Jako

[quote user="pachapapa"] Your statement is manifestly untrue and therefore completely negates any valid reason for stu**ing around with SIP in any form. [/quote] 1-I did not mention Alice 2-Everybody can do their own math and check this to be true. Accept you, because Alice does not provide any " internet only " service. If they were to provide this service it would  probably also be around €10,- a month cheaper than internet + "free" voip. You are also stu**ing with SIP via your obligatory Alice box and have no POTS backup because Alice does not pick up €16,- a month, they only rent the naked cable.   Do not compare apples with pears.

For cheap calls just connect a sip phone or a router with sip functionality to your existing adsl connection and use voipwise/voipcheap/voipbuster/sipdiscount or whatever independent Voip provider you may like. Free phonecalls with orange/free/neuf/bouyges/darty  cost around  €10,- a month extra. Phonecalls with any of the other VOIP providers costs me about €15,- a YEAR. (around 2 hours of international calls per week) So Free phonecalls:  €120,- a year Payed phonecalls : €15,- a year And often you can get a UK phone number for little (€1,-) or free so family and friends can call you in France on a ( cheaper for them) UK number. The established providers give  the word "free" a whole new meaning.

I'll settle for 10% off all savings generated by my tip [:D]

[quote user="f1steveuk"] It never does it when we're getting anything near what we pay for, but as soon as it goes below 2Mbs, the Wi Fi statrs to fail. [/quote] Check your facts to be sure.  It could just be that your WiFi connection is very poor causing the low speed, not the low speed causing a poor WiFi.

[quote user="Gluestick"] Remember, many Central Banks hold large Sterling balances: and part and parcel of the whole ethos of fully floating fiat currencies, is the co-ordinated efforts made behind the scenes by IMF and Central Bankers to try and achieve some level of effective stability. [/quote]2008 World reserve currencies US$ 64% Euro 26.5% Sterling 4.1% Even in the 'good' year 2008 sterling was only 4.1% of the world reserve currencies. The "large Sterling balances" are negligible  [:P]

[quote user="Quillan"]Can you move the LiveBox, even round the room it's in? Don't forget its only a telephone cable that connects it to the phone socket so you can buy a phone extension lead. [/quote] This procedure is not recommended as it usually means your adsl signal deteriorates towards poor levels. Use a range extender or throw the Livebox away and buy a proper modem with an external antenna and wds option (wireless distribution system). WDS allows you to extend the WiFi range the same way your mobile phone switches from base station to base station as you move.

[quote user="velcorin"]It may also be worth considering that the UK owns 25% of US government debt, and 40% of German government debt. Both countries have Debt to GDP ratios greater than the UK, as you say, in the grand scheme of things it is completely irrelevant what the ratio is...................at it's simplest level UK foreign assets vastly outweigh foreign assets held in the UK. Cash in foreign assets, repay foreign debt, hey presto the UK is quids in. [/quote] Check your sources. The UK owns just  4.8% of  foreign held  US debt at 178 billion dollars (dec 2009) which is even less than the 200 billion newly printed pounds the BoE created in 2009 and neither the US nor Germany comes close to the real UK's debt to gdp ratio. I hope Gordon has the IMF on speeddial.

[quote user="just john "]I have to say that despite the current situation I still believe the Euro is vastly overvalued, [/quote] True, but the Euro is only overvalued to the Chinese Renmibi. Not to the US dollar and definitely not to the GB pound. With a debt to GDP of 180% ( if you are not cooking the books, so including the bank bailouts) and a budget deficit of 13% the UK is far worse then Greece. The UK economy is only running on extra printed money (=stealing money right out of your pocket) , devaluing the pound ( more theft from your wallet)  , issuing more and more gilts and rising inflation ( =more theft ) Inflation is low in the Euro zone, issuing bonds is much better controlled and the ECB is not allowed to print money to monetise the debt. And that is bad? I am glad I live in the Euro zone, not in a Zimbabwe-style little island just off the EU coast with a capital called Reykjavik on the Thames.      

Look here in the FT: Traders build up record bets against sterling [Www]

[quote user="AnOther"]The new livebox 2 does not allow you to turn off everything. If you turn the Security mode to 'No Security' it automatically enables MAC filtering [geek] [/quote] Ooh boy, what a great help in troubleshooting this Livebox 2[:(] Although the idea behind this mechanism is good, it assumes nothing can ever go wrong with the livebox, only with the user.[+o(]

Enter your livebox at: http://192.168.1.1. If you are unable to enter your livebox wireless, then use a cable. User and password=admin,admin. goto "wireless" , disable both security and mac filter. Now try again. If this works, switch security back on and try again, if that works switch mac filter back on and check whether the mac address of your computer is in the list. If necessary, enter the mac address manually.

Any annex-A ethernet modem ( in general any non-German modem for analogue phoneline)  will do. They do not support USB modems for this connection due to USB port speed limitations, but I would give it a try if you have one.

"Without commitment" is exactly to the point. You may end this contract at any time or (better still) change it to a free dial-up subscription ( which will allow you to keep email active) and change it back again later. The disadvantages are the separate €16/month  to France Telecom for your  telephone subscription and no TV etc. But that is probably what you have now. To me the guy on the helpdesk replied " ah, you want the same subscription, but cheaper?" YES!

For those who wish to keep the Plain Old Telephone System with France Telecom and only need internet access without TV, VOIP etc this new offer from Orange "Découverte internet sans engagement" is an interesting option. It offers a maximum speed of 8 Mbps. If you currently have 1 or 2 megamax, you get more speed for less money[:)]. Changing from an old subscription to the new offer cannot be done online, you need to call Orange.

Use Paypal or a bank transfer (virement). The costs in Austia for cashing a French ( or UK)  cheque will exceed the value of your cheque.

[quote user="allanb"] That's not true; anyone can buy gilts. [/quote] True, but nobody is buying gilts accept for the buyer of last resort: The BoE The BoE has 'bought' a staggering 200 Billion pounds worth of gilts with fresh 'printed' money, calling it quantitative easing. While Darling has 'only' issued 178 B pounds of gilts. As the ECB is not prepared to print money and buy Greece bonds, Greek bond rates rise as the default risk rises. The same will soon happen to UK gilts, but at a  much more alarming rate as the BoE will try to sell its gilts, the UK government still issuing new gilts and current gilt holders dumping the stuff. In fact, the UK is already defaulting by monetising the debt. A run on the pound is nay.    

[quote] user="allanb"If a Greek government bond is a cast-iron asset, why do you suppose it has to pay a higher rate of interest than other euro bonds to attract buyers? [/quote] But there still are international buyers of Greek bonds, for UK gilts there is only one buyer:  The Bank of England  

You don't have to pay tax d'habitation for a maximum of four years if the property is uninhabitable ( e.g. due to renovations). Many counsels just give you the four years without checking.

[quote user="RicandJo"][quote user="Jako"]True. But don't forget that a modern TV will only last for about four years, while the old analogue TV would last you ten years. [/quote] Nonsense![/quote] Have you ever read the tech papers that are delivered with your TV? And not only  the UK ones, but also languages of other countries where local law requires an estimated life-expectancy to be published by the manufacturer. Obviously not.

True. But don't forget that a modern TV will only last for about four years, while the old analogue TV would last you ten years.

[quote user="Martin963"].....  As you say we're still waiting for DVB-T2 tuners in Britain.    France - as I discussed in another thread - are as far as I know only planning to use DVB-T for the moment, even for HD. [/quote] "Pour recevoir les chaînes en Haute définition, il faut également un équipement adapté. Il faut un téléviseur équipé d'un décodeur intégré MPEG-4 et non MPEG-2, car les chaînes en haute définition seront diffusées avec la norme MPEG-4" France is using DVB-T, but with MPEG4 for HD. Standard DVB-T tuners can only process an MPEG2 stream,  an MPEG4  stream will display "scrambled channel"

[quote user="RicandJo"]Not so much to do with the second question, which many TV's don't ask. Secret is in owning a multi system TV i.e one which incorporates SECAM (for France) and PAL ( for UK) If you plug in a non SECAM TV in France it will not work whether or not you tell the TV it's geographical position![/quote] The country question is important too. Not all frequency schemes are used in the same manner in different countries. Even a digital tuner needs to know in which country it is to be able to use the right frequencies in the correct manner. TV's are cheaper in the UK because they are often missing an HD tuner. As there are no terrestrial HD TV stations in the UK yet producers are dumping these TV sets on markets where customers are unaware of this. The 'scrambled' French channels could well be unscrambled HD channels that a UK TV is unable to process. The analogue color scheme in the UK is PAL, but with a shift in the sound carrier, for this reason old UK TV's cannot be used in the rest of Europe. Even in PAL countries like Germany the picture will be fine, but no sound.

It is a very complicated legal issue but every EU country has the obligation to allow entry into their healthcare system by other EU citizens and freedom of movement. Blocking entry into the system for the first five years is therefore imho illegal. The problem for the French is that the funding for their system is completely based on income. No or low income automatically means free healthcare ( but you might still have millions in the bank)  This means that 'rich' people are now blocked from entry and pay for a private insurance outside of France because that is cheaper. That money does not end up in the French system, but in a foreign healthcare system thus enlarging the French healthcare deficit. Great legislation by Sarko. If he had just repaired the system in a way that wealthy people pay a decent sum even at low income, all parties would benefit.  ( like the Dutch system)  

[quote user="AnOther"]Broadly speaking the same as the UK then. So Dutch people have no rights whatsoever once they stop work or leave the country. Seems a sh11ty deal to me and somewhat flies in the face of that most fundamental of EU principals, freedom of movement. Are you Dutch ? [/quote] Yes, I am Dutch. And I don't agree. You keep your rights and obligations as long as you either reside in the NL or work there or both. As soon as you move to whatever EU country you have the right to be insured by that local system and the Dutch insurance stops instantly.  The new French way of blocking entry into the French system the first five years for people not working is illegal.  

No that is only in the UK, not in the Netherlands. If you are not employed in the NL or residing in the NL then you have no rights in the Dutch system.