The thing about quotes on the internet is you cannot confirm their validity.
Abraham Lincoln
Here’s the story of how I solved an elusive dilemma in Paris – apartment internet service. My apartment is already wired for fiber optic internet service. Easy enough. Then it should have been straightforward to order internet service. In Paris, there are a number of internet service providers, Orange, Free, and Bouygues, to name a few. Since there is a lot of competition, the various companies are almost always running some form of discount or promotion for a year of internet service. The rates go back up after 12 months, but it is customary to switch to a new service provider every 12 months to keep the lower prices. Internet service in Paris is very similar to other countries in which you can select the download speed, whether to include cable channels, and other accessories like a TV.
Like what I was told to do, I chose one of the service providers and scheduled them to install the internet. My first attempt was in November 2021 right after moving into my apartment. The technician arrived and verified that the fiber optic line was indeed active. I connected all the boxes per the instructions. Alas, there was no internet. After a month of multiple technician house calls and calls into the company, there was still no internet connection.
Thankfully, my downstairs neighbor had an unsecured WiFi service, so I was able to connect to the internet using a secure virtual private network (NordVPN, https://nordvpn.com). However, the speed was slow and the WiFi only was accessible in half my living room and the kitchen. The rest of the apartment had no WiFi service.
During this month, I did keep contacting the company including asking my friends to speak in French to try to understand why my internet was not working. After a month, the company acknowledged that the prior tenant still had an active contract for internet service with another company. My company was waiting unsuccessfully for the prior service provider to relinquish the line so that my internet could be set-up.
Needless to say, I decided to cancel the service and return the internet boxes. The company was clear and quick to explain how to do this. I had to send a registered letter via La Poste, and ship the boxes back to the company. The company provided the letter and the shipping label. My costs to cancel the service were the registered letter cost (about 7 euros) and the cancellation cost (about 40 euros). I decided not to challenge the cancellation cost since I’ve only heard stories of how nigh impossible it was to be reimbursed for the cancellation cost.
After another month of using the slower speed unsecured WiFi, I decided to try again with another company. I went with Bouygues (https://www.bouyguestelecom.fr/) who also provides my cellular phone service. I have been very happy with Bouygues cellphone service since it’s inexpensive (about 9 euros a month) and works well all over the city. Bouygues had a special promotion, and I scheduled for this morning to install the internet. The boxes came about a week or so ago. The technician arrived in his time slot, hooked up the internet in about 30 minutes, and verified everything was working before he left. My guess is he had to switch my line over to Bouygue’s line into the building.
So, now I have secure, fast internet service throughout my apartment. Download speeds are around 70 Mbps which is plenty fast for what I do (video streaming). I no longer have to use the workarounds from the past two months. I still use NordVPN to give my computer and cellphone an extra layer of protection from prying eyes.
I hope you learn from my experience so that you won’t repeat the mistakes I made including how to ask the right questions to make sure your service company will be successful or not. I am very happy now without all the workarounds. I now have my computer on a computer desk (rather than on the coffee table in the living room) and WiFi throughout my apartment. This was another exercise in patience, endurance, and bringing in my French friends to chug through the French service bureaucracy.
Until we meet in Paris…
Talenton 