Wanadoo ADSL wireless router

[Ianhaycox]

ADSL arrived in our exchange today, hurrah, so I'd like to subscribe to one of Wanadoo's ADSL services. 1024K ? I'm currently a Wanadoo dial-up customer.

I'm I correct in thinking that as well as subscribing to ADSL I also need to rent a ADSL modem/router from Wanadoo.

Can I just buy my own wireless router, plug it in an it will work once the line is enabled ? I'm assuming that once ADSL is enabled my telephone will not work unless it's plugged into the router. Is that correct ?

Sorry a bit of a newbie with ADSL etc. Advice on setup/config etc. from anyone who has been though this loop is much appreciated.

Thanks,

[I1]

With Wanadoo you buy your ADSL modem (ideally from them). For example, when I gone mine (a couple of months ago), their USB ADSL modem price was 1 Euro. Don’t know their price for a WiFi one but it’s a lot less than in the shops. I got the Ethernet ADSL box for 10 euros. These special prices require you to commit to 1 year.

I got all my stuff sorted out by telephoning Wanadoo as asking them for it all. They deal with asking France Telecom to connect your ADSL to Wanadoo, etc., sending you the ADSL modem, etc.

Unfortunately, the connection process can take up to 14 days (France Telecom plus getting you the ADSL box) – mainly France telecom. During this time, if you currently use a fixed price contract you may find it no longer works properly. I found I could still connect through dial-up but the connection would be dropped immediately to a couple of minutes later. I checked this with Wanadoo and it was because I was marked as an ADSL customer not a dial-up and they could not change that or the France Telecom connection request would be cancelled (and thus I would not get to ADSL). I thus had to use the Pay-as-you-go dial-up service for the couple of weeks for the change-over.

Note that whilst you can change the ADSL “package” you subscribe to, you cannot do this online and have to call their premium rate numbers to do it.

You can test the speeds and things available to you using http://www.degrouptest.com/ (though I have only ever got it to work using the phone number and not the postcode and a lot of what it does is “database driven” so if ADSL has only just arrived, it may take a bit to be updated to show any ADSL availability – give it a go and see.

Above is my experience as of a couple of months ago.

[Mikew]

I agree with the 2 week delay, but I was using another PAYG service so I lost no service. I used all my gear that I bought over from UK, Plugged in and away it went, no problem!. I use Wanadoo 1K sevice and find it reliable (looks for wood), my modem/router + Wi-fi box is permanantly connected at the phone entry in the sous-sol, and I can get good reception anywhere I want it in the house.

MikeW

[Ianhaycox]

The Livebox (WiFi router/modem) arrived yesterday morning in the post. It was ordered on the 17th, so only 5 days.

Plugged everything in that evening and presto, everything just worked. The desktop PC is connected via a USB cable and the laptop via WiFi. I didn't change anything with the telephone and had no problems with my dial-up service in the previous 5 days.

It looks like Wanadoo and France Telecom have smartened up their act. I was quite impressed.

BTW www.degrouptest.com was very useful and showed that I was limited to 512K. At the moment, compared to the dial-up service, it's fantastic. Just like being back in the office in the UK :-)