Free.fr questions and hopefully answers

[Mulsanne]

Hallo,

I have studied the free.fr website for hours, read previous posts and one thing is sure, it's not the easiest thing for a technophobe like me to understand.

Please can someone help me by confirming whether or not I have understood the set up as follows.

1. The house has had no phone for a few years so I phoned France Telecom and had it connected for phone only. It works.

2. When I enter my no in the dégrouptest website it says IP ADSL 512 is possible and on entering the tel no on the free.fr website it says

"Vous bénéficiez d'une des offres proposées ci dessous Freebox (adsl non dégroupé) 608 kbps"

and the choice is

Freebox non dégroupé
Vous conservez l'abonnement France Télécom

• En zone non dégroupée, débit jusqu'à 10 Mbit/s en réception et 1 Mbit/s en émission
• Service Téléphonie

OR

Freebox Only
Economisez l'abonnement France Télécom

• En zone non dégroupée, débit jusqu'à 10 Mbit/s en réception et
1 Mbit/s en émission
• Service Téléphonie
• Portabilité du numéro géographique incluse pour continuer à recevoir sur votre ligne Freebox les appels vers votre ancien numéro

-Am I correct in my understanding that if I go for the second option I will no longer have to pay any line rental or calls to France Telecom,

-and that I will receive a new telephone no from Free.fr?

-Will the telephone no have the regional code?

-I also understand that the Freebox will allow telephones routed through it to make unlimited calls free of charge (excluding certain no's) but what I am unclear about is what happens if a call is made from a phone which is not routed through the Freebox.

-Bearing in mind that I have not given the existing France Telecom no to anyone, is there any reason why it would be advantageous to keep the

FT line rental (I have no heating or alarms which use the telephone line)?

-Please can someone point out anything I have missed which lets me get the 29.99 package without having to keep using FT and allowing me the

international calls.

-On my current set up I connect two computers via a wifi connection which has another wifi connection "bridging off it" . I did not set this up so

may not have described it that well. This obviously connects to the socket using a uk phone socket. Will it work with the freebox by simply buying

a uk to french telephone adaptor and plugging my existing wifi kit into the Freebox?

Thanks in advance, sorry for such a long post.

Mulsanne

 

 

[ChezShells]

Hi

Freebox only - keep your FT line rental and calls, just getting the freebox for ADSL

Freebox non degroupe - all your calls with Free, doing away with FT, your existing phone will be charged by Free

 

in both cases you will use a phone connected to your freebox for free calls

the thing is, if you go the degroupe option and you have a problem with your line I suspect there might be problems getting someone to fix it- Free/FT

I take it you use a wifi router now, you will not be able to use this with your freebox, if your computers have wifi anyway then up to you wether you get a wifi freebox, I am using wifi without the wifi box but this is just between 2 computers, if you want to run more then go for the wifi freebox.

 

Just my experience so other may be able to give more info.

[Mulsanne]

Thanks Chezshells for the reply, it does however confuse me.

On the website it says "freebox only" means you "economisez l'abonnement FT" which I read to mean you stop the FT line rental.  It also says

that on Freebox non dédgroupé you keep the FT line. This contradicts what you say however.

I am fairly sure I need to go for the freebox only option, but am still unsure what this means:

Portabilité du numéro géographique incluse pour continuer à recevoir sur votre ligne Freebox les appels vers votre ancien numéro

So am I right in saying that on the freebox only option , you pay nowt to FT but still receive calls made to the FT number?

Also does anyone know what kind of new number I would receive; ie which area code?

Many thks 

 

[Dave&Olive]

hi

 ok I `ve just signed up with them and went for the  Freebox non dédgroupé , and just had a letter from F.T  saying they were disapointed that I was finnishing with them !!!! all our out going calls on the " F.T. " line are now charged by " free " you can view them on their web site , but I still donot know if I am still paying line rental to F.T. aswell as for the adsl to free ???

     the nos for your adsl line you pick this yourself from a drop down option when you sign up , ours is a 0954 nos.

  I think that 

Portabilité du numéro géographique incluse pour continuer à recevoir sur votre ligne Freebox les appels vers votre ancien numéro

  is if you are moving and want to keep your old no`s

 clear as mud to me too

                            dave

[Pommier]

We`ve just gone onto a similar offer with Neuf. We get broadband and all phonecalls free (except to mobile or non-geographic numbers). We won`t be paying line rental to FT but we`ve still kept the (previously FT) phone number.

I must say that the installation was really easy and trouble free - I was anxious as I`ve read lots of posts from people who have waited ages for their broadband to be activated.

Cheryl

[Gyn_Paul]

Now I'm thoroughly confused:

I though zones non-degroupe were exchanges where Free (et al) hadn't yet installed their kit, therefore you had to hang on to you FT 'local end' and therefore pay them for the line rental.

If this is not the case, what is actually the difference between zones degroupe nad zones non-degroupe ?

p

[ChezMoi]

I'm going through the same process to use Free.fr for telephone for a new place which we have just bought. With the 29.99 a month option, could anyone tell me, does the freebox also provide TV? I've read the site a few times and can't work out if it is included or not.

Thanks.

[Gyn_Paul]

[quote user="ChezMoi"]

I'm going through the same process to use Free.fr for telephone for a new place which we have just bought. With the 29.99 a month option, could anyone tell me, does the freebox also provide TV? I've read the site a few times and can't work out if it is included or not.

Thanks.

[/quote]

More importantly, is your connection fast enough ? Go to www.degrouptest.com and check your max download speed.  It will tell you on the results page if you can have TV or not.

p

[Dave&Olive]

hi

             ok they give you a scart lead and a remote with the kit, but have not tried to plug it in !!!!

                      dave

[ChezShells]

Just to add from my last post

It is possible to use a wifi modem (as well as a freebox) just for the wifi bit, setting up the DHCP / DNS settings
just isnt possible to use 2 ADSL modems both connected to the line

[Moorejw]

Sorry, not a reply, another question!

We have installed our FREE box and we are non-degroupe, as ADSL proper is not an option in this area we are on RE-ADSL (about 560 Kbs). It has all gone really well, but we are in a muddle with the telephones. We have one phone plugged into the back of the FREE box and one in a FREE filter in another phone socket. The one in the FREE box sends calls for free to France and the rest of Europe but all the incoming calls come in on the other phone and cannot be picked up by the phone in the back of the FREE box! (Are you still with me?) I can send faxes while talking on the phone and being online which is amazing, BUT any incoming faxes go onto the other phone and it doesn't go through to the computer.

Any suggestions??????

 

[Gyn_Paul]

[quote user="Moorejw"]

Sorry, not a reply, another question!

We have installed our FREE box and we are non-degroupe, as ADSL proper is not an option in this area we are on RE-ADSL (about 560 Kbs). It has all gone really well, but we are in a muddle with the telephones. We have one phone plugged into the back of the FREE box and one in a FREE filter in another phone socket. The one in the FREE box sends calls for free to France and the rest of Europe but all the incoming calls come in on the other phone and cannot be picked up by the phone in the back of the FREE box! (Are you still with me?) I can send faxes while talking on the phone and being online which is amazing, BUT any incoming faxes go onto the other phone and it doesn't go through to the computer.

Any suggestions??????

 

[/quote]

What's the question ???

(assuming it was, "how do I get faxes onto the PC?" ......)

The ADSL filter on the phone socket strips off and separates the ADSL

signal from the telephony part. So a fax will automatically go to the

original phone.

Have you tried getting faxes sent to your new FREE phone number and setting the PC to receive incoming faxes? (you would of course need to connect the pc's old modem card to the phone socket on the back of the FREE box)

If you put a phone doubler plug on the back of the FREE box you should be able to get faxes onto a fax machine there (with the 0872 80 **** number as the destination).

p

[richyrich]

Just about to sign up with free, and i'm just as confused about which offer, "freebox only", or "non degroupee." Really want to scap FTel, but would like to keep our phone number. Is this possible with free?  and which offer terminates Fr Tel.

thanks

[Gyn_Paul]

[quote user="richyrich"]

Just about to sign up with free, and i'm just as confused about which offer, "freebox only", or "non degroupee." Really want to scap FTel, but would like to keep our phone number. Is this possible with free?  and which offer terminates Fr Tel.

thanks

[/quote]

In order to free yourself from the shackles of FT, you need to be in a degroup area: ie. one where the ISP have their own equipment installed in your local exchange. Go to www.degrouptest.com and put your phone number in. it will tell you if you are fortunate enought to be in such an area or not.

p

[richyrich]

sadly non degroupee area, but the offers still appear with Neuf, club internet, and free, to take over the line rental from FT. I imagine they rent the line from FT, and you pay this within the 30 euro tarrif. Calls other than free internet calls, ie from landline, are then charged by free etc. do you think this is correct? still confused

[shimble]

just to put a spanner in the works we looked at free also but found that when investigating the consumer advice sites we found free neuf and alice had lots of bad press especially with country locations club internet seemed the best choice free telephone calls and adsl no line rental and tv if we want. if you tap www.quechoisir.org   you will find info on consumer reports for everything and they can also be contacted if you haveaproblemwith a productor service

[Danny]

[quote user="richyrich"]sadly non degroupee area, but the offers still appear with Neuf, club internet, and free, to take over the line rental from FT. I imagine they rent the line from FT, and you pay this within the 30 euro tarrif. Calls other than free internet calls, ie from landline, are then charged by free etc. do you think this is correct? still confused[/quote]

You are basically correct. it is not full degroupé( called adsl nu ) but you still can economise on the FT line rental and keep your old tel number(portabilité) so all your calls are through Free and charged by Free and don't work unless the telephone is plugged in to the modem. (I am 95% sure of the last bit there!)

Danny

[Gyn_Paul]

[quote user="richyrich"]sadly non degroupee area, but the offers still appear with Neuf, club internet, and free, to take over the line rental from FT. I imagine they rent the line from FT, and you pay this within the 30 euro tarrif. Calls other than free internet calls, ie from landline, are then charged by free etc. do you think this is correct? still confused[/quote]

 OK:

1)    If you sign up to Free, your landline calls (using your original FT phone number) are routed by FT to Free and charged by Free. these are cheaper than the FT basic tariff (largely) anyway so you're already a winner.

2)    With the Freebox installed, you have ADSL at whatever speed your line (and your contract) will allow. You can now use something like SKYPE for free internet calls using your computer.

3)    Additionally, if you go onto your page of the Free website, you can activate the socket on the back of the box (and pick a phone number for it). This allows you to plug in another phone directly into the system. This is the one which they advertise as providing free calls to a whole host of countries.

Depending on the speed of your connection (how far you are from the exchange etc), you may find the phone plugged into the Freebox gives you absolutely crystal-clear phonecalls, or something only a little better than SKYPE. The advantage over skype is that it has its own number (currently an 0872 number, but due to change shortly), and that it works independently of the computer, and doesn't require the PC to be turned on to make or receive calls.

There. Any help?

p

[richyrich]

Thankyou for the clarification. Finally feel confident about the process. Will sign up today, and see what happens. Initially in this topic, there seems to be some dispute about the following:

Freebox non dégroupé
Vous conservez l'abonnement France Télécom

• En zone non dégroupée, débit jusqu'à 10 Mbit/s en réception et 1 Mbit/s en émission
• Service Téléphonie

OR

Freebox Only
Economisez l'abonnement France Télécom

• En zone non dégroupée, débit jusqu'à 10 Mbit/s en réception et
1 Mbit/s en émission
• Service Téléphonie
• Portabilité du numéro géographique incluse pour continuer à recevoir sur votre ligne Freebox les appels vers votre ancien numéro

To me the phrase " Economisez l'abonnement france telecom" implies  no more FT line rental, so am going to go for Freebox only option. Hope this is correct, i will let you know.

[Gyn_Paul]

If you are in an area non-degroupee you probably won't be given the option to 'economisez l'abonnement FT' , but good luck anyway.

p

[Dave&Olive]

hi

 ok  freebox non degroupe . this means .  you still have to pay line rental to FT , free take over your calls on that line and bill you for them,

plus you get your free phone  and second phone nos for the free phone via the free box

 free box only is what it says , you keep FT and they bill you as norm for line rental and calls on that line , plus you get your second line via the free box

you can only do away with FT if you are in a degroupe area , you have not been offered this so hard luck you are the same as us

   dave

ps free  email is always very doddgy between 6pm and 9pm

[richyrich]

I agree with you in principle. "Free box" only implies just that. So why for that option does it say "economise on french telecom subscription for this option,      and for the "free box non degroupee"option it says conservez i.e keep your fr tel abonnement.

it does'nt make sense, it's almost as if they have mismatched the descriptions, and caused me hours of confusion in the process.  this is my sign up page:

 

 

Merci de lire attentivement les informations qui suivent avant de continuer votre procédure d'inscription L'offre Freebox vous permet de vous connecter à Internet de façon illimitée via les technologies ADSL. Pour vous inscrire, il suffit de remplir le formulaire en ligne, avec vos coordonnées postales et vos coordonnées bancaires, le paiement de l'offre se faisant par prélèvement bancaire. Vous avez le choix entre une inscription "on line" ou bien de procéder à une inscription par courrier. Une fois la validation de votre dossier effectuée par Free, la ligne ADSL sera commandée auprès de France Télécom et sera livrée dans un délai compris entre 10 jours* et un maximum de 3 semaines. Vous recevrez pendant ce temps, le boîtier Freebox qui vous permettra de vous raccorder au réseau ADSL. * Ce délai est donné à titre indicatif. Vous avez des questions sur l'inscription Cliquez ici
	Inscription de la ligne téléphonique 04xxxxxxxx Vous bénéficiez d'une des offres proposées ci dessous Freebox (adsl non dégroupé) Maximum

Freebox non dégroupé Vous conservez l'abonnement France Télécom • En zone non dégroupée, débit jusqu'à 10 Mbit/s en réception et 1 Mbit/s en émission • Service Téléphonie

Freebox Only Economisez l'abonnement France Télécom • En zone non dégroupée, débit jusqu'à 10 Mbit/s en réception et 1 Mbit/s en émission • Service Téléphonie • Portabilité du numéro géographique incluse pour continuer à recevoir sur votre ligne Freebox les appels vers votre ancien numéro

Attention! Pour vous inscrire, vous devez entrer vos informations personnelles. A la suite de la procédure de confirmation, un formulaire contenant vos informations personnelles sera automatiquement généré au format PDF. Si vous ne disposez pas du logiciel gratuit Acrobat Reader 5.0, ce logiciel est présent sur votre kit de connexion Free ou  téléchargeable par le web

[Danny]

[quote user="Gyn_Paul"][quote user="richyrich"]sadly non degroupee area, but the offers still appear with Neuf, club internet, and free, to take over the line rental from FT. I imagine they rent the line from FT, and you pay this within the 30 euro tarrif. Calls other than free internet calls, ie from landline, are then charged by free etc. do you think this is correct? still confused[/quote]
 OK:
1)    If you sign up to Free, your landline calls (using your original FT phone number) are routed by FT to Free and charged by Free. these are cheaper than the FT basic tariff (largely) anyway so you're already a winner.
2)    With the Freebox installed, you have ADSL at whatever speed your line (and your contract) will allow. You can now use something like SKYPE for free internet calls using your computer.
3)    Additionally, if you go onto your page of the Free website, you can activate the socket on the back of the box (and pick a phone number for it). This allows you to plug in another phone directly into the system. This is the one which they advertise as providing free calls to a whole host of countries.

Depending on the speed of your connection (how far you are from the exchange etc), you may find the phone plugged into the Freebox gives you absolutely crystal-clear phonecalls, or something only a little better than SKYPE. The advantage over skype is that it has its own number (currently an 0872 number, but due to change shortly), and that it works independently of the computer, and doesn't require the PC to be turned on to make or receive calls.

There. Any help?


p
[/quote]

Sorry Paul but I don't think that is quite right. The 'portabilite' part means that you as well as saving on the FT line rental, your present FT number is transferred to the Free line so your VOIP calls through the modem are to and from the same (old) number. Not the 0872 or other number. (Portabilité du numéro géographique incluse pour continuer à recevoir sur votre ligne Freebox les appels vers votre ancien numéro)

Danny

[Dave&Olive]

hi

   ok, you had same problem with it as i did !!! try this http://www.reverso.com/text_translation.asp

  but I know i am freebox non degroupe I pay €29.99 to free for the line and free calls on that line I can only get 608 Kbits

I also have to pay line rental to FT  ...but any calls on that line are billed to me by free..

my mate Lee is on freebox only he pays €29.99 to free for the line and free calls on that line  and get 2 Mbits

but he also pays FT for his line rental and phone calls on that line.

   the download option is determined by your distance from the nearest exchange you must be very close lucky sod !!!

 you do know that you will end up with 2 phone nos ?? your original FT number and one you can pick your self for the free box .

 Portabilité du numéro géographique incluse pour continuer à recevoir sur votre ligne Freebox les appels vers votre ancien numéro

think this is if you are moving and want to keep your old phone number

 hope this helps

          dave

[Gyn_Paul]

Richyrich,

The internet page makes perfect sense if you accept the fact that the right-hand panel has a misprint and should read 'zone degroupee'

p