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Maison Secondaire phone & internet


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For 10 years I have used FT Orange Maison Secondaire service for my holiday home in Cantal. I have been able to activate line (& internet) in June & deactivate in September each year. It cost around 20 euros a month for each service. This morning I tried to activate the line via the English speaking help line but was told that they have discontinued this service & I have to take a year's contract at 33 euros a month for the 2 services. i.e 400 euros/yr. Is there any alternative to this situation. Another provider? Hope someone can advise. Jim
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We use UK telecom, based in Guildford, for phone and I/net. We use the house on and off throughout the year, and pay around what you've highlighted each month, €30 odd. You can switch it off for up to 3 months a year, I'm not sure how many times though.

They could be cheaper, and the kit isn't the latest, but it works, and its reliable enough.

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I second the 4G roaming if you get a good signal. My Vodafone is £20 a month with 20gb of data, and they don't restrict usage in the EU at all (unlike Three (no streaming + a cap) and EE who cap at 12gb).

If you're fortunate like us, we have just gone 'degroupé' and have a much wider choice of ADSL starting at €15 (RED/SFR) a month but no on/off option..

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  • 2 months later...
We have the same issue.

I have been suspending (October) and reactivating (March) our Orange Land line and Internet for a number of years. This has been moderately simple. Call the English speaking help line 00 33 969 363900 and after a wait tell them to do it and all very simple.

In March 2018 I was told by the Orange help line it was all changing and in future I would have to take an annual contract (for my 7/8 months use) So I was able to reactivate but have to make a decision in October, or before because there may be a cancellation period/penalty!!!

So here we are in early August wondering what to do.

We use the WiFi internet for two IPads and two smart phones. We are not heavy users some you tube videos, a rare NETFLIX film, podcast downloads and email.

The fixed line phone is almost more trouble than it is worth as most calls (2/3 a day) are telemarketing. I would be happy to kiss it goodbye.

So what do we do.

First thoughts with “free” roaming in the EU (we live and have phone contracts in Luxembourg so Brexit is not an issue for roaming) is to use the smart phones as hot spots.

Someone has suggested buying a “dongle” and buy data from a French provider and use that as a hot spot.

This change of policy by Orange has woken me up to the fact that there are or may be better solutions for temporary internet and perhaps Orange are going to do me a favour.

I would welcome any help in finding a solution.
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I dumped Orange about 3 years ago. Since then I've been happily existing for 3 months or more a year with my smartphone and haven't spent a penny above my pay monthly rate for calls and all-you-can-eat data ( although this is the first year I've sailed a bit close to the wind on the newly implemented "fair usage" data cap.

Tried a Bouygues dongle for a year but speeds were appallingly slow and whilst it was cheap it was rubbish.
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