Isp

[Night Owl]

Considering changing my ISP. With Talk Talk at present but their charges seem to be increasing every month. Been offered a deal with BT and thinking of taking it up. Comments appreciated.

[Fran]

I agree, I am with Tiscali (TALK tALK) and the chrge has doubled in less than a year.

[pat]

Was with Tiscali but after having problems connecting to internet intermittently for 6 weeks, last 3 weeks was completely off, they kept saying they would send engineer but no one ever turned up, I tried everything to get them to fix problem (I had been advised by local tech person my line needed renewing to the box in the house, he tested it all) - had enough eventually and changed to BT, as soon as I asked for code and advised them I was leaving due to their inability to fix the problem after 6 weeks from when I initially reported a problem, they cut me off completely so I could not even retreive emails sent to tiscali account. I contacted them and was rather rudely told "tough"
One company I now would not touch or recommend to even my worst enemies.
Now with BT and no problems - had the engineer out on Monday, replaced my wireless router as it was switching off at times for no known reason, nothing too much hassle - dealt with immediately.
When prices altered I questioned why I was paying more than new customers - my price was then lowered to better than the special deal offer, cannot complain at that.

[gleeber]

Ive been with BT over 10 years. Never a problem.

[Scunner]

been with BT for years, and never a problem. Before then, I was with Virgin and was off for weeks. Virgin explanation was that the problem was with the local exchange, and that BT would not repair as it wasn't a BT broadband fault.

[DeHaviLand]

I've been with BT ever since the days when internet access was 1p a minute, about 15 years. For the last 10 days, I have been experiencing reduced internet access. Half of my free time is now spent on the phone to Indian Bob and his cronies, and I'm getting absolutely nowhere. I had an engineer out on Monday at 8.30am, who declared that everything was fine and if I'm experiencing problems at 6.00pm, then I should only use my internet during the day! I've since discovered that my connection has been rate limited by BT, to stop me from accessing online gaming and streaming video, though BT are denying this is the case. I have now discovered that this is a new and secretive policy that BT has adopted so that their aging infrastructure can cope with demand. So in effect, BT are happy to take my money, but dont want me to be able to access the service that I'm paying for. This is a disgraceful way to treat any customer, but its going to become standard for BT. Their Indian call centre is unhelpful, arrogant and condescending. Their 'go to' solution for any internet problem is for you to switch off your router and turn it back on. If this doesnt work, which is a 95% probability, they have very little to suggest, and will often just cut you off, leaving you having to re-dial and waste another half hour of your life. BT Broadband is a disgrace. But heres the rub, it doesnt matter much what ISP you decide to go with, as the infrastructure is wholly owned by BT Wholesale ( Openreach). So, when you do have a broadband problem, Openreach schedule BT broadband customers ahead of other ISP's customers. This results in customers thinking that the fault is with their ISP, rather than with BT. Most broadband faults are at the exchage, its purely a capacity issue, but BT wont be rushing into upgrading the exchanges anytime soon. The bottom line is, doesnt matter who your ISP is, BT's infrastructure is the problem and its going to stay that way for the next 5 years at least.

[gerry4]

I have been with Plusnet for about 12 years now. I have also lived in 4 different locations. Always had very good service off them and there support is UK based and excellent.

[orkneycadian]

Here is a long established comparison site based on feedback from users.

Thinkbroadband (http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/compare.html)

Post Office might be worth a try. Not personnaly tried their Broadband, but their phone service here (http://www2.postoffice.co.uk/broadband-phone/home-phone-broadband) is poles apart from getting phone service from BT.

A comparison of Post Office broadband vs BT broadband shows (slightly) higher ratings.

[flowertot]

http://forum.caithness.org/images/icons/icon1.png Isp


Considering changing my ISP. With Talk Talk at present but their charges seem to be increasing every month. Been offered a deal with BT and thinking of taking it up. Comments appreciated.


Binned Talk Talk less than a month ago for exactly this reason. We went to BT, had no problem setting up the account wireless router set up easily and acess is much faster than it was with TT.I have to say,although it's early days I have no problems with BT and am glad we made the change.

[orkneycadian]

From Think Broadband (http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/compare.html)....

Some comparisons of the ISPs to BT. X<BT means they score worse than BT, Y>BT means they score better than BT. Both based on a rough visual assessment of the bar charts.

AAISP > BT
AOL < BT
BE > BT
Demon = BT
Eclipse > BT
Entanet > BT
Freedon 2 Surf = BT
ID Net > BT
K-C > BT (just)
Madasafish > BT
Newnet > BT
O2 > BT
Orange < BT
Plusnet > BT
Post Office > BT (just)
Sky = BT
TMobile < BT
Talk Talk < BT
3 > BT
Virgin > BT
Zen >> BT

Zen got a double >> BT as they seem to be a lot away ahead of BT, whereas most of the others were just a little bit ahead.

Overall score.

4 get < BT
3 get = BT
14 get > BT

[DeHaviLand]

Was with Tiscali but after having problems connecting to internet intermittently for 6 weeks, last 3 weeks was completely off, they kept saying they would send engineer but no one ever turned up, I tried everything to get them to fix problem (I had been advised by local tech person my line needed renewing to the box in the house, he tested it all) - had enough eventually and changed to BT, as soon as I asked for code and advised them I was leaving due to their inability to fix the problem after 6 weeks from when I initially reported a problem, they cut me off completely so I could not even retreive emails sent to tiscali account. I contacted them and was rather rudely told "tough"
One company I now would not touch or recommend to even my worst enemies.
Now with BT and no problems - had the engineer out on Monday, replaced my wireless router as it was switching off at times for no known reason, nothing too much hassle - dealt with immediately.
When prices altered I questioned why I was paying more than new customers - my price was then lowered to better than the special deal offer, cannot complain at that.

You got caught in the classic trap Pat. BT wholesale is responsible for the line outside your house, not Tiscali. So it was BT wholesale who forced you into ditching your ISP and signing up to BT broadband.

[charlie]

You got caught in the classic trap Pat. BT wholesale is responsible for the line outside your house, not Tiscali. So it was BT wholesale who forced you into ditching your ISP and signing up to BT broadband.

DeHaviLand your general point is correct, though it is actually BT Openreach who are responsible for the "last mile" from the exchange to your house.

An interesting summary of who does what can be found here;
http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/BT.htm

You are of course quite correct, that here in Caithness we are all dependent on BT Wholesale's network at some point, whatever ISP we use as there is no alternative cable such as Virgin.

Even with LLU where the ISP has their own equipment in the BT exchange - (I dont know if this happens in Caithness yet ??) -they will still be using BT Wholesale's network at some point in providing your broadband service.

[pottheed]

no, your line provider is responsible for the line not broadband provider, if telephone line works then broadband issue.

BT wholesale own the equipment at the exchange (up here at least) and then lease it out to ISP's. If you have a problem with your broadband and your broadband provider cannot fix it then it is your broadband providers incompetence (and partly BT wholesale) since a good ISP tells BT wholesale how to fix it by diagnosing it with you, then BT wholesale go and fix it. That is why broadband providers get different reliability ratings.

BT openreach are just engineers and they are contracted to do work to BT wholesale.

BT wholesale DO NOT give preferential treatment to "BT" customers, trust me, I worked doing that for 2.5 years and it is all equal access now.

[tonkatojo]

Just this morning signed up with talk talk, £15.79 per month inc line rental, 12 month contract,up to 24 meg service 40gb limit, free evening + weekend calls free anytime calls to other talk talk customers, daytime calls 6.4p per min ,free router.
This was the best deal I could find, can any one top this ??.

[Moonboots]

Well i must say ive not had any problems with TalkTalk apart from the charge increases since the takeover of Tiscali.

I was with BT - Virgin - Tiscali and now TalkTalk and ive never had any faults or problems.

I was looking into changing provider but until LLU happens in Thurso, I wont be changing.

[Gizmo]

The Post Office broadband service is pretty good, my speed is generally around 6.5 to 7meg, and it rarely dips below 4meg, even at peak times. I take my home phone and broadband from them, and the package deal is £25 a month for unlimited downloads, and i do believe that it actually is unlimited downloads, as i'm a real heavy user. The only downside to them is their customer service, i had a horrendous time with them when i first opened the account, and swore that as soon as my year was up i was switching to another ISP, but things setteled down after the first couple of months, and i'm more than happy with their service now.

[Vistravi]

Considering changing my ISP. With Talk Talk at present but their charges seem to be increasing every month. Been offered a deal with BT and thinking of taking it up. Comments appreciated.

We are with BT and we couldn't be happier with the service. We went with sky and sky threw extra charges in so we told them where to go and it took them almost 3 months to stop hogging our line so we could get BT in and actually have broadband.

We are on option 3 and its great.

Go for it!

[Vistravi]

From Think Broadband (http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/compare.html)....

Some comparisons of the ISPs to BT. X<BT means they score worse than BT, Y>BT means they score better than BT. Both based on a rough visual assessment of the bar charts.

AAISP > BT
AOL < BT
BE > BT
Demon = BT
Eclipse > BT
Entanet > BT
Freedon 2 Surf = BT
ID Net > BT
K-C > BT (just)
Madasafish > BT
Newnet > BT
O2 > BT
Orange < BT
Plusnet > BT
Post Office > BT (just)
Sky = BT
TMobile < BT
Talk Talk < BT
3 > BT
Virgin > BT
Zen >> BT

Zen got a double >> BT as they seem to be a lot away ahead of BT, whereas most of the others were just a little bit ahead.

Overall score.

4 get < BT
3 get = BT
14 get > BT


Yes Zen are great. If you can afford paying extra and getting no router from them then go for Zen.

[orkneycadian]

Aha, the old "gets what ye pays for"!

[Gizmo]

I was looking into changing provider but until LLU happens in Thurso, I wont be changing.

Do you think that will ever happen in Wick or Thurso?, do you know of any ISP's that have that in the pipeline? It would be great for the area, but realistically, i can't see it happening.

[EDDIE]

The link below checks your broadband speesd and average speed in your area

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/broadband/

[orkneycadian]

It'll probably come at the same time as fibre optic to the home and 4G mobile coverage! ;)

[pat]

Hi DeHavilland
It was the fact Tiscali would not believe me that there was a fault, they kept telling me everything was perfect with my line at the same time as telling me they would send an engineer and if they found a fault I would have to pay for visit. Next time I contacted them they would say again everything was fine with my line but they would arrange for an engineer to visit but it would cost if not a fault - I would always ask what happened to the last engineer who was meant to visit, the paperwork must have been mislaid! You can take a few days of that but when it is continual and your not moving forward to a solution, I continually asked for a work number from Tiscali for the work to be done. Tiscali would never provide me with any information on when an engineer had been called always telling me this was the first time I had reported the matter and previous times the fault had been fixed!! so this was a new problem!!

[Vistravi]

It'll probably come at the same time as fibre optic to the home and 4G mobile coverage! ;)

So 20 - 30 years then ;)

[Metalattakk]

The link below checks your broadband speesd and average speed in your area

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/broadband/

Sorry EDDIE, I wouldn't trust that link as far as I could throw it. It says "You can expect up to 4.88 Mb using ADSL Max from the Thurso exchange." when in reality I'm getting a steady 6.4Mb on ADSLMax.

[RecQuery]

AAISP (Andrews and Arnold) is a techy ISP, but they may be worth a look. I'd actually call them the best ISP in the country if not the world.

It's important to realise that you pay for what you get, you can't expect to pay <£20 a month and get a good service.

Zen or Entanet are probably a close second and third. Your usually better going with small to medium ISPs.

EDIT:

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/ is a pretty accurate site.

[RecQuery]

Do you think that will ever happen in Wick or Thurso?, do you know of any ISP's that have that in the pipeline? It would be great for the area, but realistically, i can't see it happening.

We need to ignore LLU, just jump past it, it's the current generation broaband. Not next generation, we can't constantly be playing catchup. I really hope the 20 million the highlands has for improving infrastructure doesn't go on that.

[Moonboots]

once BT goto the 21CN (21st Century Network). This is happening to the landlines in 2012 (i think)
But broadband is not happening til at least 2015.

I know that there is a pilot scheme starting this year in the highlands and islands.
HIE are helping with the funding and backed by the government. Not sure if we will get it tho.

[Moonboots]

We need to ignore LLU, just jump past it, it's the current generation broaband. Not next generation, we can't constantly be playing catchup. I really hope the 20 million the highlands has for improving infrastructure doesn't go on that.

We will always be playing catchup

[orkneycadian]

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/ is a pretty accurate site.

In which BT come in at 41 in the top 50 ISP's! :eek:

[RecQuery]

In which BT come in at 41 in the top 50 ISP's! :eek:

BT are a surprisingly bad ISP, bad in general actually whether home, business or corporate but they have 'mindshare' to use a dodgy business term as in lots of people have heard about them and know about them.