keener Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 We're trying to sign up for a new internet & TV service for our house in Aquitane.Both of the 2 providers in the area (SFR and Orange) offer degroupee (naked) ADSL, but TV it seems will need a Satellite dish.1. Does anyone know approximate purchase and installation costs for a Parabolique Satellite dish?2. Has anyone experienced problems getting technical support, with rural degroupee internet/TV services?. Basically I'm wondering if service is better if you rent a France Telecom fixed line rather than go degroupee.3. Is there any reason to rent the Livebox from Orange (3 Euros/month) instead of buying a 3rd party modem/router on ebay? 4. I'm astonished that Orange charge the same for internet + TV (33 Euros/month) as they do without the TV! thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 1 - dish costs from about 30 euros. Installation cost will be determined by the complications of the installation - roof height or wall mounting etc. You need to ask locally, really. Orange Sat TV is available from 3 satellites - Astra1, AB3 and Hotbird.2 - With Orange, tech support is the same if you are adsl nu or not. ADSL Nu is not the same as full degroupage.With SFR, FT/Orange still maintain the line. So there is a possible added level of communication.3- If you want Orange VOIP calls and TV, you must use a livebox. If you want, you can buy one outright for 59 euros if you don't want to rent.4 - Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Don't know if it's still available but Orange used to offer a dish installation service with new sign ups which you could recuperate partly (I think) by reduced monthly payments for the first 3 months or so and partly by rebate on your tax bill.A little shaky on the details I'm afraid as it was a while ago and I didn't take it up either but did my own install. Check the Orange website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keener Posted May 1, 2011 Author Share Posted May 1, 2011 thanks for your reply, didn't realize the dish was so cheap. Would 30Euros include all the dish components?Orange doesn't seem to give the option of buying a livebox on their online order system as far as I can see, and can't dial their call center form o'seas ;( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 [quote user="keener"]thanks for your reply, didn't realize the dish was so cheap. Would 30Euros include all the dish components?Orange doesn't seem to give the option of buying a livebox on their online order system as far as I can see, and can't dial their call center form o'seas ;([/quote]Yes you can if you speak English....To contact Orange on an English speaking helpline from within France you can call 0969 36 39 00If you want to call them from outside France then call 0033 969 36 39 00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Not sure Orange offer the Livebox for sale do they ?You might think that purchase would be the obvious choice however with the prevalance of thunder storms in certain parts of the country, with consequential lightning damage to routers, renting might turn out the cheaper option in the long run. Also if you subsequently changed ISP you'd likely want or need to use a different router but even if the Livebox worked it would not be many peoples router of choice.I think you might find that Danny's €30 for a dish is just that, not for a complete installation. For French TV you need a monoblock (dual head) LNB and these themselves cost that sort of money upwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Just a couple of things to add.For Orange TV by sat you only need a simple dish with one simple LNB (tête universelle).Something like thishttp://www.amazon.fr/Media-Price-parabole-satellite-universel/dp/B0019E7SDS will suffice.This is just a dish and LNB. No installation as An0 says.You will also need a length of cable, cable fixings and a means of fixing the dish to the wall/roof/chimney.It will need correct orientation to one of 3 satellites that Orange use.Astra1 at 19.0 E or Hotbird at 13.0E or Atlantic Bird 3 at 5.0 W.It is not necessary to use a monoblock - bi tête. This monoblock is for reception from two satellites - like both 13.0 and 19.0 E for example.You can use the monoblock too if you want certain extra French FTA french channels but it is not necessary for all teh TNT channels and other FTA channels.Orange do not offer the livebox for sale but it is available in supermarkets, electrical shops etc and online from certain retailers.Orange do have an offer of 100 euros reimbursement of the cost of a sat dish and internet installation by a professional at the moment for anyone taking out a subscription to an offer of internet and TV.You need to ask the local dish fitter for details if they are participating in this offer.Alternatively, they offer a reimbursement of 50 euros from the cost of buying a dish or installation from any old joe bloggs professional.Current promotional offers - subject to conditions of course, including rental of livebox....http://abonnez-vous.orange.fr/residentiel/promotions/toutes-offres-de-remboursement.aspx?idnode=100819135Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Danny is perfectly correct that, strictly speaking, to get Franch TV only one LNB is required however, whilst there are nearly 50 channels to be received, split roughly 2/3 - 1/3 over Hotbird @ 13degE and Astra 1 @ 19.2E deg resp. it would seem the sensible option to use a monoblock to receive them all.You could swing round to 5degW for Atlantic Bird 3 but your choice of channels would be considerably less.http://www.sateuropa.co.uk/information/free-to-air/worldguide_north_France.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 I don't think you can plug two LNB's in to the Orange box. For a list of whats available from Orange and on what satellite the following list may help. To be honest I think you best bet is to aim it at the Astra one.http://assistance.orange.fr/pds/pdf/toutes_les_chaines_de_la_TV_dOrange_Satellite.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 No but a monoblock LNB for 13deg & 19.2deg requires just one cable [;-)][img]http://www.lrndistribution.co.uk/acatalog/m_6degmono.jpg[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 I'm not that up on satellite stuff. Having said that and apart from Sky News, the Golf Channel the rest of the other channels on Hotbird are not that interesting being mainly in Arab and Russian plus you don't get original language audio from it. Then there is the setup, how does that work with the Orange box. In the setup you have to tell it which satellite it's pointing at before it scans (for ages) and picks up the channels. It seems a lot of mucking around for very little extra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 I think there may be an option in the set up where you can choose Hotbird/astra monoblock but you are right, there is very little that most English speakers would find interesting in the way of FTA channels.Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 You can do a specific satellite scan or global scan for Astra and Hotbird channels which takes maybe 10 minutes.As an aid to learning French FTA channels are quite handy, whether what you're watching is rubbish or not comes with time and understanding [:D][:D][:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Sorry but you are wrong when it comes to the Orange decoder. Having read Danny's post I have checked my decoder and you can only select one satellite at a time unless you change it and re-scan every time. There is no option to select a monoblock LNB on the Orange decoder. I cannot comment on other decoders as I have only experience of the Orange one.Danny, original language is not available on PTV Orange film channels via Hotbird, I know because I have it selected and it did not work till I changed to the Astra one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachapapa Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Considered last year.http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1/2378249/ShowPost.aspx#2378249Plushttp://entraide.orange.fr/assistance/messages/index/33785/tv-par-satellite-pour-specialiste-chevronnes.html?dub=2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keener Posted May 2, 2011 Author Share Posted May 2, 2011 Thanks for the info Danny and all of you!I will order the internet + Sat TV service from Orange (as soon as their site test # app comes back up) and assume the dish install (and rebate) can happen after we arrive in France mid-May. Hopefully we'll arrive in a couple of weeks to find a livebox and decoder waiting in the mailbox If you can recommend installers near Sarlat 24200, it would be appreciated. I assume most of them will be party to the Orange rebate offers...Lots of comments re English TV - our interest is primarily in French TV as a language learning aid. Even though we both speak pretty good French, watching TV seems to help build vocab and better accent in a fairly effortless kind of way - dunno why that is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Entering your postcode on this page brings up 7 certified Orange installers nearbyhttp://assistance.orange.fr/liste-des-installateurs-antennistes-pour-la-tv-d-orange-associant-adsl-et-satellite-3011.phpDanny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sizewell Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Hi, If you are interested, I believe SFR covers your area with ADSL2 + HDTV.The TV connection would be ethernet from their SFR-Box so no need for Satellite installation.We have this package and costs 29.90 per month. (It was 32.90 for the last 3 years, but when HDTV came to our area and we rang them to upgrade at Xmas, they said it would be a new price of 29.90. Who are we to argue[:)]. Plus our internet speed went from 8mb to 15mb.You can check for coverage on their webpage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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