Broadband

[grahamec]

Hello<br>Who's the best broadband supplier and why ???

[jimp357]

I'm asked this all the time at work.  Our sales guys are based all over and are moving to braodband.<br><br>I've found that they're much the same. The only one I'd avoid is AOL.<br><br>BT, BT & Yahoo, Wanadoo, Tiscali, Bulldog all offer similar deals.  £15 - £18 / month with specified download limits (1Gb/month).  If you use it for normal things, email, surfing, an mp3 every now and then, then these are all fine.  I've installed all of them.  The modems are very similar if not the same, as is the install process.  Follow the instructions that come with them.<br><br>If you are intending to do alot of mp3 & film stuff then you may wish to consider increasing the download limit (6 GB/month ish or unlimited) but these will cost more.<br><br>I use NTL with 2Mb connection and unlimited use.<br><br>Are you intending to add WiFi at all.

[grahamec]

WiFi..WTF's that<br><br>I currently use AOL home and work and have done for sometime, it just seems to hang and dump and be unreliable so now I can receive Bb I reckon a change is due.  Why do you reccommend to steer clear of AOL and is it correct that its a biitch to remove ?<br>Cheers<br><br>

[jimp357]

....a bitch to remove....Oh the joys of trying to get rid of AOL. And not only from your computer.<br><br>AOL is fine if you want exactly what "they" want.  If you try and do something a different way using Explorer, Netscape etc then it gets difficult.  I find that the constant downloading that AOL does is a right pain.  All the suppliers have thier moments regarding speed etc, but AOL seems to have more.  It can be a pig to configure, and then still remain a pig when trying to install and configure other software once AOL is on.<br><br>WiFi... Wireless Networking.  Used more & more at home (WiFi Router/Modem) to connect multiple PC's to the Internet, allowing them all to use it at the same time.  Also used alot now to connect Laptops & PCs wirelessly (to the Internet and each other if you have more than one), allowing them to move around the house and connect from anywhere.

[TStevens]

Ooo one of my forté's..... (now i can help back as much as you guys have helped me).

What will you be doing with your new broadband? what kinds of uses and how much 'usage' do you think you will have.

Do you understand how broadband works and how it will vary from supplier to supplier? checkout the guide here at adslguide.org.uk. Basically BT Wholesale take the connection from your house through the exchange then to your ISP's network, your ISP then connects you to the internet. Just because the backhaul is supplied by BT Wolesale, doesnt mean BTBroadband is the best choice.

If you're still on dialup I would suggest starting on one of the lower speed products (512k), especially as BT now have this working so most phone lines can take this speed, higher speeds are totally dependant on how long your line is and how good a quality it is. It's worth remembering that broadband doesnt work like dialup and is static to your physical phone line it is an always connected service.

ADSL is a contended service, i.e you actually share the connection with upto 50 other people in the exchange, and why speeds are advertised as 'up-to 512k' etc. At busy periods of the day you may see considerable slow down in the connection, this contention occurs regardless of which ISP you use, but is still something to be aware of.

You need to sum up the following:
Can I live with a usage cap?
Can I like with a long contract?
Do I need more than one PC online?
How much am I willing to pay?

Beware us usage caps, long contracts, leaving fee's, 'musy buy our hardware' clauses.

ISP's I wouldnt reccomend:
AOL - 12month contract, notoriously 'slow'. AOL's email is very picky about what email it delivers and often blocks a lot of legitimate email. The AOL software is a pain to remove from the PC, but now apparently is no longer required for use however takes a fair bit of savvy to connect in this way. They also dont allow you to have more than one PC to their broadband unless you buy their own expensive equipment

Bulldog - Bulldog are an LLU supplier, they have their own equipment in the BT exchange that you are connected to, this also includes your telephone calls. My friend works for BT and explains how bulldog often blame BT and get BT to investigate first, to then be told it's the Bulldog equipment etc, and can leave end users with long periods of downtime with no internet and no phone line.

UKOnline - Another LLU supplier, this time only the broadband is supplied so they dont mess with your phone, however the sting of a 12month contract, and as reported on user groups they have a lot of customer service issues as well as poor speeds.

Tiscali - AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE this 'ISP' and I use the term lightly, have notorious issues with billing, speed issues, (I know several people with worse than dialup speeds at the moment who are on products that are supposed to be 40times faster), they also lock you into a 12month contract and do not support the 'migrations' system that allows people to move to a new broadband supplied, you need to cease the broadband and order a new one!

My Reccomendation:
Zen - My suggestion is a company that doesnt advertise, most of you have probably never heard of before, yet year after year they get awarded Best UK Broadband providor awards. Zen is to broadband as Lotus is to handling. They just have it spot on. Zen have a 1 (one) month contract, they support migrations so if you really dont like it you can just leave when you want. I moved to Zen (from Tiscali) coming up 3 years ago, and with a 1month contract I thought what can I lose, and I'm still here. They're consistently rated highest in speed tests, and reliability is amazing, I think i've had 3 problems in 2 years, 1 was a BT line issue (yay to the big lorry that took out the pole!) 1 was a BT exchange issue, and the 3rd was a small hiccup with a server at Zen which was resolved within the hour. They're not the cheapest around, but I prefer to pay a little extra for a quality connection that just works. They have very quick install times, and the technical guys know exactly what they're talking about.. I need say no more, the adslguide comparision chart here says it all. the one last thing is thier flexibility with payments, credit/debit card, standing order, CHEQUE or if a business a credit account. http://www.zenadsl.co.uk

Hope that wasnt too much to digest and helps.

[Sy V]

Based largely on my preferences which almost mirror those highlighted in Tony's last paragraph of recommendation, I have used Eclipse for several years.

[Ashaman]

Don't you guys have cable over there  ???

[Darren]

[quote author=TStevens link=board=itarea;num=1119029961;start=0#4 date=06/17/05 at 13:57:28] yet year after year they get awarded Best UK Broadband providor awards. [/quote]<br>As do Telewest Broadband, bandwidth offerings upto 8Mb, with the lowest fault rate in the world, which not surprising has given them the lowest churn rate in the world.<br><br>[quote author=Ashaman link=board=itarea;num=1119029961;start=0#6 date=06/17/05 at 22:41:11]Don't you guys have cable over there  ???[/quote]<br>Telewest Broadband<br><br>Darren<br>~~~~~

[TStevens]

We have 2 flavours of Cable - Telewest of NTL<br><br>Telewest is very good NTL is awful. However in the UK you can only use the supplier thats in your area. In my case NTHeLl<br><br>

[grahamec]

Thanks for the replies guys, <br><br>jimp357, now I know what it is yes I would like WiFi (as long as I don't have to get married)<br><br>Tony, nice post thanks I think I may sample Buddhism  ;D

[Monty]

I`m with NTL and never had a problem  ;D I wouldn`t bother with that wireless s**t just have an extra cable fitted  ;)

[Philbo]

My Reccomendation:[/size]<br>Zen - My suggestion is a company that doesnt advertise, most of you have probably never heard of before, yet year after year they get awarded Best UK Broadband providor awards. Zen is to broadband as Lotus is to handling. They just have it spot on. Zen have a 1 (one) month contract, they support migrations so if you really dont like it you can just leave when you want. I moved to Zen (from Tiscali) coming up 3 years ago, and with a 1month contract I thought what can I lose, and I'm still here. They're consistently rated highest in speed tests, and reliability is amazing, I think i've had 3 problems in 2 years, 1 was a BT line issue (yay to the big lorry that took out the pole!) 1 was a BT exchange issue, and the 3rd was a small hiccup with a server at Zen which was resolved within the hour. They're not the cheapest around, but I prefer to pay a little extra for a quality connection that just works. They have very quick install times, and the technical guys know exactly what they're talking about.. I need say no more, the adslguide comparision chart here says it all. the one last thing is thier flexibility with payments, credit/debit card, standing order, CHEQUE or if a business a credit account. http://www.zenadsl.co.uk<br><br>Hope that wasnt too much to digest and helps.

I'd just like to back this up and say that I've been using Zen from the very first minute that Broadband was available in this country, and I have had nothing other than excellent service from them. At the time I chose them it was them or BT (who did absolutely nothing for me apart from expose my personal details on their website after I signed up as an early adopter).

The main benefits I see for Zen are:

- reliability
- fixed IP address
- no usage limits or capping
- no auto disconnect
- people who can actually help you if you need support

They may not be the cheapest, but the service is beyond reproach. They also won the last PC Pro ISP customer service award.

[Scott J]

NTL are crap ?

Currently NTL offering 3gig a month for £9.99 in my area. House is already wired by previous owner, so would keep seperate BT phone line.. I will be getting wi-fi on my next iMac.

So are they really crap ?

[ESM]

I'm with Pipex - haven't had any problems, although - like most ADSL, the line is ultimately supplied by BT. Get the usual stuff - loads of e.mail addresses and a decent amount of web space. I'm using a wireless hub - with loads of encryption and firewalling and stuff.

[TheBard]

Well when I lived in England I wanted broadband without a longterm contract, and discovered that Virgin.net might mean bunging a few quid Richard Branson's way, but gave me ADSL without a fixed annual contract. This meant if I was moving house, say to the USA, I could enjoy ADSL until I left, then sell the hardware and move on!

Yes, Virgin might not be cheapest, currently 17.99 or something, but they were fast, fair, and easy to use as far as setup was concerned. Then use whatever email, etc you like, or use there stuff.

Oh, one extra pro, and a con... The pro, even after I stopped paying two years ago, I still seem to be able to send and receive email via their servers. The con, I get more spam via those accounts than my other ten or so put together!

[Scott J]

despite the -ve comments about NThelL I've been using their broadband for 2 months and its fine, no probs.. Mainly because the house was prewired by a previous owner.

Only hiccup was them transferring my BT line, stoopid numpties didn't put an order thru' becauase I didn't expressly tell them to do it and me assuming that cos they were providing a new tel service was too much of an assumption that they would cancel and transfer the BT line, so i was paying for 2 tel lines for 3 weeks. Rant over.

[Toyboy]

I just switched from Eclipse @ £24/month to E7even @ £10/ month for 1Mbps, no brainer..

And I'd NEVER go with BT on the grounds that whichever ISP you go with, you still have to pay line rental to monopoly BT.

Roll on WiMax

[surfboardfiller]

"Who's the best broadband supplier and why ???"

I have only used UK Online: they are cheap £9.99 a month and really crap: it's quite common to loose a connection for a whole day in any given week!

How bad is that!!!!

Tis shameful!

[Dico]

I know cock all about computers.... i leave it to the missus and unfortunatley we're on AOL broadband paying £27.99 per month, oh no we're not, because theyve probably realized their service is so crap they have reduced it to only £21.99 per month.

It crashes more times than Monty !!!

To be avoided at all costs!