ADSL has arrived...but very limited!

[AcornEmma Robertson (Vet Nurse)<br>Acorn Kennels<br>E-mail:[email protected]]

At long last ADSL has arrived in our village...hooray! However I live 3775metres aaway from the 'exchange' (according to a 'test your ADSL compatibilty' thingy) which I presume means that the further away from the exchange your are, the slower the line. I know nothing about ADSL stuff so wondered if the estimated 512kbps debit speed is actually going to be any quicker than my existing dial-up connection?

I'm also curious about the non-degroupage and degroupage. If I go 'degroupage' I understand that I won't have to pay France Telecom for line rental ...is that right? If so, what happens if there is a fault on the line? Who do I call - France Telecom or the ISP? Who will pay for repairs if the overhead cable gets damaged between my house and the main exchange? I probably sound paranoid but since I've had to call France Telecom out 4 times in the past 12 months I'm a bit wary about paying for repairs etc.

Any advice mcuh appreciated!

Emma

[Pierre ZFP]

At only 512Kbps you will still be 8 times faster than dial up and have the advantage of being 'always on'

Can't help with who you call unnder degroupage - sorry

[Martin963]

If you go degroupage you call your ISP if the line goes down (at vast cost on some ISP's)  but AFAIK they call FT anyway.   However,   your line contract is with the ISP.

I wouldn't do it until you've tried VOIP calls for a while.   We've had Club Internet for three weeks and the phone part goes off I have to say at least once most evenings at some point,  only for 10 mins or so as a rule.  But if your house caught fire then.....?   Compared to all our other costs €180 per year paid to FT for a reliable connection seems quite reasonable.

We have 500 Kbps or so like you (over 6 kms from the exchange) and that is fairly stable,  and MUCH MUCH faster than dial up.

[Hoddy]

At 45.2 Kbps, I dream of 512 Kbps and I presume you won't have to have several goes at getting connected or get timed out if someone has loaded a big photograph.

Hoddy

 

 

[Clair]

I used to connect via dial-up at 40-45Kbps. My forfait then was for 6 days a week, 5am to 5pm plus 20 hours a month at any time.

Between the ISP and FT, I used to spend €25 a month before making any telephone calls...

Since changing over to ADSL dégroupé (the exchange is not dégroupé, but my tel line has been taken over by my ISP), I pay €35 a month to my ISP, can receive and make (mostly free) phone calls whilst surfing 24/7. Like the OP, because of the distance, I have not got the fastest speed, but it's such an improvement I would not go back.

In case of a problem with the tel line or the internet connection, the ISP is totally responsible and they call on FT to do the repair. Actually, in our area, FT sub-contract most of their repairs already.

Should the electricity go off, I have a mobile for emergencies and I have neighbours too [:)]

[AnOther]

Congratulations on getting the service but I must admit I'm quite surprised at the 512kb estimation on a line of 3775m !

Over that sort of distance I would expect at least 2mb and probably quite a bit more.

What is the dB or Affaiblissement for your line ?

You can PM me your number if you like and I'll have a look at the numbers myself.

It could be that there is a fault on your line which might go unnoticed on the phone or on dial up but is crippling it for ADSL.

Rest assured though that ANYTHING is better than dial up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AnOther]

[quote user="Hoddy"]At 45.2 Kbps, I dream of 512 Kbps[/quote]Have you asked FT/Orange if READSL is available in your area ?

This is a special type of ADSL tailored specially for longer lines, up to 7 or 8 km and 70dB Affaiblissement, and guarantees a minimum of 400kb.

It should show up in the line check but if not there can be no harm in asking can there ?

https://orange.degrouptest.com/offres/512k-etendu-pro.html  

[Hoddy]

I checked it out on line last year and it said that it was unavailable. Later in the day I had a phone call asking if I would be interested in '1Mega' if it was available. I said that I would and then it turned out that was unavailable too. I think going into the office, as you suggest, is the best idea.

Thanks. This dial-up is gradually driving me potty after my superfast connection in the UK.

Hoddy

[AcornEmma Robertson (Vet Nurse)<br>Acorn Kennels<br>E-mail:[email protected]]

Hi ErnieY

Have sent you a PM.

 

With regards to what I have been offered in the way of ADSL, does anyone have any experience of the operators listed below?

 

ALICE - are the only operator to offer me a 'degroupe' which sounds quite interesting but they have persistenlty phoned me over the past few days to try and get me to sign up with them, which I find a bit off-putting. I want to do some research before commiting myself! Also, they can't understand some of the questions I want answers for (my limited French I'm afraid!) Although I keep my FT number, will it still appear in the 'Pages Blanches' each year or will I have to pay extra for that?

ORANGE

CLUB INTERNET

BUDGET TELECOM

FREE

The last 4 can only offer a 'non-degroupe' service and vary quite alot price-wise. I've heard a few people complain about Orange recently, but does anyone have any personal experience that they can share (within the Forum rules please!)

Many thanks

 

 

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

Do a speed check.

http://www.speedtest.net/

[AnOther]

Hi Acorn, sorry I haven't been back to you before.

I've looked at your number on most of the ISP sites and there does seem to be some inconsistency in the offerings.

I reiterate my earlier comment though that @ 3775m and 56.625dB attenuation your line would seem somewhat under par. There could be many reasons for this but I don't know if you'd be able to get FT do do anything about it. It may be that it's a very old line and just poorer quality cable in which case you're probably out of luck [:(] Do you have any problems with it, crackling or interference perhaps, enough to report it as a fault ?

[IMG]http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p123/biskitboyo/acorn.jpg[/IMG]

Interestingly it says READSL was due to be available last month and if it were then I'd say that you could be better off with that which at least guarantees 400kb as opposed to ADSL which should always be read as "up to", be it 2mb, 8mb or whatever ! Also, if cost is not your primary concern, you might be better sticking with FT, initialy at least.

For comparison here is my line.

[IMG]http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p123/biskitboyo/myadsl.jpg[/IMG]

Finally, this is what I currently have in UK so it's going to come as something of a shock going back down to 2mb.....[:'(]

[IMG]http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p123/biskitboyo/bt_adsl.jpg[/IMG]

[AcornEmma Robertson (Vet Nurse)<br>Acorn Kennels<br>E-mail:[email protected]]

[quote user="ErnieY"]

I reiterate my earlier comment though that @ 3775m and 56.625dB attenuation your line would seem somewhat under par. There could be many reasons for this but I don't know if you'd be able to get FT do do anything about it. It may be that it's a very old line and just poorer quality cable in which case you're probably out of luck [:(] Do you have any problems with it, crackling or interference perhaps, enough to report it as a fault ?

[/quote]

Funny you should ask...that's why I have had FT out 4 times in the past 12 months. The last few months have been really bad with regard to line quality, so we have even had the line put in underground between the road and our house,as overhead branches had been blamed previously. An hour after FT had finished the work, there was still a lot of interference so I called them straight back out again. They then told me there was a lot of fibre optic cable work going on in the village which may be causing the problem but couldn't tell me when it would be finished. A day or so later the line was much clearer and has been okay (touch wood) since then (2 weeks).

[quote user="Ernie Y"]

Interestingly it says READSL was due to be available last month and if it were then I'd say that you could be better off with that which at least guarantees 400kb as opposed to ADSL which should always be read as "up to", be it 2mb, 8mb or whatever !

[/quote]

There was no ADSL available at all until 2 weeks ago which ties in with the READSL time line - but I don't know what READSL is or how to get it. As mentioned I'm a complete novice at this!

Thanks

 

[Polycarpe]

According to Orange, we are not eligable for ADSL or ReADSL - we live 8kms from our broadband-connected commune. Okay, I can accept that, living in the country, I have to make a few sacrifices. However, I do so resent having to pay more for an appalling 36Kbps dial up connection than I did for my broadband.

Orange should be giving dial up away!

[Danny]

Hi Rob

What price remote idyll?

Have you made any enquiries from FT about ReADSL? I ask because (my reliable sources tell me that) your commune has had adsl since 12th April and it is supposed to have been ReADSL equipped the day before but this has not happened. At least it is planned. It is your one glimmer of hope for broadband. Even then, you may be too far away. Maybe you have called them already?might be worth a go

Danny

ps from Jane - the golden orioles are out and you are in such a pretty place there, stuff the modern world and go for a nice walk with your dog! I hate computers...

Janex

 

[Polycarpe]

Hi Jane and Danny,

Ladern has actually had ADSL since the end of Feb but we're too far out (8km) for it to do us any good. As I said, I'm content NOT to receive broadband. I just resent paying more than than ADSL users for a grossly inferior service.

We don't have golden orioles round us but we're awaiting the return of our bee eaters. Flora and I are off looking for mushrooms.

Enjoy election day you foreign disenfranchised types!

Rob

[gjp23]

I seem to have joined this thread at an appropriate moment and would be grateful for your advice.  I have a house in the northern Lot-et-Garonne and want to set myself up with broadband so I can go over from the UK more often and work from France.  Traditionally, there was always a need to get the line from France Telecom, with the possibility to get an ISP/broadband overlay for data and voice connections.  I've read about full and partial degrouping and it seems to me that full degrouping means that another provider can use FT exchanges to house their own kit and then rent you the line, instead of having to go to FT (this is happening in the UK and called Local Loop Unbundling, or LLU).

Given that the house I have was empty before we bought it, and we have had it now for 3 1/2 years, how do I find out what its number was (do I need to know it?) and how can I check if I live in a fully degrouped area?  Partial degrouping or no degrouping at all means, as far as I can tell, that I need an FT line, when I can then take my pick from a number of broadband/telephony packages to stick on top.

Any advice gratefully received.  Many thanks.

[Danny]

Hi,

your assessment of how it works is basically correct. There is one more possibility. It is called partial degroupage or ADSL nu by some.( I think they mean the same thing but not 100%) this means that even though the line/area is not degroupé, you can get adsl and tel line from one company. All your tel calls are then VOIP calls through the modem. You save the line rental to FT (15 euros pm) but are totally reliant on the modem and adsl service for any calls... This might or might not be available on the tel line and if you are tempted, think hard about possible problems.

In order to find out if ADSL is available it is best done by phone number. If you can't find out, you could try a neighbour's number if applicable. It is not guaranteed that the result will be the same though. The most reliable way is to get a line installed and then you will know. OR it might be possible for France Tel to tell you the adsl situation if you contact them and give them enough details of the address, name of old occupier...

Good luck

Danny