Mazan

Your connection speed is quite typical but it has little correlation with how well your ISP can send on your requests and responses to the webpage that you are visiting (like your bank). Even if you upgrade your modem your ISP may be having to deal with so high usage (throughput) rates that your increased connection speed has no effect nas your ISP is so busy. This was an issue 10 years ago but hasn't been for a long time. Think about it: how could broadband even exist if ISPs had trouble getting data through to 33k dial-up users? 2megabit ADSL provides you with as much data per second as 50 dial-up users can take and there are plenty of users whose ADSL is many times faster than 2megabits. There is no shortage of capacity at all and rarely does any ISP's bandwidth usage go over 80%. There can be occasional and temporary routing problems between two individual service providers that can cause some pages to display slowly, or problems with site hosting servers that can cause particular sites to be slow (we've all seen this with this forum's hosting), but that's all.

The Livebox, like all proprietary wifi modems, is pretty dire and isn't something I would use unless I had to. Still, you've got one and good luck to you. You should connect to the Livebox using a network cable for the initial setup before trying to use the wifi. This will always work first time. In order: shut down the livebox, shut down the computer, make the network connection, restart the livebox (let it start fully), only then restart the computer. In theory you can also do the initial setup via the USB connection but I wouldn't. You may well find that once connected via ethernet you need only change the default wifi channel to get a wireless connection. Try channel 13. It usually works when 11 doesn't.

There is no difference between a like-for-like internal and external modem, in fact pretty much all modems on the market rely on a tiny number of internal chips that actually do the conversion. In fact most USB and cheap internal modems rely on the processor and software to do all the hard work. On the other hand external serial modems have a dedicated data pump that does all this work and it does it much better than most modem drivers for Windows do. They are completely different to the cheap internal and USB sort. The whole point of an external serial modem is that they need no drivers as such, just an inf file to tell Windows what they can do. This is why I recommend them over any USB or internal modem. The same applies to ethernet ADSL modems as compared to USB ones. The former are much better. And yes, some modems do work better in some countries than in others and the cheaper the modem the less reliable they are. For reliable use in France you can't beat an external serial modem designed for use in France, like an Olitec. They are well worth the 50€ they cost.

Does this mean that I will be able to subscribe to any ADSL supplier Yes. P.S. I know I could get this info at the mairie Some hope.

http://www.pchell.com/support/dsoexploit.shtml

It varies wildly but between 0.5 and 3 Euros per cubic metre would cover most places in France.

Try as I might I can see no valid reason for not paying all regular bills by direct debit. To do otherwise just gives you a lot of extra work and expense, plus the possibility of forgetting to pay or the cheque getting lost in the post thus incurring a penalty charge or disconnection. All my utility, car insurance and local tax bills are paid by direct debit and have been for the last 20 years or more.

Under French law, banks are not allowed to pay interest on current accounts, This outdated French law was declared illegal by the EU and was scrapped on Jan 1, 2005. No French bank has yet launched a current account product that pays interest though many are thinking about it. It won't be long. For the record I will re-state for the umpteenth time this simple fact: all French banks are lousy and the Credit Agricole is the worst of the lot. The best deal for French current account banking is a CCP, to be had at your local LaPoste, though this won't suit you if you are the sort of person who needs loans.

I've been using the white version of this Francine bread flour for a few weeks since my local LeClerc started stocking it. I mix it 50:50 with real UK organic wholemeal strong bread flour and the result is an excellent half-brown loaf that rises well and tastes fine. The Francine bread flour does contain flour improvers but it is real strong wheat flour, unlike the regular cheap French supermaket flour which is soft wheat flour for cakes/pastry, not bread.

Did Norton cause your machine to run very slowly? I have just downloaded and installed Norton Internet Security on my wife's machine and it has become glacially slow. Not just on the internet but slow in every area - so slow I find it almost impossible to use. NIS is bloatware of the very worst type that should only be used on the very latest, fastest PCs. It will render most PCs more than a year old completely unusable. Remove it. The same applies to Norton Antivirus 2004/5 edition: if you want to buy an AV tool then stick to the Norton 2003 edition which is much faster and does the job just as well. After the first year do NOT update online, just renew online (~20€). Zone Alarm also will cause huge problems if you run filesharing programmes on an ADSL connection. It just isn't up to the job. Use the free version of Sygate which is much more efficient.

French insurance cant be this bad!?? As it's that time of year: Oh yes it can!! Oh no it can't!! Oh yes it can!! Etc.. On a more serious note you can reasonably expect that your French insurance will pay up if your house or car is completely demolished but for anything less than that you are unlikely to get much from them. You must remember that insurance fraud is the French national pastime (this is not a joke) and cover is provided accordingly.

We want to put 9 or 10 separate lines into an apartment building we own. Are you sure? An ISDN switchboard would possibly be far more suitable and cheaper in the long run, depending on how the bills for calls will be paid and on what directory listings you want. Otherwise if you really want 10 independent lines then just ring 1014 and ask for them. There is nothing special about this. You could also ring 1016 and become a business user which will get you better service, though that may not be worthwhile depending on the number and type of calls you will make.

90% of TVs and DVDs sold in our part of Normandy are at least Pal and Secam By law for the last 15 years or more all new TVs in France must support PAL, as must all VCRs and most other AV equipment. There is no such thing as a Secam DVD player in France. There is no such thing as a Secam DVD either. There are only two standards for DVD authoring: PAL and NTSC.

The FrenchEntree page I wrote gives a general summary of how to install an internet connection manually. It applies to anyone regardless of whether they have an existing UK account or not, though some modifications may be needed in order to accommodate all users. I can assure all Wanadoo subscribers that the use or non-use of the Wanadoo software and/or CD has no incidence whatsoever on your subscription. The CD and/or software is NEVER needed under any circumstances and removing it or re/un-installing it will have no effect on your account with Wanadoo. However: unfortunately the Wanadoo software works by creating new Outlook Express accounts which it hides here and there. This is why it is such a disaster. If you stop using the Wanadoo dialler (which you can do by uninstalling it from the Windows control panel) then you may need to import your existing emails from the spurious identity that the Wanadoo software has created. This requires some knowledge.

 if I uninstall Wanadoo won't Wanadoo get a message telling it I have unsubscribed and cancel my log-in? Not at all. The Wanadoo disk is never needed, nor is the Wanadoo software. The only French ISP for which you need to install special software or use a CD is AOL. All other ISPs are handled natively by Windows 95 and above and can be easily configured manually. Also, if I uninstall how will my PC know how to connect to the Wanadoo site and the passwords and freephone numbers to use? Did you read the page in the link that I posted above? I suppose not. All the Wanadoo connection info (login, password and phone number are the only three needed for the connection) is on the confirmation letter that they sent you. The OE account info (login, password, pop and smtp server names) is also on the letter and can be found on the Wanadoo support website also, as can all the other connection info. For reference the pop server is pop.wanadoo.fr and the smtp server is smtp.wanadoo.fr

Just uninstall the Wanadoo software and create the connection and OE account manually. http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-techcorner/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=435 The Wanadoo dialler software is totally useless and highly invasive.

This is far more complex than it appears at first glance. They rely on a bizarre system of FT discounts and rebates that effectively excludes anyone not on a domestic Itoo package. I would stick with the 40€ NetBySky package.

French insurance policies renew automatically from year to year unless you specifically cancel them several weeks before the end of the contract. You must have some sort of stamped receipt that you have cancelled. A stamped, dated note from your local agent will suffice for this. This has nothing to do with French or EU law as such, it is contract law. The automatic renewal is part of the original contract and once you have accepted the terms and conditions of the original contract you are stuck with them. The same applies to pay TV contracts (Canal+, TPS), mobile phone contracts, some ISP contracts (Tiscali), agricultural piped water contracts, private land use contracts and indeed any other similar contract that incorporates the phrase "reconduction tacite". These are very common in France. The French equivalent of the UK consumer's association recently won a court case declaring such mobile phone contracts (and by extension all such clauses) abusive. However, the companies issuing the contracts know full well that they have much to gain by continuing to act abusively as few people will bother to take the matter to court, with all the expense and hassle that this involves. You are stuck with both premiums until next year. In future always cancel in writing at least 2 months before the end of any contract and be sure to get a receipt for the letter.

Just go the Tiscali website support section, login and select "mes parametres". All the needed info is listed there.

The only thing I can see is that we have a phone extension requiring us to dial "0" to get the line for my regular ISP and phone calls. If you dial 0 for an outside line you have some sort of autocom/switchboard/PABX. ADSL will never work behind a PABX. You must put the ADSL filter before the PABX and this may be in another part of the building. You may also need to put a filter on every phone outlet that is in use.

On BBC News 24 the two cards were shown side by side and looked identical except for the language printed on them. It was implied that they were being developed by this company (didn't mention their name) with joint funding from England and France and that they will be the same. I think the operative word here is "will". If you compare today's French card with the proposed UK card they are very different. Given the EU propensity for endlessly increasing bureaucracy and citizen control I wouldn't be at all surprised if France (and Germany, Spain, Ireland and the other EU member states) didn't end up with obligatory biometric ID cards sooner rather than later. I hope I'll be long gone by then.

  I mean, all those peops who claim to be leaving the UK because of the govt and having to carry ID cards, etc etc....... they couldn't really admit that they were jumping from the frying pan into the fire, could they? The French ID card is nothing when compared to the proposed UK one. The proposed UK card will contain three (or more) pieces of computerised biometric data. The French card contains none. The proposed UK card will be issued via a national computer database which will be linked to numerous other such databases. The French card is departmental and, in theory, French law prevents databases being linked. The French ID card is like a UK driving licence. The proposed UK ID card is a very different affair and would be perfectly at home in the worst dictatorships or police states ever seen on the planet. And, in case anyone has forgotten, EU citizens no longer need an ID card to live in France. An EU passport is enough (and a UK passport contains no biometric data, yet).

Someone in Toulouse, with a 1 metre dish and 0.6db lnb, gets a weak signal on 2D and loses it completely in the rain, as reported on one of the satellite forums. An 80cm dish with a standard LNB when properly installed will receive all Astra 2 channels perfectly everywhere in France during normal weather. The only time an 80cm dish will lose the signal is during monsoon rain or snow. There are no exceptions.

My original "Free to Air" card, has lost all ITV channels and recently BBC1 has gone, so I am well pleased, BBC1 requires no card, ever, under any circumstances. Your dish is badly aligned or you have some other similar problem.

My plumber charges 27€ per hour, plus TVA. No call-out charge. This is the going rate.