I just happened to be checking out our firewall logs and noticed traffic coming from 88.160.222.185. Curious, I did a whois and figured out it was coming from http://www.proxad.net/ which redirects to http://www.free.fr/adsl/.
The first thing I noticed other than the fact that website is in French,-- which I can't read -- is that they offer Internet + Telephone + Television for 29.99 €/month. I was able to figure that out since apparently Internet, Telephone, and Television don't translate at all in French. They're the same words except for some accent letters, as seen here from a website screen grab I did:
What I can gather is that they offer 250 channels, ADSL (ADSL2+?), Freebox HD receiver, unlimited phone calls to 70 destinations, and even a WiFi-MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) router. MIMO (pronounced mee-moh or my-moh), is the use of multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver to improve communication performance. Their Internet speed says 28 Mega- whatever that means. 28Mbit/s? Although, ADSL2+, which is faster than ADSL, maxes out at 24Mbits/s. Hmmm. Are the French inventing some proprietary ADSL spec that is faster?
Also, if I read their website correctly, they give you 10GB of storage space - mostly likely talking about the Freebox receiver. Seems a bit low to me if doing any sort of Tivo-like functionality (pause Live TV, recordings, etc.) The 29.99 €/month translates into $46.99 U.S. dollars which seems like a pretty sweet deal for a triple-play package!
Any French readers want to translate exactly what this products' feature-set is? Post a comment...
Update: 5 min after post Found some more info on Wikipedia
Freebox is indeed an ADSL2+ modem that the French ISP called Free provides to its ADSL subscribers at a cost of around 190 Euros.
It can not only be uses as a high-end wireless modem (802.11g MIMO), but it also enbles Free to offer value-add services such as HD television (1080p), video recording with timeshifting capabilities, digital radio and analog telephony via one or more RJ11 ports.
The first thing I noticed other than the fact that website is in French,-- which I can't read -- is that they offer Internet + Telephone + Television for 29.99 €/month. I was able to figure that out since apparently Internet, Telephone, and Television don't translate at all in French. They're the same words except for some accent letters, as seen here from a website screen grab I did:
What I can gather is that they offer 250 channels, ADSL (ADSL2+?), Freebox HD receiver, unlimited phone calls to 70 destinations, and even a WiFi-MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) router. MIMO (pronounced mee-moh or my-moh), is the use of multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver to improve communication performance. Their Internet speed says 28 Mega- whatever that means. 28Mbit/s? Although, ADSL2+, which is faster than ADSL, maxes out at 24Mbits/s. Hmmm. Are the French inventing some proprietary ADSL spec that is faster?
Also, if I read their website correctly, they give you 10GB of storage space - mostly likely talking about the Freebox receiver. Seems a bit low to me if doing any sort of Tivo-like functionality (pause Live TV, recordings, etc.) The 29.99 €/month translates into $46.99 U.S. dollars which seems like a pretty sweet deal for a triple-play package!
Any French readers want to translate exactly what this products' feature-set is? Post a comment...
Update: 5 min after post Found some more info on Wikipedia
The box, designed by Free, uses a 32 bits RC32355 processor and is managed by an operating system using a derivative of the Linux kernel. It has many interfaces:
- An Ethernet port 10/100 Mbit/s full/half duplex;
- A USB2 port;
- An HDMI port;
- An RJ11 jack for the ADSL connection;
- An RJ11 jack for phone equipment (two jacks on versions 1 & 2 but only one active);
- A SCART (Péritel) socket
- An digital audio output RCA, or optical SPDIF starting from version 3;
- An extension port of the Serial ATA standard on versions 3 and 4 and Parallel ATA standard on versions 1 and 2;
- A host USB port on version 4;
Freebox is indeed an ADSL2+ modem that the French ISP called Free provides to its ADSL subscribers at a cost of around 190 Euros.
It can not only be uses as a high-end wireless modem (802.11g MIMO), but it also enbles Free to offer value-add services such as HD television (1080p), video recording with timeshifting capabilities, digital radio and analog telephony via one or more RJ11 ports.
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Neuf Telecom also does that.
Check www.neuf.fr
Furthermore both provide free SIP services.
I was a freebox user
and have had nothing but problems
particularly as they never respond to letters or email
and you cannot call them from skype at all
and from abroad only with a very expensive charge rate
in my case I have had no service for nine months
during which time they have taken money each month by standing order
which I have no stopped
now I get threating letters
even though I have cancelled the account using a registered letter
and returned the whole box also by registered delivery
and they still want money
I have had one letter in all that time (early October)
saying
they only understand French
so I wrote back
and still no reply
but I still get letters of demand for money threatening legal action
if you do not choose Neuf
as Marc suggests
then dont complain later
my neighbours have no problems with Neuf
there are also other advantages
for example
with neuf you dont have to have a france telecom account, line and number and france telecomm bills to pay as well
use neuf
or if not use anyone else
dont use freebox