SIM for our iPad at Orange. SFR has a similar deal. They are called "pret a surfer" or something similar, and are very reasonably priced. http://www.sfr.fr/mobile/offres-deta...fer?vue=000mg0
The card is good for a few days' use and then needs to be recharged, which was a bit challenging (but would have been simple if we'd had a hotel desk clerk to assist us).
In theory, the SIM can be recharged with a credit card, but apparently not a US one (I tried several). So we bought a recharge card at a hypermarche. There was a toll free number to call and input the code that was printed on the receipt. But our US iphone couldn't call the toll free number, the apartment where we spent the weekend didn't have a landline or an onsite person, and we didn't have a calling card for a French payphone. Not to be deterred, we took the receipt to a shop where we were renting bikes and asked them to call the toll free number for us, and finally were able to do the recharge. (I think there should have been some way to do all this online, but I'd never used the 3G in the US, and couldn't figure it out in French.)
We were travelling without regular access to wifi (on the Canal du Midi and driving through the Alps) and it was very handy to have the cellular service for the iPad when we wanted to do some quick research. And the SIM rates were much cheaper than the data service on my iPhone.
The card is good for a few days' use and then needs to be recharged, which was a bit challenging (but would have been simple if we'd had a hotel desk clerk to assist us).
In theory, the SIM can be recharged with a credit card, but apparently not a US one (I tried several). So we bought a recharge card at a hypermarche. There was a toll free number to call and input the code that was printed on the receipt. But our US iphone couldn't call the toll free number, the apartment where we spent the weekend didn't have a landline or an onsite person, and we didn't have a calling card for a French payphone. Not to be deterred, we took the receipt to a shop where we were renting bikes and asked them to call the toll free number for us, and finally were able to do the recharge. (I think there should have been some way to do all this online, but I'd never used the 3G in the US, and couldn't figure it out in French.)
We were travelling without regular access to wifi (on the Canal du Midi and driving through the Alps) and it was very handy to have the cellular service for the iPad when we wanted to do some quick research. And the SIM rates were much cheaper than the data service on my iPhone.
