Discussion
Bonjour all!
We are moving to France on the 12th of may, and I could do with some advice from established ex-pats.
[1] We are trying to insure our uk cars [privilige only give 30 days cover] they will be registered in France asap, but obviously we need cover whilst this is being done. The problem is that our insurance guy is saying that he cannot find our cars on the french system, I do not understand why, we have a 2004 M3 convertable and a 2001 Range Rover DHSE. I have faxed him the log books with all the details on, and both models were available to buy in France.
What do I need to do? as we are running out of time.
[2]We have telephone and broadband [ADSL] connected now, the telephone works fine but try as i did, I could not get my laptop to connect to the broadband [loaded the software that came with the modem/hub] any ideas? it shows a connection but will not allow us to use it.
[3]We are taking our sky+ box etc with us, there is a 800mm dish already at the house, do you think that if I bought a new LNB and twin cable of ebay, that this is somthing I could sort out or do we need an expert, how have you guys got on with this?
Any advice will be gratfully received,
Steve
We are moving to France on the 12th of may, and I could do with some advice from established ex-pats.
[1] We are trying to insure our uk cars [privilige only give 30 days cover] they will be registered in France asap, but obviously we need cover whilst this is being done. The problem is that our insurance guy is saying that he cannot find our cars on the french system, I do not understand why, we have a 2004 M3 convertable and a 2001 Range Rover DHSE. I have faxed him the log books with all the details on, and both models were available to buy in France.
What do I need to do? as we are running out of time.
[2]We have telephone and broadband [ADSL] connected now, the telephone works fine but try as i did, I could not get my laptop to connect to the broadband [loaded the software that came with the modem/hub] any ideas? it shows a connection but will not allow us to use it.
[3]We are taking our sky+ box etc with us, there is a 800mm dish already at the house, do you think that if I bought a new LNB and twin cable of ebay, that this is somthing I could sort out or do we need an expert, how have you guys got on with this?
Any advice will be gratfully received,
Steve
Regarding point (3) I installed a standard dish (bought from eBay) and provided you have the appropriate viewing card and decoder you will get Sky. The trickiest bit is pointing the dish at the right satellite, but you can also buy a signal strength tester on eBay for just over a fiver which plugs between the LNB and the cable to the box and works a treat.
Also set up my own. Bought a generic dish and LNB in Darty and some coaxial cable. Just make sure there isn't a flaming tree in the way 
Will Sky+ work in France? Doesn't it need to be plugged in to the phone line?
Edited to add - if it's a new card, you need to get it activated in the UK before you leave!
Will Sky+ work in France? Doesn't it need to be plugged in to the phone line?
Edited to add - if it's a new card, you need to get it activated in the UK before you leave!
Edited by Puggit on Monday 14th April 14:51
SFM said:
The problem is that our insurance guy is saying that he cannot find our cars on the french system,
Many insurance brokers seem to have a problem with high-end cars. Generally these are marked as 'refer to head office' and they cant be bothered.....Get another broker.
Both my cars were 'refer to head office' and I had a quote for the V8 Esprit the same day and in 24 hours for the TVR S. Neither exists in more than half a dozen examples in France. (Both with AXA)
SFM said:
[2]We have telephone and broadband [ADSL] connected now, the telephone works fine but try as i did, I could not get my laptop to connect to the broadband [loaded the software that came with the modem/hub] any ideas? it shows a connection but will not allow us to use it.
Can you try an ADSL connection test using Internet Explorer?Modem/hub is probably at http://192.168.1.1
Normally there will be diagnostic routines that can be run.
Other than that see your ISP.
SFR - welcome to the French PHrs!!
A good site for this sort of info (other than the PH massive) is www.angoinfo.co.uk.........helped us out no end!!
A good site for this sort of info (other than the PH massive) is www.angoinfo.co.uk.........helped us out no end!!
Marcellus said:
SFR - welcome to the French PHrs!!
A good site for this sort of info (other than the PH massive) is www.angoinfo.co.uk.........helped us out no end!!
...also www.totalfrance.comA good site for this sort of info (other than the PH massive) is www.angoinfo.co.uk.........helped us out no end!!
Satellite Telly,
www.satcure.com is an absolutely excellent reference site and source of help.
We are in the Correze. I used an 80 cm dish but had picture breakup on rainy days. I bought a 90cm dish and a decent quad LNB and overcame this. The Panasonic set top boxes are good for weak signal areas. I use a DSB31 and a DSB30 both off the same dish.
For the mother in law down the road we have Jodrell Bank II a 1.2m dish as I don't want to be 'round there reseting it !!
To set the dish up you need to get a good compass so that you know which direction to point the dish. This is detailed on the Satcure site. I don't bother with the strength meter.
Make sure you use decent tape to seal your LNB connection on the dish to stop water getting in.
Go to the System Setup menu on the satellite box then to Signal Strength. Point the dish to where you think the signal is. It won't work but very very gently move the dish a half a degree at a time and wait a few minutes. Keep moving very very gently until you get three things - from memory Signal Strength + Signal Quality but also the Lock In ID that is shown at the bottom of the same page.
If you're patient you'll get it done in an afternoon - if you're impatient you could spend days up by the dish keeping yourself entertained/frustrated !
Once it's working get white paint or scratch markings on the dish and the metal bracket - once in high winds out dish got blown out of alignment and I had to reset it.
Chris
www.satcure.com is an absolutely excellent reference site and source of help.
We are in the Correze. I used an 80 cm dish but had picture breakup on rainy days. I bought a 90cm dish and a decent quad LNB and overcame this. The Panasonic set top boxes are good for weak signal areas. I use a DSB31 and a DSB30 both off the same dish.
For the mother in law down the road we have Jodrell Bank II a 1.2m dish as I don't want to be 'round there reseting it !!
To set the dish up you need to get a good compass so that you know which direction to point the dish. This is detailed on the Satcure site. I don't bother with the strength meter.
Make sure you use decent tape to seal your LNB connection on the dish to stop water getting in.
Go to the System Setup menu on the satellite box then to Signal Strength. Point the dish to where you think the signal is. It won't work but very very gently move the dish a half a degree at a time and wait a few minutes. Keep moving very very gently until you get three things - from memory Signal Strength + Signal Quality but also the Lock In ID that is shown at the bottom of the same page.
If you're patient you'll get it done in an afternoon - if you're impatient you could spend days up by the dish keeping yourself entertained/frustrated !
Once it's working get white paint or scratch markings on the dish and the metal bracket - once in high winds out dish got blown out of alignment and I had to reset it.
Chris
SFM said:
Many thanks guys, keep the information coming please!!!
Try here also www.bigdishsat.com tells you where to point your dish depending on what department you are in etcRight, managed to sort a quote for insurance for the cars, on a temporary basis until registered in france.
Bloody expensive, 1350euros for my M3,and 975euros for range rover, equates to double what we are paying in the uk!!
As for sky, we have arranged for a company to come and alter existing 800mm dish and LNB to receive Sky+, also they will look at the ADSL connection and set up our laptops, hopefully.
On a different subject, how do you guys find the cost of electricity in France, compared to uk. Just received a bill from EDF, granted, it is an estimated bill, but 430 euros for 2 months seems quite dear, especially as the house has been a holiday home for 35 years.
Steve
Bloody expensive, 1350euros for my M3,and 975euros for range rover, equates to double what we are paying in the uk!!
As for sky, we have arranged for a company to come and alter existing 800mm dish and LNB to receive Sky+, also they will look at the ADSL connection and set up our laptops, hopefully.
On a different subject, how do you guys find the cost of electricity in France, compared to uk. Just received a bill from EDF, granted, it is an estimated bill, but 430 euros for 2 months seems quite dear, especially as the house has been a holiday home for 35 years.
Steve
France is sadly not as cheap as people seem to think it is. However, it does sound like you are paying a hell of a lot of money for insurance and electric. It costs us approx 1500euros a year for electric here and our place is bigger than the average house. We dont have electric central heating - do you? even so it seems too much to me.
I remember we used ASDA insurance for our discovery before we got our car registered here. The cost went up slightly but nothing compared to you prices.
I remember we used ASDA insurance for our discovery before we got our car registered here. The cost went up slightly but nothing compared to you prices.
As i said, the EDF bill is an estimated one, the house is big [800m2], and has been empty for 2 years. I will get this amended when we arrive in France. No electric heating [propane] but electric water heaters [not switched on at the moment]
As to the car insurance, I`m a bit screwed really, I need to arrange cover within 30 days of arrival in france, and am struggling to find anyone to quote, let alone cover us.
I know nearly everyone says don`t bother importing your vehicles, buy when your out there. But i did look into this and quite honestly the cost of decent secondhand "prestigious" cars seemed a hell of a lot more than in the UK, and so taking into account the hassle and expense of getting them registered, it still seemed the cheaper option. That and the fact we have had cars from nearly new, and so mileage / condition would be hard to find again.
Thanks once again for the invaluable advice offered on this forum people!!
Steve
As to the car insurance, I`m a bit screwed really, I need to arrange cover within 30 days of arrival in france, and am struggling to find anyone to quote, let alone cover us.
I know nearly everyone says don`t bother importing your vehicles, buy when your out there. But i did look into this and quite honestly the cost of decent secondhand "prestigious" cars seemed a hell of a lot more than in the UK, and so taking into account the hassle and expense of getting them registered, it still seemed the cheaper option. That and the fact we have had cars from nearly new, and so mileage / condition would be hard to find again.
Thanks once again for the invaluable advice offered on this forum people!!
Steve
We use the EDF tarif Tempo
http://particuliers.edf.fr/141090i/accueil/EDF-et-...
which is good if you tend to use energy in summer, and visit friends on red days
However when it comes to EDFs estimates for consumption we have been unable to convince them that we use a lot of power in the summer when we are heating the gites and pool, but nothing when we are in Spain for the winter.
Although they now have 3 years of records for our actual consumption, they still bill us for huge amounts during the winter which they then credit us when the meter is read at 6 monthly intervals.
http://particuliers.edf.fr/141090i/accueil/EDF-et-...
which is good if you tend to use energy in summer, and visit friends on red days
However when it comes to EDFs estimates for consumption we have been unable to convince them that we use a lot of power in the summer when we are heating the gites and pool, but nothing when we are in Spain for the winter.
Although they now have 3 years of records for our actual consumption, they still bill us for huge amounts during the winter which they then credit us when the meter is read at 6 monthly intervals.
We had similar problems with our electricity when we first took over the house. The house was also wired for three phase so when we turned the new dishwasher and the cooker on the main house fuse blew !
EDF put a new house feed in and a new meter that can be read from outside the house with a hand held widget.
I think EDF like to have a few Euros in the bank until they understand what you consume and how quickly you pay.
Ours is a holiday house so it's difficult to work out what we spend but my very rough maths makes it 1,000 Euros per annum if we occupied the house for 52 weeks.
The big variable is we are in the house for two weeks in the winter and six/eight weeks over the summer months so the averaging out is very very rough.
EDF put a new house feed in and a new meter that can be read from outside the house with a hand held widget.
I think EDF like to have a few Euros in the bank until they understand what you consume and how quickly you pay.
Ours is a holiday house so it's difficult to work out what we spend but my very rough maths makes it 1,000 Euros per annum if we occupied the house for 52 weeks.
The big variable is we are in the house for two weeks in the winter and six/eight weeks over the summer months so the averaging out is very very rough.
AXA were very helpful while we were sorting out our three cars and it was only when we hit nine months (long & painful story)with the landcruiser that we got a letter saying they wouldn't renew if we hadn't completed the changeover.
Having swapped three over the process, and paperwork required on each was different... Rover 6 weeks and a couple of hundred yoyos, M5 6 months, numerous visits to prefecture etc, Landcruiser 9 months and heaps of paperwork and trips to the prefecture leading to the removal of rear seats and changing of wheels to get the beast through the inspection!
set up the satellite myself with a compass in an afternoon.
Don't want to think about leccy costs!
Having swapped three over the process, and paperwork required on each was different... Rover 6 weeks and a couple of hundred yoyos, M5 6 months, numerous visits to prefecture etc, Landcruiser 9 months and heaps of paperwork and trips to the prefecture leading to the removal of rear seats and changing of wheels to get the beast through the inspection!
set up the satellite myself with a compass in an afternoon.
Don't want to think about leccy costs!
Hi guys 
Are any of you guys in France having a problem with your Sky setup.
Mine stopped working yesterday. There appears to be a good signal and it is displaying the programme details and the correct time but it says "There is a technical problem with the programme please try later"
It may be that some one in the family has been messing but I have tried the obvious checks.
Any comments welcome.
Chris
Are any of you guys in France having a problem with your Sky setup.
Mine stopped working yesterday. There appears to be a good signal and it is displaying the programme details and the correct time but it says "There is a technical problem with the programme please try later"
It may be that some one in the family has been messing but I have tried the obvious checks.
Any comments welcome.
Chris
Abbott said:
Hi guys
Are any of you guys in France having a problem with your Sky setup.
Mine stopped working yesterday. There appears to be a good signal and it is displaying the programme details and the correct time but it says "There is a technical problem with the programme please try later"
It may be that some one in the family has been messing but I have tried the obvious checks.
Any comments welcome.
Chris
Ours is working without problem at the present timeAre any of you guys in France having a problem with your Sky setup.
Mine stopped working yesterday. There appears to be a good signal and it is displaying the programme details and the correct time but it says "There is a technical problem with the programme please try later"
It may be that some one in the family has been messing but I have tried the obvious checks.
Any comments welcome.
Chris
Gassing Station | France | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff