Paris Wi-Fi is a free internet service offered by the Ville de Paris and the Île-de-France region. It provides users with free access to a high-speed wireless internet connection. The network is open to all, residents and visitors alike.
Free Wi-Fi in Paris is available to everyone in over 260 public places. Parks, gardens, district town halls, libraries and museums in the city all have this facility.
How to access free Wi-Fi in Paris
How to connect
Buildings and parks equipped with free WiFi in Paris access points will be clearly signposted.
Look out for the Paris-Wi-fi logo, which lets you know when you are in a Free Wi-Fi in Paris zone.
Turn on your laptop, tablet or smartphone and select the network PARIS_WI-FI_ (this Wi-Fi name will generally be followed by a number, identifying the specific Wi-Fi point to which you are connecting).
Open your usual web browser and enter any website address. You will automatically be redirected to the Paris Wi-Fi access portal.
When this welcome page has loaded, fill in your details and tick the box to accept the conditions of use. Then click ‘CONNECT’ / ‘ME CONNECTER’
You can now surf the web, send and receive emails etc.
This service is free
Remember: each free WiFi in Paris session lasts two hours. Once this time expires you can reconnect as soon as you like. Just repeat the connection process described above.
The free WiFi in Paris network is accessible during the opening hours of all municipal facilities with a connection point. So, that’s Paris sorted. But what about the rest of the country?
Free Wi-Fi in France
It is only a few years since the introduction of Wi-Fi (Wee-Fee) into Paris hotels was a vital USP. It was something to draw attention to.
Now, free WiFI in France is just about everywhere. Almost all hotels provide free WiFi at some centralised point, such as a lounge, if not in all the rooms, which is increasingly becoming the norm. And, usually, it’s free, although a few places do make a nominal charge.
But if you can’t get free WiFi in France where you’re staying, then you have a number of other options: the ubiquitous McDonald’s (McDo, as the French delight in calling it), with over 800 outlets in France, and Starbucks notably in Paris and a few other cities.
Two other fast-food outlets that provide Wi-Fi are Quick, which has more than 500 outlets, and the new kid on the block ‘flunch’, a fast casual restaurant change generally confined to shopping centres and autoroute service areas.
Elsewhere, there are numerous connections to Wi-Fi, but many are password protected; so, you’ll need to ask if it’s possible to connect.
Almost the whole of France is, however, covered by 4G or 3G. So, if your mobile phone is enabled to accept 4G/3G connections, then this is a good way to connect to the internet without incurring roaming charges. Be sure to turn off Data Roaming on your device.
If your device is not 4G/3G enabled, then you might consider getting your own Travel Wi-Fi hotspot device (www.travel-wifi.com).
A Travel Wifi mobile hotspot is a small wireless modem that connects any Wi-Fi enabled device to 3G/4G Internet, with a fast and secure connection.
For instance, you can connect your laptop, your tablet or your smartphone to Internet while you’re in France, thus saving you a lot of money in data roaming. It comes pre-configured, and doesn’t require any installation.
