Internet connection advise please

[Kate]

received by email

Would you be kind enough to advise us on a proposed internet connection to our house in St Genis des Fontaines?

The previous owners had telephone connection (not sure if broadband included). There is a line to the house. We would like broadband only (without landline telephone). Do you know if anyone provides this service please?

We travel between UK and France quite regularly and would like to use our computer (i-pad) from St Genis.

Many thanks.

[Allan]

received by email

Would you be kind enough to advise us on a proposed internet connection to our house in St Genis des Fontaines?

The previous owners had telephone connection (not sure if broadband included). There is a line to the house. We would like broadband only (without landline telephone). Do you know if anyone provides this service please?

We travel between UK and France quite regularly and would like to use our computer (i-pad) from St Genis.

Many thanks.

Pretty well all the major providers offer this option, if you know the last owners phone number then go to the various websites :- Orange, Sfr! Free and aliceadsl. Enter the phone number in the box provided and they will tell you what is available

[Sav]

This might be of interest
http://www.toowaydirect.com/

Cheers Sav

[blackduff]

Sav
This will take a fortune to surf the internet on this system. I think that "Thumbs" had a system similar. It's measured by the download and upload amounts and you can pay a lot of money.

It's funny since another person told me about this today. He's living in Orleans and he uses Free but he thinks it's worth checking.

Blackduff

[lynda]

received by email

Would you be kind enough to advise us on a proposed internet connection to our house in St Genis des Fontaines?

The previous owners had telephone connection (not sure if broadband included). There is a line to the house. We would like broadband only (without landline telephone). Do you know if anyone provides this service please?

We travel between UK and France quite regularly and would like to use our computer (i-pad) from St Genis.

Many thanks.

[lynda]

Sorry - I missed the last link ! We are going over to Phone ex PAt ,s system with no landline but with broadband and telephone over the Internet at 30 something euros a month on our return to Le Boulou in September but as yet haven,t put it all together - still in its box at present . Lyndyloo

[rhys]

I have not heard of broadband withOUT a landline before .

How do the signals reach your house, if not via the telephone 'landline' ?

Is it some kind of radio connection ?

[Allan]

I have not heard of broadband withOUT a landline before .

How do the signals reach your house, if not via the telephone 'landline' ?

Is it some kind of radio connection ?

There are lots of broadband connections that don't use phone lines, such as radio, satellite, microwave, fibre etc.

In this case it is uses the same wiring infrastructure as phone lines, there is just no telephone service on that line.

In general phone lines can be simultaneously used for broadband and phone services, in this case the line is used only for broadband and has no phone on the end of it.

Instead an iP phone is connected to the router, this allows phone calls to me made and received using only the internet and not the telephony network.

So really you do have a phone line, you just can't use it for normal telephony.


The advantage is it is cheap, the downsides are that it won't work if you have a power failure and the quality of phone calls is subject to the vagaries of the internet.

[rhys]

So the salient point is : it does, in fact, as I suspected, require there to be
a 'phone line in place.

For there to BE a 'phone line in place - does that not require there to be a
contract with France Telecom / Orange ?? How much does that cost ?


if there is NO contract with Fr. Tel / Orange - what happens in the event of the 'phone cable in the street being cut by lightning / a lorry knocking the pole?

Why would Fr. Tel repair a cable in such circs if they are not party to a contract with the person receiving internet connection without 'phone line ?

[Allan]

So the salient point is : it does, in fact, as I suspected, require there to be
a 'phone line in place.

For there to BE a 'phone line in place - does that not require there to be a
contract with France Telecom / Orange ?? How much does that cost ?


if there is NO contract with Fr. Tel / Orange - what happens in the event of the 'phone cable in the street being cut by lightning / a lorry knocking the pole?

Why would Fr. Tel repair a cable in such circs if they are not party to a contract with the person receiving internet connection without 'phone line ?

First of all I don't know for sure what the regulations are in France but in other countries there are similar situations.

France Telecom and British Telecom have effective monopolies on the copper wire networks that connect homes and businesses . Generally such monopolies are forced by law to allow other organisations access to their networks, otherwise competition could never exist.

Those companies will pay for the use of that copper network but France Telecom and British Telecom will have the maintenance responsibility.

It isn't strictly a phone line, it is just a piece of wire, there is no telephony equipment at either end.

You might be interested to know that the copper wires that bring electricity to houses are also used in some parts of the world to provide broadband.

[lynda]

we are getting the Phone Ex pat VOIP BOX service but it isn't cheap to install. We are having the Super fast broadband up to 20 megabytes and a safety line option so that when the internet line is down you can still use the telephone . We will save 38% of the France telecom line rental but have FT technicians ( for what they are worth !! ) when needed . The total cost is £33.95 per month plus the extra £9.95 for the safety line. It seems the cheapest option for us when we are not in the house for several months of the year. Can anyone better that ? We also need to deal with an English speaking person on the end of the line as our FRench is not that good . Lynda

[rhys]

Before you sign you might well like to compare that deal with a France Telecom [ or is it now 'Orange' ?? - is that a 'Consignia' type rebranding they will have to go back on at some point ?? ] package of telephone line plus internet [ with whatever amount of speed / quantity of download etc suits you ].

You need to inquire about the contract which is specific to 'Re'sidence Secondaire' [ unless they have stopped this system - my info is a few years
out of date.]

When I was near enough to a telegraph pole to be able to have a FrTel landline they had an option which allows you to pay rental for - eg - six months of the year, with the line being 'suspendue' during the winter months you are not there. During the suspension you paid nothing, at least for the tel line, I can't remember whether that was the case also for the internet payments - i think it was - but obv. you would need to ask [ and please report back on your findings ! ].

When I was told about this by French neighbours I was convinced that FR Tel would not be prepared to consider my UK line as my main line - ie I thought they wd require you to have a 'main line' somewhere else in France - but no - they were quite happy with the idea that my main line was in UK.

And they do have an English speaking helpline. I always found the people there very helpful - once I got through, which often took some time. Googling the phrase ' France Tel English helpline ' brings up the number.

[Sue]

The number I have is 0033(0)969363900
Option 1

[pfrancis]

Almost 44 euro per month sounds very expensive.

SFR offer calls and high speed broadband for 27 euro per month and 16 per month just for internet but no telephony. They charge 37.90/month for internet, unlimited calls to fixed and mobile and they include TV, only french speaking.

Personally very pleased with SFR, reliability has been 100%. They may offer some sort of expat deal but best bet is to call them or visit their store in Perpignan?

With SFR or Orange you have no need for safety lines as the line works even with a power outage.

Hope this helps, I think you can do much better than nearly 44 per month with either SFR or FT/Orange.

Paul.

[russell]

SFR offer calls and high speed broadband for 27 euro per month and 16 per month just for internet but no telephony. They charge 37.90/month for internet, unlimited calls to fixed and mobile and they include TV, only french speaking.

Yes, we use SFR and pay 37.73/month which includes a mobile phone contract but no TV.

With SFR or Orange you have no need for safety lines as the line works even with a power outage.

Not quite true. The telephone connects to the router (Neufbox) which is mains operated so, although the line works you have no telephone service unless you have a UPS to provide backup power. I find a mobile is adequate in the event of a power failure.

SFR pay France telecom for the use of their copper wire (degroupage). If the line is faulty you contact SFR. They have the contract with FT and will contact them to get it fixed.

Alan,
BT no longer have the monopoly for the copper wire to the home in the UK. The cable TV companies also have the right to wire up the "local loop".

Russell.

[lynda]

I think we may not need th line then which would mak it 33euros a month. Phone. Xpat say that if w find. Cheape deal they will honour I so I will contact them now about SFR THanks LYnda

[rhys]

and the re'sidence secondaire - if you get 6 months 'suspendue' that's a big saving.