Satellite internet in France

[Martin]

my friend who lives in France has just popped in with a vast bag of fresh garlic, and posed the question "any idea if it's practical/possible/affordable to get a satellite broadband connection in the Auvergne?" as apparently broadband hasn't reached there, and dialup is incredibly slow and "iffy"
Anybody got any ideas?

[mrsflibble]

sorry, no ideas but didnt want to read and run.

[Clara]

I´m sure it is perfectly possible in France, as I´m completely off-grid and communicating to the outside world via a small box on the side of my house.

Just don´t expect it to be cheap, my 512 connection costs 45 euros a month. I have seen another company that offers faster broadband and a cheap price, though I think this is somehow used through satellite tv transmitters - I didn´t understand at all...

[mrsflibble]

€45?! omg that's £31 ish!!!

[Clara]

€45?! omg that's £31 ish!!!

Yup, but we are up a mountain completely off-grid and so can´t have a landline phone so the money we save using Skype instead of our mobiles, especially to our folks in the UK (or worse walking 2.5km to the phonebox) makes it worthwhile. AND considering we don´t have electricity bills or water rates to pay, and we use the internet for recreation as we don´t have a telly - then we consider it a justifiable luxury......We´d be completely cut-off from civilisation without it.

In fact considering where I´m sitting right now, it´s nothing short of miraculous that we are having this conversation....

[camillitech]

€45?! omg that's £31 ish!!!

if i could get 512 for £31 i'd be a happy bunny, cos we need an extra line i'm paying that for a dodgy 31.2kbps if i'm lucky

cheers, paul

[camillitech]

my friend who lives in France has just popped in with a vast bag of fresh garlic, and posed the question "any idea if it's practical/possible/affordable to get a satellite broadband connection in the Auvergne?" as apparently broadband hasn't reached there, and dialup is incredibly slow and "iffy"
Anybody got any ideas?

i know how he feels martin, we're in the same boat here, 10 miles from the exchange and dial up so slow it's like watching paint dry. has he thought about a mobile phone connection? good speeds through that and contracts from £30 - £15 a month. no use to us as we don't get a signal in the house (though we do get one up the chimney) my mate has satellite but it's £60 a month there are cheaper ones but they only allow you to download so you still need dialup to upload

[contadino]

I´m sure it is perfectly possible in France, as I´m completely off-grid and communicating to the outside world via a small box on the side of my house.

Just don´t expect it to be cheap, my 512 connection costs 45 euros a month. I have seen another company that offers faster broadband and a cheap price, though I think this is somehow used through satellite tv transmitters - I didn´t understand at all...

Clara, can you let me have the name of the company? We've been waiting for wifi broadband for 6 months now, and I have a feeling it's gonna be a few more years before it appears, so maybe a satellite broadband solution will work for us too.

As for a landline...don't even go there...first they said EUR 8k to install it, then EUR 20k, then EUR 38k, then "no, you can't have it at all."

[Martin]

thanks everybody - she's back off to France tonight, and I'll keep her updated!

[Clara]

I´m sure it is perfectly possible in France, as I´m completely off-grid and communicating to the outside world via a small box on the side of my house.

Just don´t expect it to be cheap, my 512 connection costs 45 euros a month. I have seen another company that offers faster broadband and a cheap price, though I think this is somehow used through satellite tv transmitters - I didn´t understand at all...

Clara, can you let me have the name of the company? We've been waiting for wifi broadband for 6 months now, and I have a feeling it's gonna be a few more years before it appears, so maybe a satellite broadband solution will work for us too.

As for a landline...don't even go there...first they said EUR 8k to install it, then EUR 20k, then EUR 38k, then "no, you can't have it at all."

We use Iberbanda, though the name suggests they are based in the Iberian peninsula only. I´m sure that an Italian company must provide the same though....

[theabsinthefairy]

Did your friend get Broadband sorted? We are in the Auvergne, and have managed to broadband via France Telecom.

[Martin]

not yet! I'm emailing her tonight, and I'll pass it on - many thanks!

[Stonehead]

We had to go for dial-up ISDN2e when we first moved here. It was more reliable and faster than analogue dial-up. We had the bonded service, which meant you could have 64k connection and voice, or 128k connection and no voice. We had to be careful using the 128k connection as you're effectively using two phone lines and pay two metered call rates!

The local exchange was ADSL capable, but we were outside the limit. Then they upgraded the exchange 10 months ago and we were told we might be okay.

As it turned out, we were able to go broadband but the farm over the hill, less than half a mile away, still doesn't have broadband access as it's just that bit further away.

While BT has now closed its ISDN-based Home and Business Highway services, I'm fairly sure France Telecom still has an ISDN service which continues to have fairly heavy use in rural areas. It was called Numeris (2 B+D).