Do I new a Livebox to replace my DrayTek Vigor?

[HoneySuckleDreams]

I'm looking at upgrading my t'interweb connection. We currently have a speed of about 600K and FT have upgraded the infrastructure so that we can now receive 8Mb. Most of the offers they are offering list a Livebox at 3€ a month.

My question is: as I already have a DrayTek Vigor2820n modem, do I need the Livebox? Im assuming that I need a Voip box to take up their telephone over the internet offers, but I'm undecided if that is what I want at the moment.

Many thanks

[tonyv]

That looks like a very nice device; it is certainly capable of 8Mb. I can see no reason why you'd need to replace it.

[BJSLIV]

I can see no reason why you'd need to replace it

Unless you want one of their call inclusive packages, or a package without a "normal" line.

[Dave&Olive]

hi ok

                           You need the live box for the voip free phone  ..

                                     Dave

[Richardbk]

The problem is that the orange(FT) VOIP is not standard so if you want their VOIP phone you have to have the livebox. Another option is to take orange's internet only option and then take up VOIP with another provider that uses a standard protocol. That way you get to keep the draytek, which is a superior modem to the livebox, and you are not tied to orange for VOIP - you can change VOIP providers as you wish.

[HoneySuckleDreams]

I didn't realise they had a different protocol. I wonder if the VoIP draytek (Vigor2820v) would work ok in france? I'm not sure I understand the technology anyway, something I need to look into a bit more thoroughly.

I upgraded my internet connection at the weekend. It went from €24.99 for the 1megamax deal (actually only getting 600k) to 21€ for the 8meg deal (only getting 7.5Mb sec but the difference is immense!).

It does beg the question as to when Orange were going to tell me I could get more for less.

I do have another problem though. My PC blew up (smoke and sparks from the power supply!!) and the hard drive is dead. So i need recommendations for a HDD data recovery firm.

[Richardbk]

The Vigor2820v would work fine in France BUT you would need to get your VOIP from another supplier. It does not matter who provides the VOIP, but it must be SIP compliant. It could be a UK, US or french company. It depends on what telephone number you want( Uk, french or other country) and of course the package. e.g I'm using sipgate.co.uk and draytel.org which are payg services, but you can get all in deals with companies such as vonage.

Since the VOIP is running over the internet your number is virtual. E.g it can be sat in your home in france and appear with caller id as a UK line, or you could get a French VOIP supplier to provide a french number. With vonage, your charges to both uk and france, and other countries would be included in an unllimited plan or cost the same/minute when using a payg operators.