FON and WIFI access

Lanark Lass · Post by **Lanark Lass** » Fri 30 Mar 2012 17:32

Hi,
there is an SFR public wifi hotspot near our house. It needs a user id and password to connect.

Is there any way I can buy access to their network without being an SFR customer, like an access voucher bought at a local agent or even online ?

Allan · Post by **Allan** » Fri 30 Mar 2012 19:46

Lanark Lass wrote:Hi,
there is an SFR public wifi hotspot near our house. It needs a user id and password to connect.

Is there any way I can buy access to their network without being an SFR customer, like an access voucher bought at a local agent or even online ?

If the hotspot is an SFR FON hotspot ( the name will contain FON then you can access it by joining FON which is free if you are a BT internet customer.

If it is just SFR public then I believe you have to be an SFR customer. You can get a 3G key subscription for €8 a month which gives you unlimited access to SFR public WIFI. So if you are here for a reasonable amount of the year then it may be a viable option.

Lanark Lass · Post by **Lanark Lass** » Wed 04 Apr 2012 13:18

Hello again,
looks like the SFR 3G option might be the one for us, in the short term at least.

Am I right in assuming that 3G means a mobile phone SIM card in a dongle?

Of course, mobile reception in our living room is non-existent but I'm hoping we can use a 3G( mobile phone ) router in the top floor bedroom where there is some reception. This should be able to WiFi connect with the two net-books we have downstairs.

Cheers.

Allan · Post by **Allan** » Wed 04 Apr 2012 13:42

Lanark Lass wrote:Hello again,
looks like the SFR 3G option might be the one for us, in the short term at least.

Am I right in assuming that 3G means a mobile phone SIM card in a dongle?

Of course, mobile reception in our living room is non-existent but I'm hoping we can use a 3G( mobile phone ) router in the top floor bedroom where there is some reception. This should be able to WiFi connect with the two net-books we have downstairs.

Cheers.

To some extent, 3G is a bit of a red herring. The bit that you really want is unlimited access to their wifi which you can only get by subscribing to SFR.
Accessing the internet via 3G is expensive and will only work if you have a decent signal. So the trick is not to use 3G but to use the unlimited access to their WIFI which you say is in range of your house.

I believe that the 3G dongle has to be inserted in the device even to use wifi.

I explored this option with another forum member - have a look at the post from Ian in this thread

http://forum.anglophone-direct.com/setopic_10202-.html

As a final thought most ADSL setups are massively under-utilised so if you can see the wifi of any neighbours from your house then it might be worth asking them if they would share it for a contribution to the cost.

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Wed 04 Apr 2012 18:35

Just to confirm what Allan has said. We went this SFR route and are 9 months into our two year contract for 10 euros a month. It is brilliant and slashed our holiday internet costs by 60% or so.

Just ensure that where you are in your home you see "SFR WiFi Public" in possible wireless connections, then hope that your neighbours continue to use it and then go for it.

The screen asking for user ID goes away once the 3G dongle is inserted and running. There is an on screen manager that allows you to switch between the 3G and free wifi.

Ian

Allan · Post by **Allan** » Wed 04 Apr 2012 19:17

SFR appear to have changed their pricing, it is now €8 a month

http://www.sfr.fr/mobile/offres-detail/ ... vue=000mg0

Be careful of the 3g hotspot, it connects to your devices with wifi but only talks to the internet using 3G so it doesn't use SFR public WIFI

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