Looking for Broadband Provider.

Nigel H-J · Post by **Nigel H-J** » 08 May 2006, 16:15

Hi all,

I am presently looking towards buying a new computer in the next month or so and knowing a lot of you are on Broadband I am also looking for some advice.

I am also going to go Broadband but will be changing my present Internet Provider (currently with NTL) Basically looking for a company that provides a good internet service but one that does not cost the earth as some do!!

Briefly looked at Talk Talk but there is an 18 month contract for their service (don't want to be tied down for that length of time) also came across this site

http://www.directsavetelecom.co.uk/customer_care.html

Is anyone with the above if so, what is their service like? Any advice will be gratefully received.

Regards Nigel.

Post by **DaveB** » 08 May 2006, 16:30

I dunno what to suggest for the best Nigel. I know I'll be laughed at for saying so but I've only ever had BT as a broadband provider and have never had a problem with them. The service has been constantly upgraded at no cost and will soon be 8mb!! There will be horror stories I'm sure but I can only report on what I find and one outage in coming 3years aint bad

ATB

DaveB :tab:

TobyV · Post by **TobyV** » 08 May 2006, 16:31

Nigel,

Have a look at http://www.adslguide.org.uk/ you can get comparisons of different companies services in a variety of fields and seee which one will probably work out best for your needs.

Toby

Nigel H-J · Post by **Nigel H-J** » 08 May 2006, 16:59

Thanks for the info Dave and Toby, have got some time before purchasing the computer (couple of weeks) so will have a look.

Regards Nigel.

ianhind · Post by **ianhind** » 08 May 2006, 17:32

DaveB,

If they laugh at you, they can laugh at em too

I've been with BT since dial-up days (at least 10 years) with only a couple of minor problems and one outage.

My biggest reason for not moving is the loss of my e-mail addresses [email protected] which my wife and I have used for many years for personal and professional purposes. Forgetting to inform potential sources of work of an e-mail address change could be disastrous for us.

Finally, most providers just sell BT services anyway - so the real competition are those who have put their own wiring into exchanges.

Ian

Edit:

Nigel, if you change from NTL, you will probably need a new modem as well - NTL is cable and their modems don't work with copper wire providers. Or have I misunderstood and you are on dialup wih NTL?

Nigel H-J · Post by **Nigel H-J** » 08 May 2006, 18:03

Thanks Ian

No, I'm on a standard dial up with NTL.......just a normal bog standard modem

Regards Nigel

TobyV · Post by **TobyV** » 08 May 2006, 18:25

One thing I would say is that different providers seem to be better or worse in different areas. I dont dispute what Dave B is saying about BT, but when I was with them in Southampton, it went down every few days all the time we had it, sometimes for hours at a time, but I jsut accepted this as normal as this was the first BB I had ever had. Back here with Wanadoo and I have hardly ever had a problem in 2 years now. I know on the other hand some people hate Wanadoo!

NTL is a funny one too. They often appear on Watchdog for dismal customer service and fault fixing and this would appear to be bone-out by experiences of friends down in Soton, but NTL has grown through expansion and purchase of other operators, hence service actually varies a lot depending on your location.

fournier · Post by **fournier** » 08 May 2006, 19:10

I love BT Yahoo Broadband, can't see me changing anytime soon. I pay 29.99 a month for 2.2 meg connection, this will be upgraded on Thursday to approx 7.2 meg for no extra charge. Only downside I suppose is that I am limited to 40gb usage per month.

Charlie Bravo · Post by **Charlie Bravo** » 08 May 2006, 19:19

I've used other peoples BT Connections and found them to to slow and unreliable.
There are many other providers avilable, some better than others. Most of them rent the 'pipes' from BT but still provide a better service than BT themselves.

Have a look on the OcUK forum for opinions on different providers (and of course adslguide as Toby mentioned)

Zen, Pipex and Plusnet all come to mind as being good.

You'll have to purchase a modem from a BT based provider unless they have an offer and it comes free. NTL will supply a modem free of charge.

Networking with BT is also more expensive as you will require a router with a modem as opposed to NTL where you will only require a plain router.
NTL does have it issues.... customer service isn't great but I've hardly ever had to contact them. The local servers can also go down for a while but thats easy to sort out as you just go though another towns proxy. If you go down the NTL route, I'll tell you more on that if required.

If I had the choice, I'd stick with NTL rather than migrate to a BT ADSL connection. NTL is just easier.

Post by **DaveG** » 08 May 2006, 19:23

I've been on Wanadoo (previously Freeserve) for years, both dial-up and broadband, and have no complaints so far (touch wood

)
I can only get a 1meg line where I live, but that's fine for most things.