# Which Broadband Provider?



## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

I'm about to give up work with my current employer so will loose my current broadband access from my home. 

So who should I go with? Here are my requirements:


Must be phone line based; not cable etc. (I have a BT line)
Just need internet access. No email, no web space, no hardware, nothing else. 
It should be cheap..._*this is important*_!
I don't think we, as a family of 4, can survive on a 5G/month download limit, so I guess that means unlimited downloads.
Not too concerned with access speed, so 2M/sec or higher.

Thanks

Paul


----------



## mrteatime (Oct 25, 2006)

im with tiscali....unlimited downloads......14.99 a month


----------



## Robert (Jul 26, 2006)

I use BT but its not a simple package - includes hardware, phone calls, broadband and openzone.

How about o2 - cheaper if you are an o2 mobile customer - could be Â£7.50 a month


----------



## Running_man (Dec 2, 2005)

Robert said:


> I use BT but its not a simple package - includes hardware, phone calls, broadband and openzone.
> 
> How about o2 - cheaper if you are an o2 mobile customer


I'm with O2 and I can't recommend them highly enough. Great service, never had an outage and their fair use policy doesn't mention download limits as such. Also, their call centre is in Scotland and not in India or the far east.

I pay Â£10 per month for a 16MB connection but that's because I have an O2 mobile contract. It's Â£15 otherwise.

A.


----------



## langtoftlad (Mar 31, 2007)

I use Entanet via reseller UKFSN at Â£19.99/mth - no minimum contract for 30gb peak & 300gb off peak which is great for all those old TV downloads 

A couple of things to watch out for;

Unlimited isn't usually unlimited :blink:. There is usually something called a Fair Use Policy which effectively is a limit.

Quality of service - You might get cheaper, but often the well known providers are less than stable.

I can honestly say Entanet is a quality provider and the reseller UKFSN is also excellent on customer service.


----------



## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

i also use entanet via adsl24 ,have been great with no probs at all, customer service is the best i have encountered anywhere.


----------



## minkle (Mar 17, 2008)

Im with O2 (be) and have not had a problem, i think they were the cheapest with the download limit i wanted, although i cant remember if i went for unlimited, sure i must have though..

Anyway, i was only planning on staying with them for a year but 5 months on i think i'll probably stick with them.

They're modem is a wireless one too.

I couldnt tell you about customer service as i have not had to deal with them, but have not encountered any problems with payment etc


----------



## Russ (Feb 7, 2006)

I had loads of trouble with Tiscali, I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole.


----------



## Guest (Apr 24, 2008)

Are you a sky tv customer ?

They have a free basic package with a sky tv subscription............... I don't use it myself so can't recommend it either way.

Cheers

Lee


----------



## Steve's Dad (Dec 19, 2007)

710 is with Orange, free wireless modem/router, unlimited download (probably), 8mb connection speed, never been any trouble at all. And it's all free because she has a mobile phone contract with Orange.

I should think that if Orange and Sky offer free broadband then maybe others do too.

Ian


----------



## MarkF (Jul 5, 2003)

Steve said:


> 710 is with Orange, free wireless modem/router, unlimited download (probably), 8mb connection speed, never been any trouble at all. And it's all free because she has a mobile phone contract with Orange.
> 
> I should think that if Orange and Sky offer free broadband then maybe others do too.
> 
> Ian


Orange are not an ISP providor but IMO a company that earns it's revenue from telephone charges deliberately levied on it's zillions of unhappy customers, trapped in contracts, trying to sort out all manner of Orange created issues. Orange problems A complete joke of a company and it's always best to judge an ISP providor by it's performance when you have a problem, I would not have Orange again if they paid ME! :nono:

Paul, I don't think cheap and good is possible and I think you know this  I pay Â£20 a month but can always speak to the same person or if I want, that company rings me at their expense  Having had a nightmare with Tiscali, BT, AOL and Orange/Wandadoo I am happy to pay the extra to know that should my system go down, I can get instant knowledgable free support.

If you are thinking of working from home then my advice is not to touch a major supplier with a bargepole.


----------



## Steve's Dad (Dec 19, 2007)

Sorry Mark,

Didn't mean to upset anyone, I was just relating her experience.

Also, the original request stressed cheapness. I actually agree with your comments, before I moved house I was with a tiny ISP in Scotland called Calico who were outstanding.

I now have a mobile phone internet nodem because BT cannot supply me at this address.

Ian


----------



## MarkF (Jul 5, 2003)

Steve said:


> Sorry Mark,
> 
> Didn't mean to upset anyone, I was just relating her experience.
> 
> ...


No problem Ian, just seeing "Orange" was enough to set me off on a rant.  Actually, I would think they are no worse than any of the large companies in the daily papers touting at the lower end of the market, yer gets what yer pays for!

Pm me with your modem dongle experience I am thinking of buying one.

PS Any of these words can spark me off too:- Labour, Liberal, Benefits, Nat West three, Ken Livingstone, F1, Moderation, etcetera etcetera :lol:


----------



## julian (Jun 3, 2003)

Loads of trouble with Orange

Drops the connection at any time .Maybe 10 times an hour .Orange say they've investigated every possible area .Still a load of cr*p.On one phone call the guy wanted to go through the process of changing the channel - 14 times.

BT shortly


----------



## Guest (Apr 24, 2008)

Aol via bt modem-:bull*******:


----------



## PhilM (Nov 5, 2004)

I'm with BT but wouldn't recommend them at all... long story :no:

However I got my parents Sky BB last year, only Â£4.99 if you have there sat


----------



## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

They are all crap it's just finding one which is a little less crap .... I signed up with Fast ... supposed to be one of the best, OK it is much better than AOL but it is still crap and twice the price


----------



## PhilM (Nov 5, 2004)

JoT said:


> They are all crap it's just finding one which is a little less crap .... I signed up with Fast ... supposed to be one of the best, OK it is much better than AOL but it is still crap and twice the price


Think you've hit the nail on the head John, they all promise faster and more reliable service... but as soon as you experience the slightest problem you end up with the same conclusion which you've just mentioned :no:


----------



## mediummynd (Mar 16, 2008)

I use Demon very good but not cheap


----------



## hotmog (Feb 4, 2006)

I have PlusNet option 2 @ Â£14.99 per month: up to 8MB speed, 8GB download limit (but if you exceed that you can either pay extra to top up, or live with a reduced speed of 128K until the next month's allowance kicks in), plus you get 250MB webspace and unlimited email addresses. If you need bigger download limits, there's option 3 @Â£19.99 which gives you 20GB, or option 4 @ Â£29.99 for 40GB.

I've never have any problems with it at all, and can recommend it. :thumbsup:


----------



## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

minkle said:


> Im with O2 (be) and have not had a problem, i think they were the cheapest with the download limit i wanted, although i cant remember if i went for unlimited, sure i must have though..
> 
> Anyway, i was only planning on staying with them for a year but 5 months on i think i'll probably stick with them.
> 
> ...


Having done a little research, Be is looking pretty good value at Â£14/month for unlimited downloads and 8m/sec upload. Anyone else with Be? And can you recommend them?

Thanks

Paul


----------



## blackandgolduk (Apr 25, 2005)

MarkF said:


> Steve said:
> 
> 
> > Sorry Mark,
> ...


I wasn't prepared to pay BT 125 notes for a 'phoneline that I'd never use, then rental and broadband charges so we went for a USB dongle through Vodafone. On the whole it's been pretty good - up to 7.1meg, 15 squids a month and a 3gig limit that I'm nowhere near, despite downloading loads of music etc. If you can get a mobile signal you can get an internet connection - simple! I often use it to check the Labour website, see what's happing in the liberal press (esp. re: the Nat West 3), check Livingstone's place in the polls, watch F1 clips - all in moderation, of course! :lol: Sorry, I couldn't resit it...


----------



## seikology (Dec 4, 2006)

Silver Hawk said:


> I'm about to give up work with my current employer so will loose my current broadband access from my home.
> 
> So who should I go with? Here are my requirements:
> 
> ...


dont go with talktalk whatever you do. theyre a complete nightmare. currently i have a bt business bband line.. i wouldnt go with them either. my neghbours wireless is far more reliable.


----------



## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

Silver Hawk said:


> I'm about to give up work with my current employer so will loose my current broadband access from my home.
> 
> So who should I go with? Here are my requirements:
> 
> ...


Hi All,

Thought I'd give you an update on what I chose and experience so far:


Went with O2 Home Broadband
Standard Package at Â£12.50 / month (Â£7.50 if you're an O2 mobile user)
12 month contract
8 Meg download speed
Unlimited downloads (within reason!)
Free wireless modem/router and all cables, CD-ROM etc.

Applied on-line on 24 May...had regular emails and mobile text messages telling me of progress and expected completion date (2 June).

And my line _*was*_ enabled on 2 June, and I'd received the wireless model router a few days before. Connected it all up and ran a speed test and got slightly over 8 Megs. :thumbsup:

So all-in-all, a very pleasant and problem free experience. Highly recommended.

Cheers

Paul


----------



## minkle (Mar 17, 2008)

Nice one, ive still not had any problems,i was only going to stick with o2 for a year but from what ive experienced so far i'll be sticking with them unless they bump the price up


----------



## squareleg (Mar 6, 2008)

At home we have *Demon*, which is extremely reliable but expensive at Â£20 a month. After-sales and tech support is excellent and spam is very low. Occasionally speed slows to a trickle - but this is usually temporary.

I have *Pipex Homecall* at the studio on a sort of trial basis - I use the phone rather infrequently there but, having said that, the last two monthly bills (for both calls and 8mb internet) have been around Â£13 all in, which is cheap. Caveats: 1) Pipex Homecall is now part of the Tiscali group (nuff said) and 2) the volume of spam on the email side is horrendous. Set-up was a doddle and speed and reliability are good - but I would *not* recommend Pipex purely because of the spam.

Hth.

Nick


----------



## Zephod (Nov 15, 2006)

I use O2 graet service and unlimited but I am also a O2 mobile customer so I get a good deal < I have to say also that their service desk is UK based and very good


----------



## MarkF (Jul 5, 2003)

Silver Hawk said:


> Highly recommended.


But nothing has gone wrong............yet :shutup:


----------



## Zephod (Nov 15, 2006)

I used to be with Pipex I had to threaten them with ofcom just to get a release code load of bloody cowboys they were h34r:


----------



## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

MarkF said:


> Silver Hawk said:
> 
> 
> > Highly recommended.
> ...


True Mark....but I'm an optimist....it will be fine. :blink:


----------

