Moving ADSL provider

[Martin963]

We are trying to move from Club Internet to Alice for ADSL,  for reasons I've bored you all with on another thread.

I have explained to Alice several times that our resiliation with Club Internet doesn't take place until 28th May and as a result they told me not to send in my bank RIB until 14th May,   as this would sufficiently delay the activation of my line until after Club Internet had pulled the plug.

However,   the Alice box has already arrived,   the Alice website tells me my line is active,  and on the phone I am unable to persuade them that in fact the Club Internet service is still running,  my CI box is still working,   my CI telephone line is still ringing,  etc etc.   They say  no no,  you can go ahead and plug in your Alice box.

None of this matters at the moment as I have CI until 28th May,   but I have a feeling that unless I persuade Alice that in fact they haven't already activated my line they may be caught on the backfoot on 29th May,  and I may be without a service for a while persuading them that they haven't installed the necessary equipment.

So before I have another go at them,  can anyone confirm please that one really CAN'T have two ADSL providers running simultaneously on one telephone line,   and that if my CI service is still running then Alice CAN'T have put in their equipment.   Or am I missing something?

On the above assumption I haven't plugged in the Alice box as I don't want to b****r up what's left of my CI abonnement.

Thanks in advance.

[Martin963]

I'm still finding it hard to believe that I've asked a question (above) that none of you computer-literate illuminati can answer,   but in case it prompts one of you to reply,  here's the next bit of the story.

I've just rung Alice to explain to them why I'm concerned that there may be a problem at provider-handover,  and although at first they just said "your line is already active" I did in the end persuade them to think a bit deeper about it.

As a result - and according to them -  because I am in a zone non-degroupée the ADSL equipment at the exchange is not installed either by Club Internet or by Alice,   but is in fact France Telecom's.   So -  according to Alice - you CAN have two ADSL service providers on one line,  although there's only one "electrical" set of RF carriers.    I suppose the username and password provided at the start of an ADSL session distinguishes which provider actually ends up processing the data.    They (Alice) suggested that I unplug the CLub Internet box and substitute the Alice box and go through the set up procedure and let them know if it doesn't work,  even though I still have ten days to go before Club Internet ends.

Well I have to believe them because I don't know how the operational side of ADSL works.    But if anyone here can shed light on the situation it would be helpful.

I probably won't actually substitute the Alice box for the moment as of course the moment you plug it in is the moment they set the start of the abonnement (from a billing point of view).

But anyone who can enlighten me as to the validity of Alice's explanation,   please do!   (Otherwise this will be the loneliest thread in the technical section!)

[Danny]

Sorry Martin,

I can't really answer your question... at least you have (allegedly) got two ADSL acccounts going - better than nothing working

Danny

[Martin963]

Thanks Danny!   If I wasn't so mean I'd plug in the Alice box now and try,  and I certainly will do so a couple of days before Club Internet expires.   That way I do have a while to contact Alice and grumble if what they've told me is rubbish,  assuming that one sniff of Alice doesn't upset Club Internet.

I must tell myself a) that a little learning is a dangerous thing and b) one can try an be too well prepared and "que sera sera".

I'm just surprised that no-one on the forum seems to have "inside" knowledge of how ADSL companies work.   Maybe - thinking about it - they have a pact with the devil and go straight to the underworld when they shuffle off etc etc.

[Martin963]

Possibly one for Danny again,  or anyone...?

At present I have the Club Internet software on my main computer connected to the box by ethernet.   I don't think the software actually does anything  - the Club Compagnon is on the menu bar but as far as I'm aware it was mainly used to set up passwords and username etc etc.

When I come to try the Alice box,   should I have un-installed all the Club Internet software before installing the Alice CD,   or will the two softwares recognise each other's boxes without conflicts.   I don't feel confident enough to install the Alice box just by going to the box's http page.

Thanks

[Danny]

Martin

sent you a pm

Danny

[Martin963]

Well this morning I decided to make the move,   and can confirm that it IS apparently possible to have two ADSL providers available on a single line,   although not using both simultaneously.   The installation of Alice went very smoothly and I am back on line,

EXCEPT

I cannot get my laptop to work via Wifi with the Alice box.   I've confirmed it's still OK with the Club Internet box (not now connected to the phone line but still able to act as a Wifi base).   For Club Internet there's a SSID starting with the word TECOM,  and I have to put a 26 character hex code into my Netgear USB wireless dongle menu in the box "WEP Create with Passphrase".   It then logs on and I get lots of green blobs on the signal strength.

Unfortunately the same doesn't work for Alice.   The Netgear dongle recognises there is a network (Alice-5ea6) and accepts the WEP code on the bottom of the Alice box,   but for some reason it doesn't do the trick,  and just keeps sniffing around through the RF channels without locking on to any of them.

Could the WEP code on the box be wrong?  

Problem is that the Netgear menu won't tell me what's wrong.....

[Danny]

Hi Martin,

Try this:

For me it is easiest to use the windows wifi set up rather than the any software the Netgear dongle uses.

On the PC already connected, open an IE7 window and type 192.168.1.1 in the address bar at the top. When the Alice login box comes up, type alice and alice as user name and password.
On the new page click on configuration WiFi, then click on configation WEP, and  you should see 4 WEP codes listed wep type (128 bit)

The default key is Number 1 - copy the key

I use notepad to edit the text. You must remove the colons between the groups of 2 numbers/letters

Go to network connections in right click on the icon on the bottom right of your screen, select view available wireless networks and select alice and click connect. You will then need to put the WEP key in twice and click connect or OK

You should then be connected!!

works for me. If you have a new alice box, it might be slightly different.

Good luck

Danny

[Martin963]

Hi Danny

Well normally I have great respect for the guy who set up my Netgear dongle,  but I bow - nay prostrate myself - before your superior knowledge and expertise!!

Worked a treat,   your entry into the darker regions of Alice proved that the label on the box was indeed correct as far as the WEP key was concerned,  and disabling the Netgear software allowed the Windows software to work first time.   And I know it wasn't finger trouble on my part as I used the same record of the WEP key that I had written in notepad to paste the info into the Windows software.

Many many thanks!!

[Martin963]

Well after my initial euphoria that it was working I've realised that it's not actually working "properly",  and in fact last night and this morning I can't get the laptop to log on to the Alice wireless network at all.

I've tried various things; 

With Windows in charge of Wifi (ie Netgear running but hobbled as described by Danny above)

Alice Wifi - worked but only bumpily (long periods when the internet "stalled".   Much slower  (our ADSL is normally 470 kbps,  this was running at 140 kbps max).   SSID automatically detected,  but now -  after a wait of several minutes while it tried to join - it says it can't join the network.

Club Internet Wifi (box powered but not plugged into the phone line) - network not detected (No SSID or signal on the relevant channel)

With Netgear in charge

Club Internet - working perfectly -  logs on by putting the 26 character key in the WEP "create with passphrase" box

Alice - the network is detected,   indeed briefly the signal blobs turn green and the MAC is displayed,  then within seconds it starts scanning again,  plodding through the channels.

I've never got the laptop to work with Alice using the Netgear software.

The first obvious thing I've tried is turning off the WEP security,  the Alice box is now "open" to the wide world,  and the laptop STILL won't join using either software system.

So either I've got a duff Alice box,  although that seems unlikely as the SSID is being transmitted and seen,   or there's a dodgy setting somewhere else.

Please help,  it's frustrating me!!    Wendy's very old computer (with an D Air card in) also won't log on,  but as it took ten goes each time with hers to get it to log onto Club Internet maybe that doesn't tell us much.   Again,  the network is "seen" loud and clear but it just won't bring itself to actually work.   We were going to replace her computer tomorrow as it takes 20 mins to turn on (Windows 2000 hanging on by a thread) but if we have a more fundamental problem with the network I'll hold off in the hope the £ recovers a bit!

[Martin963]

Well while I was distracted writing the last post the laptop (Netgear software in charge) has "settled" on Alice and - touch wood - is running like a train.    I'm just going to try the old cronk (the computer,  not Wendy) after the obligatory 20 minute warm up....

TBH I might well leave the security "off" if it's going to cause so much grief,  we're down a long drive and we'd probably spot the queue of cars with people inside tapping furiously on laptops.

But if anyone DOES have any ideas......

[Danny]

Martin,

There are so many possibilities, it might be easier, if you want, to give me a ring. I am in all day.

Danny

[Martin963]

Should I be pushing the REG button?   It doesn't say to do so in the Alice mode d'emploi but I wonder.....

[Danny]

Hi Martin,

Which version of alice box do you have? I dont see any harm in pressing the reg button but don't know what that will do either. It could be part of the security on the new alice box by Pirelli. I haven't got that one so I am not sure.

Danny

PS make sure the MAC address security is not operational at the same time as WEP

 

[Danny]

Just read this bit on that page:

Wi-Fi® Broadcom™

• Point d’accès WLAN 802.11g Broadcom™ intégré (compatible 802.11b – possibilité d’upgrader vers les technologies futures 802.11n)

• Sécurisation par encodage WPA ou WEP 128 bits

• Support du système d’appairage WPS, pour paramétrage simple et sécurisé des PC sans fils (qui doivent être compatibles avec cette norme) à l’aide du bouton « Reg. »

• Filtrage par adresse MAC

• Possibilité de sélection automatique du meilleur canal Wi-Fi®

so it seems the REG button is related but maybe not the problem

Danny