Using a router with a SIM card for internet

Just as an aside, is there a way of measuring what your data usage is monthly with Orange LiveBox?
This would be useful in determining whether the limit set by Bouygues (or Orange for that matter) for 4G (currently set at 200 Go/month for both companies) is sufficient for our requirements.
I know I can check our usage against our abonnement with our mobile phones (we have 20 Go on both and get nowhere near that limit) but have no idea about our current internet usage through our Orange internet account.

Graham - canā€™t help with the Livebox usage but the 4G Box from Bouygues is currently offered with unlimited use for new subscribers. No 200GB monthly limit.

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Thanks again Simon.
Just placed an order for the 4G box with Bouygues - canā€™t believe how efficient they are! Order being despatched in the new few days by all accounts and the price has been reduced to 24.99ā‚¬ /month for 1 year (and as @anon87147852 says - unlimited internet data usage) and the price increases after 1 year to 42.99ā‚¬. That price is inclusive of the 4G router they offer but with the eqivalent Orange offering at the same full price, you have to buy the 4G router :roll_eyes:
We managed to speak to someone in English which helped our understanding quite a bit.
Looks like it will be bye-bye Orange :wave: They were unbelievably unhelpful and frankly useless. No doubt they will stutter and spit when we (eventually) close the account but that is entirely their fault. We were quite prepared to remain loyal to Orange but they blew it. Typical large company inertia combined with arrogance. Shame really, we have been with them for 10 years plus and other than this, our customer experience has been good. So, we will loose our orange.fr email accounts and our fixed line but on the plus side, it will stop us getting daily ā€˜nuisanceā€™ and ā€˜silent callerā€™ calls in the middle of the night and at meal times :joy:
Interesting though, Bouygues are working on providing a VOIP solution to their 4G offering so we will keep hold of our home phones just for now.

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Graham - well done - you wonā€™t regret it (he says confidently hoping it doesnā€™t come back to bite him in the bum!). Iā€™ve had no fixed line since March 2018 when Bouygues launched their 4G Box - havenā€™t missed it one tot, although we do have excellent mobile signals around here. I said goodbye to Orange years ago and then SFR last March - bloody useless the pair of them.

Welcome to the 4G club!! :smile:

PS - I have never understood how some folks pay Orange for their fixed line and then also pay them, or another operator, for their ADSL/VOIP service on top of that. Barking!!

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We did for a while. Vanessa was running her ME and we used the fixed for that and the 09 VOIP for private use.
Bt the time we moved here, Orange had got their act together and the double option was no longer available but by that time, she had all but closed the ME heading towards retirement.
So, when the box arrives we will need to test it out thoroughly with our network here and see what we can get from our smart TV connecting to it wirelessly. Currently, we get French TV channels via the Orange TV box but that will also be cancelled in due course :crossed_fingers:

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Graham no prob with the Smart TV (mineā€™s a Samsung) - just load the Molotov.tv app for all the French stations - brilliant. My Smart TV, IPTV service, Google Wifi Mesh, 3 Google Home speakers, security system and cameras, gites, laptops, gate bell etc etc etc are all connected to the 4G box and work wirelessly and seamlessly.

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Presumably then, you find that the Molotov.tv app is better than the bouygues b.tv app offering?

No itā€™s just that the Bouygues one isnā€™t available in the Samsung SmartTV app store. I guess I could use the Bouygues one from my phone / laptop and cast but itā€™s a bit more slick directly from the TV screen.

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agree wholeheartedly with that.

Ours too. Do you use an alternative to the Sky box or Freeview for the UK free to air channels?

Neither - I have an IPTV service via the Samsung STB app.. Hundreds of channels (inc all the premium ones), Sports, Catch up, TV series, Films - from all around the world - including France and the UK - 18ā‚¬ / month. I started off using a MAG250 STB connected via an HDMI cable to the TV - but replaced it with the Samsung STB app which seems much more stable. Love it.

(STB = Set Top Box)

Ah, OK but Iā€™m a cheapskate pensionerā€¦ :slightly_smiling_face:

LOL well in that case Graham Iā€™d reassign my Smart TV to the UK (google it!), load the apps for BBC iPlayer / ITV Hub / C4 / C5 players etc and use a SMART DNS service (better than VPN) for your SMART TV internet IP settings. Small fee for the SMART DNS service that even a pensioner could afford. Iā€™m married to one (Cougar!!) so I get the issue :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye::stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye::stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: God they bang onā€¦

The link doesnā€™t say how muchā€¦

Oooops I didnā€™t give a link for that Graham - the link is for the STB app set up on your Samsung TV.

Hereā€™s a Smart DNS service Iā€™ve used in the past - pretty good for US$4.95 (4,40ā‚¬) / month. All you do is change the DNS settings in the IP settings of the relevant device i.e. your TV in this case.

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Thanks Simon.

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SmartDNS looks easy enough to set up for access to a VPN (which is essentially how the service works) but I note that almost the first thing they suggest in the set-up instructions is turning IPV6 off - which is not the greatest thing going :frowning:

Hummmm I donā€™t remember disabling anything for the Overplay Smart DNS - definitely not the IPV6! I donā€™t use VPNā€™s - just SMART DNS. Lots to choose from Paul - I currently use this one:

https://www.smartdnsproxy.com/

I prefer using them as no downloads or software involved - as with VPNā€™s No probs or issues with either of the ones Iā€™ve used.

Itā€™s in the instructions for setting up on Windows 10 (step 6) - probably not that much of an issue as the one big advantage in using a DNS redirector is you can just set it up on the necessary devices, and it will probably only affect a small subset of services.

It is a VPN though - what happens is that the IP address for the BBC services is changed to one end of a VPN tunnel, the other end ofwhich is going to pop up, presumably in the UK, and relay the connection for you.

Iā€™d probably choose a DNS redirector over a VPN if I were in the market for this sort of thing but my own set-up is rather different (because ā€œreasonsā€) and works well for me.

Itā€™s nice that there is a good choice of options for this sort of thing.

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Ahhhh that explains it then - I use a Pixelbook (Chrome / Android OS). Left Windows centuries ago !! :wink: