Broadband only Advice

[Loire Gites EU]

I have a property in France which has never had a phone line connected. This is a second property and a rental gite and I am looking for the most cost effective way to install broadband (ADSL). My immediate neighbour has a fast internet connection so sure I can get a conection. My question is which provider is the most reliable (preferably with an english speaking support team) and do I need to have a seperate subscription to a phone line as I use Skype when in France, but only when I have a connection to the internet. Your assistance would be appreciated.[8-)]

[pachapapa]

As far as I know there is only one friendly telecom service in france capable of dealing in ENGLISH for expat UK citizens, you wont go wrong with TeleConnect. They also have the unique advantage of having an english speaking service line both in france and the UK, so one can get everything organised before even setting foot on french soil.

http://www.teleconnect.fr/Pages/Home/Home.aspx

[AnOther]

Teleconnect (spit) friendly ?

Search this forum for Teleconnect (spit) before you make a dreadful mistake.

Phonexpat, UKtelecom, AS24Telecom, and of course FT/Orange, all have an English speaking service and I see no reason why any of those cannot equally set you up before arrival. It's all done remotely so why not ? For a new line someone will have to be at the property, can Teleconnect (spit) do that, of course not [blink]

AS24 have the distinct advantage of providing access to the BBC iPlayer as part of their standard package.

You can use Skype on any internet connection, it is not ISP dependent.

[Quillan]

[quote user="pachapapa"]

As far as I know there is only one friendly telecom service in france capable of dealing in ENGLISH for expat UK citizens, you wont go wrong with TeleConnect. They also have the unique advantage of having an english speaking service line both in france and the UK, so one can get everything organised before even setting foot on french soil.

http://www.teleconnect.fr/Pages/Home/Home.aspx

[/quote]

You are having a laugh I assume. Considering all the problems people have written about them on this forum (just do a search on Teleconnect) plus others people know personally I would be surprised if they have any customers left, especially after the last upgrade disaster. All their customers round where I live, admittedly only about 5 have, all 'dumped' them and most have gone to Orange. If you do a search here on Orange you will see that most people have had a very good experience with them even through their English speaking helpline (unlike Teleconnect) and I include myself.

[misplacedperson]

If you've never had a phone line you will need to get one installed, for which you need to speak to France Telecom. They have an English-speaking service, I believe, though I have no idea what the number is - presumably it will be on their website. Once the line is installed you can go to anyone you like for internet services. We have an SFR box, costs about 35€ a month for line rental, ADSL and unlimited phone calls. There's also some kind of TV thingy rolled up with it, about which I know nothing at all because I can't stand TV and the service isn't available here anyway.

[pachapapa]

Alice & Free are possible alternatives to TeleConnect but do not have english help lines.

Whilst their offers are different they use the same routing and DSLAM network.

I am satisfied with their service.

P.S PPP's ADSL connection pushes the 13 Meg barrier.

[IMG]http://www.speedtest.net/result/841690150.png[/IMG]

[Chat Noir]

In response to this interesting thread I want to warn people of signing up to the English-speaking companies as unlike their French contemporaries such as France Telecom and Orange, the likes of UK Telecom Ltd and Phonexpat are not signed up to “la Charte de Mediation des Communications Electroniques” (the Charter) and are therefore not regulated by either “le Mediateur des Communications Electroniques” or the “Authorite de regulation des communications electroniques et des postes” (ARCEP – www.arcep.fr), which according to ARCEP means that such companies are not authorised operators in France.

Such companies are probably subsidiaries of authorised French telecom companies and if this is the case then you should be given a contract with the authorised French company but this does not happen.

In the case of UK Telecom Ltd, documentation sent out to any potential new customer clearly states that “We are a provider of telecom services in the UK and as a consequence we have to observe a code of conduct which is approved by OFCOM, the UK regulator. A copy of this can be found on our website.”

But a call to OFCOM revealed that they have been informed by UK Telecom Ltd that its operations in France are signed up to the Charter and regulated by ARCEP - who in turn confirmed that this is untrue and cited that “UK Telecom Ltd is not an authorised operator in France and we cannot undertake mediation with this company”.

So as I found out the hard way any customer signing up for these services leaves themselves vulnerable and at their mercy should their relationship with them break down. These companies have no legal obligation to operate the correct customer complaint procedures – as they are not regulated and therefore answer to no-one.

So if you find yourself in a situation of dispute, then the best you can expect to receive in the way of customer care are bully-boy tactics, unauthorised removal of funds from your bank account, and/or threats of debt collection agencies and bailiffs at your front door!

If it helps anyone to make an informed decision then a full list of those telecom companies signed up to the Charter and regulated by ARCEP can be found at: http://www.arcep.fr/index.php?id=9320

Personally I have switched to Orange, whose prices now are much more competitive than the "expat" providers and as we know provide an English speaking service - and a far superior broadband speed to that being offered by the likes of UK Telecom and Phonexpat!

Chat Noir

[Jimmy]

Teleconnect are great, got my phone line fixed very quickly and were so helpful when I had a computer problem, even to the point of ringing me back to see if everything was OK. Can't fault them.

[AnOther]

I used to say that - once upon a time - before they shafted me and a great many others [:@]

If you are interested to know why I am so anti Teleconnect (spit) then read here:

Be warned though, the first runs to 22 pages and the second 16 [blink]

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/22/1653635/ShowPost.aspx#1653635

http://www.totalfrance.com/france/forum/viewtopic.php?t=62791

Somewhere in there is a post from their marketing manager Jose Caballero basically telling us to get lost, nice !

[Jimmy]

[quote user="AnOther"]

I used to say that - once upon a time - before they shafted me and a great many others [:@]

If you are interested to know why I am so anti Teleconnect (spit) then read here:

Be warned though, the first runs to 22 pages and the second 16 [blink]

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/22/1653635/ShowPost.aspx#1653635

http://www.totalfrance.com/france/forum/viewtopic.php?t=62791

Somewhere in there is a post from their marketing manager Jose Caballero basically telling us to get lost, nice !

[/quote]

Yeah read your posts. I could direct you to a similar number all over the net about Alice/Free, Neuf, Orange etc. Do you often spit at people? - Nice!

[Holedigger]

I've nearly had enough of Teleconnect. Our main problems are with the VOIP that only works half the time and the Teleconnect number for us has never worked - our calls come in through FT. We also get problems with the router rebooting itself and we've never had any real apology for the severe outage last year.I have tried to get in touch with them by email and they never responded. I'd give them 5 out of 10.

I've noticed that Neuf have a better deal which includes TV and avoids the FT line rental - the local town has an office with an English speaking agent.

It's nearly adieu Teleconnect after 4 years.

[pachapapa]

How I wish I was dynamic and decisive as well.[:-))]

[Un autre Gallois]

Teleconnect are CRAP!! Is that decisive enough? It's time they were pushed off the planet into oblivion together with M Cabellero & their thieving ways! Go for Orange Net Plus.

UAG

[AnOther]

[quote user="Jimmy"]
Yeah read your posts. I could direct you to a similar number all over the net about Alice/Free, Neuf, Orange etc. [/quote]I'm sure you could but is that reason not to vent justifiable anger at an incompetant thieving outfit ?

[quote user="Jimmy"]Do you often spit at people? - Nice![/quote]I spit on their name, not people, daft comment [:(]

[Holedigger]

"How I wish I was dynamic and decisive as well.[:-)"

Good one. After all the trouble with Teleconnect I've got into the mindset that if it is 'sort of' or 'mostly' working then just don't touch it.

A comms service shouldn't be like this. I'm definitely off to the Neuf office now.

Thanks for the kick up the whatsit.

[AnOther]

It's called 'living in hope' and I've been there but one day you finally come to the realisation than it is in fact hopeless.

Sounds like today is that day for you [;-)]

[Nell]

Tagging onto the back of this post for some advice....

At present I have Teleconnect (Yes I could spit too sometimes [blink] ). This service has never recovered from the "big changover" way back when. At present I have to make all my calls via FT and I am re-imbursed by Teleconnect, if they remember - more often than not I am paying too much and hope it will be adjusted correctly the following month. I also find the Connection drops (at least 5 times a week) when the office is closed and I can't phone up and complain [:@], or when I do try to ring, I can't get through[:'(].

I also have a problem where - when I try to go to a website, or even navigating from one page to another within a website, I keep getting "Firefox message - Server not found for ******.com" and I need to hit retry about 6 times before I get the website/page up. (This one might have nothing to do with Teleconnect, but I am sure someone will come back with an answer- Please !!)

I am thinking of changing to Uktelecom. It seems to be the same price, but with the added bonus of BBC IPlayer etc...

Any good/bad feedback would be welcome.

Also - How often does the broadband connection drop with this company?? Is it reliable??. I am considering getting rid of my FT line, but this means if the Voip is down I have no telephone line. My thoughts are, if the Voip is very reliable, then 16 euro per month goes a long way towards my mobile phone bill, should I not be able to get a line out on my UKtelecom voip connection.