Installing a telephone line

[Llantony]

We're about to move full time into the house we've had for 5 years and want a landline phone a.s.a.p.  Is there a choice of companies or is everything done via France Telecom?  There was a phone there previously so it shouldn't be difficult.

Also, once it's installed, is there a choice of supplier?

[Martin963]

If you want ADSl as well then Alice appear to be able to do this,  as long as you can find out the old number of your line and the contract for that old number was cancelled (which it must have been!)

http://abonnement.aliceadsl.fr/adsl/souscription.php

We've recently transferred from Club Internet to Alice and the new service is more reliable than the old (fewer drop outs)

But we have retained our France Telecom sub as we're not sure our ADSL is reliable enough to abandon an analogue phone.   Certainly the Club Internet service wasn't sufficently reliable.

If you JUST want a phone line then I think it's just FT,  at least in the countryside (zone non degroupée).

Wish I'd read your post more carefully before I started on this!

[Danny]

I think Martin is right. If you just want a line then you have to go through FT. It is easiest to go into an FT shop and do it all there.

Depending on the location, once you have the line installed and number, if you want adsl or any other extras or you want to not pay FT the line rental charge, you may be able to transfer to another supplier like Free, Alice, Neuf, Teleconnect etc.

Danny

[Llantony]

Thanks,

We want a landline phone asap for local calls and will want internet access pretty soon too so we can use Skype for calls to UK.  Will want a set fee rather than pay per minute for internet.

[AnOther]

I'm sure you realise that Skype is only one option and is only free PC to PC. You have to pay to call ordinary phone numbers.

Most ISP's give you some sort of VOIP service with their Broadband packge.

I'm with Teleconnect for instance and for an extra €5 I get unlimited free calls to the UK and other countries. They also give you an 0844 number which UK callers can use to call you for only 3p/min.

 

[Llantony]

Thanks Ernie.  I thought Skype was fairly cheap to phones but it's worth looking into all the other possibilities.

[AnOther]

No problem.

Skypeout is pretty cheap and depending on which countries you might be calling regularly could be a good choice but of course don't forget that you will almost always need to be near a PC or laptop to use it.

There are ways to overcome that limitation but they will cost money.

[anniefromwales]

You can get a Skype package for I believe 30-odd euros a year that gives you free calls from your pc to landlines in Europe as well as internet calls. Also in the package you can get a 'Skype in' number and you can choose which country it is in, so for instance I live in France most of the time but I have a UK-dialling-code Skype-in number so people in the UK only pay local rate to ring me on it, I can then if I wish transfer all the calls to my French landline which cost me nothing to transfer because it counts as a call to a landline which I get for free. The possibilities are endless as I have asdl with Alice that also gives me free landline calls to Europe, so when I'm in the UK I can transfer calls that come on my French landline, to my UK Skype number (for free), and from there, if I wish, to a UK landline number of where I'm staying ... (only problem is remembering what you've transferred to where so that when you change country you make sure all your phone calls follow you!)

[Gyn_Paul]

Llantony, is there an existing socket? Depending on how advanced your area is, you may well find (as we did) than if you plug a phone in, you'll get a dial tone. As soon as you dial a number you are connected to a FT operator who will help you set up the account. As for ADSL, you need to find out if you are in a degroupe area. Do a degroup test with a couple of your neighbour's numbers and see what speed it gives (www.pagesblanches.com, then input you address without names and it should list your nearest neighbours). It will give you an idea of your options. (www.degrouptest.com)

paul

[Jacqui Too]

This a test I have done on my neighbour's phone line, Is this looking good? Not sure about speeds!! Can someone explain what it means[:)]

Offres FT Internet IP/ADSL :

IP ADSL 512 (512/128 Kbps)	Possible
IP ADSL 1024 R (1024 Kbps/128 Kbps)	Possible
IP ADSL 1024 Pro (1024 Kbps/256 Kbps)	Possible
IP ADSL 2048/256 (2048 Kbps/256 Kbps)	Possible
IP ADSL Max (jusqu'à 8 Mégas/800kbps)	Impossible
IP ADSL Max 2+ (jusqu'à 18 Mégas/1Mbps)	Impossible

Des offres s'appuyant sur le réseau France Télécom sont disponibles chez Free, NordNet et Orange jusqu'à 18 Mégas mais aussi chez de nombreux autres fournisseurs français jusqu'à 8 Mégas : Alice, Budget Telecom, Darty, etc.

	Offres ADSL Orange (cf. IP ADSL)	Possible
	ADSL Nu (sans abonnement FT)	Possible
	+ Orange TV (Bouquet Orange TV)	Impossible
	+ Orange TV Haute Définition	Impossible
	+ Canal (Canal+ ou CanalSat)	Impossible

[Gyn_Paul]

It means you are in an area (assuming those speeds are valid for you entire village - see my earlier post !) where you can expect a very good ADSL speed. There are those of us (morniing Martin!) who can only dream of a connection as fast as that !

How lucky you are.

p

[AnOther]

I think I'd describe 2mb as an acceptable speed rather than 'very good' [blink]

I left a big full fat 8mb behind in UK where I was only 600m from the exchange [:'(]

[Gyn_Paul]

there you go ErnieY, that just shows how relative everything is: I left the UK pre-ADSL, lived here with dial-up, then ISDN, then dial-up again. Compared with that, the offer of 602kbs seemed blistering, and the prospect of 2mb simply science fiction. As for 8mb - well... words fail me.

It all depends on what you're used to. There are still friends around here who are on dial-up, with no prospect of improvement in the immediate future.

2mb would be more than 'acceptable' to me... I'd bite you hand off in fact!

paul

[Martin963]

Seconded Paul.   Those of us who live in La France Profonde are more used to electronic privations aren't we!    As you say all relative.   To be honest 450 kbps does all that I require of it,  as long as one doesn't download whilst phoning!

Mind you I also have the advantage of knowing where Jacqui-too lives so I'll be round for a beer and a blisteringly fast session (on her ADSL that is of course!)

[powerdesal]

OK experts, I assume this tells me that I will have no problem upgrading from the present dial up to a broadband connection, is that correct??

( I can 'drive' a computer but that's about the limit of my IT skills)

 

Eligibilité France Télécom (option 5)
Ligne testée : Caractéristiques générales de la ligne : Code Commutateur Local :  PCY50 [Fiche détaillée] Nom Commutateur Local :  PERCY Longueur de ligne :  3937 mètres [+]  6/10 sur 3937m Affaiblissement :  40.5511 dB [Estimation] Débit descendant ADSL :  4267 kbps (533 ko/s) [Estimation] Débit descendant ADSL 2+ :  7297 kbps (912 ko/s) Caractéristiques du central France Télécom : Plaque ADSL :  BN1 Type de DSLAM :  ECI Zone Dense (> 20 000 lignes) : Non NRA compatible ADSL2+ FT : Oui NRA compatible ReADSL FT : Oui Délai moyen d'activation d'une ligne :  N/C		Offres FT Internet IP/ADSL : IP ADSL 512 (512/128 Kbps) Possible IP ADSL 1024 R (1024 Kbps/128 Kbps) Possible IP ADSL 1024 Pro (1024 Kbps/256 Kbps) Possible IP ADSL 2048/256 (2048 Kbps/256 Kbps) Possible IP ADSL Max (jusqu'à 8 Mégas/800kbps) Possible IP ADSL Max 2+ (jusqu'à 18 Mégas/1Mbps) Impossible Des offres s'appuyant sur le réseau France Télécom sont disponibles chez Free, NordNet et Orange jusqu'à 18 Mégas mais aussi chez de nombreux autres fournisseurs français jusqu'à 8 Mégas : Alice, Budget Telecom, Darty, etc. Offres ADSL Orange (cf. IP ADSL) Possible ADSL Nu (sans abonnement FT) Possible + Orange TV (Bouquet Orange TV) Impossible + Orange TV Haute Définition Impossible + Canal (Canal+ ou CanalSat) Impossible OFFRE SPECIALE : 1 MOIS D'ABONNEMENT OFFERT pour tout abonnement à une offre avec engagement par DegroupTest ! Cliquez ici.

[AnOther]

Correct !

[Phil & Pat]

[quote user="anniefromwales"]You can get a Skype package for I believe 30-odd euros a year that gives you free calls from your pc to landlines in Europe as well as internet calls. ...[/quote]

Many thanks for the tip Annie.  Although I have been using Skype for 30 months now I did not know about the subscription service and was using pay as you go.  I signed up for unlimited free calls to UK landlines at €29.50 for 12 months (no tva) and got €1 call credit as well.  Compared with €69 over the last 12 months that seems a good deal.

Thanks again.

[Jacqui Too]

[quote user="Martinwatkins"]
Mind you I also have the advantage of knowing where Jacqui-too lives so I'll be round for a beer and a blisteringly fast session (on her ADSL that is of course!)
[/quote]Hold on a bit there Martin first things first like a kitchen and bathroom, ADSL is way down the list!! Your welcome to the beer but the 'blisteringly fast session ' will have to wait[:P]

Good news about the speeds in our little hamlet[:D]

[Tim]

I had been considering this Skype deal since they sent me an e-mail a few months ago, but after reading your messages I 'took the plunge' and signed up for the UK landlines package as well. A bonus is that you get a UK number for people in the UK to call you at local rates. I've just tested this with wife who is in the UK at the moment and it seems to work well.

It would appear to be a good deal and the call quality was excellent both ways.

Regards - Tim

[Llantony]

There is a socket  but we've never tried plugging a phone in as we haven't yet bought one in France.  Didn't seem worth getting a landline when we were there for a max of 3 weeks at a time, we have a mobile for urgent calls and the public phone is 1 minute away.

We currently use Skype in the UK and put in £5 ages ago and still have £4.00+ so I don't understand why we would pay 30 euros a month.  We will have to pay for internet access and will use email or Messenger to keep in touch with friends.

 

[Tim]

Well, my wife has three sons in the UK and for her to be able to natter away to them ad infinitum - and to all her other friends in the UK, for €29 odd euros a year is a good deal for us. We do use Skype to speak to others equipped with a computer and, of course, there is no charge for that.

The Skype deal also includes a UK number.This means that any of our friends can make a local call, sometimes free of charge, and it will be routed through Skype to our computer here in France.

Regards - Tim

[anniefromwales]

Hi Llantony - no I wouldn't pay 30 euros a month either but it is in fact 30 euros a year. (Oops - Tim beat me to it and I can't delete the post! So just for the sake of adding something new - I am currently working in the Netherlands for a week and have made and received all my phone calls on Skype while I have been here, the only other option would have been mobile roaming, which would probably have come to not far short of 30 euros just in these few days)