62 French Property News August 2019 http://www.completefrance.com

W

hat’s the first thing

that many

holidaymakers do on

arrival at their chosen gîte or

resort? They wake the wifi

from its slumber and get on

Facetime or WhatsApp to share

the excitement of their

surroundings with

friends and family

back home!

Expectations of a reliable

super-fast service for multi-user families keep

increasing, but while speeds are getting faster

for many, service remains vulnerable to outage

and damage.

Rather than discovering a damaged modem

on arrival, it is much better to anticipate issues

and protect it all year round. The most

important thing is to be positive and proactive.

Although we associate summer with the best of

weather, it is also a time for thunderstorms in

many parts of France, and unprotected

broadband modems can be damaged by a

power surge. Even the best surge protectors

available cannot guarantee complete protection

for your equipment, so if you are going to be

away for any length of time, it is best to

disconnect the modem and telephone handset

from their sockets. Should a violent storm

happen when you are there, it is also best to

disconnect your modem until it blows over.

Severe storms can damage equipment at

your local exchange or the line between the

exchange and your property. Always check

with neighbours to see if they have lost their

service as well. In addition to letting your

telecom company know the situation, speak

with the mairie as their office can put pressure

on Orange, the national network owner, to

prioritise the repairs affecting your property.

Every year, there are one or two instances

where a whole département is affected.

Fortunately, this will result in a high

prioritisation of the fault and these are often

fixed quickly.

The lights are off

Just because there are no lights on your

modem it does not mean there is a fault. Before

calling your telecom supplier, take these simple

steps and you could be online very quickly.

First, reboot your modem. All this involves is

unplugging the modem at the telephone

socket, including the ADSL filter. Wait for five

minutes and then reconnect and switch on the

power. This may fix the problem.

Should this not work, reset the modem.

While modems differ, they all will have a reset

button, which is usually accessed by using a

small-pointed object such as a cocktail stick to

press the button through a small access hole.

You only need to hold the button in for a few

moments and the modem will then go through

a process of resynchronisation with your ISP

(internet service provider). This process will

return the modem to factory settings, so if you

have set up a security password, for example,

you will have to do this again. The process will

take around 10 minutes.

If these two actions fail, check to see whether

the problem rests with your internal wiring.

Telecom companies are only responsible for the

EXPERT ADVICE

Up to

'!

Summer has arrived and second

home owners and those with

holiday rentals are demanding more

from their broadband than ever.

Here is Bob Elliott’s basic guide to

improving your wifi signal