Wifi access in the south of France

tennents1

will a wireless 11n usb adapter get me a wifi signal in France ?

macman

Any wireless adaptor will work anywhere, if you can find a wi-fi hotspot to connect to.

tennents1

stupid question,does that mean i CAN pick up internet for free from any nearby network ? i'm very much in the dark .

macman

I think you are confusing 'wi-fi' with wireless broadband. The former just connects you to a wif-fi hotspot in range, some are free, some you have to pay for, depending on the site (eg free at MacDonalds etc)
Wireless broadband connects you via the mobile phone network, so to use that you need a local SIM and decent 3G reception, because if you use a UK SIM you will incur huge data roaming charges.
Looking at your post again, I'm not clear if you have a wireless USB adaptor or a wireless dongle? Completely different things.

tennents1

A wireless usb adapter, i was under the impression that it would pick up a broadband signal for free ? the laptop has an internal wireless Lan module.

macman

A 'wireless USB adapter' simply converts a non-wireless device into one that can receive and transmit wirelessly. If your laptop already has built in wireless, it's superfluous.
It's only free if you are within range of a free wireless hotspot.
But I suggest that you post the make and model, as I'm still not clear if you have a wireless USB adapter, or a wireless dongle. If it's the latter, you'll need a local SIM, unless you want to incur huge roaming charges on your dongle account (or if it's PAYG, quickly find that your credit has run out).

steve-L

macman wrote: »

I think you are confusing 'wi-fi' with wireless broadband. The former just connects you to a wif-fi hotspot in range, some are free, some you have to pay for, depending on the site (eg free at MacDonalds etc)
Wireless broadband connects you via the mobile phone network, so to use that you need a local SIM and decent 3G reception, because if you use a UK SIM you will incur huge data roaming charges.
Looking at your post again, I'm not clear if you have a wireless USB adaptor or a wireless dongle? Completely different things.

Or some are FREE (like Mcdonalds and Costa) and others you pay and others say they are free but end up selling your 'sign up' info to people that then cost you money and time!

I've heard of bad experiences of the ones advertised as free you need to sign up and give your mobile number!

Back on the South of France
If you get a French SIM (you need this for mobile broadband aka 3G) watch out what you sign up for....

For example Orange do a FREE trial of a MMS news service! It then converts to a paid service that is almost impossible to opt out of! (Send STOP to .... but then you get a 'sorry your request was unable to be ... please try again later') Each try costs 50c+ and you have to send hundreds before it lets you cancel the ex-FREE service. Usually you give up and it goes onto next month!

How long do you need this for?
Where in the South of France? (Quite a difference between a city the size of Marseille and a sleepy village!)
Chains (as we are used to in the UK) are not so prevalent in France, especially OUTSIDE major cities and even then most actively discourage them. Individual town halls can prevent McDo's or Starbucks getting a license and hence setting up a franchise and its a per town hall (Maire) deal!

tennents1

I didn't know it was going to be this difficult, we are going for 10 days over xmas about 15 minutes from nice, (opio) the computer is a toshiba sp6100 with built in wireless, the description of adapter ;150mbps mini wifi 802.11n/g/bwlan network dongle with wps button,the wireless on the computer didn't work until adapter was fitted,we have a bt hub, hope this helps.basically all i need to know ,can i get free broadband with this setup,or do i need to purchase any other items ? The irony is we may not use it.

macman

Right, the device you have is a wireless adapter, not a wireless dongle (for mobile broadband).
You can connect to any local wireless network in France, just as you can at your own home, whether it's free or not will depend on the location and site, as already outlined.
What you can't get with that is a connection to the wireless (mobile broadband) 3G network, which would require a wireless dongle and SIM.

diamonds

McDonalds in France is free, biggest wifi provider was Orange/France Telecom

NiftyDigits

tennents1 wrote: »

I didn't know it was going to be this difficult, we are going for 10 days over xmas about 15 minutes from nice, (opio) the computer is a toshiba sp6100 with built in wireless, the description of adapter ;150mbps mini wifi 802.11n/g/bwlan network dongle with wps button,the wireless on the computer didn't work until adapter was fitted,we have a bt hub, hope this helps.basically all i need to know ,can i get free broadband with this setup,or do i need to purchase any other items ? The irony is we may not use it.

That is an old laptop. Have you upgraded the RAM or is it running on the original 256MB?

Press and hold the Flying Windows key and whilst holding it down, press the Pause Break key. What specification is indicated?