That Livebox again...

[Christine Animal]

I have just managed to get on to ADSL with Wanadoo with a little modem they sent.  Now I see that with the Livebox (3€ per month) you can get television numérique (7€ per month).  Before getting in a big mess by ordering it, do any of you watch TV this way?

Do you know how you actually connect the Livebox to the TV?  They mention a décodeur, is that the same décodeur as the one you can buy to get the numérique channels?

I'm a bit lost   [:(]

For anyone speaking French, this looks like a useful site about ADSL and Internet :

http://www.echosdunet.net/welcome/index.php

 

[Christine Animal]

The décodeur must be the Liveplug   http://www.francetelecom.com/fr/votre_region/centre/actualite/grandpublic/liveservices.html  No, that's still not right, you have to connect the décodeur to the Liveplug.

But it doesn't look as if you can get MaLigneTV out in the sticks anyway, so please ignore my request...

                                                              

 

[PossumGirl]

I've actually thought of doing it, but we haven't had our antenna connected to our television for French TV in about 7 months and haven't missed it all that much. We mostly watch the British channels or DVDs, so I couldn't see even trying to spend the extra money.  I figured I'd wait until the TNT signal is available here and then just do it that way, which seems the best option for us.

PG

[TWINKLE]

We have Livebox (which I would like to smash against a wall daily, and then jump up and down on it!)  and we live in the sticks, and if you don't have at least 6 mega you can't get the T.V.

 

[WJT]

We just signed up to ADSL and when we arrived the Livebox was waiting for us. My husband must work from the house here and we could not get it to work and because the line was changed over the regular dial up wouldn't work either [:'(], so my husband was panicking. I tried for two days solid and on and off the phone to Wanadoo with no luck. Took it down to the local FT office and returned it for the ordinary small "Sagem" modem. Bingo worked straight away.

I don't know why I was unable to get online but have heard that others also have had problems with the Livebox.

[Deimos]

Liveboxes do not have a good reputation for reliability.  However, they are quite expensive and with Wanadoo pushing the 3€ per month, they generate revenue for life (for Wanadoo).  If people really do want a Livebox, check how much Wanadoo charge for an outright purchase.  Last autumn/Christmas they were being sold (by Wanadoo) outright purchase for 45€ TTC (which is only 15 months rental but you own it, etc.)

 

Ian

[WJT]

I ordered the ADSL from France Telecom from the UK. I asked for just a simple modem and they said that was 3 euro a month.  I was surprised to see it was the Livebox when we arrived.  When I asked, when I was having problems if this was the cheapest option because I didn't need all of the extras, I was told yes [:@].  It was only when I went into an FT office that I learned differently.

[Christine Animal]

Twinkle, they say on the link below you can get the TV with 1 méga, I know you can get the Livebox out in the sticks, it's the TV I mean.  But on their site when I fill in our phone number to see if we can get the TV, it jumps back to the previous page without answering.  Maybe they are trying to hire out their Liveboxes when you don't really need them   [8-)]

http://www.wanadoo.fr/bin/frame2.cgi?u=http%3A//abonnez-vous.wanadoo.fr/index.php%3Fdams%3Dpromo_web%26_ph%3D2

Yes, WJT, I'm glad I just got the litle modem for €1, it works.  But Twinkle, what do you use the Livebox for, I mean more than the little modem?

 

[Deimos]

IMHO Wanadoo are actually totally disreputable in the way they push their Livebox.  Last Dec I was told I could upgrade my 1Mb to 8Mb for no cost, no problems.  It immediately stopped working and took a month to get FT to downgrade it back to 1MB that worked fine.  Wanadoo were insisting that if I had a Livebox then it would all work at 8MB no-problems.  Eventually I Wanadoo technical admitted this claim was total rubbish and there was special about the Livebox ADSL support/capabilities.

Wanadoo.fr are doing low cost ADSL modems when you take out an ADSL subscription with them.  They are outright purchase offers but they are difficult to find and Wanadoo push the Livebox.  What they really want is for you to keep paying 3€ per month for ever (excellent money over time if you can find people who will pay it).  I think many people would be better of buying one outright (cheaper) – but that’s not in Wanadoo’s interest so they tend not to tell you about it.

 

If you want more than one computer to share the line get an eithernet ADSL modem (30€ currently outright purchase from Wanadoo).  If you wand WiFi as well, get the Ethernet ADSL modem (30€) and purchase a WiFi Access Point from any old computer shop.  Cheaper and will probably work better.

 

Ian

[Christine Animal]

For anyone who is still interested in a Livebox   [:-))]  or already has one, here's a link about the Télévision Numérique with it, but also under

Bien Comprendre Votre Livebox

they tell you how to set it up on your computer, etc. (in French).

http://www.wanadoo.fr/bin/frame.cgi?url=http%3A//assistance.wanadoo.fr/1191.php

 

[Jonzjob]

We have had Livebox since last November and we are only on our 2nd one! When the first failed I found out that the W/doo help desk is based in N Africa. They were quite helpful and we took the dead one back to FT and they changed it, after first telling us that it was OK? It has worked well up to now, but we started to get trouble getting online. I have just removed W/doo form the PC and reloaded it, it took about 5 minutes. Part of the reload was to install the W/doo 'Kit'. I declined this option and we are now in the position that I have been trying to find since we had the Livebox. I have been trying to get rid of the W/doo logo from the top right corner of the screen where the Microsoft logo normally sits. The Microsoft logo is now back. This should also get rid of the incredibly annoying W/doo window appearing at boot-up telling me to be patient for several minutes![:-))].

Our reason for the Livebox was to enable us to have our laptop with a wifi connection so that we can sit on the terrace and use it online. Works well too. I don't mind the 'rent' too much especially if it means that we will be able to upgrade the box as new kit appears. But I didn't know you could buy outright for that price (45€)

John.

P.S. Nearly forgot. If you want the instructions in English then have a look at the www.wanadoo.co.uk . Somewhere in there are the instructions, but I can't remember where. Have a look at their 'help and tech support'... Good luck.