Well it is now because my internet connection is 500 times faster.
But it wasn’t a lot of fun getting “la fibre” (fibre optics) connected, in fact the opposite.
It started with an ad in the local newspaper telling me I was now eligible. So I made an appointment and toddled off to the local Orange shop where a very nice person started by cutting my landline/internet/mobile bill by about €50 a month! We then went through the installation process, stressing several times that the phone connection was via a telegraph pole on the road above the house so they would need at least one cherry picker as they can no longer use ladders! And we set a date.
The day cane, the technician turned up on time … in a small van with a short ladder. So no way he was going to do the installation, he said, And anyway the box was on the third floor and on the opposite side of the house, I pointed out that his company had called me three times since I made the appointment to confirm that they would need a cherry picker so why had he come with a short ladder.
So he called his boss, and his boss’s boss and told me I’d have to make another appointment. Why should I have to make the appointment? Wasn’t it up to them to reschedule because they had made the mistake (not for the first time I might add). But no. I had to do it. So he gave me two phone numbers to call, which I did, and both were wrong!!!
So I dug out the numbers of the sub contractor doing the work and phoned around until I found someone who actually knew what I was talking about. And a few hours later he called back with a new date a couple of days ahead.
So fine. On the day in question the technicians turned up not with one but two cherry pickers. Brilliant.
Then came the bad news. Where’s the box? On the third floor, opposite side of the house. Big intake of breath. That’s going to be difficult, they said. Yes, I said. So we went and had a look and decided how we would do it. "Où est la gaine? (Where’s the conduit?). There isn’t one, I said. it’s not a new house. Oh well, you’ll have to put one in. Why wasn’t I told this before and anyway, can’t you do it? No, we’re not allowed to drill holes in case we hit a power cable od a pipe.
OUCH!!!
Fortunately my brilliant systems engineer of a son was with us and we decided to tackle it ourselves as I had the equipment and he had the knowledge. And it would have taken weeks to get an electrician to come and do the work even if we could have persuaded one it was worth his time. And it would have been expensive.
I’ll spare you the sweat and tears we suffered but eventually we got the holes drilled through from the ground floor to the third floor so they could thread the cable through and set up the connection.
It has to be said that they were brilliant. They were willing to wait while we drilled the holes (not a simple matter), they were pleasant, didn’t make a mess (we did!) and the final result is neat and above all it works!
My son made them check everything twice and after four hours they left for lunch!
Big sigh of relief.
