Using Mifi and data sim in France

Kate, sorry to hear your troubles with the new set up, can’t really help. 

fwiw …

I would though strongly warn all that the ‘free’ Public type Wi-Fi set ups are a major source of future unpleasant un-solicited scams & adverts etc finding their way to your devices & email address of any un- suspecting users.

You are after all opening up your device to a common source public provider which are being easily routinely infiltrated by the criminals and mass advert groups who then tag into you. Once your tagged it’s then hard to get removed.  

The use of correct protocol when joining into Public Wi-Fi sites & security VPN like NordVPN can assist greatly.

M

Hi  yes the sim works in my phone for calls and internet.  The phone recognises the router but won't connect to the internet. When I look at the router settings it says 'profile invalid'.

Any ideas? 

Im a bit confused here (easily done...)...

With the sim in your phone and you can make calls and browse the net the SIM is working and has been configured for roaming.

where I'm confused is why you are trying to connect the phone to the router. Doesn't the router need the sim in it to connect and distribute the signal, enabling devices which don't have connectivity on their own to reach the internet?

a quick google and the only thing I can think of is that the APN Access Point Name is correct on the phone but not on the router. Can you find this setting on the router, what is the model of the router so that I can check the manual.

any other users here know the APN setting for the router?

Kate, can you check your APN settings on the router with the sim back in and your phone/tablet connected to its network...agree you may not be able to browse the net at this point..

. On my HUAWEI (vodafone supplied) these are my settings and below are what I've found for Lebara.

Name: Lebara Internet.
APN: uk.lebara.mobi.
Username: wap.
Password: wap.
MMS Port: 8799.

BUT, 

Lebara seem to have a different set for France, Germany etc....mine is set once and that's used all over Europe. Lebara uses vodafone so can't be that different. You may have to confirm with Lebara what the settings are. Good luck.

I had exactly the same problem with my Huawei router earlier this year.  I had bought a new Smarty SIm and it worked perfectly in the UK.

Before going abroad, I activated roaming and thought nothing else of it.  Tried to use it the first night we were in France and it would not connect to the internet.  Tried it in my phone and the same thing happened.  Wife was not pleased as her phone was with Sky mobile and roaming would cost £2 per day.

I tried reconfiguring the APN settings but no joy.  I spent 2 hours of my life on a very slow on-line chat with the Smarty helpdesk, but eventually they blamed the router and suggested I contact Huawei.

We were on a 2 month trip to drive to Sicily and back, so I wasn't best pleased to be left with limited roaming data.  We managed (just) by using my monthly 12Gb Vodafone data allowance sparingly and also hooking up to any free site wifi.

Having read your tale of woes which is almost identical to my experience, I won't be using Smarty again.  They seem a very competitive and friendly organisation but clearly their EU roaming setup is very hit and miss.

My wife is now in the process of switching to O2 which, fingers crossed, will give her EU roaming the next time we venture abroad.  I am also going to ditch my mifi unit as both our phones are capable of acting as hotspots if we want to use our laptop and tablets.

Jim

Jim, I do get the impression that the 'piggy back' networks keep costs low by 'streamlining' (cutting to the bone) customer service areas...I even tried Virgin who had amazing roaming deals but two conversations with (truly lovely but almost incomprehensible) people in the Philippines eventually told me no.

I negotiated the same deal in the end with my own provider Vodafone who gave me a discount of 40% on a new sim only deal, saving me money and resetting the deal re RPI increases.

my Vodafone branded HUAWEI mifi needed no APN settings here or anywhere abroad. I did have to download a HUAWEI app to give me access to ensure roaming was turned on. After that, it just worked.

yt, I suspect you might be right.  I had used my Huawei mifi for 10 years all over the EU with a '3' SIM without any trouble pre-Covid.  I let my monthly data plan lapse for 2 years when we were confined to base, but reactivated the mifi unit with a Smarty SIM when we started touring in the UK again.  It was very frustrating when we found it wouldn't work on day 1 of a 2 month EU trip 

I'm trying to think of a simple solution from this thread.

We use campsite wifi abroad. If a little out of range our "Motorhome iboost Pro D8 Directional System" usually boosts te signal enough for us to get reception on the pitch. It also allows us to feed the sometimes one device only pass to my tablet and the bosses phone.

If I get a mifi router, is anybody aware of a data only non contract sim that lasts for more than one month once activated, and I can use abroad.

Is this a unicorn horn or does something really exist?

Colin

Colin, many sim only deals are (or can be) rolling 30 day no tie in 'contracts'. Usually a tad more than the longer 12/24 month deals but great for occasional use. One advantage is that changes can be made easily to say increase or reduce data as you need it.

sote wifi, while sometimes free, can also be €15 ish a month. If your home deal, say, costs that, why not bring it with you and use free wifi sometimes and 4g when it's not.

I  have a Smarty sim in my phone and OH has a Lebara sim in his phone. When out in France earlier this year both of us had no issues. 

We have a Mifi with a data sim from 3 in it and that also works no problem. 

We have not tried either of the phone sim in the mifi though, so don't know if they would work,  will give it a go when we are over there next month.