HoneySuckleDreams Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 I currently have a Vigor ADSL router which allows me to have both wi-fi and hardwired ethernet connections.We are looking to change phone services so we can get the bundled package of Internet/free calls (not bothered about the TV at the moment). I'm a little sad that I will be losing the Vigor as it has been bomb proof for the last 3 years. However, belt tightening is the order of the day.Most of the deals look similar so it comes down to the functionality of the boxes. I've had a look at the FreeBox revoloution server and it looks mighty fine (especially the NAS) , but I would like to compare with the Orange Livebox (If we upgraded to this I think we can still keep our email addresses as we still have the Wanadoo.fr email addresses - less pain to change every single website we have registered details with!!). I've not seen a livebox so I would like to know if it offers an ethernet switch? I will eventually integrate whatever I go for with a simple hub as well as 3 ports is not enough at the moment. Another question: to give up the France Telecom line rental I have to switch to VOIP via whichever provider I go with. Does that mean new phones? Thanks for any advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 The Livebox comes with four Ethernet ports but one will be required if you have an Orange TV decoder. The Ethernet ports are 100mb switched.When you take the Orange package they will reconfigure your phone line and you will plug your existing phone (possibly via an adaptor which comes with it) in t a specific socket separate from the Ethernet ones. Your phone number will remain the same.It is quite happy with having another hub connected to it in fact I have two hubs connected to mine, router is in the centre of the house with PC attached, hub at one end of house with server, PC and printer attached. Another at the other end of the house with my Orange decoder and media extender attached.The Livebox can have an external HDD attached which can be accessed as a NAS and is seen as a Media Server if you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneySuckleDreams Posted October 23, 2012 Author Share Posted October 23, 2012 Thanks Quillan. It's good to know someone else has a similar system as the one I want to setup. Which Hubs did you use in the end?I think it's around 29€ for the Orange offer - which ends today. I tried deselecting the TV bit of the offer but it didn't change the overall cost. But we pay 21€ just for the internet at the moment so it will save us around 30€ a month on calls which is a pretty big saving over the year.I will probably keep the Draytek just in case - or there is always Ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 You can't have it without the TV unfortunately as far as I am aware but it does not really matter as the equipment is free anyway. What you will get for the TV will depend on how fast your line is. I am not too sure what the minimum speed is but I suspect it's 4mb under which you will get a satellite decoder (free). Above that you will have TV via the Internet and their decoder. Some people just leave it in the box and stick it in the garage or wherever your 'black hole' is.I have some old 3Com switched hubs that I use. Can't remember the model numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneySuckleDreams Posted October 23, 2012 Author Share Posted October 23, 2012 Typical. Just been back on the Orange web site and the offer is no longer there. It must have finished at 12:00. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 These offers are like buses, another be will be along shortly, they normally are. [;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crabtree Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 [quote user="Quillan"]You can't have it without the TV unfortunately as far as I am aware but it does not really matter as the equipment is free anyway. What you will get for the TV will depend on how fast your line is. I am not too sure what the minimum speed is but I suspect it's 4mb under which you will get a satellite decoder (free). Above that you will have TV via the Internet and their decoder. Some people just leave it in the box and stick it in the garage or wherever your 'black hole' is.I have some old 3Com switched hubs that I use. Can't remember the model numbers.[/quote]I have Orange without the TV, you can just ask for no TV, or if you apply on-line there is an option for no TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 I run an 8 port Netgear hub from my Livebox in the study one port of which which in turn has another 8 port noname hub hung onto it in the salon for my 3 net enabled TiVo recorders and the Orange TV decoder. It all works completely seamlessly.You don't have to use the VoIP phone supplied with the Livebox, frankly it's crap anyway and I retired it very early on. I now have a Siemens answer phone plugged into the Livebox with 3 cordless extensions around the house.One advantage of this it that with Orange you cannot turn their own answer phone off, you can only wind it up to it's maximum of 9 rings. With your own answerphone set it to less than 9 meaning that it will pick up before the Orange one can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneySuckleDreams Posted October 24, 2012 Author Share Posted October 24, 2012 I would be happy with 9 rings. Most cold callers give up after 5 or 6. I'm still miffed i missed the special offer yesterday.You an pick up 3Com hubs like this one for less than 10quid on Ebay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneySuckleDreams Posted November 3, 2012 Author Share Posted November 3, 2012 sorry...I have one more dumb question. At the moment we have ADSL filters in place. i.e. the telephone connects via the old T type connectors and the modem connects via the ADSL rj45 (but could be an rj11) connector.When we move over to the Orange livebox with the internet VOIP (which I have now ordered). I won't need these filters? (i told you it was a dumb question).At the moment the cable coming into the house connects to PIN1 & 3 of the old style box.I assume I just need to connect these wires to the back of a new style RJ45 wall plug and everything should work as normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 That's correct, however you achieve it those two incoming wires have to get to the Livebox and that's it.I use one of these which is a straight through adapter but when I had some line problems earlier this year Orange sent an engineer around and he instantly pointed the finger at it and insisted that I needed a filter and wouldn't do anything until I fitted one. He very clearly did not understand the purpose of the filter and why it was not required if you were VoIP and not wanting or able to use a plain land line phone.[img]http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00aCYTuMEgUprQ/French-Telephone-Adapter.jpg[/img]I couldn't get through to him that it had been working like that for nearly 3 years since I switched to Orange. After he'd gone away and fixed the real physical fault on the line I took the filter out and fitted my adapter again ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneySuckleDreams Posted November 5, 2012 Author Share Posted November 5, 2012 The box arrived this morning and connected to the Internet OK (we're now getting 14Mb rather than 7 - which is a bonus)However, the wi-fi does not work. All the devices that were working OK with the old Draytek no longer connect. The Wi-Fi signal is being broadcast OK but nothing can connect.I've tried turning of the security (the Draytek was off as well). The SSID is the same.Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Try changing the radio channel on the Livebox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneySuckleDreams Posted November 5, 2012 Author Share Posted November 5, 2012 Turning of MAC filtering did the trick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 I noticed that a couple of weeks ago, if you disable security on your WiFi it automatically enables MAC filtering. I was having a problem, not for the first time, with guests who have Apple devices. It appears that unless you manually enter the gateway address and mask they won't pick up the DHCP server in the livebox. It worked fine up till the last update of the Livebox and I don't know why it does this now. Windows and Android devices work fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Fooled me for a while Q until I realised that you could subsequently turn MAC filtering off too, result - completely open access [;-)]I have no problems with Apple products, friends who have visited with them have connected to my Livebox straight away and in fact just yesterday evening I was at a friends house with a brand new Livebox 2 with security still 'out of the box' and I connected my iPhone to that instantly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Perhaps it is my LiveBox then. I did a factory reset etc but Apple devices still won't connect via WiFi straight off. I don't normally use the 'on board' WiFi but use an 'external' access point for better range. Deciding first it may be that so turned it off and the Orange WiFi on was how I discovered the MAC address security 'feature'. Once you do get an Apple device to connect it is no longer a problem to reconnect. Perhaps there is something on the Apple that you need to set but all this summer we have not been able to get an Apple device to attach straight off but as I said Windows and Android products are OK. I would love to know what the problem is and fix it as it wastes so much time when we get a guest with an Apple and of course, more importantly, it is not very convenient for them either especially as we advertise free WiFi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Not teaching you to suck eggs but for info this is how my Livebox is currently set up.Just a few days ago I got a new (old) iPhone 3Gs and it connected instantly and yesterday I updated OH's iTouch to ioS 6 which essentially wiped everything out until I did a restore from iTunes but with this thread in mind before doing that restore I checked the WiFi and once again it connected instantly so I have no idea why you are having problems ?[IMG]http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p123/biskitboyo/livebox.jpg[/IMG] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Thats how I had mine set when I used the Orange WiFi and still had problems. The settings on the setting on my access point (Netgear RangeMax WPN802 v2) mirror those as well. Whichever way I have WiFi configured i.e. via the Netgear access point or LiveBox, I get the same problem.When I had a more 'savvy' Apple user we looked at the Internet settings on their IPad and IPhone and it had not 'discovered' the network, the gateway address was not even in 192.168 range, I can't remember what it was now but it definitely didn't start with those numbers and the mask was 255.0.0.0 and the IP address started with something like 253! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Don't know what your problem is then.EDIT: Have a butchers here, seems to be a know issue with iPhone 5 and maybe other devices.https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4322714?start=0&tstart=0This is what my iPhone shows. I first told it to 'forget' the connection and then let it rediscover and connect which it did instantly. You can choose 'static' and enter the settings manually if you like.[IMG]http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p123/biskitboyo/Img_0209.jpg[/IMG] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Firstly, sorry to go off topic a bit with this but it is interesting and something I would like to sort out before next season.I was wondering if you turn off your WiFi on your phone when not in use?I went and got out my old course notes and had a look through them as it is so long since I set up a DHCP server because they are all automatic these days.Seems to me that if you connect to a Live Box at home it will remember the subnet mask and router address which in 99.9% of the time is the same for most routers set in default mode and in particular a LiveBox providing nobody has 'fiddled' with it. This then makes the discovery of the DHCP very easy and it will get an IP address and connection quickly, like almost instantly, it's like re-leasing an IP address.If on the other hand it does not hold the mask and router address's then it has to go in to full discovery mode and then how it discovers the DHCP server will take much longer and also depends on if the DHCP server is configured for 'authoritative' or 'non-authoritative' discovery and then it gets a little complicated. By that I mean if the security of the client has been changed in any way and in particular if ports 67 and 68 have been disabled as these are the two ports that are used for the client to allow it to be discovered. It does this by sending a UDP request first on subnet mask 255.255.255.255 then drops down to 255.255.255.0 and continues to drop down till it gets a response from the DHCP server which sends it the router address. If the DHCP server is an 'authoritative' one it will decline the request which forces the client to renew it's lease. If it is a 'non-authoritative' DHCP server it will simply ignore the request (as opposed to declining it) and then you have to wait for the natural timeout of a leased address on the client for it to then ask for a new IP address.I have no idea what type of DHCP server the one in the LiveBox is but thinking about it perhaps even though I was fiddling it may simply have been better just to wait as it may be the latter type of server. It would also be interesting to know how long lease renewal is by default on Apple devices.I am also thinking that normally, perhaps, when you connect your IPhone to your home network that the IP address is higher up the range so when you go elsewhere it just connects using the same IP address which nine times out of ten is not being used in the place you are visiting. Having said that, and hoping I read your posts correct, you have either modified your IP address range or your not using a LiveBox as the default range is 192.168.1.10 to 192.16.1.50 and your screen dump is showing .4 which would indicate that it is not connected to a default setup LiveBox? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 To save battery power we normally turn off WiFi on all devices when not needed, OH's laptop obviously disconnects when she put's it into standby and my laptop is ethernet connected.Actually I had changed the default IP range, I needed higher addresses for my TiVo boxes so had opened it up to the full range up to 255, but just for you I did a Livebox factory reset and changed nothing except the WiFi security but nevertheless all my WiFi devices, iPhone, iTouch, 2 Kindles, and OH's laptop, all reconnected instantly.I have no idea how long an Apple lease is for, all I do know is that when I turn the WiFi on on the devices they connect within about 15 or 20 seconds.I've also tried turning the Livebox WiFi off then telling the 'i' devices to forget the connection but after turning the WiFi back on again both connected within the same 15 or 20 seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Many thanks for taking the time to do that for me, I do appreciate it.Trouble is not having an I device to play with it's a bit difficult to really get to grips with the problem which I am sure is no to do with I devices but more the LiveBox. I guess I can always get the cat to pee on it and get it replaced. [;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneySuckleDreams Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 [quote user="AnOther"]You don't have to use the VoIP phone supplied with the Livebox, frankly it's crap anyway and I retired it very early on. I now have a Siemens answer phone plugged into the Livebox with 3 cordless extensions around the house.[/quote]I've just received a Siemens gigaset bundle...how the chuff do you configer it with Orange? I've finally managed to get a handset registered to the base station (N300AIP) , but when I try and set everything up the "quick wizard" and look for the providors, Orange is not listed. It all seems incredibly complicated...and I'm supposed to be a geek.Consequently I have yet to make a VOIP call as nothing works. How do you get to make a call? It's driving me mad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Sounds like you may be using the Orange CD, BIG BIG mistake, chuck it in the bin, you don't need it for anything whatsoever.I just plugged my Siemens Gigaset answerphone base into the phone socket on the Livebox, I had to do nothing else. Have you tried that ?[img]http://www.echosdunet.net/bibliotheque/test-livebox2/materiel/Livebox2cotear.jpg[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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