Has anyone installed their own French satellite system to work with Orange livebox?

[Howie]

I'm thinking of doing this. Has anyone here done the same?

If so, is it easy and have you got any recommendations of a supplier for the equipment?

(I'm in S.W.Brittany)

Thank you!

[jono]

Howie,

I installed my dish - alignment fairly easy:

- I used a compass to set to roughly 28 degrees east of south then fine tuned using the signal strength and quality bars on the TV

- twist the low noise block (LNB) on its own axis (skew) to optimise

- for the vertical angle, the dish doesn't point directly at the satelite because the signal bounces off the dish to the LNB

- I worked out the dish inclination from info on a website (I think it was lyngsat but there are others) then a spirit level and a bit of geometry

- I put a small peg in the ground in the garden near the boundary so I can re-align the dish quickly by standing above the peg and adjusting the dish to point at you - surprisingly accurate

I have recently bought a flat screen TV with Freesat and HD which works well - just screw the sat cable into the back of the TV - no box or card or charges.

Jon

Bedford and SE Vendee

[Quillan]

Are you talking about having the Orange package of Internet, Phone and Television. If you do and are talking about installing the decoder (for the TV) that came with your package then its simple but there is one drawback. This is that the decoder MUST be connected to the Livebox. If your ADSL speed is above 2mb (I think that's correct, if not somebody will correct me) then you don't need a dish as the TV is delivered via the LiveBox and decoder. If you have to have a dish then the decoder MUST still be connected to the Livebox.

As to installing all I had to do is buy a dish because we only get 1mb bandwidth, install it then got a local guy to align it for about 60 Euros. Because my LiveBox is in a different room I have used a pair of LivePlugs which use the power sockets in the house to send signals round and connect the LiveBox and decoder together. The only time you can have a problem with LivePlugs is if your house has 3 phase electricity, they both have to be on the same phase. The negative side of the Orange decoder is that compared to the Sky box it is slow and very 'clunky' sometimes taking up to 5 minutes to start even with the latest firmware. I contacted Orange and they told me that its normal!

To be honest if I could get just ADSL and phone I would dump the TV and buy a box from the local Brico but as its free its stupid I guess not to use it.

[Danny]

Hi Howie,

You can get a sat dish and LNB arm (probably around 35 euros) and cable and plugs from any Brico shed.

For Orange TV, you will need to point it at astra 1 sat 19.0E or Hotbird 13.0E or Atlantic bird 5.0W.

as to whether it is easy... it depends on many things. I managed and so do many others. The first DIY challenge is to make sure the dish fixed securely and then routing the cables and fixing the plugs. After that the tricky bit is pointing the Dish and LNB accurately. It seems impossible at first but once you have done it a few times, it is much easier. A signal meter helps a lot.

If this all seems like too much hassle, get a local installer and tell them which sat you require pointing to. It won't take them long.

Danny

[AnOther]

Not sure what you mean.

To use the Livebox for TV you either have to have a fast internet connection or else you need the Orange TV decoder connected to a dish, no other combination will work. The decoder needs an Internet connection for it's EPG and pay per view services.

You cannot just put up a dish with French TV digibox box and connect it to the Livebox, and why would you want to anyway, what would you be hoping to achieve ?

I have the Orange decoder and a dish and did it all myself.

[Danny]

If you mean me Ernie,

I didn't mention the decoder.....

As you say, the decoder is supplied by Orange. I was just talking about everything else whch is not supplied by Orange.

Just to clarify for anyone else....

Orange TV is only available to Orange internet subscribers.

If your ADSL connection is fast enough (minimum around about 8 MB) you can get it via the ADSL. There is no need for satellite.

If your ASDL connection is not fast enough, then Orange TV is offered by satellite. You need a dish set up already - correctly pointing to one of three satellites.

In both cases, Orange supply a decoder which needs to be connected to the livebox.

Channels vary depending on whether it is by Satellite or ADSL.

Danny

[Howie]

[quote user="Jane and Danny"]If you mean me Ernie,

I didn't mention the decoder.....

As you say, the decoder is supplied by Orange. I was just talking about everything else whch is not supplied by Orange.

Just to clarify for anyone else....

Orange TV is only available to Orange internet subscribers.

If your ADSL connection is fast enough (minimum around about 8 MB) you can get it via the ADSL. There is no need for satellite.

If your ASDL connection is not fast enough, then Orange TV is offered by satellite. You need a dish set up already - correctly pointing to one of three satellites.

In both cases, Orange supply a decoder which needs to be connected to the livebox.

Channels vary depending on whether it is by Satellite or ADSL.

Danny

[/quote]

Actually, I have an 8mb connection and it's not fast enough. Still need the sat dish.

However, Orange do provide the decoder free and give you 50 euro refund on any dish you buy (just send them the receipt).

Anyone know if I will need a TV license? I don't have terrestrial TV here.

[Howie]

Oh. - and ..

Does the Orange TV decoder plug into a scart socket? (ie, will it work with a UK TV)?

Thanks so much to everyone for their help with this.

[Quillan]

Yes

[Quillan]

I would try it without the dish and see what happens. If it doesn't work then fair enough, if it does you have saved yourself the expense of a dish and the hassle of installing it.

[Danny]

Quillan,

It is Orange who decide if the line can support TV or not and they will send a different decoder in case of either TV by sat or TV by ADSL. From the nature of the question by Howie and his other thread, I assume the Orange rep must have told Howie that it will be TV by Sat.

Danny

PS Howie, are you sure that you would get 8MB ?

On your other thread, (if I have the offer right) the offer Net Plus is actually up to 20 MB

[Howie]

[quote user="Quillan"]Yes[/quote]

Sorry, Quillan. What was the 'yes' in response to?

[Howie]

[quote user="Jane and Danny"]Quillan,

It is Orange who decide if the line can support TV or not and they will send a different decoder in case of either TV by sat or TV by ADSL. From the nature of the question by Howie and his other thread, I assume the Orange rep must have told Howie that it will be TV by Sat.

Danny

PS Howie, are you sure that you would get 8MB ?

On your other thread, (if I have the offer right) the offer Net Plus is actually up to 20 MB

[/quote]

Hi again. Yes Orange have just told me that 8mb is not enough.

Sorry, not sure where that 20mb came from? But,yes, they are now doing some sort of software update in order that I will receive 8mb, - which, apparently, is now my line speed capability.

[AnOther]

My respone was to Howie, I'd broken off whilst composing and hadn't refreshed to see the other replies, sorry for any confusion.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Howie"][quote user="Quillan"]Yes[/quote]

Sorry, Quillan. What was the 'yes' in response to?
[/quote]

It plugs in to the SCART socket and works OK with an English TV.

Just a couple of things.

Having checked with Orange I can confirm what Danny said, theres 2 different box's for TV. One for satellite use, the other for Internet only TV. I questioned this because the instructions for my box shows the option of having a dish if your line speed is not quick enough. Perhaps they print the same manual for both box's although thats not very well explained in the manual.

That takes me to the next subject of TV via Internet. Technically, according to Orange tech support its possible with only 1mb but the picture will be very, very jumpy so they will only allow it with 8mb or more. I don't know about the practicality of this but its what their tech support guy has said.

Getting higher speed is down to your local Marie and what they are willing to pay for i.e. are they willing to pay for the road from the exchange to be dug up and a better cable or a fibre optic cable to be laid. Again this is what the tech support guy has just told me.

I asked how somebody can get hold of a LiveBox 2 if they have an old type box. If you rent you can take your old box, with original packaging, cables etc to any Orange shop and pay 19 Euros and they will give you a new one (type 2).

Finally, I have just changed to the new 34.90 package via the website, plus the extra 3 Euros for renting a LiveBox. Thats going to save me a few bob even though unlike my old tariff the number of hours not used for mobiles does not accumulate but thats not a problem for me personally and it covers all the countries I would consider calling for no charge. Thats going to save me about 12 Euros per month, better than a kick in the crutch s they say.

[Howie]

[quote user="Quillan"]

[quote user="Howie"][quote user="Quillan"]Yes[/quote]

Sorry, Quillan. What was the 'yes' in response to?

[/quote]

It plugs in to the SCART socket and works OK with an English TV.

Just a couple of things.

Having checked with Orange I can confirm what Danny said, theres 2 different box's for TV. One for satellite use, the other for Internet only TV. I questioned this because the instructions for my box shows the option of having a dish if your line speed is not quick enough. Perhaps they print the same manual for both box's although thats not very well explained in the manual.

That takes me to the next subject of TV via Internet. Technically, according to Orange tech support its possible with only 1mb but the picture will be very, very jumpy so they will only allow it with 8mb or more. I don't know about the practicality of this but its what their tech support guy has said.

Getting higher speed is down to your local Marie and what they are willing to pay for i.e. are they willing to pay for the road from the exchange to be dug up and a better cable or a fibre optic cable to be laid. Again this is what the tech support guy has just told me.

I asked how somebody can get hold of a LiveBox 2 if they have an old type box. If you rent you can take your old box, with original packaging, cables etc to any Orange shop and pay 19 Euros and they will give you a new one (type 2).

Finally, I have just changed to the new 34.90 package via the website, plus the extra 3 Euros for renting a LiveBox. Thats going to save me a few bob even though unlike my old tariff the number of hours not used for mobiles does not accumulate but thats not a problem for me personally and it covers all the countries I would consider calling for no charge. Thats going to save me about 12 Euros per month, better than a kick in the crutch s they say.

[/quote]

Ahh, thank you (scart info) .

Yep. I've just done the same deal. Very pleased. And my line speed has already been increased to my max here (8mb).

They took a 49 euro equipment deposit from me (they are sending me a decoder). But I was also given a code for the return of the livebox, - in order to get the new version. He said I would get my 49 euros back (I'm not sure why) when I take my livebox in to an orange store and exchange it for a new one. He said there was no charge to do the exchange.

The other thing is that you lose the ability to dial out on your normal phone line. (I hadn't realised this). But the number still works for people dialling in, - so you need to keep a phone plugged in. Also, the VOIP phone now identifies itself as your landline number to anyone you call.

[Howie]

One other question: Can anyone recommend a good sat dish to purchase? Are they all, essentially, the same?

[Quillan]

[quote user="Howie"]
The other thing is that you lose the ability to dial out on your normal phone line. (I hadn't realised this). But the number still works for people dialling in, - so you need to keep a phone plugged in. Also, the VOIP phone now identifies itself as your landline number to anyone you call.
[/quote]

Thats normal. Some people take the other option which is cheaper and you keep your land line but then when you add the cost of the land line every month it costs more. People keep the land line because if there is a power cut you loose the phone and of course TV and Internet as well. I got round this buy using a UPS that will keep the LiveBox working for quite a long time if the power fails (It was 'tested' last month when we lost power for 6 hours and worked without problem). Another alternative is via your account settings (on www.oranage.fr - client area) is to set it so that instead of transferring to your voice mail it transfers to your mobile if you have good coverage where you live. The cost of transfer comes out of your 1hr free mobile calls.

[Danny]

[quote user="Howie"]

They took a 49 euro equipment deposit from me (they are sending me a decoder). But I was also given a code for the return of the livebox, - in order to get the new version. He said I would get my 49 euros back (I'm not sure why) when I take my livebox in to an orange store and exchange it for a new one. He said there was no charge to do the exchange.

The other thing is that you lose the ability to dial out on your normal phone line. (I hadn't realised this). But the number still works for people dialling in, - so you need to keep a phone plugged in. Also, the VOIP phone now identifies itself as your landline number to anyone you call.

[/quote]

Howie,

The 49 euro deposit is for the TV decoder and will be returned to you if/when you return the decoder . This has nothing to do with the livebox.

With your package 'Net Plus', you no longer have a functioning normal telephone line. If you plug a telephone directly in to the wall socket, you cannot receive or make calls via that telephone. All your telephone service is now VOIP - via the phone plugged into the livebox.

As well as having no phone service in the event of power problems, you will also have no phone service in the event of livebox failure.

Quillan's Uninterrrupible Power Supply will help with the power cut thing for a while but in the event of a livebox problem there will be no internet or telephone. Not so reliable - especially if it falls on a weekend.

Personally, I prefer to pay the extra ( I think it works out at 132 euros per year difference) to keep the FT line, having previously had a faulty box problem that took more than a week and a lot of hassle to resolve.

Danny

[Quillan]

In truth I doubt Howie can change now as he has just bought his contract and will have to wait 12 months.

You can buy a UPS for as little as £39 but if you pay more then it will last longer. I paid £63 and got a slightly bigger one which by my calculations should run my LiveBox for several days, perhaps even as long as 4 although I have never tried it for that long. To some people loosing the phone is a major problem given where they live and the services available. One example is transferring calls to a mobile automatically. If you live in an area where you only get a signal if you climb the highest tree in your garden and stretch out our arm then its a no go. Likewise if you live many hours away from and Orange shop then its a problem. Mine has failed once, I phoned the English help-desk and was asked to do a few things after which they gave me a returns number. Given the hour of the day, the time it would take for me to get to our nearest Orange shop (about an hour), the fact we needed it because of our 2 business's and it was a Friday they biked one to us at no cost. We simply handed over the old LiveBox, the driver swapped it with the one in the new box and drove off. This is not a normal service you understand, normally you would have to take it to the shop. Other than that and the occasion we had a power surge and the box had to be factory reset the service has been excellent (including the English tech support helpline) and I am well happy with what I have. If after a year you have had major problems then change and have the old land line back. I do believe you then get another number for your LiveBox phone so you end up with two numbers.

As to getting a dish I just walked in to Mr Bricolarge and bought the first one I could reach and it works fine.

[Howie]

Thanks very much, - both of you.

Perhaps they haven't finished upgrading everything yet, then. But, at the moment, I can still use my landline phone for incoming and outgoing calls. However, my voip phone has changed it's CID from the old 09... number to my landline number.

I thought it had ALL happened yesterday. Maybe only part of it had.

I wouldn't bother with the additional fee to keep the landline. It seems a lot to pay to just deal with the odd possible loss of livebox usage. Much cheaper to use my gymsim mobile to deal with problems of that sort.

Great advice. Thanks.