Switched Ethernet on Orange LiveBox

[HoneySuckleDreams]

the setup is from the gigaset configuration (www.gigaset-config.com  - which logs you onto the base station), not the orange config

The only way I got the base station's light to work was plug it into the Ethernet port on the back, plugging into the phone socket gave me nothing. And the handset is registered to the base station OK now. I'm assuming the activation code it's asking me for is something to do with loading configured CODECs specific for Orange.

Do you have to prefix your calls with a number or something?

I'm also confused, as I thought we had changed to an all in price for the ASDL, giving up the FT abonnament. My latest facture says i'm 16€ to ORange for the line rental plus 31€ for the phone/internet package. I can't remember anywhere it telling me I would be paying 16€ for the line rental...have I missed something?

 

[AnOther]

Not sure but I think you may have bought the wrong equipment. The N300AIP is, as far as I can see anyway, a VoIP gateway in it's own right and as such will probably not work through the Livebox. If you had the details of the Orange VoIP protocol then it might be possible to programme the Siemens box to work independently but AFAIK Orange do not publicise them.

Are you sure you signed up to a package without the line/rental ?

I do not have to dial a prefix and because I had an existing FT line and number when I changed to Orange and VoIP that became my VoIP number so in practice nothing changed in that aspect.

Assuming that the telephone LED is lit on the front you can check if your VoIP service is working by plugging a plain old telephone into the Livebox.

[Quillan]

Your package should not have 16 Euros for a land line but there are exceptions the main one being that the voip service has not been activated.

I have to assume that the only router you have connected is the Orange LiveBox 2 one with the connections shown in the photo in Anothers post.

The first thing is to discover if voip is activated on your LiveBox. To do this you need to open your web browser and type in 192.168.1.1 and you should have the LiveBox router screen come up. You don't have to login because the Status should be displayed over to the left of the screen. The first thing to look at going down the screen is in box 1 which should show your phone number (item 1.4). Further down the screen you should see in box 3 if the phone is active (item 3.3). If you don't have these then your voip service is not activated.

The next stage is a simple test to see if your line has been switched over. This you can do by firstly removing your router from the phone line then plug in the phone and operate the handset to see if you get a dial tone. If you don't but get the French 'number engaged' tone then your line has been activated as far as your phone socket.

Another thing that tells you if the voip service is active is the green light on the front of your LiveBox. It has a picture of a phone handset above it and is the third light in from the left. If this is not on then you definitely don't have voip services.

Two things, firstly what Another said is correct, you should simply plug the base station in to the socket on the side of the LiveBox and it should work. I have a Gigaset (AC260 which is old now but the principle is the same) I just plugged it in and it worked straight off.

The second thing is do not under any circumstances plug the phone in to any of the Ethernet ports, you can damage the phone and/or the port.

Thirdly the 'pairing' of the phones to the base station is nothing to do with Orange although I believe the base station has t be connected to a phone line for the setup which in your case is the phone socket on the LiveBox.

I am off to bed now so try the things I have mentioned above and report back. I am normally up at about 07:00 and will check the thread around that time and get back to you.

Finally the other thing of course is do not fiddle with the LiveBox settings, if you have then you need to do a factory reset of the LiveBox. This can be done by pressing the reset button in and counting slowly to 30. You will then have to login to the LiveBox via the 192.168.1.1 address in your browser, the admin password will be admin and you will need to enter your login code and password which you should have received with the LiveBox or in the contract documentation. The login code will start with fti/ you don't have to enter the fti/ bit just the letters after it. Don't forget the password is your Internet password from Orange and NOT your Orange email address password. It will then 'cycle through' which will take about 5 minutes after which you should see the first two green  lights on from the left and hopefully the third as well for the phone.

For fault finding the phone side I have found it always best to buy the cheapest hardwired handset I can get and use that before getting involved in the cordless phone side. It removes half the problem.

By the way to reset the LiveBox I believe I am correct in saying you need to have your computer connected directly via a cable and not WiFi as that won't work till the LiveBox is initially activated by the setup.

[Quillan]

[quote user="AnOther"]

I do not have to dial a prefix....
[/quote]

I forgot to answer that point, not you don't have a prefix, you either use the existing number if you only have voip. If you still retain the old landline as part of your package you will get a new and seperate number for it.

I also agree with you having read the spec, it's the wrong phone. People get confused with LiveBox's and voip phones. The bit that changes an ordinary phone to voip is inside the LiveBox so you just need an ordinary phone be it cordless or hardwired.

[HoneySuckleDreams]

OK. some progress

I plugged the Gigaset directly into the telephone line and I can call out and receive OK.  So that side of things work OK

Logging onto the Livebox shows that the telephone VOIP is disconnected, however, there is a function to "TEST" (Settings - Service - Telephone) the VoiP phone connected to the Livebox. And this worked OK, so the Livebox can talk to the phone system via the N300 box.

Maybe it's because the VOIP stuff is not registered yet that means it won't work, or it could be as both of you suggested that the Box is not compatible.

I'm of to the Orange shop for a chat

 

[Quillan]

Your getting a bit ahead of yourself I feel. When we first got our system we were told to plug our phone into the LiveBox and wait. Apparently when you do so it triggers something that sends a message to Orange to activate your line, it normally takes between 24 and 48 hours and the phone must be connected t the phone socket on the LiveBox. I fear going to the Orange shop will be a waste of time. As I suspected if the phone worked in the phone line socket and nothing else connected then the reason you have been charged line rental is because your line has not be changed over to voip because the phone is not connected to your LiveBox.

The voip test on your LiveBox is to tell you that the line is capable and not that it is . The message about the voip service being disconnected, the lack of phone number displayed and the green phone light not on the Livebox proves this.

[HoneySuckleDreams]

Quillan: you were right about the orange shop. I have a line rental with Orange now and not FT. We have our old number for people to dial in and apparently we have an 09 number to dial out (which is news to me). I asked about the VoiP being turned of and she just kept banging on about the 09 number.

Do you think i should use the "old" telephone plugged into the LiveBox? or the new Gigaset one? I will check tomorrow if anything has been activated, although as it's weekend, I won't hold my breath.

Thanks for the info. I think this is another area of technology that has passed me by.

 

[Quillan]

Firstly it seems like your contract is to keep your existing phone line and number as well as having voip. Putting my tin helmet on to shield me from 'others' (no Another by the way) you don't want this contract, you just want the all in package which is for phone, Internet and TV (unfortunately you get the TV even if you don't want it) and you loose the old phone line. That said your current number is transferred to voip.

Re the phone, if the old one is a normal phone and was working on the existing phone line I would use that (plugged in to the LiveBox phone socket) till it all works and you know it works, then try your new one. You need to go with certainties and I suggest that may be the best way currently.

For you information FT and Orange are one and the same now.

You could try phoning the English speaking helpline (0969 36 39 00), I have found them helpful in the past. Try their tech support line first and explain that you think you have made a mistake because you didn't understand their website, play dumb, and they will try and sort it out for you. I would go with the "I don't understand, my normal phoneline still works and I have no voip phone". They will probably tell that is what you have ordered, then play dumb and tell them you didn't then after a bit admit you you didn't understand the website (or shop person if you ordered it through the Orange shop) because your French is not so good.

Good luck

[HoneySuckleDreams]

Quillan: Thanks for the info.

The kind lady from Orange sorted me out this morning and has ticked the right boxes for me so that everything should move over to VoIP by the 9th.

I know that Orange/FT are one and the same, but it still got confusing when it asked if I wanted to keep my FT line charge. Foolishly, I thought, by saying "no" I would get the VoIP package. What I didn't expect was the charge to move to Orange.

Anyway, 36.90 all in, so it went up 4€ I think for the swap to VoIP. I'm not home now until Christmas so I can't plug the new phones in to see if everything is as it should be. As the test between the Livebox and the Gigaset box worked OK I'm hoping it should all be fairly seemless.

Thanks to all for your help.

[HoneySuckleDreams]

An update -

 

The gigaset phones are working via the base station linked to the LiveBox. However, it's using the fixed line connectivety to the LiveBox (and the livebox talks to the outside world using it's VoIP software).  So I can't use the extra functionality on the base station, e.g. multiple calls.

I contacted Orange for the settings, but just got "it's not compatible".

I've looked around the internet as  I can't believe the settings are not out there somewhere. Unfortunately, they are not (and i've searched high and low in some pretty dodgy hacker sites).. Lots of people have a similar issue, wanting to use other systems to connect to the Orange VoIP line. They (Orange) don't even use the SIP (industry standard), they use there own hashed verson of H323. And it's pretty much locked down.

So, the phones work, and I can have up to 6 connected. But only a single line. Looking through the phones that are listed as compatible, none (that I can find) allows you to have a multi-line system, even though the technology does exist. So unless Orange release the details of how to connect, i'm scuppered.

[AnOther]

Settings or not I'd be very surprised if a standard Orange domestic ADSL service supported multplexed VoIP, that would be the preserve of professional users and would be priced accordingly.