Hi,
I have just registered with this site. Orange is my mobile phone provider. Orange phoned me offering for £17 per month:
1)Phone line rental and free calls using the socket on the router which I have subsequently found out to be a VoIP port (Voice over Internet Protocol);
2) 8 meg unlimited broadband.
(By the say I only use broadband for viewing (I don't down load))
I switched to Orange ADSL via Home Max less than 24 hours ago. Here are my initial impressions. I work mostly from home now and have been with Freedom2Surf since 2001.
Switchover
Today was my first day with Orange. I was using our Freedom2Surf connection till 7am, 6th Jan. We lost ADSL later in the morning and the new Orange Livebox arrived shortly afterwards and worked first time when plugged in. I didn't run the included CD on any of the machines here but the setup using the web interface was smooth - it all worked first time.
Speed
With F2s, I was using a fairly old Alcatel Speedtouch Pro modem and getting between 5 and 5.5 Mbps down and about 400 kbps up. With Orange (Sydenham exchange, SE26) I've been getting 6.5 Mbps downstream all day and about 500 kbps up.
Setup
The instructions were well written and the diagrams good. Big type, lots of white space. Haven't activated line 2 yet.
Next
Our phone line is still with BT and is awaiting migration. Things might change, whether or not it's related to the takeover of our line by Orange. I've read absolute horror stories here so I was on the verge of backing out. So far so good but it's a little early to declare the migration a success.
Scary
One shocker: the instructions suggest that you should wait ten working days before calling if the Livebox isn't able to detect a link. Good thing I tried it before sending it back in disgust.
Cost
In case you're wondering why I switched, it's this: the combined cost for mobile phone, ADSL connection and phone line rental has decreased from about £64/month (BT plus Orange plus Freedom2Surf) to £20/month because I got an absolutely screaming deal on my mobile renewal (ironically, I was planning to leave Orange as a mobile supplier). That's £44 a month saved before the benefit of the free calls to Orange mobiles and mainland Europe, where I used to work and still have friends. It had to be worth a try.
Updates
I'll post somewhere here on this forum if I have problems and in any case after Orange takes over the phone line.
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