Re: Orange disasters
 

I'm afraid we would be lost now without the internet, for shopping, making travel arrangements, listening to the radio and for keeping in touch with family without breaking the bank for a start.

It means my husband can continue to persue his former profession, even though as more of a hobby these days. He is a genealogist and these days there is so much material available on-line it is a completely different activity to just a few years ago.

I can write and research and editors can get in touch.

There are just not enough hours in the day with all the other things that interest us.

Re: Orange disasters
 

The landlady at my place installed an Orange Livebox just days before I arrived here two and half years ago, in place of some Neuf Telecom thing. The Internet is generally reliable, the phone service nobody uses except to occasionally dare to pick up and hear some idiot proclaiming we've won a holiday, but the TV service is hopelessly unreliable. The box loses all its settings every couple of weeks and so certain channels become unavailable, the on-screen guides don't appear and the only way to resolve it is to switch off the router for a good hour. I know three other French people who have this same box, one of whom took up the service only recently in preference over 'Free' (which they soon regretted), but they all have the same issue. By contrast, another friend with 'Free' has a very snazzy setup that makes our Orange system look like a relic from the 1990s.