Paris WiFi Hotspots

While in Paris consider using free Wi-Fi (pronounced weefee) if your hotel does not provide the service. Or what if you want to look something up while waiting for a bus while in Paris? Who wants to pay roaming charges?!

The city of Paris provides free Wi-Fi at various locations. You can find the service at some restaurants and cafés and fast food outlets.

Wi-Fi App
To find a Wi-Fi hotspot, download an application for your phone. If you walk around Paris with your laptop open all of the time, you might miss some of the sights!

Search for wif finders in the iTunes store (free). It is listed under the category “Travel”.

English website for Mayor’s office
Convenient Wi-Fi hotspots are located all over Paris. Hopefully, you are near one when you need it.

How to find Wi-Fi
Visit the English version of the Paris Mayor’s website:

• When you click on the Wi-Fi symbol in the upper right-hand corner of the English page, the Wi-Fi icon link is broken.
• Instead, look under the words “French” and “Spanish” for the category “Paris map”.
• Click on the map icon.
• A map of Paris opens up with icons at the top of the page.
• Click on the grey Wi-Fi icon to find all of the spots, enlarge the map for easier viewing. (This is also a helpful, quick way to get your bearings for your trip to Paris.)
• To obtain all of these addresses on paper, pick an area, look at the “Search” box to the right of the map.
• Do Command A/Ctrl A to highlight the addresses and copy/paste them into a document.
• The Mairie de Paris (Mayor of Paris) has a Wi-Fi Acrobat Reader document (.pdf format) that you can download. I cannot tell you which is more complete, the map listings or the document.

How to connect
Here are instructions to connect to Wi-Fi and the French instructions on  a reference page from the mayor’s office:

• In a public area (park, city hall) , look for the white oval sign with four purples dots and the words “zone Wi-Fi”
• From your device, choose the Wi-Fi network “Orange”
• On the welcome page, click on “selectionnez voter pass” (choose a password)
• Fill in the “formulaire” (form) with your name
• Accept the “conditions general” (general conditions)
• Click on “connectez-vous” (connect).
• You have two hours free with each connection
• Leave the connection window open to see how much time is left.
• You can renew the connection after two hours

You will find over 400 connection points in Paris and Ile-de-France region (think capital city in a state) and 260 public places (gardens, mayor offices, libraries and city museums). Wi-Fi is accessible between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. or within the opening hours of public buildings.

Another website that will be helpful for Wi-Fi tips is Courtney Traub’s About.com blog .

© 2011 Colleensparis.com
Your HOTEL and APARTMENT RESERVATION is a contribution to maintenance costs of my BLOG, WEBSITE and NEWSLETTER. Using GOOGLE helps, too. THANKS!
© 2012 Colleensparis.com
Your HOTEL and APARTMENT RESERVATION is a contribution to maintenance costs of my Web site. Using GOOGLE helps, too. THANKS!