JohnRoss Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Lost yet another modem to lightning recently, the fourth since 2001. One big flash and the modem, AOL Box, stopped working. SFR took their time about replacing it this time with a Neuf Box as they also suspected a fault on the FT telephone line which proved not to be the case. You don't realise how much you have come to depend on the Internet until it has gorn for a couple of weeks! Maybe Neuf boxes are more able to withstand surges than AOL boxes. Nearby friends who have Neuf Boxes have not had the same problem. With our new SFR contract the loss of the modem would also result in the loss of the telephone facility as well. After the first box blew up I installed two Avidsen protectors, http://www.avidsenstore.com/pdf/101310.pdf, one for the phone and one for the computer system. These plug into a 16A mains socket and have an in/out pair of sockets to wire between the telephone wall socket and the modem and a power socket to feed the computer equipment with mains electricity. They don't seem very effective as we have lost another three modems and one telephone during the last 11 years to thunder storms since they were fitted.I accept that risks to modems are higher in country districts with long overhead telephone and power lines but I am wondering if anyone has found a surge protector to buy that has actually saved their equipment? In some countries I gather it is the responsibility of the telephone company to install surge protection outside of the customer's house but clearly not in France so any ideas folks?.............JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elamessa Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Only sure way to save them is to unplug everything when there is a chance of thunder/lightening storms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Can you not get a returns number and go to your local SFR shop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnRoss Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 Yes indeed and we do now disconnect the phone line to the modem etc and have done for some time if thunder is anticipated however this storm just appeared with no meteo site warning of it and just one enormous flash and bang about 1km away. Replacement units from SFR. In the past we have telephoned their customer service number and they have sent a new unit within 3 days to a local shop or garage. We take our old damaged unit and leads and swap and provided we do that no charge. We have been impressed in the past with their quick response however this time they dithered for a week until I chased them. The help line, I rang the day after the storm, was answered by someone who did not sound French and was clearly reading from a script. What ever question I asked I just got the same words in the same order with clearly no understanding of the problem at their end. After 45 minutes I has extracted a promise to have a new box sent to our home and was told they did not want the old AOL Box back. After a few days I sent them a message from our Marie who have a computer available for public use and asked them to telephone me say what was happening. Nothing happened so after a week I phoned them again and it was as if they had not heard of the problem despite a note being shown on my client space on their site. They again promised a new box and a visit from a FT engineer who would check the line as they thought there might also be a problem with that. I did point out that if the line had failed I could not speak to them as I was then doing but maybe that is being over simplistic. Getting somewhat fed up I phoned the SFR shop in Niort and was told that they would not supply a box over the counter but they would take details and send me one if I went there to sign up for a new contract. I offered to buy the flippin' box but they said they could not do that so I did not visit them.Another 5 days passed and nothing happened despite me sending another message on their web site. FT engineer turned up and told us after some tests that the line was ok and that the internet was working. Later that day when checking our emails at the mairie I noted one from them saying that my new box was en route and my new contract, which I had not asked for, would start when it arrived. Hello, how was I going to read emails without a working modem, not everyone has access to other computers, so much for me asking them to telephone me! As the deal looked better than the one we had I decided not to kick up about it and the Neuf Box arrived the next day and all now works. Only a delay of nearly 2 weeks!The one thing I don't feel too sure about the new contract is that the telephone now goes through the Neuf Box and yes the calls are unlimited to most places in the world and we will pay less now than we did when we had to pay FT for the line rental however during power cuts no phone. It also means leaving the modem powered up all the time to have the phone working which I am not too keen on from a safety point of view, when we are asleep or out. In an emergency one would want the phone, medical/ break-in or some such during the night. Wife has a portable but that only works if you go up to the grenier and stand on one leg near the window! A small risk I know but there you go! I have now received an inquiry as to what I think of their service so I will politely tell them and ask for some consideration in my billing for the delay in getting the system up and running again, rant over!................JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I had a few problems with SFR de-blocking my mobile phone, long story so I won't bother but it took about two weeks with letter being posted to get it sorted.On the other hand in ten years I have had two faults with my LiveBox and one with my Orange TV decoder (the cat pee'd on the later). The first LiveBox way biked to me on the same day and the second, after being diagnosed quite thoroughly online by one of their engineers, was given a returns number, I took it to the Orange shop and they replaced it with one from stock straight away (as they did with the TV decoder). I did have a line problem quite a few years ago and had to wait till the next day for an engineer to come (dodgy connection in a box somewhere). Mind you I have heard others on the forum have had bad experiences with Orange but I have to say I am quite happy with the service and see no reason to move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnRoss Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 I find it all a bit confusing in that when we took out our first Internet contract it was with AOL.fr in 2001. They were taken over by Neuf, SFR still use Neuf Boxes, and then Neuf disappeared and were taken over by SFR. France Telecom, who billed us for the telephone line rental but not the calls, now seems to be Orange. Not sure what the relationship is between Orange and SFR! One thing I have a problem with now with the phone hooked into the Neuf Box is that the answer machine service, 3103 or 147, not sure which we are supposed to use now as SFR's website suggests both in different places, does not seem to work. All I get on dialling them is a robot asking me to enter my telephone number which I do and then am told that the number is wrong. Any thoughts? Still use an AOL browser, AOL.co.uk not the French version, as don't want to change our email addresses. Works fine and the welcome page gives UK news items with the lovely Joanna Lumley greeting us when we sign on! ....................JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I don't have SFR for my Internet access or home phone so I can't answer your question about your voicemail. On my Orange setup we use the voicemail button on the phone (looks like an unopened envelope) which connects us to our voicemail (answerphone).Orange and FT are now one company (it used to be Wanadoo and FT, both were separate companies), SFR has nothing to do with Orange - FT other than it uses their cable to connect you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnRoss Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 Ok well all seems ok now and like the new style Neuf box. The WiFi works in most places in the house and herself can surf the net on her portable computer by the fire in the warm and also using her mobile phone, see other post, so on balance SFR have redeemed themselves at the moment. Would still like to fit a more effective protection circuit on the feed from the phone lines if anyone could recommend one. .............JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Personally I would be tempted to go for the following.http://accessoires.sfr.fr/eshop/accessoire/6980/multiprises-parafoudre-belkin-belkparafoudre8p.htmlIf you buy it through them and there is a problem later then my attitude, should they get stroppy about changing the box, is that it is the one they sell and if it is not good enough then why are they selling it? I do feel for you mind, you have been a bit unlucky. We have had a direct strike on our house and nothing was damaged and I have never had problem, alternatively of course I might be the lucky one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnRoss Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 Thanks and like the logic of your suggestion and will order one forthwith. I suspect that the AOL boxes we have had before this new Neuf box have been not protected internally as well as the Neuf box. I say this as several of our nearby friends who have Neuf boxes have not ever lost a box during a storm as we have. However they are not on the same local exchange as ourselves so it may be that there is something weird about our line which makes it susceptible to strikes and not theirs. So will see how that protection device sold by SFR fares during the next unexpected storm. Our next door neighbour lost their box, a Live Box, last year during a storm and they are on the same exchange as us but FT/Orange said that there was nothing wrong with the lines to our properties despite SFR saying that there was. It was this last point I suspect that caused SFR to drag its heels in replacing our box on this occasion and we had to wait until a telephone engineer had come to the house to do a line test. All very confusing........................JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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