Telephone & internet

[Mrs B]

Hi,

May we have some thoughts or advice please re: telephony & internet services. Will it be better to have the internet from a different service provider from the fixed line provider - reason being if fixed line provider access is unavailable for any reason, we will still have the internet service if it is provided by another company

We currently do not have a fixed line and have been told that the fixed line must be installed by France Telecom first, before any internet service can be installed by another service provider. As far as we can tell, SFR seems the most popular for internet access where we are so was planning to go with SFR for internet. However France Telecom has advised that we can have the entire package (fixed line, internet access & television channels) installed at the same time for 48.80 euros per month which seems a bit on the expensive side

We have also looked at the SFR website and is a bit confused with the various packages available as all we want is a simple internet WIFI service with unlimited access for a monthly/periodic fee and cannot figure out if such a service is avaialble from SFR - as our French rather limited as we are still learning the language

Thanks, Mrs B

[suein56]

You haven't said where you live in France which can make a big difference to what kind of internet access you will be able to get.

Even so you will need a line into your house - that is if you don't opt for satellite - and can then choose who you go with for internet.

Most packages today include fixed calls in France and 100 countries worldwide so keeping a separate fixed phone is not always necessary, there are many deciding factors and some people like to pay extra and have a separate fixed line.

SFR do a basic internet and calls package for 34.99€ per month (can be less, it depends on the offers) : http://adsl.sfr.fr/box-de-sfr.html#sfrintid=V_nav_adsl_adsl&sfrclicid=V_nav_adsl_adsl

Orange do one for 29.99€ (special offer at the moment for 24.99€ for the first year) : https://boutique.orange.fr/sosh-mobile-livebox

The SFR page encourages you to test your line, if you can input a close neighbours telephone number it might help you find out what you are capable of receiving in your area.

There is also DSLValley http://www.dslvalley.com/adsl/test-eligibilite-adsl.php which should give you a list of providers in your area, but you will need someone's telephone number to test the system.

Sue

[Mrs B]

Hi Sue, thanks for the advice. We are in Narbonne, I have looked at SFR website again and spotted

La box de SFR

29,99€/mois

• Internet haut débit
• Téléphone illimité sur les fixes en France métropolitaine et vers plus de 100 destinations internationales
• Application SFR TV sur smartphone et tablette
• SFR Cloud 10 Go
• Accès aux 4 millions de hotspots WiFi SFR en France
• Modem inclus

the 'haut debit' I think is broadband? What phrase or description will we need to look for if we want WIFI rather than broadband. Apologies for our lack of knowlwdge but we think broadband uses a network cable to access the internet?

Thanks, Mrs B

[Chancer]

[quote user="Mrs B"]

Hi,

May we have some thoughts or advice please re: telephony & internet services. Will it be better to have the internet from a different service provider from the fixed line provider - reason being if fixed line provider access is unavailable for any reason, we will still have the internet service if it is provided by another company

[/quote]

If the fixed line service doesnt work, line fault, cut etc then you will have no internet, if the internet connection fails for whatever reason you should still be able to make calls from your fixed FT line, thats why many people retain it.

If you are in an area dégroupée then you dont need to retain the FT line and can save the cost of the line rental, something like €17 per month IIRC if you go with any of the internet suppliers, it will cost you between €30 and €35 per month dependant on whether you want TV included, these packages will include free phone calls within France and overseas.

All of the ADSL boxes will give you wi-fi

My favorite provider is Free.fr because they shook up the market and thanks to them we now have competitively priced internet and mobile phone service in France, others remain loyal to FT (Orange) or SFR. 

[suein56]

[quote user="Mrs B"] ... we want WIFI rather than broadband. Apologies for our lack of knowlwdge but we think broadband uses a network cable to access the internet?

[/quote]

The box, whch delivers the adsl (broadband) to your house, is usually plugged into the electricity supply and to a telephone socket. The box, whether SFR or Orange, is usually set up to deliver wifi to your pc, laptop or tablet.

edit : Chancer beat me to it !

Sue

[Danny]

Haut Débit = broadband ADSL service

Same as in the UK, this uses the telephone line for internet service - you have a box (modem/router) which has its cable plugged in to the phone line socket.

You then access the internet via this box.

Either with a cable (ethernet) from computer/smartphone/tablet to the modem

or wirelessly, without a cable i.e. by wifi

So you can connect by wifi (or with a physical cable) with all the main providers - Orange, SFR, Free, Bouygues etc.

Danny

[Mrs B]

Thanks Sue, Chancer and Danny, for the info and the explanation, we understand a bit better now :-). All things considered, think we will retain the fixed FT line and go with SFR for the internet 

Many thanks again, Mrs B

[Quillan]

I have no idea how good your French language skills are but if you are looking for an ISP who has a dedicated sales and support phone number in English then you should look at Orange who I believe (always willing to be corrected) are the only French ISP to supply this service.

We have not had a separate 'land line' phone for ten years now and we run a business so you can imagine how serious it would be to lose our phone. We have a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) that will keep the router 'alive' for a couple of hours if we lose power to the house and if the router does fail our calls are automatically sent to our mobile phone. Also the router is rented so always under guarantee. If it fails you phone Orange, they give you an exchange number, you take the router to your nearest Orange shop and they give you new one straight away. Personally I think the level of service is more important than the price you pay per month. Having said that there are those who have received bad service from Orange but then the same can be said for all the ISP's.

[Gardian]

The 1st reply from Sue was spot-on.

Its important to know what works in your particular 'coin'. So in our little immediate area, Orange is hopeless for mobile coverage and broadband: no more than a kilometre away, its fine. We're with SFR and its been reliable for years, but elsewhere probably dodgy.

Talk to your immediate neighbours and go with what works (very) locally.  If they all do, then you're laughing! 

[Pommier]

Up until our current house we've been with SFR (previously Neuf) and it's worked without a problem. In our current house which is maybe 500 metres from the previous one we've had nothing but problems; very slow connections, phone and internet cutting off up to 20 times a day, so we've finally given up and gone to Orange. At last we're back to a normal service (at €6 more per month, but worth it!)

[suein56]

[quote user="Pommier"]At last we're back to a normal service (at €6 more per month, but worth it!)[/quote]

Have you talked to Orange recently ? As they are doing excellent special offers at the moment so that the monthly cost should be low.

There is no cost to swap offers, you just need to contact them.

https://boutique.orange.fr/sosh-mobile-livebox

Sue

[Chiefluvvie]

[quote user="Mrs B"]

Thanks Sue, Chancer and Danny, for the info and the explanation, we understand a bit better now :-). All things considered, think we will retain the fixed FT line and go with SFR for the internet 

Many thanks again, Mrs B

[/quote]

Far be it from me to put the dampers on things but...that's just plain silly. Don't bother to keep the FT line - a complete waste of around 180€/year for that 'just-in-case' moment. If you don't have a mobile phone (?) get yourself a cheap one with the 2€/month tarif from Free mobile?

All SFR ADSL (i.e. wifi / broadband) packages come with phone calls included no matter what, so don't over complicate things - let SFR take the line over and dump FT!

Chiefluvvie :-)

[Judith]

Well we decided to keep the FT land line and it is not unknown for the internet itself and wifi to work perfectly, but the internet phone not to do so, thus we are grateful to know we can always use the FT landline (at a cost) if needed ... sometimes the assurance of having the phone (as someone has already said) is worth the extra cost.

It comes down to the usual cost / benefit analysis.

Incidentally, I would not have thought there was much problem with any provider in Narbonne itself, though some outlying areas might be difficult, it is not as though it is in the back of beyond ...  and each provider to the best of my knowledge (though I don't go all that regularly now) has a shop in Narbonne which can sometimes be a blessing for those with less than perfect French, especially over the phone.

Having said that, the mobile signal can vary enormously around here... but that should not be a problem for the internet service through whichever provider you choose.

[Quillan]

Have to say Orange mobile does not work where we live so we use SFR and not had a problem. For ISP we use Orange. We have never had a problem with Internet working and phone not working and we are 5km from the exchange plus the line speed is really slow. At the end of the day it is personal choice and what you feel happy with.

[Chiefluvvie]

So Judith - how often do you actually use your FT line and have you calculated the total cost per call / minute including your line rental?

I feel sorry for you - must be pretty difficult living somewhere without a mobile phone signal - not sure I'd like that.

Chiefluvvie

[Mrs B]

Hi,

Apologies for re-opening this topic but I have a couple of additional questions please

Q1. We would like a couple of extensions (kitchen, upstairs) in addtion to the main fixed line in the living area so what would be a better( re: cost & efficiency ) option please:-
• ask FT to install these extensions at the same time as main line
• or ask FT to install the main line and have SFR (who we'll be going with for internet) do the extensions please?
We intend to keep the fixed line with FT

Q2. Re: mobile , which is best provider please re: cost, usability and support? If SFR, do we get the mobile subscription from SFR at the same time as the internet or will we need to do this separately?

Thanks, Mrs B

[suein56]

[quote user="Mrs B"]

Q1. We would like a couple of extensions (kitchen, upstairs) in addtion to the main fixed line in the living area so what would be a better( re: cost & efficiency ) option please:-

• ask FT to install these extensions at the same time as main line

• or ask FT to install the main line and have SFR (who we'll be going with for internet) do the extensions please?

We intend to keep the fixed line with FT

[/quote]

If you only intend to use phones on the end of these extensions then the very cheapest, easiest route is to buy a phone with extra handsets. You connect the main phone to a power socket and the telephone line and the extensions go wherever else you like as they only need to be plugged into their own electric socket.

Sue

[Quillan]

Why not buy cordless phones? We have Siemens Gigaset cordless phones and they are very good. You can buy these from big supermarkets, Darty or Amazon. We have a large garden (7,500M2) and it they work all round the garden without problem. You can place the extensions where you want, all you need is a power socket for charging. I keep one in my pocket all day so I can always be reached when at home.

For the mobile you need to find out what is best for your area (by asking around). Where I live it is SFR because Orange does not even appear to work here. I think you may find SFR does a deal which incorporates your mobile phone into your Internet package. At the end of the day as I said its what does and does not work specifically where you live which is why you may find people reluctant to give advice on this question.

[Mrs B]

Hi Sue, Quillan,

Many thanks for the advice, cordless phones with extra handsets sounds ideal. I'll do some research re: best mobile coverage for our area

Thanks, Mrs B

[Quillan]

[quote user="Mrs B"]

Hi Sue, Quillan,

Many thanks for the advice, cordless phones with extra handsets sounds ideal. I'll do some research re: best mobile coverage for our area

Thanks, Mrs B

[/quote]

The easiest thing to do is ask people who visit and have French Mobiles if their phone works OK and how many 'bars' does it have. If you explain why your asking I am sure they won't object.

I am lucky owning a B&B in that I had a lot of people to ask. One thing for sure in my case were the number of people walking round my garden holding a phone that was on Orange trying to get a signal. My mate on the other hand can only get Orange to work where he lives and my SFR phone refuses to work in his house and garden. If your near a city or big town then you will probably be OK with any service but out in the sticks you need to be a bit more selective. God luck.

For the cordless phones I can recomend the Siemens brand (often called Gigaset in France). As they will mostly be the same in France as the UK you may try looking at the reviews on Amazon UK then look at Darty (www.darty.com ) or Amazon FR. The "Gigaset AS430A TRIO" seems to be a good bit of kit at a reasonable price at 80 Euros for three handsets and includes an answerphone (handy if you retain your landline phone and not go down the voip route). You can buy and add more handsets individually if you want. Good reviews on both Darty and Amazon. It is what I would buy if my phone went bang because the Siemens phones are pretty good in my experience.