TheLaptopJunction

Connect yourself to prepaid internet in France with an iPad or Cellphone in one go. Here’s the trick to get a  large bandwidth package for relentless “bon surfing” on your iPad AND Cellphone.
 

3G prepay internet in France

On the scale of Europe, France has the more difficult prepaid internet offers. As a foreigner it’s not always so easy or affordable to get that internet connection on short visit in France.

Discussions in French Telecom shops drift from "must have bank account" to "must be resident" or "must have French address". It's all complete non-sense - as a foreigner you can buy a prepaid simcard given you can identify yourself with a passport. The registration address is either the Telecom shop address or if their system permits, your foreign home address. That's it - and here's an working example of what to buy;

After some digging and searching for a SFR Telecom shop, here’s a nice deal for both a cellphone and iPad

3G prepaid internet in France - the SFR KIT 3G+

It’s PAYG internet from SFR – the state telecom institute in France. It comes as a microSim for an iPad but can easily be used in cellphone with a microsim adapter. The SFR shop network in France is extensive, all cities have at least one SFR shop.
 

Fast 3G internet with SFR Kit 3G+

Here’s the deal with SFR, you can buy the SFR Kit 3G+ for € 9.90 at any SFR shop in France. It’s also knows as the “Kit DATA PP Micro S”.

Don’t have an Ipad? and want a normal SimCARD? Well you’re charged about € 15,- more at SFR compared to the MicroSim card. So just ask for the microsim card adapter – this piece of plastic is usually free.

How does the microsim card adapter work? You need a bit of tape, that’s all. The microsim card is taped in the microsim adapter - cut the edges to remove any excess tape.
 

The microsim card adapter - for 3G prepaid internet in your cellphone / mobile phone

Boost your Ipad 3G reach and connection speed in rural regions

Next get a SFR 3G Data bundle – in spring 2012 there are;
 

• 50 Mb for €3-  Kind of a laugh, it’s gone before you know it
• 100 Mb for € 9,- What’s the logic, double the bandwidth, triple the price?
• 200 Mb for € 15,-  That’s more like it, but expensive
• 500 Mb for € 25,- Ok, here it gets more interesting
• 1G for € 35,- It’s not the cheapest, but it’s a good size

To get the card activated you need your passport and something that has your address details on it. After registration, the SFR 3G kit worked in normal cell phone and 3G USB internet stick;

Using it in  a 3G modem stick? The APN is WEBSFR or SL2SFR – just try it.
 

Recharge your SFR 3G+ account

There are 2 possibilities to top up your SFR bandwidth balance ;

1) Find a SFR shop (Espace SFR) anywhere near you.

You buy a cash receipt with a recharge code - ask the shop keeper to activate the recharge code. They call a local number (which doesn't work with the SFR sim card) and go through a menu in French. The recharge code is entered by phone,  activating the new balance.

2) Or register your phone number online and top-up the balance from there.

The account allows you to see your current balance. There's a recharge option which works with Credit Cards.
 

SFR WIFI access

SFR has a large WIFI network in France - as a SFR client you have free access to all SFR WIFI hotspots. It sounds nice - but to get online is a bit of a pain. Connecting with a public SFR WIFI hotspot shows a login screen for NeufBox clients - in short, you need to have french residency. The login codes from your 3G account won't work.

Instead you have to download a SFR connection manager on your iPad, Laptop or Smartphone - ofcourse it's an App in french only. The 3G connection manager connects you to the SFR WIFI hotspot.