Satellite Internet, Phone, TV

Always makes sense to unplug desktops and routers if you get a warning that a storm is coming, but I also have surge protectors. Also (Not a lot of people know this!) you should earth your telephone connection. Where the phone wire arrives, there is a Telecom box on the outside of the house. Inside this box is an earth terminal, but they leave it to the owner to connect it to an appropriate earth. Even non-techies should've able to do that.

Free's package at that point meant you paid for the router over 2 years after which it became yours.

For the non-techies out there, renting the router means you have no set-up problems as the connection and VOIP system are configured automatically and in case you forget to unplug it during a storm, the ISP replaces it in case of lightning damage.

Agreed. Ensure that the router includes an asdl modem. The router does need to be configured and this can be done through your browser ( operating system independant) (the manual will provide the ip address - typically http://192.168.1.1, and if set, the factory set password ) Configuration enables you to enhance the security, for instance "hiding" the router from the outside world, specifying only the machines you want to attach.

WiFi routers are usually backwards compatible. Searching for "adsl router" on ebay will give you a starter for 10

It makes no sense to rent a router. You can buy a good quality router for less than 2 years rental. It will work with any service provider. I have had mine for 5 years without any problems. Would you rent a computer?

I started with Free as they were the first to offer free international calls/ Got off to a shaky start as first router was faulty and it cost over 40€ in calls to their tech support before it was resolved. After that I stayed with them for 2/3 years until there was a line fault and I got caught in the middle whislt Free and FT blamed each other. I then switched to FT/Orange and immediately my connection speed improved by 50%. Am very happy with Orange.

There is a site where you can test what connection speed you can get and which operators are available to you http://www.degrouptest.com/ It will help if you know the old telephone number or that of a close neighbour.

Hi John, Roger

2 way satellite internet is provided by Tooway using Eutelsat satellites and SES using SES-Astra satellites.Download speeds of up to 22Mbps are available and there are many suppliers...Nordnet.com is one French supplier which supplies both systems..also Viveole. In my rural location in the Lot I have been using satellite internet for many years, currently using Tooway...Sat systems have a latency ie delay because the satellites are so far away, which can be problematic for some applications eg Skype.. You have to buy or rent the equipment but it can be easily installed by the average DIYer.

sat TV reception from some satellites is possible using the same dish, but for UK sat TV reception from Astra at 28.2E a separate,larger dish would normally be required unless you are in the north of France. Hope this helps...

Yes you can upload, that's how reporters send news from remote locations. But, at present, satellite is slower, more expensive and less convenient than a good quality landline or cable connection. So for most users, it should be regarded as a last resort when nothing else will serve.

Understand that you can download through satellite, but do you still need a landline to upload?

Satellite is an option if you do not have cable or an adequate telephone line. A key factor is the length of the line between your house and the telephone exchange and if a fast connection is important to you, it is worth thinking about that when buying property. But you could also get internet via a mobile connection, so you might want to check if there is a strong signal from any of the mobile operators. But technology is changing fast. Remember how we all used to have dial-up modems in our desktops? So there is a good chance that an even better service will be available before too long.

Our landline is too slow for streaming video, so we get Internet and phone from SFR, who have the cheapest offer if you can't get TV. We have found them reliable. We get our TV from satellite, using a Sky minidish and Digibox. Less visually obtrusive than the big white French dishes and obtainable for a song at any good UK boot sale.

I didn't realise you could get broadband with satellite I thought it was only tv available unless you connect your box to the phone line as one would do in the UK to get the internet. Although II'm a subscriptor to Sky I can't access Skygo even in the UK with an Android and certainly not BBC iplayer, what satellite service do you have ? My phone and internet dervice provider is Orange, normally don't have too many problems although Skype connections can be a tad dodgy sometimes.

Thanks Helen, I'll check Free out. I guess my priority is to check the 'line speed' where we will be living.

For our mobiles we currently use Toggle-Sim. They are PAYG with a French number & we also keep our UK numbers so kids can call us for free within their call allowance. Only snag is I can't call local-rate land line numbers-their system thinks they are premium-rate numbers that are barred.

Sorry to hear about your hassle from Orange.

All the best,

Roger

ever had a problem with free - best debit for internet and mobile signals, always been helpful when we've phoned, last time they even suggested to go over to options on our contract and take off what wasn't needed (like free calls to magreb) saved us about a fiver. Currently have tv,internet, fixed line and the very basic 2€ mobile contract for 35€ p/month

Orange on the otherhand them that I was no longerre horrendous and frankly sneaky b****ds, a couple of years ago my meighbours left france and I was hrlping them by dealing with letters etc after they left. A dispute with Orange, I sent tons of paperwork, it was never enough - threats of hussiers coming to my home insued. I sent a letter saying that I was not anything more than a nrighbour helping and that they were to no longer address mail to my address (they did have a c/o address in the UK, the neighbours daughter)

All good until about 6 months later when 'a lady from La Poste sorting office' phoned my landline asking for a forwarding address as there was a lot of mail for the neighbours. Well officially the neighbours post was never redirected to me (the postman knew me and would just drop anything addressed to them in to me) so it already ringed alarm bells. It was actually Orange LYING and trying to get me to give another address for them (despite already having the daughter's address)

Thanks Margaret, I'll email you.

Roger

Thanks Peter, I'll do that.

Roger

Thanks Michael. We are in 33540 & the house is currently empty, does have a telephone line to the property but no phone handset not surprisingly.

At home in UK (August 2014) we had BT Infinity 2 fibre-optic broadband that was pretty fast until all the local kids came home from school. As a Dr of Psychotherapy Practice I offered Skype & other online psychotherapy that worked well with only the odd freeze!

Since we've been in the Hymer mobile broadband with 3 & others has been expensive & slow. Hence my question. No idea what we'll find when we get the keys! I am sort of expecting the worst & I want to be for armed.

Roger

France Telecom wanted ridiculous money to dig just 5 metres for a connection and the mobile signal is so so, so I took the plunge and bought satellite internet about a year ago.

I get 20gig per month for £30, 40gig for £40. Download speed is good, especially at night when I get around 5mb. I live in a deep valley and sometimes when the weather is bad the signal degrades but otherwise it has proven reliable. Its rubbish for voice conversations on Skype because of the satellite delay, but good for downloading movies.

The really big plus is that you get a UK IP address, so stuff like BBC Iplayer and Skygo are no problem.

Feel free to message me if you want more details.

We have installed dozens of Satellite broadband systems in homes in south west France, where the land line service is inadequate, for the largest provider in Europe, if you are interested in this I can introduce you to them. If you provide me with your email address I will get them to contact you; there will be no commitment on your part, until you are happy with their offer.

Brian

C & B Broadband Satetllite

c.bbsat@yahoo.com

Hi

We use Orange for everything save Sky (we could use Freesat but choose not to). Live out in the country and now have broadband with an excellent service. We kept our phone line, costs extra, but we have back up in case the LiveBox fails.

They also have an excellent English help line who seemingly can get things done as and when necessary.

I have no experience of satellite but I am led to believe the moment you try and do anything serious it becomes expensive. You can go into your local Orange shop and they can tell you if you can have broadband and at what speed and maybe if no b/band when it might be available.

We are in 33580 and have had landline broadband since we moved in in 2010.

We started with Free on advice form a friend lining further south. It was OK at first but we had frequent drop-outs and the link was quite slow. Support was abysmal. Last year we changed to Orange which is much better and about the same price for phone and broadband. Unless you pay extra to keep the France Telecom service you are dependant on the modem for your phone service with no back up for emergencies if it goes down. Mobile reception in our village is awful so its not a reliable back up from the house. That said we haven't had a failure yet. I run the modem and It off an UPS which cost only about £80 in UK and ensures that the modem doesn't drop out with short power cuts which are frequent. Support form Orange is good and they have an English language phone support which is helpful if the conversation gets too technical. They recently advised me how to reduce the cost of my service which was nice. We get a nominal 18Mb/s although it is sometimes considerably less. It won't support HD TV (which it should) but is OK for IPlayer etc for which I use UNOTelly. The best I have found so far , which generally works well with an iPAD. I am going to try it with NOW TV when we get back this year as it claims to operate via the modem so the whole network is covered.