I'm just finishing a 12-day trip in France, and thought I'd share the results of my efforts to get a non-roaming data plan on my iPad.
1) Go to an SFR store when you arrive and purchase the €9.99 Pret a Surfer iPad 3G+ kit. It gives you a microsim and three days of data service. You'll need an ID (my US drivers license worked fine) and a French address (my hotel address in Paris worked.)
2) After you check out, but before you leave, insert the new sim. You will then need to activate through iTunes. They were able to do this for me at the store.
3) In Settings, go to Cellular Data, select APN Settings, and enter "websfr" in the space for APN (without the quotation marks).
4) Turn the iPad off and on. You should now have data. Don't leave the store until it works -- I had to come back three times to get all of this info and make it work. If it doesn't work for you, make the salespeople call tech support for you.
After the first three days, it will cost €6 per day. But you enter a code at the beginning of each 24-hour period for which you want data coverage, so you can take on the cost only for the days you need it, and in particular on those days you don't have wifi. (A subscription would be cheaper, but it requires a French ID and French bank account.) Here's how to do it:
1) Buy a Passe Journee for each 24-hour period you think you'll need it at an SFR store. (If you buy too many, no worries -- they're good for two years.) For each pass, you will get a receipt with a code on it. The only way I found to get a pass was in a store -- didn't see a way to do it online.
2) When you need another 24 hours of data, go to Settings, select Cellular Data, select SIM applications, select Solde/Recharge, select Rechgt Coupon, and select Par Texto. Enter the code from the receipt, and hit the send button. It will send in the code. Then turn the iPad off and on. You now have 24 hours of data. (The receipt also gives a number you can call to activate the code, but I never got it to work.)
The biggest hassle of using the iPad here is that the auto-correct gets screwed up -- in many apps, it thinks you are typing French, even though the language is set to English.
1) Go to an SFR store when you arrive and purchase the €9.99 Pret a Surfer iPad 3G+ kit. It gives you a microsim and three days of data service. You'll need an ID (my US drivers license worked fine) and a French address (my hotel address in Paris worked.)
2) After you check out, but before you leave, insert the new sim. You will then need to activate through iTunes. They were able to do this for me at the store.
3) In Settings, go to Cellular Data, select APN Settings, and enter "websfr" in the space for APN (without the quotation marks).
4) Turn the iPad off and on. You should now have data. Don't leave the store until it works -- I had to come back three times to get all of this info and make it work. If it doesn't work for you, make the salespeople call tech support for you.
After the first three days, it will cost €6 per day. But you enter a code at the beginning of each 24-hour period for which you want data coverage, so you can take on the cost only for the days you need it, and in particular on those days you don't have wifi. (A subscription would be cheaper, but it requires a French ID and French bank account.) Here's how to do it:
1) Buy a Passe Journee for each 24-hour period you think you'll need it at an SFR store. (If you buy too many, no worries -- they're good for two years.) For each pass, you will get a receipt with a code on it. The only way I found to get a pass was in a store -- didn't see a way to do it online.
2) When you need another 24 hours of data, go to Settings, select Cellular Data, select SIM applications, select Solde/Recharge, select Rechgt Coupon, and select Par Texto. Enter the code from the receipt, and hit the send button. It will send in the code. Then turn the iPad off and on. You now have 24 hours of data. (The receipt also gives a number you can call to activate the code, but I never got it to work.)
The biggest hassle of using the iPad here is that the auto-correct gets screwed up -- in many apps, it thinks you are typing French, even though the language is set to English.
