Free.fr WIFI

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Jenny Rhodes
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Free.fr WIFI

Post by Jenny Rhodes »

Hello all of you techies.

Just wondering if any of you have or have solved our wifi problem with Free.

We have configured our Freebox so that other users can use their devices through wifi but every time anyone logs in, our PC (attached to the Freebox) slows to a halt, so much that it is un-usable. Secondly the wifi signal does not seem to be very strong and cannot be received in another part of the house although I suspect that this may be due to the thick walls.

Any advice would be gratefully received.
Mountain Mama
martyn94
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Re: Free.fr WIFI

Post by martyn94 »

Jenny Rhodes wrote:Hello all of you techies.

Just wondering if any of you have or have solved our wifi problem with Free.

We have configured our Freebox so that other users can use their devices through wifi but every time anyone logs in, our PC (attached to the Freebox) slows to a halt, so much that it is un-usable. Secondly the wifi signal does not seem to be very strong and cannot be received in another part of the house although I suspect that this may be due to the thick walls.

Any advice would be gratefully received.
As regards the thick walls, there are things you can do about it for 20-30€ if you ask again.

As for the effect on your PC, you may not know that your Freebox puts out two wifi signals. The first connects to your home network (and I guess is the one you have been using) so that connections to it compete for bandwidth with your PC and could slow it down in the way you have experienced. The second one is a guest network (called "free wifi") which is in principle subordinated to your home network, which might help with your problem. To connect to it, you need a username and password: more details are here - http://www.free.fr/adsl/pages/internet/ ... iFree.html

Incidentally, the same username and password allow you to connect to the Internet through anyone else's freebox. This can be very useful f you are out and about with anything equipped with wifi: you should find a free wifi "hotspot" in most urban settings if you walk up and down a few yards.
Jenny Rhodes
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Post by Jenny Rhodes »

Hi Martin
Thanks for that.

Perhaps I had not realised that if just one person had wifi on their iphone, our pc would slow to the extent that we could not use it. It seems to nullify the point of wifi.
Unfortunately you are talking to the least knowledgeable person on the planet regarding computers and this is why I am asking for help.
Is there a simple way of boosting the wifi signal?
Many thanks for your reply.
Allan
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Re: Free.fr WIFI

Post by Allan »

Jenny Rhodes wrote:Hello all of you techies.

Just wondering if any of you have or have solved our wifi problem with Free.

We have configured our Freebox so that other users can use their devices through wifi but every time anyone logs in, our PC (attached to the Freebox) slows to a halt, so much that it is un-usable. Secondly the wifi signal does not seem to be very strong and cannot be received in another part of the house although I suspect that this may be due to the thick walls.

Any advice would be gratefully received.
Jenny,

A good place to start, is to unplug the Freeboxes and computer s from the mains and then plug them back in and restart them.

Before you start looking at the effect of Wifi, make sure your bandwidth is sufficient to support more that one user.

On your PC go to http://www.speedtest.net/ and click the Begin test button, that should then tell you what your connection speed is, if it is very low then you need to speak to Free.

If the speed is Ok then you may have an IP address conflict, you don't say what the other devices are so I can't tell you how to check, stick a post on here or send me a PM.

You might also try unplugging the TV box and seeing if that is interfering with it.

I am not sure what you mean by logging in to the router, do you just mean connecting to the Wi-Fi? If so, that in itself should have minimal effect on the speed of another device.

The second network that Martyn refers to is intentionally throttled. Most of the providers are doing this lately, they pinch a bit of your bandwidth to offer as a public connection and in return you can use a bit of every other Free users bandwidth when you are out and about.

You shouldn't have to use a deliberately slow Wi-Fi system in order to use a wired system, so the problem lies elsewhere.

To get around the thick walls problem, there are a number of solutions. There are a lot of 'range extenders' on the market but in my experience they don't work very well. The simplest solution is to use power-line adapters which use your home electrical wiring to carry the signal around.

Free actually use this system to connect their TV box to the main router. I believe they sell additional adapters that can connect to the one built into the router but you can buy many sorts on the open market.
martyn94
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Re: Free.fr WIFI

Post by martyn94 »

Allan wrote:[quote="Jenny

To get around the thick walls problem, there are a number of solutions. There are a lot of 'range extenders' on the market but in my experience they don't work very well. The simplest solution is to use power-line adapters which use your home electrical wiring to carry the signal around.

Free actually use this system to connect their TV box to the main router. I believe they sell additional adapters that can connect to the one built into the router but you can buy many sorts on the open market.
Power-line adapters (CPL in French) are fine if you want a wired connection at the other end. It is marginally more complicated if you want a wifi signal in parts where the freebox wifi signal does not reach. In that case, you need a CPL terminal which pushes out a wifi signal: you just plug it into an electrical socket anywhere that your existing wifi signal is too feeble: eg like this

http://www.amazon.fr/TP-LINK-TL-WPA2220 ... pl200+wifi

You don't strictly need both bits but it is the cheapest I found.

Ideally you set it up so that it is "seen" by devices using it as the same network as the one coming from the main freebox. This isn't too difficult if you read the instructions carefully, but if you run into probs, ask again.
Jenny Rhodes
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Powerline Adapters

Post by Jenny Rhodes »

How do these work with French electrics as i thought that the adapters had to be on the same circuit as in a UK ring main system. I have bought a TP LINK TL-WPA4220T Kit but reading all of the blurb I am now not convinced that it will work on my French electrics.
Any thoughts or anyone used this system.
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Re: Powerline Adapters

Post by Allan »

Jenny Rhodes wrote:How do these work with French electrics as i thought that the adapters had to be on the same circuit as in a UK ring main system. I have bought a TP LINK TL-WPA4220T Kit but reading all of the blurb I am now not convinced that it will work on my French electrics.
Any thoughts or anyone used this system.
They work fine on French electrics, better in fact than on UK ring mains.
The restriction is that they must all be on the same supply, so the sockets must be connected to the same meter. If you have a 3 phase supply (unlikely) then they must be on the same phase. Don't plug them into multi-way adapters if you can help it.

Theoretically they should be compatible with the Freeplugs that you already have but I am not sure you have any option to configure the Freeplug - hence my suggestion of talking to Free before buying anything.

You will almost certainly need to plug one unit into the Freebox and the other in the location where you are wanting to extend your network.

I don't know the TL-WPA4220T specifically but generally TP-Link products are configurable for different countries, I always set them up for the United States rather than France as the Wi-Fi signal is then 5 times stronger.

Did you resolve your issue of the slow PC when you connected a device via Wi-Fi? - You didn't respond to the questions.
Jenny Rhodes
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Powerline Adapters

Post by Jenny Rhodes »

Hi Alan.
Thanks for that.
We only have one central meter for the whole of our house and barn but each floor has its own fuse box and I am not sure if the adapters will work on this type of circuit.
Regarding our wifi speed, for some reason the ethernet connection to the pc failed and despite trying a new cable it still refuses to work so we have connected the Freebox via wifi and since this, we seem to be able to use the pc when someone else in on wifi. Bizare and i don't understand it.
We have been able to get a good wifi signal in our attic, two floors up but not in the barn and i presume that it is the thick granite walls hench my idea of these Powerline adapters.
Not sure if this extra info give you a better idea of my problem or not but me being an old, not techie person does not help me much.
Mountain Mama
Allan
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Re: Powerline Adapters

Post by Allan »

Jenny Rhodes wrote:Hi Alan.
Thanks for that.
We only have one central meter for the whole of our house and barn but each floor has its own fuse box and I am not sure if the adapters will work on this type of circuit.
Regarding our wifi speed, for some reason the ethernet connection to the pc failed and despite trying a new cable it still refuses to work so we have connected the Freebox via wifi and since this, we seem to be able to use the pc when someone else in on wifi. Bizare and i don't understand it.
We have been able to get a good wifi signal in our attic, two floors up but not in the barn and i presume that it is the thick granite walls hench my idea of these Powerline adapters.
Not sure if this extra info give you a better idea of my problem or not but me being an old, not techie person does not help me much.
Jenny

Power-line adapters will work across fuse boxes, the more junctions you have the less the throughput but the chances are that even running at a 10th of full speed it will still be faster than your internet.

Plug them in and try them.

If your PC has now stopped working on Ethernet then you probably have a fixed iP address on it that is conflicting with something else that would also explain your slow speed problem.

One small thing to worry about is that power-line adapters plug into the Ethernet sockets so if there is a problem there then it might cause difficulties.

Are you using Free for television? Their TV receiving box works using their own Power-Line adapters
Jenny Rhodes
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Free wifi

Post by Jenny Rhodes »

Alan/Martyn many thanks for your advice. I managed to get the TP Link plugs to work despite my concerns. Just shows how much I know!

Clients are happy and that is great - many thanks.

Mike
martyn94
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Re: Free wifi

Post by martyn94 »

Jenny Rhodes wrote:Alan/Martyn many thanks for your advice. I managed to get the TP Link plugs to work despite my concerns. Just shows how much I know!

Clients are happy and that is great - many thanks.

Mike
If you are ever really bored, you may (or may not) be able to simplify/complicate your set-up and liberate a bit of kit for use elsewhere.

As Allan has said, Free already uses CPL to connect their "server" box to their "tv" box ( the power brick attached to them also pushes out/picks up an Ethernet signal). Which means that you can get Ethernet connection to your Freebox at any other power point by using a compatible CPL terminal, and push out wifi from that if your terminal can do that.

The only issue is that Freeboxes use not-quite-the-latest CPL standard (CPL200), which is why I recommended the slightly-out-of-date kit in my earlier post (but was too lazy to explain why).

You have bought kit which works on CPL500. I don't know whether they are "backward-compatible", but if they are (Google is your friend) you could run your wifi terminal directly from your Freebox, and release your other bit to give you an Ethernet connection plugged in somewhere else.

Or you might just leave well enough alone, if you want to stay sane.
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