Iceni Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 Well our bit of the back of beyond now comes up with goods speeds for ADSL when I do a line test. We have Tiscali/Alice 56K which we have no problems with at all. FT say we can have up to 8 mbits - 1 or 2 is enough.Now my problem is that I would like to stay with Tiscali BUT they seem the ones which we may not be able to have. If I have to cancel, having been a client for over 2 years, how much notice do I need to give and how do I send it (recorded delivery I would presume).I have downloaded the terms and conditions and tried to work my way through what I can only describe as a dire dire dire Alice site - (bring back Tiscali.fr - all is forgiven). They say nowt and as I know that earlier this year contract law was altered for most things I wondered if this was one of them. I will stay with Alice if I can - shame her phone number is permanently out of order - John would enjoy a quick chat...If you need advice in English as to your ADSL status I find http://www.ariase.com/fr/observatoire/fai/eligibilite.html wonderful and the operators speak English.Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesLauriers Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 Take a look at Free www.free.fr as your new supplier - same monthly charge as Alice but calls to UK are cheaper.Alice 1st minute charged at 18 cents v Free at 3 cents.Alice 2nd minute onwards at 6 cents v Free at 3 cents.Free telephone calls are charged by the second, Alice do not state that they charge by the second.When I cancelled with Tiscali I had to pay to the aniversary of the contract, but it may have changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opel Fruit<P><BR>Opel Fruit, Dept. 53<P> Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 Hmm, good site that. Quite pleased with the Wanadoo ADSL speeds we get.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesLauriers Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 Wanadoo - you must be rich! For the same service Wanadoo is more money and more expensive calls!If there is an ISP that is more expensive than Wanadoo, I've never found it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opel Fruit<P><BR>Opel Fruit, Dept. 53<P> Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 Fortunately, someone else pays the bill. Have to say, for the 2 years we've had it, it has been 100% reliable.La Mairie uses it too, via a Livebox!I don't think the other 2 operators (Cegetel and Alice) offer a better deal here at the moment...they're all the same price...?????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesLauriers Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 I don't think the other 2 operators (Cegetel and Alice) offer a better deal here at the moment...they're all the same price...??????Check it out - no one is as expensive as Wanadoo overall for a phone & ISP service, as for the Mairie - they don't pay for it either - you do!Can't blame you really, when I had company petrol I was happy to get 19 to the gallon, now I pay for it I get 50 to the gallon - needs must! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayJay Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 DiHave you done the test from the Tiscali/Alice home page?I was with Tiscali then went ADSL with them & just 2 months later they merged with Alice but no problems. Still can't get used to the speed!6m 15s call to UK was .247ttc, all French calls free.jayjay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJSLIV Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 IceniIt may be worthwhile checking availability on the alice website itself, as it (and other ADSL operators) often gives different results to degroupetest etc.Also it may be worth waiting a week or so ,as the alternative operators sometimes become available a little later thean wanadoo (ie France Telecom).Also if you check using degroupetest, it only updates itself if you haven't already used it for a check in the last 7 days as it uses a kind of cacheing. Hence if you check too often it might never update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesLauriers Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 6m 15s call to UK was .247ttc, all French calls free.That's over 48% more expensive than Free for the same call! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 People go on about Wanadoo’s prices but I’ve just checked on Tiscali/Alice and I’m paying the same as they would charge (if the could provide me a service). Fine, Alice is a bit faster (except that the ADSL to me wont go that fast so it’s a bit of a waste anyway) so, even if I could get them I would not save any money.For me Wanadoo has proved pretty reliable and whilst I’m not loaded with money, I do have better things to do with my time than scrape around to save a few € here and there.Anyway, for me only Wanadoo provide any service. Gegetel did offer a service about 9 months after ADSL was installed in the region but I notice they have now pulled-out and no longer offer anything.Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesLauriers Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 Your right, of course it's not worth scraping around for a few €, but for me the saving over wanadoo is 156€ a year as the cost of my package is 43% more with wanadoo. I wouldn't pay 1.43€ for a litre of fuel when the garage opposite sells the same thing for 1.00€.Plus, on calls, wanadoo is 6 times the cost on the first minute then 2.3 times the cost ongoing, so for me it is more than a few €s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Quote: “Plus, on calls, wanadoo is 6 times the cost on the first minute then 2.3 times the cost ongoing, so for me it is more than a few €s.Except I call the UK for free (as can anybody else who has an ADSL connection – I use my Wanadoo connection).Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesLauriers Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 "Except I call the UK for free (as can anybody else who has an ADSL connection – I use my Wanadoo connection)."I take it you are using skype pc to pc which is ideal if both parties are using the system and of course, it works with any ISP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 [quote]"Except I call the UK for free (as can anybody else who has an ADSL connection – I use my Wanadoo connection)."I take it you are using skype pc to pc which is ideal if both parties are using the syste...[/quote]No, I was talking about when I call normal landlines in the UK - which I do for free. I do however have to pay to call UK premium rate, mobiles, etc. but UK landlines free.Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesLauriers Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Ah! Now that is interesting, how do you call UK landlines for free? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Now that is very interesting, as in many things that mention FREE, I get edgy ! What do you mean by, FREE ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Itching to tell them Ian but it's your thread, so I'll leave it up to you.Benjamin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 No one owns a thread, so go on Benjamin, spill the beans. We have had this on here before about free calls and blowed if I can find it !! Good old "Search" ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Miki Patience is a virtue and everything comes to he who waits so just sit still and be quiet and Ian will tell you.Benjaminps If he hasn't by tonight I will so long as you promise to be a good boy until then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 OK Miki, as Ian seems to have gone AWOL (or is he in the arriere cuisine with his neighbour and a bottle of red?) try going to www.voipbuster.com . I hope this is the one Ian was referring to.I've used this quite a lot recently as opposed to Skype and it sure is free to UK landlines although I'm trying to set up a computer to computer call with a friend in Spain and we are having all sorts of "hearing" difficulties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 I tend to avoid posting “the best deal is …” type of posts as I believe there is no such thing as a “best deal”. Different people have different requirements and what suits one person may not suit somebody else. Many “the best deal is …” posts are actually people trying to convince themselves they have the best deal going – which for them they may easily have. VoIP Buster represents a good deal for some people but not everybody. It may be cheap but is not a long term contractual service. It has negatives e.g. you need to put $5 on your paid for calls account to avoid a free call time limit (though you can then use only the free calls and never use the $5), you need additional software, etc. For some these will be minor compared to free calls to the UK (and elsewhere) whereas for others they will be more of an issue.Another example, you can call the UK for 1.4 cents per minute off peak, 2.8 cents peak, no prepayment, no account to set-up, nothing (landline to landline). Just use it on your standard telephone in France. However, seems that 1.4/2.8 cents is more expensive than 3 cents and I cannot be bothered to argue about it with an expert. I will stick with the maths I was taught at school because that works for me.A large part of my work is with communications and telecommunications and thus I try to keep as up-to-date as possible. As an example of what I mean the other week I “unwisely” posted some justifications about what one ISP was considering and had somebody start telling me about how I was wrong (although they also said a few things that make it clear they have no appreciation of the protocols involved in IP telephony, IP routing and addressing, etc.. Fine, I could not give a monkeys and wont bother to post helpful comments related to that any more. Not posting helpful comments is no problem and avoids the “bun-fight” that can follow.Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 ***A large part of my work is with communications and telecommunications and thus I try to keep as up-to-date as possible*** Hi Deimos/IanPlease continue to post your helpful comments - I can assure you, for my part at least, that the wisdom you impart on this forum does not fall on deaf or argumentative ears. I am not far off being a silver surfer but my introduction in the past few years to the world of 'computing/internet/person to person communication' has been a revelation to me. Through nothing more than a plastic box (!) with a little added wizardry, a telephone line and a little knowledge, I can communicate with people/friends etc all over the globe - fantastic, almost unbelievable at times - but made continually better by helpful comments from people like yourself who 'know' about these matters.Thank you Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesLauriers Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Deimos - Keep posting, how else do we learn from other peoples experience if you stop.I for one one was unaware of VOip Buster, so thanks for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Sorry, my comment was not a “threat” and not me in a “huff”. I just tend not to bother much these days with subjects where “bun fights” have developed – its not worth the trouble. Low cost telephone and internet connections seem to be one such area.Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 IanYou had me worried for a while as I thought I might have stirred a hornet's nest.I work on the basis that no one knows everything but everyone knows something and this forum is as good a place as any to share that knowledge.I was a little beaten up by the know it alls and nitpickers when I started posting a couple of months ago but I've had worse than that happen. Benjamin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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