TMobile

I'm sorry you're having trouble. As you have experienced, one should always have paper copies of important documents when traveling. Even if you could access wifi, if your boarding pass is on your phone and the phone runs out of juice while you're waiting to board, it's a problem. But I would also check your phone settings. We use TMobile and have never had a problem anywhere in Europe, North and South America, Asia or Africa. Stop at a TMobile store and they can help you.
Good luck!

That doesn't make sense, wifi is carrier and device agnostic. Any "dumb" device like a tablet or non working phone can access wifi.

If you had no phone service, that is either your gadget or TMobile.

I’m no electronics genius but I don’t see how your issues with wifi relate to your cellular carrier. Perhaps your phone or tablet settings are causing wifi connection issues. I suggest you ask other travelers for assistance in wifi connection.

I was in France last month with T-mobile. Data is slow but I had few problems connecting to wifi. Remember, the free data on T-mobile is only 2G internationally and loading maps takes time.

It's always best to download important documents to your phone in case of connection issues. And you can't assume every restaurant has wifi for customers.

Was roaming on your phone turned on?

I have been pretty happy with T-mobile the last few years, but was less happy before, when I had an older phone that didn't use the bands that are needed in Europe. My issues then were similar to the ones you mention.

I'm still trying to figure out what WiFi has to do with TMobile. Its like my radio won't toast bread.

TMobile let me down once, briefly, in Montenegro. Otherwise 16 countries and 12 years later its been flawless.

As for paper copies? Yes, and maybe pdf's in your phone storage.

I’ve used T-Mobile on multiple trips to France and never had any problem.

What does wifi have to do with T-Mobile? You can get wifi without any carrier. You might want to check your settings to make sure that you have cellular and roaming turned on.

Most people don't understand when their phones are accessing an available wifi network v.s. accessing the cell phone carrier's network via the data plan. When their cell phone isn't doing what they want it to do, the easiest thing to do is blame the carrier. Frank is right that roaming is probably turned off in his phone settings.

Actually, I find that hotel staff are very knowledgeable about all kinds of phones, tablets and computers because they have to help their guests when they are trying to connect to the hotel's wifi network. Etmills should stop at the hotel desk and see if someone there can help him with the phone settings.

TMobile being a German company, you might be better off using a French one like Orange, Bouygues, SFR or Free.

Despite sharing the same name TMobile USA has zero business connection with any other Tmobile operator in any other country. They are independent entities.

To clarify for those confused about my wifi mention, no, wifi doesn't have anything to do with Tmobile. My lesson learned is that when cellphone service fails you can't count on having wifi service available whenever you need to access your phone. Therefore, print what you need. I'm far too dependant on my cellphone.

When you first arrived in France, did your phone get an automated text saying "Welcome to France?"

When I had TMobile a few years ago, my phone service worked better in France/Germany than it did in the U.S. It connected to the Orange network, and I loved the fact that I didn't have to pay a daily rate like I did with my current Verizon. Never had a problem.

I don't know what went wrong to cause your phone to not work when so many of us have been very satisfied with T-mobile in Europe.
what brand/model phone do you have?

I take screen shots of tickets and other information as I go along. Those are accessible even when you aren't able to connect to the internet.

It's frustrating not to be able to navigate when you have no to poor cell phone data reception. This happened to me a few years ago. Luckily, Google Maps has an offline feature that lets you download the map data for a specific area (greater Paris region for example). You can do this before you travel or if you are on wifi. It's a nice feature that not too many people know about.

Open Google Maps > Click the circle in the top right corner (first letter of your name) > tap 'offline maps' > tap 'select your own map' > zoom in or out to select the region you are interested in > click 'download'. Once you've downloaded the maps, you'll be able to navigate offline.

Other than that, the Orange Holiday plans are useful if you have a problem with your roaming in France.

Also perhaps a good time to mention that as wonderful as online navigation is, when it doesn't work you still need an old-fashioned analog map in your pocket. I've been traveling long enough to know that you always need a map, my favorite for several years now has been the laminated StreetWise folding maps. It was a lifesaver on my recent trip.

And yes, always have paper backup of important documents. Travel is the ultimate example of time for belts and suspenders.

Are you sure that you have roaming turned on? I recall that when I bought a new phone it defaulted to roaming off. I did not notice this until I traveled away from home and couldn’t get reception.

I also have TMobile with little to no issues.
But WiFi can be tricky in cafes -- look around to see how many others are looking at their phones and you will see that the weak WiFi is probably over whelmed.