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ADSL Router - UK version okay?


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Hi All,

We have recently placed our order with Orange for our internet service for our home in Brittany. When I was speaking with the agent, he informed me that I could use an ADSL wireless router from the UK. So, my questions are:

1) Is this true?

2) Our home has the "old style" connection points. Are there converters available to the new RJ-45 connectors?

3) Is there anything out of the ordinary for setting up ADSL service in France?

4) Any "gotchas" that I should be aware of with the Orange service and/or setup?

Many thanks in advance!

Richard
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It depends on the Orange service you have bought. If you have bought the Internet, phone and TV service for around €30 plus Euros per month with free national and internationl calls then the phone is connected to the LiveBox which is then connected to the phone socket as the phone uses voip. If this is the case then if your router does not support this service then you need an Orange router (or equivilent). Some people like to buy a different brand of router, I personally prefer to rent my Orange box for €3 per month. Routers can go 'bang' in France during storms etc and my personal attitude is if it's all Orange and it goes 'bang' then it's their problem not mine and having had two routers replaced because of this over the years (and very quickly to I might add, like in hours) I feel I have done OK. It's one less thing to worry about.

What you are really talking about is plugging you router in to the French phone socket. For this you need a 'T' filter which has a RJ11 (not 45) socket on the side to which you connect your router. This plugs in to your phone socket and your router plugs in to it. Many people get confused with RJ11 and RJ45 because they look the same except the RJ11 connector is a little smaller. If indeed you do have a cable with a RJ45 plug on the end then you can buy a new cable in most shops in France.

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Quillan has summed it up there, but I'll just add that I brought my Netgear DG834 from UK and have used it for 8 years. The only other thing to note is that the power supply has a UK plug so you'll need a mains adaptor for that as the plug is integral to the power pack.

I route the phone line through a surge protector which has mains and phone sockets.

 

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Hello,

Thank you for your quick responses. Sid, that's the same make/model I have to bring over so it's good to hear we can use it.

My question about the RJ-45 connector was around the wall socket. I've heard that the "new" wall sockets in France are an RJ-45 type; whereas the "old" style are completely different. What I'm hoping won't be the case is that all of the wall telephone sockets having to be replaced with the new style.

Are converters available?

Cheers!

Richard
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'Converters' are available for old type sockets. If you order an Orange LiveBox (for example) it will come with one.

If you have a house built or the house has been completely rewired in the last couple of years then you may well have the new type RJ45 sockets. If that is the case then your router will be installed in the communications cabinate normally found very close to your 'fuse' box. The 'ethernet' side is then sent throught the 'patch panel' internaly to the room you want your phone and the room you want your computer.

Perhaps somebody can point you in the direction for better information on how the system works in the meantime I have given a link below which gives a very rough idea but it is in French (you can uses Google to translate it).

http://www.leroymerlin.fr/v3/p/idees-conseils/comment-creer-un-reseau-de-communication-l1308216568

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There have been several versions of the DG834, mine is an early one; the later ones have V1 or V2 etc on the label underneath, but all will work.

Yes, adaptors are available, that's the bit Quillan referred to as a "T" adaptor. I find the "old" plugs and adaptors quite bulky and prone to making crackling noises after a couple of years as the weight of the adaptor and then a phone plug hanging on the back of it eventually strains the connection. At some point I'm going to have to upgrade my sockets.

My adaptor looks like this: http://tinyurl.com/9ybnzpu

You must use the socket marked "phone" for the phone, and the one marked "modem" for the modem. sorry to sound so obvious, but there is a temptation to try the RJ11 from the phone in the modem socket which will not work.

If your phone has RJ11 then you'll need another adaptor on the back of the filter, or there may possibly be a newer filter available now. It's messy.

However, if your modem sockets are all up-to-date RJ45 types then the filtering should I believe have been done at the comms box at the tableau, but note the difference in the types RJ11/RJ45. I stand to be corrected on this point as I haven't investigated it further yet.

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update on using DG834G

I've been using my DG834G since 2005 when we first got ADSL here, but the modem is older, having been purchased in UK and used from around 2000 as far as I can remember now. Absolutely no problems with it until just 3 weeks ago, and even them I didn't identify the problem as being with the modem.

My internet downstream speed suddenly appeared to be capped at 880kbps insted of the 2 mega I'm contracted for. The 2mega service has been reliable for at least a year. In the end I contacted Orange and there commenced a 3 week saga wich ended on Thursday when a technican arrived to test my line. He declared it working properly at 2mega and pointed to my modem and said that was where the fault was. Assuming that my faithful DG834G was in the process of expiring with old age, I've aorded a new modem from Amazon.fr (different make this time for cost reasons) and it should arrive early next week.

In the meantime I Googled the modem and downstream speed and found that many people upgrade the firmware, often with improved results. Bear in mind that I've never upgraded mine ("If it ain't broke, don't fix it") and it's worked up to last month, I decided to try an upgrade. The last upgrade is dated Jan 2007 as the modem is now obsolete, but with nothing to lose I've installed it and to my surprise I'm now connected at full speed once again!

I can only assume that something at the ISP end has changed which requires stricter response at my end. The DG834G has different firmwares depending on region; the one I've installed is for outside UK, whereas I guess it was originally the UK version.

Anyway, if you're intending to use your modem over here in France I suggest you do the upgrade too! And I'll have 2 modems!!!! [:$]

 

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