Broadband provider recommendation?

[Peter]

I'm with BT, have had one hiccup, but I suspect it wasn't BT's fault, more a case of inter-ISP routing, where we could not reach certain websites one day, while the rest of the World Wide Wait was OK.

[Two_Sheds]

We did sign up for Sky's "free Broadband". You have to pay upfront for the Sky TV package, and only then do they give you the codes and stuff for the broadband connection....only to find out they don't DO broadband AT ALL in our area! Much gutted. Did a bit of shouting down the phone to try and cancel the whole deal. The moral is - no such thing as a free lunch? Always read the small print? Check out availability first? http://www.broadbandchecker.co.uk/
We've got Tesco now, and we get disconnected about every half an hour. I'm looking at Tiscali next - £10 a month, way to go.

[madderbat]

Took me a while to understand this thread.
I glimpsed at the title on the menu and presumed it said BroadBean so couldnot understand the reference to Tiscali etc.
It must be getting late!!

So glad it's not just me!! Welcome to the MB club

[sanman]

Your speed will depend on the distance you are from the exchange. I believe the BT lets you check your line speed. As for ISPs the only real difference should be with the support they provide if you have a problem, this is with a few exceptions:

If you are going via cable then your speed isn't dependant on distance from exchange.

AOL software can cause problems for some people, I trialled it for all of 15 minutes before quickly deleting it.

I'd be interested to know why you moved from PIPEX as they generally have a good reputation.

[smallblueplanet]

I moved from Pipex just before they also changed from 'unlimited' to traffic managed services in June 2005. I felt the standard of their service was dropping and I didn't need the bandwidth/speed they were advertising at the price they were charging. But Pipex's reputation was generally good - just not their Customer Services!

I changed to Plusnet Broadband Plus, which when it was advertised *originally* implied unlimited use for low speed connections. At the time I was only able to connect at 512k and didn't do gaming or p2p. The price was £14.99 (and still is). Basically the original terms have been eroded due to the high take-up levels and they now can't provide decent peak-time speeds.

So I'm (hopefully) off to NewNet @ £17.95 for upto 8Mb and 12Gb - seems a good deal but its only a month contract so if I'm wrong I'll look again.

[mazel-bee]

Hi there.
Just popped by to join the BT Tiscali Debate!!
We Initially started with BT who were not great for us. ( jolly awful) We then moved on to Wanadoo ( now Orange) who were fine but we are now very happy with Tiscali who provide us with everything we need at a great speed and price. ( my OH is a computer Geek too and very fussy for his needs !!)

[cheshire61]

tiscali. 2mb broadband excellent even better since i went wireless

[Alison]

ntl 2mb broadband, although it's about to change to virgin so don't know what that will mean. Generally OK, only real problems are with our wireless link which always seems to fall down when I check out the weather???? Mind you, when you do have a problem, be prepared to wait for upto an hour on the phone until somebody answers, all the time being told to check if you've turned your machine on etc. Was screaming down the phone by the time I spoke to anybody last time! Fortuanatley have only had to complain a couple of times in several years but still annoying!

[NEWTO THE PLOT]

I'm with ntl too and never had any problems was hoping to go wireless so my son can use his laptop at the same time, but you might have put me off a little alison.

[Alison]

Just re-reading my post, think I over egged the problem. 99% of the time the wireless link is great (although due to my technical ignorance was difficult to set up!) it just doesn't like the bbc weather site and for some reason causes us to lose the link - quick reboot of the router and all OK again so I've never investigated further. Have been wireless for about a year now and love the freedom of being able to surf whilst half watching tv on the sofa.

[nick the grief]

BT here as well 8mb clamed 7.5 delivered can't grumble at that, a lot depends on whee you are in respect to the exchange. They even sent me a new hub thingy recently ...... must install it I suppose

I did look at onenet as they were cheaper still and they threw in a new PC, downside 3yr contract and they may be crap , then your snookered.

[rustylady]

OK, I'm a dinosaur. I'm still on dial-up which is a pain in the a**e. Broadband at work which I use all the time. Seriously considering broadband at home, mainly for speed and the fact that you can still use the phone. I've got a broadband checker which tells me which companies provide a service in this area (not many), but my main question is do I need a separate modem. My computer is fairly modern, and has an on-board modem which is fine for dial-up. If I do need a separate one, is it difficult to connect etc. I do hope there are some geeks out there.

[nick the grief]

I shan't answer now for fear of being labelled a geek

Yes you will but a lot of them will provide it as part of the package

[smallblueplanet]

rustylady get yourself a wireless broadband modem/router, then you can plug it into the main socket, buy an adsl faceplate instead of having to plug in filters (optional, if you wish, as it saves having to plug filters in everywhere if you have phone extension leads & perhaps gives a better signal quality, which can be important if you're a long way from your phone exchange). Then you need a pc or laptop access point which came be internal or even just via a usb port.

If you're serious it really isn't difficult (it might seem it) and maybe if you signed up with BT who I think also offer wireless modem/routers they would no doubt be helpful with the installation.

Actually I think the most difficult thing is finding a reliable, reasonably priced (with out too long a contract tie-in) provider.

[rustylady]

I shan't answer now for fear of being labelled a geek

Yes you will but a lot of them will provide it as part of the package

Nick, I would never dream of calling you names!