After Migrating to Orange from Freedom2Surf in September 2007 I have had nothing but problems with connectivity issues using the Livebox provided by Orange. Orange have after hours spent on the phone to the Tech Support and talking to 'muppets' all around the world in the call centres and trying to understand their foreign English have so far provided me with 3 Liveboxes, 2 Power Supplies and 2 Ethernet cables, and yet still I have connectivity problems with dropped connections, the cause of which is because the Livebox is attempting to Sync at too higher speed than to that which can be provided by BT which on my line is 1mbs - the Livebox prefers speeds upward of 2mbs.
Now I have found that my Thompson Speedtouch 585 will Sync and maintain the connection without any problem whatsover - the only problem is my speed has dropped by around 250kps. But anyway there is no suprise with regard to using the Thompson Speedtouch but then I could not use the Livephone to make my free calls to 01, 02 and Orange mobile numbers and also I like to phone my friends for free in New Zealand.
So here is the solution as I have a spare LAN (Etherent) card as well as the internal one im my PC I have been able to run both Modems (both connected to my PC using Ethernet cables) on my PC and when I need to use the broadband on my PC I just plug the telephone cable from the BT Master socket into my Speedtouch Modem and when I need to use the Livephone I just unplug the telephone cable from my Speedtouch Modem and insert the cable into my Livebox phone and within about 20 seconds the modems sync automatically.
I haven't as yet found a way to sync both Modems together at the same time, but what is clear is that the Speedtouch Modem is quite able to Sync at lower speeds, the only downside is I lose 250kbs on the speed using my Thomson Modem.
An Ethernet LAN PCI card will cost around £10 - £20 and is easy to put into the Motherboard of your PC.
All I can advise is that unless you more or less live next door to the telephone exchange then I would really think long and hard before considering joining Orange for broadband. I have a good Mobile phone deal which is the reason I am with Orange and also need to phone New Zealand quite often. I actually live 3.5 miles from the nearest telephone exchange.
Orange have provided me with a MAC number for free despite being in contract, but this hasn't been without my numerous calls to Orange and getting rather irrate, but the best policy is to try and obtain the Chairman's name to try and write to him - they won't give you that, they also don't seem to care even if you threaten to report them to the consumer watchdog program, however if you insist on the MAC number and they insist on charging you for this, I told them that there is no contract and that they have failed to provided goods of merhantable quality and that they would be reported to Trading Standard (Office of Fair Trading) This gave me MAC number from them free of charge. I think to approach OFTEL of OFCOMM would take to long to resolve the issues with Orange.
All I can suggest is that you keep bothering Orange - it's free if you use an Orange Mobile phone to call them on the Tech Support Line - I know they'll drive you to dispair but believe me with persistance you will succeed.
Just I final note if anyone knows how to connect both modems at the same time to sync to my ISP I would like to know how as this would save me the trouble of swapping my phone cable from one modem to the other.
The only issue I have is that to use 2 modems is leaving a larger carbon footprint than that to which I would desire - may be Orange and there Livebox manufacturer (Netgear) can come up with a Livebox that would requires a lower sync speed for most of us that live a distance away from the telephone exchange.
...yet still I have connectivity problems with dropped connections, the cause of which is because the Livebox is attempting to Sync at too higher speed than to that which can be provided by BT which on my line is 1mbs - the Livebox prefers speeds upward of 2mbs.
Line speed is a negociated connection between the modem/router and the exchange. (Note that is for LLU and ADSL Max) Some think the livebox is a little less sensitive in picking up broadband signals but I wouldn't say it "prefers" higher sync rates.
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Now I have found that my Thompson Speedtouch 585 will Sync and maintain the connection without any problem whatsover - the only problem is my speed has dropped by around 250kps.
As you mention 1 meg, but that it's dropped speed on the Speedtouch then it sounds like an ADSL Max line where the profile's been dropped down a notch to 750kbps. That would generally be normal for it adapting to the current circumstances but posting the line stats from both the livebox and speedtouch would help show what is really happening. Also a BT speedtest showing the profile if you're not on LLU.
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So here is the solution as I have a spare LAN (Etherent) card as well as the internal one im my PC I have been able to run both Modems...
I haven't as yet found a way to sync both Modems together at the same time, but what is clear is that the Speedtouch Modem is quite able to Sync at lower speeds, the only downside is I lose 250kbs on the speed using my Thomson Modem.
You cannot run 2 modem/routers on the same line at once. They simply interfere with one another and usually prevent any connection at all.
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The only issue I have is that to use 2 modems is leaving a larger carbon footprint than that to which I would desire - may be Orange and there Livebox manufacturer (Netgear) can come up with a Livebox that would requires a lower sync speed for most of us that live a distance away from the telephone exchange.
Netgear don't make the livebox. It's actually made by a company called Inventel that was, sometime ago, bought out by... Thomson.
The Orange Livebox is complete rubbish, it is time that Orange admit this fact, its amazing how some people blame everything else except the Livebox, they must be sponsored by Orange, (see my thread 7th December) The only hope if you need voip is to try an old Wanadoo Livebox.
Yes when I was LLU'd and the speed was awful with my Netgear, I phoned tech support and they refused to help point blank because I didn't use a livebox. When I did plug it in, it wouldn't even synch to the exchange, whereas the netgear did its best with my pathetic dialup speed broadband
In the end I succumbed and plugged one in, told them about the rapid flashing lights, and the problem was sorted to a fashion (by applying the 2272 download cap a lot of people get). Once I familiarised myself with the workings of the livebox and what was required after resetting it etc, I was able to blag my way through a subsequent call as if I had a livebox connected
Only snag is, if you use Talk, you have no choice but to use a Livebox
The Orange Livebox is complete rubbish, it is time that Orange admit this fact, its amazing how some people blame everything else except the Livebox, they must be sponsored by Orange, (see my thread 7th December) The only hope if you need voip is to try an old Wanadoo Livebox.
I once got a [insert random piece of hardware here] and it didn't work so I swapped to using my old [insert older working item here] and it worked fine therefore all [newer item]'s don't work!
Using a single instance of something not working is no way to prove they all don't work, especially considering there's a bunch of posts here to show they can work fine.
Another example, today for the first time since November 2004 my Belkin router would not connect (laptop to router wireless connection was OK). I couldn't even connect to 192.168.2.1.
Of course I was cursing Orange. DMT told me the server was unobtainable.
After trying to connect for an hour, I decided to unplug the power cable on the Belkin, leave it for 30 seconds then plug it back in.
It immediately connected.
Moral : it's not always your ISP's fault.
_________________ An ex-Orange guinea pig
"The first third of our lives is ruined by our parents, the second third by 0range then along comes 02 and you die happy."
The Orange Livebox is complete rubbish, it is time that Orange admit this fact, its amazing how some people blame everything else except the Livebox, they must be sponsored by Orange, (see my thread 7th December) The only hope if you need voip is to try an old Wanadoo Livebox.
I once got a [insert random piece of hardware here] and it didn't work so I swapped to using my old [insert older working item here] and it worked fine therefore all [newer item]'s don't work!
Using a single instance of something not working is no way to prove they all don't work, especially considering there's a bunch of posts here to show they can work fine.
It wasn’t a one off change of equipment, I have now tried Speed Touch Modem, Linksys Router, Old Wanadoo Livebox, and all work, 100%. Only the Orange Livebox drops Broadband every few minutes. Two of my work colleagues have experienced the exact same problem with Orange Liveboxes. I know there are must be Orange Liveboxes that work, I wish I had one, but I think there are so many out there like mine that do not work properly whose technical parameters are “on the edge”. They may look the same, have the same software and hardware but their tolerances are different some work, some do not work, its as simple as that.
Joined: 12 Dec 2007Posts: 2Location: Greater Manchester
I have the problem where my connection drops every few minutes and then attempts to resynch. I have plugged in a Draytek 2600 router and a Linksys router and both behave in the same way which suggests to me it isn't the hardware.
I am a couple of miles from the exchange. This seems a much more likely reason for the signal dropping. My mother-in-law lives around the corner and is also with Orange (on my pitiful recommendation). Her connection is dropping in the same way and she doesn't use a Livebox.
A lot of Orange liveboxes are just the internals of old wanadoo boxes put into a new case. It could just be a bad batch of them but there's not been anything like that brought up.
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