Babyeddiedog's activity

We thought that we would never leave our dog in kennels in Italy because it couldn't be as good as the ones we had in the UK.......how very WRONG we were!Visited 'Dogs Village' nr. L'Aquila yesterday and it was brilliant.  Everyone was very kind to us and Ed, we managed to get by even with our pigeon Italian.  The place has lots of space both the runs and the boxes themselves.  They are portacabin types which were extremely clean, absolutely no smell.  In fact two people were cleaning when we were there plus the owner.  The kitchen where food is prepared is also spotless and there is a hugh variety of food to choose from.  There is an outdoor ring, fenced off where the dogs are exercised alone and they are also walked alone too, so no mixing if you don't want it.  They are open all year and the kennels are heated in winter, it looks absolutely perfect a really professional outfit , we'll give it a try.I've attached a link to the site if anyone else needs info:www.dogsvillage.it 

We brought two dogs over last year through Switzerland and they didn't even bother to check their passports in Switzerland,  they even got out of the car to have their photo's taken at the border !  Hated the drive through Switzerland, too many tunnels, so will be interesting to see what routes are suggested although I believe even with the Swiss road tax it's cheaper to go through there.

Phoned Dogs Village yesterday and spoke to a very nice lady.  Can go anytime so will probably have a day out next week or the week after and visit both places and on the way back a newly recommended vet.  I'll keep you posted on all fronts!

Adriatica, thanks so much for that, it really is very kind of you.  After the bank holiday we will call him and see if we can go up and have a look round, take Ed too.  Have also found on another of your links a place called Dogs Village 10km from L'Aqulia, have emailed them, no response yet but will ring next week and try and visit both places on the same day.

Hi Sarah and MarkI am assuming here you are on cabled broadband, and what you propose is to connect up another PC in the farmhouse to your existing Alice modem - am I correct?Most of these routers will not transmit anywhere near the stated range of 100m, with full signal, and nearly all are affected by walls, metalwork, even other routers nearby can greatly reduce the signal. You should be able to change channels if you have "co-channel" interference, (by accessing the router menu via the software) but I do not think this is your real issue.You can buy extenders, both here and in the UK, but just be careful, you still need a very good signal where you are proposing to site the router, otherwise, the onward "boosted" signal will be worthless. The other point I am making, the ideal location for the booster would be say, halfway, but this might be right in the middle of a driveway, or even a garden! Not very practical, as the extender  would need a 240V power supply.   Have you considered a cable network? You could run up to 100m on an ethernet connection, with no loss of signal - a port (up to 4 on some devices) is provided on the back of your router. . Better still, why not try a directional antenna outdoors, i.e. line of sight? Most Alice routers have detachable antennas, so this should not be a problem. The signal will be more "focussed" resulting in increased range. It would be wise to have a directional aerial at the other end of course to pick up the narrowly beamed signal. ALWAYS remeber, the nearer you are the modem, the better the conection EVERY time. People make the silly mistake of thinking these devices can be pushed to the outer limits, but in my experience of RF transmission, these estimates of "total range" are far from the real world.       Food for thought, before you start shelling out!!!ED 

Distance isn't too much of a problem we live in Chieti region about 30 mins from Lanciano, but we don't mind travelling to make sure he has somewhere people are kind to him and proper facilities.  In wintertime I thinks it's important to have a few comforts.

Hi allFor those still battling with 3 contracts, this is a simple one to resolve.Just to put this record straight, I was disappointed too at the closure of 3 Like home, (like we all were) after all, it was a brilliant scheme whilst it lasted. Some people i know here abused it, is it any wonder the operator terminated it?? Let's face it, if you had the 3 dongle, mobile broadband for £10 per month... in Italy?? That is very, very cheap.Here's what you do. I kindly wrote to 3, told them I would be "severely affected" (magic words!)  by this change, and I could prove it by the bills. They called me within 3 days, and offered a rebate, which I turned down flatly.I asked to speak to the "terminations" team, and they agreed to terminate my contract early,(for the reasons outlined in the letter) with no penalty, and convert me free to PAYG, keeping my business number too. This was all done painlessly and without fuss. I actually paid less on the final bill (special dog's discount obviously LOL!).  So, stick to your guns, explain WHY it has affected you, and of course, if you spend a lot of time in Italy, you'll have no problems proving you will be affected, and ask them to change you over. The Mumbai team are polite, (and helpful) if you are!!!  Be warned anyone thinking of the Vodafone Summer deal - it is a promotion only. They are not likely to want to lose money like 3. ED's comments on campaigning to bring it back, well in Ireland the "3 Like home" has been retained, albeit a little different than the original. Like all the other networks, 3 have been capped by EU legislation on roaming rates. And, they will continue to fall too. The deals over folks!ED

I am always surprised and dismayed to see people battling with dongles, and chiavettas etc.A little advice - hope its a help. We had reasonable quality internet access in a very remote area of Abruzzo for 12 months for £10.00 per month on 3 (via the 3 Like home service), and before you all ask, it's now been abolished.If you really, really must have internet via a dongle, I would always check on the coverage map of the particular operator first.In Italy, 3 and TIM are the main rivals for rolling out HSDPA (that's the real broadband solution via a dongle) closely followed by Vodafone, then Wind. Check out this:  www.gsmworld.com or look on the individual operators site (links from GSM World provided).That's step No1. Step No 2, go to a SHOP. Check it works there, and if it does, then ask if you can try it at home. Most resellers will allow you to do this particularly if you explain you are only buying it for broadband. Getting it online is asking for trouble!  Another good test, if you have an English mobile, try this. Go into mobile "networks", scan for "new networks", and see what comes up on the operator list. If the operator carries HSDPA, (which is the one you should really go for) you'll see the blue symbol adjacent to the operator name. That means there's a good chance with the right dongle, you'll get coverage.Have I mentioned about Astra 2 connect? Quality 2-way Broadband via satellite? If you want hassle free connections, and Telecom Italia have categorically told you they will NOT supply ADSL to you for a very long time, Astra's solution (which is what the broadcaster's use) is reliable, and covers 99.9% of Italy.  Hope this helps someone.ED     

Hi SibillaniJust saw your posting.I profess to know a little about GSM/3g/HSDPA coverage on cellular networks, and I would say, if your signal is weak, do not expect any "booster" on the market to give you a much better signal. This can only be achieved if you have satisfactory coverage to start with (i.e it is impossible to "boost " what is not there). If you have exhausted all the networks here, (TIM, 3,  VODAFONE, AND WIND) you can, get good broadband on satellite nowadays, and I don't mean the local "Wireless" networks either. Check out Astra 2 Connect. There are agents in Italy, and if you can receive Astra TV, (99.9% can), you'll get the service.Your other alternative is to keep badgering Telecom. We campaigned here for months and months, until they finally gave in and upgraded the exchange to ADSL. They even wired in brand new copper cabling for us so as our speed would not be affected adversely by distance from the exchange. We are delighted, but we had to wait, which is understandable given our area is not industrious or well populated by any means.Please do not think you cannot get ADSL in some form, because it is possible. Don't waste your money on gadgets that may only marginally improve things. ED

Hi all. Does anyone else have a problem sending e-mails OUT on the Alice server?I have my own domain in the UK, and can receive e-mails perfectly OK via Outlook Express and my incoming mail POP3 account - no problems whatsover.The problem is I cannot send e-mails from Outlook via my own SMTP address.Here is what I have done... I tried the Alice "smtp:out.alice.it" server given, still not good. E-mails bounce. OK, to test the system, I then tried my Googlemail address, using both Gmail Incoming POP3 server, and outgoing SMTP address. Still bouncing. I have a strange feeling Alice do not like own domain addresses, they like you to use their own address i.e. myname@alice.it and return it with their address, but this is no good for people in business who need their own .com or .co.uk address.Has anyone else had issues sending mails out, similar ot this?Thanks.