Getting a Phone / Broadband Package

[TonyBrown]

Hi

I need to get a broadband package added to my France Telecom

phone line. I have been looking at the Orange site and can’t seem to find a basic package for

broadband, can anyone please suggest one, I would like at least 8gb / month

[Tim]

First you need to test your line to see what it's capable of - try this http://www.degrouptest.com/

Your line may not be up to 8meg - so, do the line test first and that will give you a better idea of what sort of package will suit you best.

In all honesty I think you'll be lucky to get 8 meg, unless you're in a built up area.

Regards - Tim

[TonyBrown]

Hi Tim

I can not test the line as I do not yet have broadband.  I want a package that will allow about 8 - 10 gb a month usage, I do not expect a connection speed of 8mb, I would think 2 - 5mb more realistic, but I know the distance from exchange will ultimately determine the connection speed.  I can't seen to find a basic package on the Orange site, they all seen to offer more options, which I really don't want

[krusty]

[quote user="TonyBrown"]

I can not test the line as I do not yet have broadband. 
[/quote]

You do not need to have broadband to do the test , just enter your phone number and post code.

[Tim]

Thanks Krusty - you beat me to it.

Tony - a good nose around the Orange page will bring you to the place where you can do a line test.

It may be via the 'Espace Client' and then 'Ma Cordonees' - then follow the option to change your current option. This is from memory so forgive me if I haven't got it quite right.

Tim

[NormanH]

I think you will find that at the moment there are no download limits in terms of Gb in France.

I believe that is what you were referring to in the OP.

Personally I have done away with the FT line and its rental cost, and have the Free.fr 29.99 a month line, broadband and TV all included.

[Boiling a frog]

The cheapest with Orange is 29,99 € per month

You do not need to take the TV and phone option but the price remains the same

[Tim]

[quote user="Boiling a frog"]

The cheapest with Orange is 29,99 € per month 

[/quote]

No, Orange do a 1 meg deal for €24.90. I don't have the phone option as I have other arrangements.

As we can only get 1 meg in our village, it suits us just fine.

Regards - Tim

[Danny]

[quote user="TonyBrown"]Hi Tim

I can not test the line as I do not yet have broadband.  I want a package that will allow about 8 - 10 gb a month usage, I do not expect a connection speed of 8mb, I would think 2 - 5mb more realistic, but I know the distance from exchange will ultimately determine the connection speed.  I can't seen to find a basic package on the Orange site, they all seen to offer more options, which I really don't want
[/quote]

here is the Orange page for the basic ADSL, as Tim says.

Découverte internet

This describes the service with the Orange TV included but you can choose it with or without the Orange TV, it is the same price - 24,90 for up to 1MB or you can choose to pay 29,90 for up to 8MB if the line is capable of that speed.

The ADSL is not capped i.e there are no monthly download limits. the 1 MB and 8 MB refer to the possible connection speed.
You can use your own modem or rent a livebox foe 3 euros a month. Note that if you want Orange TV, you need to use a livebox.

Hope that is clear

Danny

 

[TonyBrown]

Thanks Danny

Perhaps I need to look at other ISP's if I just want to go basic

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

We've been with Orange for the last 6 months and shall be changing ASAP.

Ignoring the 1MB option, the cheapest deal they offer is actually about €42 a month. This is because if you take their €29 deal you have to retain your land line (€16 pm, from memory) or you can pay €39 for the privilege of not having a land line. On top of that, the rental on the Livebox, if you want telephony and TV is another €3 a month. If you want 'free' calls abroad (inc UK) that costs a further €7 a month -- totalling €50 without any extra channels on TV or whatever.

So far I've looked at Free as an alternative and that seems to give the same basic package as Orange (Internet, TV & phone, inc abroad) for a flat €29. I need to confirm this and look at any other options, but Orange seems pretty dear.

[Pommier]

We're with SFR (used to be Neuf, used to be AOL) and pay €29,90 a month for broadband, free phone calls to most of the world plus TV.

The only drawbacks are that if you have a power cut you lose the phone (because it's through the modem), plus customer service is non existant!

[Danny]

[quote user="TonyBrown"]Thanks Danny

Perhaps I need to look at other ISP's if I just want to go basic
[/quote]

Tony, how basic do you want to go? [:)]

The only cheaper alternatives to Orange are really SFR or Darty or maybe some other smaller ISPs who do broadband only but.... (and there is always a but)

for example, broadband only with SFR is 14,90 in zones degroupées (up to 20 MB speed) or 19,90 in a zone non degroupée (limited to 512KB speed) with the condition that you have préselection for your phone i.e. all your phone calls are routed by and charged by SFR. If you don't want this it costs 5 euros pm extra - so in zones non degroupées, same price as Orange 'découverte internet'.

You did not say what you were offered on the www.degrouptest.com site and whether or not your line is in a zone which is 'degroupée' by any of the ISPs as this will affect what your line will support.

Danny

[Danny]

[quote user="Albert the InfoGipsy"]

We've been with Orange for the last 6 months and shall be changing ASAP.

Ignoring the 1MB option, the cheapest deal they offer is actually about €42 a month. This is because if you take their €29 deal you have to retain your land line (€16 pm, from memory) or you can pay €39 for the privilege of not having a land line. On top of that, the rental on the Livebox, if you want telephony and TV is another €3 a month. If you want 'free' calls abroad (inc UK) that costs a further €7 a month -- totalling €50 without any extra channels on TV or whatever.

So far I've looked at Free as an alternative and that seems to give the same basic package as Orange (Internet, TV & phone, inc abroad) for a flat €29. I need to confirm this and look at any other options, but Orange seems pretty dear.

[/quote]

Albert, if you want to go ADSL nu (no phone line charges and no ordinary phone service) then it is true that Orange is more expensive. Note what Pommier says too. If you have a business or just need a functioning phone line for whatever reason. it seems a bad idea to ditch the FT line. Some people suggest a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) for the modem in case of power cut but this won't last very long.
The last time I had a problem with the adsl and the modem would not work, we were without ADSL for 2 weeks while the problem was identified and a replacement modem sent out. It also cost a fair bit in phone calls to (lack of[:)]) customer service lines at 34 cents a minute and it soon mounts up while you are asked the same basic questions each time you call.

This was with Club Internet (taken over by Neuf, taken over by SFR) but the same applies with most of the ISPs. We have been with Alice for over 3 years without incident and they are the only ISP with free customer service/tech help calls. Until recently that is, when they were bought by Iliad who also own Free. New Alice customers pay at the same rates as clients of Free (34 cents a min)

In light of this episode, I decided it was worth it to keep the FT line. An insurance policy of sorts, I suppose.

But, on the other hand if you want to save money and take a chance that all will be OK, then Free is really the cheapest and they have millions of satisfied customers. 
Everyone like a good price but cheapest is not always best for everyone.

Danny

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

I'm in the process of closing down my IT business (moving gigabyte-size files on a regular basis), which was one of the drivers to choosing Orange before. We'll be quite happy to risk the (unlikely) loss of a phone line occasionally to save €180 a year on a landline and more like €250 by the time you factor in the other extra costs.

[Quillan]

You don't have to worry about power cuts with Orange now as you can transfer calls automatically to another phone, like a mobile for instance.

[AnOther]

[quote user="Jane and Danny"]Some people suggest a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) for the modem in case of power cut but this won't last very long.[/quote]Sorry Danny but that's a bit misleading. I doubt many routers will be consuming over say 10-15w and even the smallest most basic UPS of say 100VA will provide some 6 hours or so of continuous use.

I have 2, a 350VA and a 650VA and @ the maximum estimated 15w they would last for a theoretical 23 hours and 43 hours respectively.

[Danny]

[quote user="AnOther"][quote user="Jane and Danny"]Some people suggest a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) for the modem in case of power cut but this won't last very long.[/quote]Sorry Danny but that's a bit misleading. I doubt many routers will be consuming over say 10-15w and even the smallest most basic UPS of say 100VA will provide some 6 hours or so of continuous use.

I have 2, a 350VA and a 650VA and @ the maximum estimated 15w they would last for a theoretical 23 hours and 43 hours respectively.
[/quote]

Ernie,
"very long" is obviously a subjective term but as I said before, we were without internet (so that would mean no telephone at all on ADSL Nu) for two weeks because of a faulty modem. In that not too uncommon situation, the UPS would not have helped at all. If the modem fails then so does the telephone service. Think of all those liveboxes we hear of that seem to have a working life of 2 months....not your new one of course[:D]

You have been on the end of not the best of customer service recently and it is not hard to imagine the administrative coq-ups that can happen from time to time, never mind if there is a real technical problem. To me, for now, it seems easier to just keep the FT line.

And if one does have to call up to complain about a faulty service or even seek advice, doing it by mobile phone is a nightmare as you wait and wait on hold and they make money from you for the privelege of enduring their crap service. Don't you just hate customer service lines? even the ones that are OK are a PITA to get through to etc.

Its certainly one of the biggest complaints against Free for example. They are cheap and usually ahead of the game technically but when things go wrong, a lot of people regret being a 'freenaute', having left Orange to save some money.

Danny 

[TonyBrown]

Problem solved - village can only get ADSL via Wi Fi   ......