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How much do you pay for your landline and Internet phone?


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[quote user="EmilyA"]We live here full time. Have an FT / Orange landline which costs us 32€ a month and internet at 26€. We then have Phonexpat for our phone calls. We only have a very flakey 512k which cuts off after anything between 5 and 30 minutes (we are at the limits for the exchange.) I can't think that internet phone would work, so have never tried. Am sure we are not getting best value for money, but no idea what would be better. We have no choice of provider here.[/quote]

I think you should try the link Jay gave, you may (or may not) be very pleasantly supprised but you won't know till you have tried.

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If Emily has been told this by Orange, it is quite possible that it is correct. The info on degrouptest comes from the database of FT (Orange) so it is unlikely to differ. It is also not always accurate too.

No harm in checking though.

Having checked there, you will only get the real offers by contacting the provider.

For many on the edge of ADSL elegibility due to the line length/quality, Orange is the only one who will offer a (mostly) reliable service. Even if Degroupest suggests otherwise.

In these lines, any offers from other providers are using Orange's equipment in the exchange and the other providers make very little money from these lines, if at all. They are not really willing to continue the service if the line quality is so poor and it is any hassle for them.

I believe that Orange are obliged, by their status as the traditional telecoms operater, to try to offer a minimum service if possible so they tend to do so.

By the way, the Orange Internet offers may well be modified tomorrow as their current commercial period ends today. So, we may see some (probably minor) changes to their offers.

Danny

PS Emily, I presume you mean 32 euros every 2 months to FT.... You should still also get slightly cheaper than the 26 euros p/m internet which I think is an older offer.

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Thanks Danny - yes just spotted it is for two months - that makes me feel better! I will try for a newer offer; I would be reluctant to leave Orange / FT even if I could, as I think the problem is all to do with their flakey old lines, plus distance from the exchange and I can't imagine another provider would want to take it on.
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Emily, it's worth you asking about the Internet, mine works fine even though it apparently shouldn't. How much does expat cost you for your phone calls if you don't mind me asking? And, does anyone else rent their live box? I chose to on the advice of friends as they had had several blow up or malfunction, but this is costing 3 euros a month.
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Have had FT / Orange out. It improved a bit after he changed a metal thingy in the internal telephone point, which he said had been damaged in a storm a long time ago. About 3 months after that they changed a box on the telephone pole and that stopped the internet going down in rain / damp weather. We still lose it very quicky if our neighbour is on line, which is Sunday and Monday as he owns a shop. Apart from that he just shrugged and said "mais vous etes en campagne" and that they had no plans to put in a booster. We use a Netgear box.

We think Phonexpat is very reasonable as we spend a lot of time talking to our children in the UK and Spain, we have found them very easy to deal with and have had no problems in 6 years. The offers seem to have changed a bit, but we pay FT for the line and then a low rate for overseas calls.
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  • 3 weeks later...
That's not so bad. I am in Panama, and I am paying like $50 for a crappy internet modem.

My download speed is like 2088 kbps, and the upload speed is like 928 kbps.

Bear in mind that this is a third world country where the average salary is like $450 per month.

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[quote user="Jay"]Yes, we use Skype all the time, nice to see people as well as chat. Let's hope it continues to be free now that Microsoft have bought them out.

[/quote]

Well, it looks like Skype and Facebook are teaming up together to try and blow google + out of the water. An announcement for video chat using skype on facebook is expected this week.

I think now, if you're paying anything for phone calls or the like you're being ripped off.

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As someone who had used Darty for three years with a fibre optic internet connection at eye watering speeds, free phonecalls to most countries and TV for 30 euros a month, I was a bit worried when the previous owners of the country house I moved into said the hamlet only had dial-up or satellite. I checked degrouptest, and indeed the house was a long way from the exchange (more than 7km) and it didn't look promising. It was either Alice or Orange, and I didn't like what I heard about the former.

Orange, gave a few different responses on the phone which was confusing, but eventually I learned a 512k connection was possible, but I couldn't cut myself off from France Telecom. I pay 16 euros a month for the latter, and 28 euros something for an Orange Livebox 512k, with phone and TV (though I don't have a TV).

I was fearing the worst, but having done a speed test, I really do get the full 512k speed, which is quite slow but so much better than dial-up. After a few problems with the phone, it is now working much better than the France Telecom line. I've been here a month and have had no issues with the Internet, so I am happy. I can even just about watch a youtube video at the basic resolution, without pauses for the most part. lol! Not quite as good as downloading a 4 gig file in a matter of minutes, but I can live with that.
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