BTFon login problems (1 Viewer)

[DBK]

I thought you were opted in by default and that you had to opt out if you didn't want it.

That's how it's supposed to work but all the signs were I wasn't opted in. My router says BT WiFi isn't activated and the web page to check my status just told me my "product was not on the allowed product list". Despite this I can log into BT wifi hotspots. My reading of a BT forum is a lot of people have problems with BT wifi and not being able to get FON to work in France is common.

 

[stevec]

I've just built a wifi booster (same as the Motorhome WiFi one) and will give it a try

As in a DIY build? Antenna? Im interested in a high gain omni.

 

[DBK]

As in a DIY build? Antenna? Im interested in a high gain omni.

Can't help there, mine is directional, 8dB.

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[chaser]

That's how it's supposed to work but all the signs were I wasn't opted in. My router says BT WiFi isn't activated and the web page to check my status just told me my "product was not on the allowed product list". Despite this I can log into BT wifi hotspots. My reading of a BT forum is a lot of people have problems with BT wifi and not being able to get FON to work in France is common.

Yes that's that's another thing I have been through time and time again even with @Addie s advice , if it's not working( as it never is) you are supposed to opt out of it for 24 hours then opt in again and it will be hunky dory but it's not other people on here reckon it's the best thing since sliced bread, but I have done every upgrade and opting and password that it's possible to do and it still won't work for me.

 

[Lenny HB]

As in a DIY build? Antenna? Im interested in a high gain omni.

Not worth bothering with omni's, directional will give you 4 or 5 times the range and only take seconds to set up.

 

[Lenny HB]

Yes that's that's another thing I have been through time and time again even with @Addie s advice , if it's not working( as it never is) you are supposed to opt out of it for 24 hours then opt in again and it will be hunky dory but it's not other people on here reckon it's the best thing since sliced bread, but I have done every upgrade and opting and password that it's possible to do and it still won't work for me.

So is it only a problem if you are a BT customer?
I have a separate Fon router I bought direct from Fon never had a problem logging in France

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[chaser]

So is it only a problem if you are a BT customer?
I have a separate Fon router I bought direct from Fon never had a problem logging in France

Oh yeah, not knocking fon, that works ok if you are signed up with them according to users on here, it's trying to get fon and bt to talk to each other.
As I have said , try it by all means , some get it to work, but I just can't be bothered with it anymore as there is nearly always a wifi somewhere in French towns and combining that with a feel at home 3 sim I very rarely have no signal.

 

[DBK]

So is it only a problem if you are a BT customer?
I have a separate Fon router I bought direct from Fon never had a problem logging in France

I'm sure you are right in that a subscription to FON is probably the best. A bit like if you want the best mobile connection in France buy a local sim card, but I am not sure you have to have one of their routers, though that probably simplifies things a bit. Just had a look on their website and 30 days is 30 euros which if you were going for a short trip and intended to use a lot of internet would be a good option compared to say buying one of the 12Gb Three cards.

 

[chaser]

Just an aside to this if you don't know , but tourist information offices in French towns have wifi and they don't mind you useing it, as also obviously do cafes , and bars but you mainly have to ask for the password, as well as the old favourite maccy ds, stations , bus stations , ordinary shops as well as shopping centres, countless others, in towns , very rare is there not some sort of wifi.

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[Lenny HB]

I'm sure you are right in that a subscription to FON is probably the best.

Unfortunately they are no longer available as a separate unit, I think they must have been leaned on by their partners.

 

[dabhand]

I thought you were opted in by default and that you had to opt out if you didn't want it.

It was the opposite when I opted in several years ago!

 

[stevec]

Not worth bothering with omni's, directional will give you 4 or 5 times the range and only take seconds to set up.

I can appreciate that now. Didn't know it was such a difference. I don't want a hole in my roof (new van and want to keep the hab warranty intact) so would need to work out a rotatable external mount that was removable. The onmi I have is on sucker pads. I may well contact Solwise and say just how disappointed I am in the omni and see if they will swap it out for the directional.

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[Lenny HB]

I use a 14 quid direction one from eBay use a satnav/camera type sucker base and pop it on the roof via rear roof light.

 

[stevec]

Lenny, do you have a link to the antenna. I gather it needs to use a particular chip set.

 

[jockaneezer]

Just an aside to this if you don't know , but tourist information offices in French towns have wifi and they don't mind you useing it, as also obviously do cafes , and bars but you mainly have to ask for the password, as well as the old favourite maccy ds, stations , bus stations , ordinary shops as well as shopping centres, countless others, in towns , very rare is there not some sort of wifi.

In Germany last year, trying to get on MaccyD's wifi with our phones, IIRC, we couldn't log on as we didn't have a German phone number, mind I am a complete techno numpty so it was quite possibly something I was or wasn't doing

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[chaser]

In Germany last year, trying to get on MaccyD's wifi with our phones, IIRC, we couldn't log on as we didn't have a German phone number, mind I am a complete techno numpty so it was quite possibly something I was or wasn't doing

Don't know about Germany, but I know it works in France, there is also a wifi in France in towns called free, don't know if that's the name of the company providing it or if it just means it's free, but I have used that from time to time, please don't think I know anything about it, I just know what works or not for me

 

[JockandRita]

It was the opposite when I opted in several years ago!

And it was the same for us too Steve, however, in recent years, all new BT customer (including existing customers who have upgraded and received a new hub), are automatically opted in. You have to apply to opt out if you feel you want to.

I am one of those who greatly appreciate the BT WiFi as a BT customer. In an area of dodgy mobile signal strengths (North Norfolk), I am currently using BT Openzone, having logged in with my BT Broadband email address and password..................and whizzing along. Occasionaly it drops out, but I just refresh the login page, and sign in again.

Lenny, do you have a link to the antenna. I gather it needs to use a particular chip set.

I'd appreciate a link too please @Lenny HB. BTW, wasn't it your good self who advised me to change the ALFA router IP address to 192.168.10.254, to avoid connection conflicts when abroad?

I think my ALFA router is poorly, as it's not recognising my USB antenna anymore which is definitely working BTW, as that's what I am pulling the BT signal in with on the laptop.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Lenny HB]

Lenny, do you have a link to the antenna. I gather it needs to use a particular chip set.

I'd appreciate a link too please @Lenny HB. BTW, wasn't it your good self who advised me to change the ALFA router IP address to 192.168.10.254, to avoid connection conflicts when abroad?

I think my ALFA router is poorly, as it's not recognising my USB antenna anymore which is definitely working BTW, as that's what I am pulling the BT signal in with on the laptop.

Jock.

This is the antenna a Leguang-LG-N120. (I think it uses the reltek3070 chipset) There doesn't appear to be any UK sellers at the moment. The fixing for the base on the back of the unit is a standard ¼ Whitworth thread (same as camera tripod) I use a windscreen satnav sucker mount for fixing to the roof. I have done a direct comparison with a Motorhome wifi antenna and got slightly better results.
It works with the Alfa R36 router that Solwise supply, you can buy the R36 cheaper on eBay but not worth the risk as different chipsets are used in the R36 so better to fork out the extra tenner. I've not been able to get it to work directly in a PC with operating systems later than XP. If you can get it to work directly with a PC makes it very quick to check for signals.

The R36 router can be a right pain at times, every time you make a change you have to reboot and what they don't tell you is if you use the Easy Setup it looks like it's hung but it hasn't you have to close your browser after a re-boot, I always use the advanced settings. Also sometimes you don't see any signal and you have to give the router a physical reboot sometimes 2 or 3 times but when it is set up and working it's great.

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[JockandRita]

This is the antenna a Leguang-LG-N120. (I think it uses the reltek3070 chipset) There doesn't appear to be any UK sellers at the moment. The fixing for the base on the back of the unit is a standard ¼ Whitworth thread (same as camera tripod) I use a windscreen satnav sucker mount for fixing to the roof. I have done a direct comparison with a Motorhome wifi antenna and got slightly better results.
It works with the Alfa R36 router that Solwise supply, you can buy the R36 cheaper on eBay but not worth the risk as different chipsets are used in the R36 so better to fork out the extra tenner. I've not been able to get it to work directly in a PC with operating systems later than XP. If you can get it to work directly with a PC makes it very quick to check for signals.

The R36 router can be a right pain at times, every time you make a change you have to reboot and what they don't tell you is if you use the Easy Setup it looks like it's hung but it hasn't you have to close your browser after a re-boot, I always use the advanced settings. Also sometimes you don't see any signal and you have to give the router a physical reboot sometimes 2 or 3 times but when it is set up and working it's great.

Thanks Lenny.

That's almost the same (plug & play) antenna I am currently using, (Egasky Venu_A2414N) which was working with my ALFA R36 router a few weeks ago. I think I need to have another play with them both, and even try going back to a factory reset with the R36. I couldn't get the dashboard page to come up at all, and there was no USB light on either.

My antenna (stood on the MH dashboard) is working great off a an HP Compaq Windows 10 laptop (was Win 7), with 4 out of 5 bars signal strength, and the nearest house is about 200yds away. There are 6 x BT Hubs within that range, so the BT Openzon/FON connection is good.

Cheers for now,

Jock.

 

[Lenny HB]

Thanks Lenny.

That's almost the same (plug & play) antenna I am currently using, (Egasky Venu_A2414N) which was working with my ALFA R36 router a few weeks ago. I think I need to have another play with them both, and even try going back to a factory reset with the R36. I couldn't get the dashboard page to come up at all, and there was no USB light on either.

If it doesn't recognise the antenna or you don't see any connections after 2 or 3 reboots a default reset normally sorts it out. I often have to do it a right pain buy the time you have put all your settings back in with many reboots half the evening has gone.
Although it can be very frustrating have had some great results with it over the last couple of years, even had fast Fon connections in France and have been able to video Skype our daughter in Thailand.

 

[JockandRita]

If it doesn't recognise the antenna or you don't see any connections after 2 or 3 reboots a default reset normally sorts it out. I often have to do it a right pain buy the time you have put all your settings back in with many reboots half the evening has gone.
Although it can be very frustrating have had some great results with it over the last couple of years, even had fast Fon connections in France and have been able to video Skype our daughter in Thailand.

Top man Lenny.

I am back up and running again with the ALFA R36, using the directional antenna on 192.168.2.1.

I'll have a play around with the SSID settings, and make it more personal again, and also go back to 192.168.10.254 Thanks for all your help (reminders) and advice.

Cheers,

Jock.

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[Lenny HB]

Top man Lenny.

I am back up and running again with the ALFA R36, using the directional antenna on 192.168.2.1.

I'll have a play around with the SSID settings, and make it more personal again, and also go back to 192.168.10.254 Thanks for all your help (reminders) and advice.

Cheers,

Jock.

Yes you definitely want to put security back otherwise you pull up on an aire and these days everyone's phone logs on to the strongest signal and speed goes right down.

 

[JockandRita]

Yes you definitely want to put security back otherwise you pull up on an aire and these days everyone's phone logs on to the strongest signal and speed goes right down.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[rod_vw]

I have BT Infinity at home and have the FON access enabled. My BT account access has my usual email address (not a BT one) registered and can be accessed with that plus a password. In the UK I can use the same email address to access a BT FON router anywhere BUT when outside that UK I have to use my BT email address. I can confirm that this is correct in France, Belgium and Holland as I am away on the continent at present and have used FON in each of those countries recently.
By the way both Holland and Belgium now seem to have far more FON access points than a few years back.

Rod

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[Sheddy]

We find the FON map very useful it zooms right down to street level and if you click on the location indicator it may even give you the house number of the hotspot
We use it to get an idea of the FON locations at each destination on our trips in the UK and Europe. As we use a directional antenna it helps knowing roughly what direction to point it when arriving on an aire or site.
Cheers
Ed

 

[DBK]

We find the FON map very useful it zooms right down to street level and if you click on the location indicator it may even give you the house number of the hotspot
We use it to get an idea of the FON locations at each destination on our trips in the UK and Europe. As we use a directional antenna it helps knowing roughly what direction to point it when arriving on an aire or site.
Cheers
Ed

That's a useful map, just need to compare it with the CamperContact map and I should be able to choose aires with Wi-Fi! Assuming I can log in of course.