V6Matt Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 Hi, We are looking for a contract free internet subscription and understand that there are a couple of products on the market.From an online check we are in a Degroupage zone for Orange and Free, and tend to use the internet for 2-4 weeks at a time (4 times a years).We were hoping to sign up for a subscription, pay the minimum monthly fee for 4 times a year and but put the subscription on pause inbetween.Are there any products that match this need? As the Orange 'Decouverte' seems to need a paid landline.PS: The property is a new build and has never had a phone line installed, so understand we will have a one off cost for this too.Any guidance appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Depending on where you are, you may find that a mobile solution (eg Joemobile) may work for you. Internet that can be turned on and off at will is not something in which the French service providers are (in general) interested - it smacks rather too much of "listening to the customer"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V6Matt Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 duplicate , please see below Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V6Matt Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 [quote user="Pickles"]Depending on where you are, you may find that a mobile solution (eg Joemobile) may work for you. Internet that can be turned on and off at will is not something in which the French service providers are (in general) interested - it smacks rather too much of "listening to the customer"![/quote]Thanks pickles, we already have an orange internet max SIM card but the signal in our area is quite poor and keen to get onto broadband as there are a few packages out there, but I only know of one or two and they don't seem to fall within the degroupage available to me.Still hoping I have misunderstood a package, or missed one that is suitable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 AFAIK, there are no other ADSL offers than can be suspended or are short term. As you have said the Découverte needs a fixed line account.Some find that it is not that much more expensive to get a permanent cheapish ADSL service using the included VOIP telephone. You cannot stop it for when you are not there but it can work out not too much more depending on what services are available on your line and what your needs are.Sosh by Orange, Bbox by Bouygues for example but they are probably not available if your place is in a rural location.Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V6Matt Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Surprisingly I think I have found something that is better.Bouygues BBOX Standard is a no contract service but costs 38 euros per month for phone/internet (non degroupage), oddly it says they use Orange ADSL but can't offer me the degroupage deal.So over four months this would only cost 152 euros, much cheaper than anything else I have seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 But wont you need a France Telecom line if its not dégroupé ?The cost of that over a year would wipe out any savings.And I bet at the end of your no contract service there will be a frais de résiliation, that you will have to send back the box by recorded delivery and that they will claim they havnt recieved it and keep on billing you anyway.I had a Canadian spend 6 months as my tenant and another 6 months at St Nazaire, he took out an abonnement there, cancelled it and sent all the kit back, they are saying that one USB cable was missing, he must continue to pay and the huissier bills are racking up, he is back in Canada laughing about the French Customer service (abuse) experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V6Matt Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Probably me being naive, I assumed at 38 euros that would include line rental !I would even be tempted to buy my own ADSL box to save the hassle of return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I think you are maybe misunderstanding the contract bit (or maybe I am misunderstanding what you mean!)Anyway, none of the ISPs do a fixed term year long contract now. You can stop them all at any time. But....They all have cancellation fees or initial set up fees.With the Bbox, there is a starting fee of 50 euros and a cancellation fee of 59 euros each time...You will have to do the mathsDanny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 If you are in a zone dégroupée by Free, it may be simpler just to keep it going all year round. Apart from an initial sending out equipment fee of 19 euros, it is 29,99 euros pm, 360 euros a year, always there when you need it.Put your number in to their site and see if you are eligible http://www.free.fr/adsl/index.htmlDanny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V6Matt Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 Thanks all, I started to see the 50 euros arrangement/cancellation fees e.t.c… frustrating ! Another avenue to pursue is Free’s shared internet option, as a French relative has Free already and can gain access to the internet of other participating Free users around France. So if I have a neighbour with a) Free b) the sharing option enabled c) sufficient wifi signal, I can then get internet access for nothing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 novel approach [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 [quote user="V6Matt"] Another avenue to pursue is Free’s shared internet option, as a French relative has Free already and can gain access to the internet of other participating Free users around France. So if I have a neighbour with a) Free b) the sharing option enabled c) sufficient wifi signal, I can then get internet access for nothing![/quote]Theoretically yes but it is available to your relative because he has paid Free for his access. He will also have to input his passcode etc to gain access to someone else's wifi.Re using your neighbour's wifi ... you would have to persuade him to share his access code(s) with you, which he might not be so keen to do !Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 It used to be that you had to opt in and sign up to whatever they call the public sharing of part of your bandwidth, I never did, then I started to find lots of people, predominantly Young women stopping either outside and blocking the car park to my hôtel or parking within it glued to their Smartphones [:(]I would turn off my router and then turf them away, often recieving loads of abuse in the process.On checking i found that Free had forced the sharing on me and I had to jump through loads of hoops to disable it including creating yet another overcomplicated and forgettable password.It would not surprise me if they sneaked the access back in, each time I see someone stop and use their smartphone I turn off my router, at the moment its having no effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V6Matt Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 [quote user="suein56"][quote user="V6Matt"] Another avenue to pursue is Free’s shared internet option, as a French relative has Free already and can gain access to the internet of other participating Free users around France. So if I have a neighbour with a) Free b) the sharing option enabled c) sufficient wifi signal, I can then get internet access for nothing![/quote]Theoretically yes but it is available to your relative because he has paid Free for his access. He will also have to input his passcode etc to gain access to someone else's wifi.Re using your neighbour's wifi ... you would have to persuade him to share his access code(s) with you, which he might not be so keen to do !Sue[/quote]The relative normally stays with us when we are there, so a bit of a win win.RE Neighbours wifi, you don't need their individual codes to access if they have enabled the share option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 [quote user="V6Matt"]The relative normally stays with us when we are there, so a bit of a win win.RE Neighbours wifi, you don't need their individual codes to access if they have enabled the share option. [/quote]Yep, I get your point. If your relative is already a subscriber and your neighbour has the same flavour then it should work.Sue [:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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