ORANGE BROADBAND

[Lars]

Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere.

We use our French home for 6 months of the year, but pay all year round for Orange livebox phone and broadband. Is it possible to suspend the service during the winter months - or maybe just take out short contracts each year?

Does anyone have any money saving tips for phone and broadband?

p.s. is it really free to make call on the livebox anywhere in the world? even to mobiles? or have i misunderstood?

thank you!

[GRL]

p.s. is it really free to make call on the livebox anywhere in the world? even to mobiles? or have i misunderstood?

It depends what option you are on. More details here http://www.orangeinfo.fr/livebox-open-p ... es_mobiles

[kevsboredagain]

Why not make use of it while not there?

You could hook up some security cameras which use the internet. Being able to see your home is safe and sound gives immense peace of mind. You could even plug in a USB drive to your router and use it for offsite backup.

[French Cricket]

I wish I could do that, kev, but I'd never leave my router plugged in if I'm absent - I always unplug if there are storms forecast or I'd get fried ...

[kevsboredagain]

I wish I could do that, kev, but I'd never leave my router plugged in if I'm absent - I always unplug if there are storms forecast or I'd get fried ...

If worried about that you can just use a surge protector. Many include protection for phone lines and even cable TV connections.

[French Cricket]

I do.

But I (and my neighbours) have all lost routers in storms, even through surge protectors. The power surges here are phenomenal - last year we lost a dishwasher that way too.

[Hells Bells]

I think our failed dishwasher might have been due to a similar event, as we had a massive storm that weekend.

[kevsboredagain]

I guess it must depend on how things are connected to the grid. I've lived in places and had massive storms but never any power surges which caused damage. When I was a child it used to be a problem but I assume most buildings now have some kind of protection as very few people these days have to unplug stuff during a storm. In France we rarely have power cuts but 20 years ago, it was a regular occurrence during every storm.

Anyway, back to Orange broadband.

[Circé]

Getting back to the original question : yes there is an Orange service which allows you to suspend your phone line, called 'ligne résidence secondaire'. You can opt for just the line, then pay for all you calls, or for various options for 2hrs or unlimited calls which cost more. Dead easy to use once you've set it up. You get charged for the days it's active only, so no standing charge when you're not there.
For the internet there's Orange Découverte, currently 21 euros/month plus 3 euros for livebox rental, which you can suspend when you don't want it.
You can also have the internet Découverte active and the phone line suspended at the same time which is useful if you're renting out your house.
http://boutique.orange.fr/ESHOP_mx_ft/? ... e=1&type=3
https://boutique.orange.fr/internet/offre-decouverte

[Lars]

than you Circe, that incredibly helpful. That's exactly what we need.

L

[Dusty]

To answer the 2nd part of your question, I pretty sure its free to all landlines but I think they charge for calls to mobiles.

[Bassman]

To answer the 2nd part of your question, I pretty sure its free to all landlines but I think they charge for calls to mobiles.

We pay extra for mobile calls to the UK (& some other countries) but to the USA & Canada they are included in the normal tariff

[lel]

Sorry bit late in the day, but going back to the original question and response from Circé I just wondered if anyone had managed to achieve this?

I rang Orange today and initially was told it was possible to suspend the system while the house is empty, having previously been told it was'nt. I was then put through to the technical department who explained that his colleague had been wrong and the suspension had not been possible for over a year. So I have to cancel the service, return the router and then rearrange it with 10 days notice and they will send the new router out.

The technician suggested that we could buy a router, (although not from Orange)which we had tried last summer having driven backwards and forwards several times (an hour each way) to Darty and Boulanger none of the systems they sold us worked so we gave up and I have been stupidly paying all winter to remain connected.

just wondered if anyone had cracked it recently? I think if you had the suspension system historically you may still be able to use it.
thanks

[kevsboredagain]

The technician suggested that we could buy a router, (although not from Orange)which we had tried last summer having driven backwards and forwards several times (an hour each way) to Darty and Boulanger none of the systems they sold us worked so we gave up and I have been stupidly paying all winter to remain connected.

I can only answer this part. You would need to know what type of DSL it is. The most recent is VDSL2 so as long as you had a modem which supported that and you set up the same parameters, it would work. I used to use my own router for Orange but changed to using theirs when I wanted the TV option.

[Alisonmk]

I spoke to orange France on their English speaking help line on Tuesday - they told me I could call that same line to suspend my telephone and broadband each time I'm away, with 10 days notice for one and 2 days notice for the other ( can't remember which, it's written down somewhere) the livebox is included in the e24 per month and I don't need to return it each time I suspend!