Orange/France Telecom Woes

[smurkin]

Well, I moved to Switzerland then to France some months back. I have France Telecom Orange 1024/512 service.

First off, I have to say the internet I am experiencing here is tantamount to third world - I can Ping Geneva and get 30-40 ms - but if I ping anywhere in France, Paris, anywhere - I get 200 ms - utterly useless for games (dusts off trusty 56k Dlink modem).

But this is not my problem.

I download a lot of p2p tv shows, to compensate for the lack of english tv. If I dont download by p2p the wireless modem router works (its a live box) fine with uninterrupted service. It will happily download other big files at 94 kb/s. It will also download bt p2p at similar speeds.

But, after downloading for a night or two, the connection becomes super unstable, with the router losing internet/dsl connection every 5 mins, but maintaining the wireless network in the house.

So I am wondering - is this a hardware fault - or are the twonks at orange internet diconnecting me for being a bandwidth hog?

There doesn't seem to be anything in my introduction letter about downloading limits. The other thing - my phone runs through my DSL connection - so I keep losing the phone line when this happens

 

[WPKenny]

The phone line dying is the biggest clue. It sounds like the line coming into your house is shit. Get them to do a test on it.

 

[smurkin]

Sorry, should have rephrased - its an IP phone - runs through the router

 

[Zenith.UK]

I just read your last sentence. You could have a condition called "high open" caused by a poor quality phone line. You'll probably find that you have a buzzing, clicking or high-pitched whistling in the background on your normal landline and that you can only sync your modem/router when the landline phone is off the hook. If that is the case then get onto your telecom provider to get an engineer onto it. There is nothing as a customer you can do as it is the external wiring, not the wiring inside your home.
edit: You just said it's an IP phone - ignore what I just said!

If you're just getting a fall off in stability after a couple of days, it could be that factors such as temperature, weather, exchange contention and ISP congestion are playing a part. I have a long line with moderate stability. I've tweaked my router to get an extra 1Mbps out of the line, but at the expense of stability so I have to restart every 5-7 days on average. Congestion at the ISP end is a definite possibility, especially if you're finding you're falling off the net at busy peak time periods (6PM-12PM).

 

[Cadelin]

Hi smurkin, I work in Geneva and live in France and have to deal with the wonderful France Telecom too.

I get days where the internet connection can go for anything between a few minutes and a few hours. Often rebooting the live box helps but not always. I have no reason to suspect that my phone line is bad. I have been told by many people that the live box is a piece of shit. If you can get your hands on a decent wireless router you could try and get that to work. I must admit that I can live with a slightly dodgy internet connection because I can always download stuff at work.

How well do you speak french? Although France Telecom do have an English speaking service if you want to complain then you will probably have to deal with them in french or you will get ignored. If you don't know the number its: 0800 364 775 (which is free phone in France but only open weekdays 9-5)

 

[smurkin]

Thanks for that. Its nice to know its not just me. Tbh, my French sucks and dealing with tele support/sales is pure pain and that is why I put up with this for so long.

I would try my old netgear router - I have two - but I need the free international calls on the IP phone and it needs the livebox.

On the bright side, I managed to rip out the orange client dialer software from my pc and the routing tables with no apparent side effects.

Do you know - do you have the calls ilimitee on the phone? - I cant figure out how to inactivate the piece of shit answerphone - as far as I can tell its not possible and it licks in after four rings so my actual answerphone never gets used :lol:

 

[Cadelin]

I have never actually used the phone, didn't realise you could get free international calls. I just use skype, only seem to spend about £10 every few months so haven't bothered to change it.