Hi, We’ve just bought a lovely house in Cancon and need internet / wifi. Can anyone recommend? Ideally one which we can switch off (and not get charged for ) when we’re out of the country.
If you need a new phone line I think you need to go to Orange.
We used to switch the phone on & off for each trip but it was a bit of a faff - we have since stopped paying line rental (didn’t need traditional voice calls as voip/facetime is fine) and now just for Internet, total bill is approx 20 euro each month.
If you want such kind of thing , then I will recommend WiFi. Also , the speed would be much better for the wifi over Internet.
There is a lot of difference between WiFi and the Internet. Although we usually refer the two things as the same and we have a common conventional saying that if I am connected to the WiFi, that means I am connected to the internet.
Internet is a public network that allows you to access various webpages. You can be connected to the internet via an Ethernet cable or a WiFi router. A WiFi an acronym for Wireless Fidelity, usually allows the user to be connected to a network without any physical connection. Now the user can be connected to a network through the WiFi, but if that network is not connected to the internet then you won’t be able to access the internet.
So, it can be said that WiFi provides the gateway to be connected to the internet.
Hope this help!
I don’t think there’s any modem which will not charge you when you are out of country. There might be some nominal charge even if you are not using it.
I think you may be getting your terminology mixed up.
To my knowledge, none of the current internet service providers in France offer pay-as-you-go internet, so turning it off will have a limited effect (other than trying to keep below your data limit on a capped dataplan), and you will still get charged.
Most of the main ISPs in France offer a small handsized 4G box these days for a fairly low monthly rate and a capped data volume, which on the whole is generally sufficient for most people’s needs. It does rely on you having a good 4G radiotelephone signal in the building though, and in heavily oversubscribed areas can easily be throttled back next to nothing, or the signal can drop out depending on which relay antenna is feeding your radiotelephone signal. Obviously, this is likely to be more problematic in the countryside.
If you want to check out the 4G coverage in your particular area, you can check out this map:
https://www.monreseaumobile.fr/
and enter Cancon as the commune. You will see different coloured dots, each one representing a test position for the signal in the commune, and you can switch operator in the key at the bottom right hand side of the map to see which one offers the best (or equivalent service). For example, it appears that the operator Free has virtually no 4G coverage in that village/town, whereas the other players, Bouygues, Orange and SFR all have fairly good coverage. Anywhere outside of the main E-W drag seems to be untested, so if you’re not in the village itself, the only way to find out is to test when you are there with your own phone or ask the neighbours.
If you don’t want to go for 4G, then probably you’ll be stuck with getting a DSL monthly subscription.
The OP was in 2017 so I guess Alan has found his solution by now 
But just for the record, it appears Orange still do their holiday home package
https://boutique.orange.fr/ligne-fixe/abonnement-et-forfait/residence-secondaire
which seems to be one answer to the original question, although whether it actually works out best overall I couldn’t say.
