Upgrading to Orange Unlimited - modem question

[nert61]

Hi all,

I'm with Orange (nee Freeserve, Wanadoo) and I know there's a lot of negative comments about their service, but, touch wood, all is fine here so far.

My question is this - I'm on the BB Starter tariff, connecting my LAN through the Speedtouch 303 modem, and all works perfectly well.

I am however interested in getting the uncapped (fair use @ 40gb) 7mb connection, but I seriously don't want to use the Livebox - for no other reason than everything works fine here already, and I don't envisage adding any wireless devices to my network (2 pcs, 1 printer if you can call that a network).

Can I choose to upgrade and just continue using the current setup I already have leaving the Livebox in it's box in a corner somewhere? Do I need to use the Livebox to keep the service? Or will it break?

Cheers for any help/advice you can give,

n

[kopite]

yes and no.

The seedtouch 330 will work but you`ll be limited to throughput of about 4.5 meg due to USB restrictions.

If you purcahse a cheap Ethernet mode like the speedtouch 536 then youll be fine but USB modems arent great on max

[GoNz0]

buy a cheap router?

330 is utter tosh and as posted above will not give a fast speed

[nert61]

Thanks, that's all I needed to know. I'm really not bothered about speed, I just get perilously close to the cap each month. So long as I can just continue "as is" with the Speedtouch without installing the Livebox, I'll be happy.

[finnrogers]

nert61 - It is worth noting that although the fair usage policy states 40Gb as the limit - There is in fact no actual limit. You will receive a letter from Orange if you persistantly exceed the limit (i.e for more than 6 months in a row). I got this information from my partner who works for the retentions team for Orange Broadband in a call centre. They are only interested in people exceeding the limit by 100s of Gbs every month - If you're only close to the limit, I would stick with what you have got and wait to see if they write to you (which they will do prior to charging you extra) - Then if they do write to you trying to get you to upgrade to a better package, ring them and tell them you are going to Sky because they are cheaper and you'll be put through to retentions who will try and offer you different bribes to stay with Orange. The best they are able to offer you is currently 6 months free broadband with a free live box and free installation but they will make you start a new 12 month contract...

Hope this helps

[jackvdbuk]

nert61 - It is worth noting that although the fair usage policy states 40Gb as the limit - There is in fact no actual limit. You will receive a letter from Orange if you persistantly exceed the limit (i.e for more than 6 months in a row

good to know as im always going over whatever the limit is now

[nert61]

nert61 - It is worth noting that although the fair usage policy states 40Gb as the limit - There is in fact no actual limit. You will receive a letter from Orange if you persistantly exceed the limit (i.e for more than 6 months in a row).

Hi finnrogers, and thanks for the heads up - quick question; the package I'm on is the 2gb cap - is the same policy applied to this? (Currently no letter, and I don't plan on 100s of gbs frequently, ever.) Maybe a GB or so over the cap is the worst I could foresee.

[finnrogers]

Yes but bearing in mind the "policy" is the written rule, what is actually applied is unwritten and therefore shouldn't be taken for granted.

That said, if you only go a GB or so over from time to time on your 2GB package, I wouldn't expect to ever hear anything - there are far worse offenders.

At the end of the day it all boils down to money and resources. Orange don't have time to deal with the "small fish" (in this case small offenders of the FUP) - So they dedicate the sparse resources they have to dealing with the people blatantly disregarding the policy. But even in these cases they are pretty reasonable: first writting to them suggesting they upgrade to a different package and then a "red letter" before they actually take any action such as disconnecting the user.

[GoNz0]

dont they cap the line speed if you go over? or was that BT