Livebox Arrives

After almost three weeks since the application for getting a Livebox from Orange, they finally came a few days ago to set up the device. Now, to make things short, the Orange Livebox is a modem, wireless router, and VoIP. The Voice over Internet Protocol works by connecting any ordinary telephone into the port of the Livebox.

According to Orange, calling from the Livebox gives you free calls to all local landline numbers, and calls to mobile and international numbers for a greatly reduced price. All went well, the Livebox was set up, the two young men that came were friendly and helpful, and all was done in less than ten minutes.

Three weeks waiting for ten minutes set up. Typical Orange, but what can we do anyway. To be honest the VoIP seems no different from normal, the quality is excellent. According to Orange, this barely uses up speed and bandwidth. This is something we have yet to see, but all in all this a good offer.

However, there have been two problems with our Livebox. Sometimes the telephone light on the Livebox switches off and the VoIP is no longer useable until it magically switches on after a few hours later. Also there have been some problems connecting to the wireless connection from my fathers laptop, which is Windows Vista. This could be from the Livebox or from the laptop, so this may not count as a fault.

I also mentioned the lack of stability last time. This has improved a little bit, this time the connection speed will range from 1MB to normal and sometimes will go all the way to 3MB for sometime. All in all, the Livebox is good overall. However I must point out that the customer service of Orange, the 'international France telecom company blah', is totally rubbish. It is appauling, and when you have a problem, you must pray that the pro will magically fix itself.