Orange broadband with different router

Hi All


Has anyone any experience in configuring a different router to connect to Orange and adding a PAP2T device to get the VOIP telephone connection. I am fed up with the Livebox 'dropping' internet connection whilst still appearing to be active (all lights green)


Cheers


Peter JT

- and there aren't too many adsl sniffers about .... As for the requisite technical skills, those kind of people mainly work for the Telcos and probably make sure that their home adsl works properly!

The key, therefore, is to get to the bottom of why the connection is dropping, rather than mess with the VOIP. (Although the discussion I referenced talks about SIP, there are other protocols, such as SCCP. I wouldn't even be sure that Orange actually uses SIP.)

As someone who suffers from dropped connections and regular lack of synchronisation, and knows that the FEC values are too high on the line to the house (thanks to previous visits by telco engineers for my business line), I would probably come to the same conclusion.

Peter,

That link to the forum discussion indicates that Orange does not give out the SIP proxy or ID/pwd settings, so at present it isn't possible to bypass the Orange router and use a separate router for VOIP (shame really, as I would be interested in using an OpenWRT solution).

I imagine that the only way to obtain those settings would be to sniff the VC SIP packets and then attempt to unencrypt the pwd/id and proxy data, which might give Orange cause to cancel your contract...(starts reading contract...)

There's an interesting discussion about this topic at this link (in french). Personally, I think you might be better (a) to find out whether there is a Livebox setting that can be changed; or (b) move to a different provider (when you can get out of the Orange contract).

Let's start with option (a): There may still be an option in the Livebox settings to keep a connection permanently up or drop it after (say) 15 mins. of inactivity. If this option is still there, try changing it to the other way round. (This option was around before the bl**dy Liveboxes came onto the scene. The early versions of those were a complete heap of ordure but the modern ones are better, though the early versions were so bad that almost a pile of wet string would have been an improvement! You should be able to get some help by queuing up in your local Orange office or by asking Orange's English help-line (09 69 36 39 00, I believe). Unless you're very technically capable, I'd avoid even thinking about a non-Orange VOIP route. Telcos, such as Orange, typically set up the lines to users so that there are separate 'virtual circuits' (VCs) for voice, data, & TV, setting appropriate priorities for the different functions. Unless you're able to make use of the VCs in the way that Orange does, you will not get the prioritization that voice traffic needs nor will you get the free calls that you're already paying for. Sure, a PAP2T device would give you VOIP capability, but no-one said that it would give you decent sound quality. For that, other issues, including network prioritization, come into play.

Another possibility, noting that you have said elsewhere that you have a very fast connection, might be to see if you can opt for a slower but more stable speed. This is an option available in SFR boxes, but I don't know if or how it could be done in a Livebox.

Option (b): For many years, until I got a fibre connection, I got pretty good service from a SFR/Neufbox. People I support still have them and they work solidly 99.9% of the time. Other people I know have Free boxes and quite a few have Liveboxes. The latter don't appear to have your problem, which is why I'm thinking that you might just need to configure it differently. Nevertheless, you should certainly be considering alternative suppliers if you can't get this resolved.