When I moved to France, I was totally without WiFi for almost a month, and it wasn't until two months in that I had a working WiFi setup. This might sound like a whiny millenial non-problem, however if you are at the same time desperately trying to set up your electricity bills, research bank accounts and find a way to solve the never-ending Internet problems, it's quite essential. Luckily for me, I was able to go to a library and use their computers. Here is two months' worth of hard-won information distilled into a ten minute read:
One: you are going to need a French phone number of some kind in order to get yourself an internet connection. In fact, you are going to need a French phone number (+33 or 06) for almost everything in France (banks, doctors, your job) so get one as soon as you can.
You have two options: the first is buying a French SIM card (carte SIM) - they're sold in tabacs and supermarkets. Watch out: with some companies (cough SFR) you need to confirm your address/name/general existence through the espace client online within 15 days of activating the line, and if you don't they will block your number and it will be a whole new world of stress that you didn't ask for. Best of all, they might not even tell you that you need to do this, so as soon as you have a SIM card, log in and make sure all your details are in there.
Your other option is, obviously, getting a landline set up. If you're house-sharing in any form, you may be fortunate enough that a landline and phone number (and WiFi) is already in place. If you're on your own, if the landline has been cut since the last tenant, you will have to get it re-set up. I read that Orange.fr is generally the company to go to this for, as they used to be the national company for all things landlines, and were likely the ones that cut the line previously. A very useful piece of information to have when going about this process is the name of the previous tenants - get this off your landlord/lady. Be prepared to cough up around €100 however if you want a landline installed (and this will impact later on whether or not you can have a normal internet connection).
Two: so, if you have a landline, you can sign up for an ADSL Box or Fibre Box. These are two slightly different forms of a standard internet connection (a monthly fee and no restrictions on data, streaming, Gb available (Go in French) etc.). Shop around a bit with the different telecoms companies - there's Free, Orange, Bougues, SFR, La Poste, Coriolis and more. The cheapest is Free which is €10 a month, the average tends to be €15-€20 a month, and then some like La Poste want €25-€30. (Free however is said to have terrible customer service and the worst coverage of all so do your research.) Basically, if you have a landline and you're going down the Box route, that's the easiest of all, and you'll thank yourself when you can watch endless films, TV and Youtube without a care in the world - however, it's going to cost you a bit more.
Three: not having a landline. Don't fancy paying that €100 installation fee and there seem to be endless problems with Orange finding that your flat or the previous tenants even exist? I found myself in the same situation. Another means of setting up an internet connection is with a Clé 4G (4G Key). This is essentially a little device that acts as a phone, by creating its own network for your devices with a SIM card in it. You can get one of these through the aforementioned telecoms companies who will sort you out with a contract (forfait). Or, you can go rogue as I did after receiving such poor customer service from many of them, and buy your own 4G Key (Huawei makes them), a WiFi antennae to plug into it (not essential but I found it boosted my signal massively so would recommend), and a SIM card deal with any of said companies. I went for one that gives me 30Gb a month for €10, and know I have about 1Gb a day at my disposal. Make sure to check, when you're choosing a big SIM card contract like this, whether it has an engagement (fixed-term contract) or not, as it may be that you will be in France for an odd number of months if you're doing a year abroad, like me.
Even now (late 2019) it seems that clés 4G are being eclipsed by an even newer technology, which I never ended up looking too far into. But, depending on when you're reading this, that might be worth researching.
Finally, with hindsight, I can see an even easier route that would work if you have the possibility of hotspot-ing your laptop from your phone: simply buy that SIM card with a 30Gb contract sans engagement, shove it in your phone, and turn your phone into the clé 4G box.
Bonus helpful tip: If ever you need to switch French SIM cards and you want to keep your number, you will need to obtain a long code called your RIO to give to the new telecom company. To get this, sadly you can't just google it or find it in your account online - you need to ring up a specific phone number and find it out (nothing is easy or simple in France, remember?). Prepare yourself to listen intensely to an automated voice and hit 'repeat' about 10 times as it garbles this long code.
I hope that provides help to anyone reading - I shed blood, sweat and tears (mainly tears) during this learning curve, but I hope you won't have to with this information to hand!
Emily
One: you are going to need a French phone number of some kind in order to get yourself an internet connection. In fact, you are going to need a French phone number (+33 or 06) for almost everything in France (banks, doctors, your job) so get one as soon as you can.
You have two options: the first is buying a French SIM card (carte SIM) - they're sold in tabacs and supermarkets. Watch out: with some companies (cough SFR) you need to confirm your address/name/general existence through the espace client online within 15 days of activating the line, and if you don't they will block your number and it will be a whole new world of stress that you didn't ask for. Best of all, they might not even tell you that you need to do this, so as soon as you have a SIM card, log in and make sure all your details are in there.
Your other option is, obviously, getting a landline set up. If you're house-sharing in any form, you may be fortunate enough that a landline and phone number (and WiFi) is already in place. If you're on your own, if the landline has been cut since the last tenant, you will have to get it re-set up. I read that Orange.fr is generally the company to go to this for, as they used to be the national company for all things landlines, and were likely the ones that cut the line previously. A very useful piece of information to have when going about this process is the name of the previous tenants - get this off your landlord/lady. Be prepared to cough up around €100 however if you want a landline installed (and this will impact later on whether or not you can have a normal internet connection).
Two: so, if you have a landline, you can sign up for an ADSL Box or Fibre Box. These are two slightly different forms of a standard internet connection (a monthly fee and no restrictions on data, streaming, Gb available (Go in French) etc.). Shop around a bit with the different telecoms companies - there's Free, Orange, Bougues, SFR, La Poste, Coriolis and more. The cheapest is Free which is €10 a month, the average tends to be €15-€20 a month, and then some like La Poste want €25-€30. (Free however is said to have terrible customer service and the worst coverage of all so do your research.) Basically, if you have a landline and you're going down the Box route, that's the easiest of all, and you'll thank yourself when you can watch endless films, TV and Youtube without a care in the world - however, it's going to cost you a bit more.
Three: not having a landline. Don't fancy paying that €100 installation fee and there seem to be endless problems with Orange finding that your flat or the previous tenants even exist? I found myself in the same situation. Another means of setting up an internet connection is with a Clé 4G (4G Key). This is essentially a little device that acts as a phone, by creating its own network for your devices with a SIM card in it. You can get one of these through the aforementioned telecoms companies who will sort you out with a contract (forfait). Or, you can go rogue as I did after receiving such poor customer service from many of them, and buy your own 4G Key (Huawei makes them), a WiFi antennae to plug into it (not essential but I found it boosted my signal massively so would recommend), and a SIM card deal with any of said companies. I went for one that gives me 30Gb a month for €10, and know I have about 1Gb a day at my disposal. Make sure to check, when you're choosing a big SIM card contract like this, whether it has an engagement (fixed-term contract) or not, as it may be that you will be in France for an odd number of months if you're doing a year abroad, like me.
Even now (late 2019) it seems that clés 4G are being eclipsed by an even newer technology, which I never ended up looking too far into. But, depending on when you're reading this, that might be worth researching.
Finally, with hindsight, I can see an even easier route that would work if you have the possibility of hotspot-ing your laptop from your phone: simply buy that SIM card with a 30Gb contract sans engagement, shove it in your phone, and turn your phone into the clé 4G box.
Bonus helpful tip: If ever you need to switch French SIM cards and you want to keep your number, you will need to obtain a long code called your RIO to give to the new telecom company. To get this, sadly you can't just google it or find it in your account online - you need to ring up a specific phone number and find it out (nothing is easy or simple in France, remember?). Prepare yourself to listen intensely to an automated voice and hit 'repeat' about 10 times as it garbles this long code.
I hope that provides help to anyone reading - I shed blood, sweat and tears (mainly tears) during this learning curve, but I hope you won't have to with this information to hand!
Emily
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