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hobbes1962
04-Oct-06, 01:03
Hi, I'm looking to change my broadband connection. I am currently on a Freeserve contract which was passed to Wanadoo which was then passed onto Orange recently.

Does anyone have any suggestions of who to go to? We want a broadband connection that has no bandwidth throttling and has at least 2mbps download speed and a relatively high download limit (something like 50GB per month).

Any suggestions?

moonshadow
04-Oct-06, 02:12
http://channels.aolsvc.co.uk/getbroadband/article.adp?id=20050311124109990001

Looks like the Gold or Platinum packages are your best bet. If you've got kids the parental controls are a good feature too.
Trying to unsubscribe is aparently fun though.....almost as tough as ditching Sky TV! LOL
Just like to say that we've had no problems though. Excellent service.

Niall Fernie
04-Oct-06, 08:50
I use PlusNet (http://www.plus.net/myreferrals/new.html?WRKUh%2Fz%2FuZ5dXmEjImm%2BIC2gr1ikvrfGZjJ gIXxzU1E%3D), 2mb for £22 per month (am awaiting 8mb upgrade for same price) , 15gig on peak limit and unlimited off peak, peak time is 4pm to midnight. I use a download scheduler for big files and have only come close to my limit a couple of times :)

mccaugm
04-Oct-06, 09:01
Hi, I'm looking to change my broadband connection. I am currently on a Freeserve contract which was passed to Wanadoo which was then passed onto Orange recently.

Does anyone have any suggestions of who to go to? We want a broadband connection that has no bandwidth throttling and has at least 2mbps download speed and a relatively high download limit (something like 50GB per month).

Any suggestions?

I have just done a report on just this subject at college and I recommend...believe it or not BT Broadband

northener
04-Oct-06, 09:11
I was with Freeserve for some time but changed to BT broadband.
Quite happy with BT, but because I live out in the sticks I can't get full broadband. Have to make do with ADSL reduced service broadband.
Don't know if this is an issue with you but I'd recommend BT.

Piglet
04-Oct-06, 09:11
Im with plusnet as well. Cant fault them they are really good & if you recommend friends to take up plus net they give you money off your bill. :)

MGB1979
04-Oct-06, 09:31
I use Plusnet 2mb as well. As Niall said, you can use as much bandwidth as you like outside peak hours. I've been with them for about 3 years and, as long as they come through with my 8mb soon, I wont be moving.

teritoots
04-Oct-06, 10:07
I reccommend Tiscali Broadband (http://www.tiscali.co.uk/broadband/index_notbb.html)
I've used them for over a yr and it's unlimited downloads cheaper than BT broadband also if you work it out over the 18 months contract BT make you sign.

Cattach
04-Oct-06, 10:25
Hi, I'm looking to change my broadband connection. I am currently on a Freeserve contract which was passed to Wanadoo which was then passed onto Orange recently.

Does anyone have any suggestions of who to go to? We want a broadband connection that has no bandwidth throttling and has at least 2mbps download speed and a relatively high download limit (something like 50GB per month).

Any suggestions?

Been with Freeserve/Wanadoo/Orange right from the start. Good service at a good price, I do not use their e-mail now due to more spam than others. Now with gmail for e-mail and it is superb. I am watching the situation with Sky broadband and when they come with the free version to this area I will consider it.

hobbes1962
04-Oct-06, 12:14
Thank you for all your suggestions. I will confer with Him Who Thinks He Knows Best (The Hubby) and see what we decide to do.

rangers1873
04-Oct-06, 13:16
im with pipex homecall, i pay £30.00 amonth ,that gives me up to 8meg connection ,free unlimited phone calls and line rental and unlimited downloads

auldalto
04-Oct-06, 13:48
Tiscali Broadband!

saffy100
04-Oct-06, 14:27
I am with Tiscali too....£19.99 a month for unlimited phone calls and broadband.

saffy100

robby50x
04-Oct-06, 14:35
i have been with tiscali broad band for years it is now 2 meg broadband for £12 99 unlimited usage cant get much better than that

peter macdonald
04-Oct-06, 14:51
have a look at Demon 20 quid unlimited downloads at abt 2m/bit which is pretty good out here no frills service but very good !!

EDDIE
04-Oct-06, 18:48
Hi, I'm looking to change my broadband connection. I am currently on a Freeserve contract which was passed to Wanadoo which was then passed onto Orange recently.

Does anyone have any suggestions of who to go to? We want a broadband connection that has no bandwidth throttling and has at least 2mbps download speed and a relatively high download limit (something like 50GB per month).

Any suggestions?
im with freeserve and is now orange im looking to change as well and have one thing to say to you hobbes good luck in trying to get your migration code of orange because im having a terrible time trying to get mine of them

misty woman
04-Oct-06, 20:18
We have tiscali broad band.

Ricco
04-Oct-06, 21:08
I'm with Pipex - long established British company. Just taken over Bulldog and another provider. I pay £14.99 a month for 2Mps, unlimited. Be careful of the new deals - they can carry a sting. Talk to the companies first. Apparently this 8Mps offer is not always what it seems. BT will test your line over a period of two weeks and then set your rate at the best fit, which may be a lot less that 8Mps.

engiebenjy
04-Oct-06, 23:14
If you have Sky tv, then they may be worth a look. Go to sky.com it's certainly very cheap compared to other providers.

Victor Vendetta
05-Oct-06, 00:06
I have had both AOL & Freeserve in the past and Pipex are by far and away the best.
No problems and I mean absolutely none in 3 years.
Easy to deal with and easy to use.

colmac
05-Oct-06, 09:57
We are with BT Broadband. We were with Tiscali for 2 years, but when we moved outwith Thurso it took Tiscali TWO months to admit that they couldn't provide us with broadband out of town. :eek: Tiscali had the cheek to then complain when I cancelled my direct debit AFTER informing them that I was cancelling my tiscali account. BT had us up and running within 4 days of contacting them. Haven't had any problems since. :D

blueivy
05-Oct-06, 10:16
Check out The Utility Warehouse (http://www.whatsthepigfor.info/broadband). They have several packages, one with no download restrictions and allows up 16Mbps connection (when available)! They also have all inclusive broadband/call packages available. I'd recommend them for general home use, no problems with them for over a year.

daviddd
05-Oct-06, 10:20
im with freeserve and is now orange im looking to change as well and have one thing to say to you hobbes good luck in trying to get your migration code of orange because im having a terrible time trying to get mine of themWhat's a migration code Eddie? I'm with Orange too and keep getting dropped.

Another question - is there any way I can increase from 512K Broadband (I'm out in the sticks).

blueivy
05-Oct-06, 10:29
What's a migration code Eddie? I'm with Orange too and keep getting dropped.

Another question - is there any way I can increase from 512K Broadband (I'm out in the sticks).

Hi Daviddd,

A Migration Code (or MAC code) is the code you need to provide to your new ISP when you switch broadband suppliers. What this allows is a quick change of ISP.

If you don't get a MAC code (or they won't supply one) then you need to cancel your old broadband, wait for them to switch it off, sign up with the new ISP and wait for them to switch it on. A MAC code just allows them to 'switch' of over and you should have an outage of only a few hours.

This is one thing you should ask ANY new ISP - do they supply MAC codes if you decide to change. If they don't you should read a lot into that and go elsewhere.

Your broadband speed is dictated by a lot of things, but the main ones being your distance from yrou exchange, your line quality and the exchange upgrades that have been made. Depedning on all of these the max line speed you may be able to get is 512k - that comes from BT and not the ISP. If BT say that the maximum you can get is 512k then it doesn't matter which ISp you go to, that's the max they can give you. If you can get faster,. just ask your ISP to upgrade your speed. Some charge and with some it's free but there may be a price increase in your monthly bill for the faster line speed. If you switch ISP's you can only switch over with the same speed you currently have and THEN upgrade - don't think that you can switch and ask for a faster speed at the same time as it's two separate steps!

Dali
05-Oct-06, 10:57
Well i have been with Bt ,Plusnet , and wanadoo.
Bt altho a good service do charge high prices .
Plusnet would drop my conection alot and also would cap my conection speed.(prob due to my accesive downloads a month :) )
I am currently with talk talk .
There customer service is not great but i never get bothered with how much i download. And it is only £10 a month for 8mb dowload speeds ( dependent on area) . I do not think many ISPs will beat that pricing . Even sky with there new offers charge £17 in our area.

blueivy
05-Oct-06, 11:27
Well i have been with Bt ,Plusnet , and wanadoo.
Bt altho a good service do charge high prices .
Plusnet would drop my conection alot and also would cap my conection speed.(prob due to my accesive downloads a month :) )
I am currently with talk talk .
There customer service is not great but i never get bothered with how much i download. And it is only £10 a month for 8mb dowload speeds ( dependent on area) . I do not think many ISPs will beat that pricing . Even sky with there new offers charge £17 in our area.

Hi Dali,

Just proves my point - you can't have cheap prices and champagne service! Even though you're not bothered with the service you will need to speak to them sometime ... it's inevitable (like death and taxes as somebody famous once said!).

j4bberw0ck
05-Oct-06, 11:54
is there any way I can increase from 512K Broadband (I'm out in the sticks).

One of the reasons why those of us "out in the sticks" are restricted to 512k is the exchange type. If the broadband connection between you and the local exchange is of the type called "Exchange Activated" then you'll find that not only are you stuck with a 512k service for the same price as others pay for 2MB, but you can only use BT Internet as your ISP - although one or two other ISPs will now offer service at 512k through EA exchanges (AOL, I think, mainly). The irony is that the line to the exchange will carry >2MB. I had to ditch PlusNet to upgrade to broadband (broadband? Hah!) when it became available here.

Best solution in this case is to hope for a breakdown in the exchange; BT's policy is apparently to upgrade the exchange to fix the fault, rather than to repair the outdated EA equipment.

Fingers crossed...... and if the local exchange here suffers a catastrophic failure I was somewhere else at the time.

Note for those Government Agencies monitoring Web traffic: This is intended to be mildly humorous. I have some reservations about Government foreign policy but feel no inclination at all to take it out on a telephone exchange...... :lol::lol:

peedie
05-Oct-06, 12:24
i'm with pipex, £30 a month unlimted d/l's up to 8meg broad band and all you calls to landlines are free to and it includes you line rental and the service is very good :)

mike.mckenzie
05-Oct-06, 12:34
Nah forget all them and go with Sky when the service becomes available. Tremendous offer. An extra £10 a month on top of your Sky bill for 16Mb. How good is that?!

Geo
05-Oct-06, 12:40
One of the reasons why those of us "out in the sticks" are restricted to 512k is the exchange type. If the broadband connection between you and the local exchange is of the type called "Exchange Activated" then you'll find that not only are you stuck with a 512k service for the same price as others pay for 2MB, but you can only use BT Internet as your ISP - although one or two other ISPs will now offer service at 512k through EA exchanges (AOL, I think, mainly). The irony is that the line to the exchange will carry >2MB. I had to ditch PlusNet to upgrade to broadband (broadband? Hah!) when it became available here.

Are you sure about that? I thought exchange activated just meant the exchange had been upgraded to accept broadband connections.

If you are out in the sticks then it is more likely the line length that is restricting the speed.

The following is from http://www.adslguide.org.uk/availability/btprereg_activated.asp
"Customers connected to an activated exchange may order ADSL from a competing Internet Service Provider. Note that external factors such as the quality of your telephone line may influence your ability to obtain a broadband service. Further information can be obtained by entering your telephone number into the BT availabilty checking system."

Dali
05-Oct-06, 13:05
Nah forget all them and go with Sky when the service becomes available. Tremendous offer. An extra £10 a month on top of your Sky bill for 16Mb. How good is that?!

Will not be available for atleast 12 months if you are lucky and will only go asfast as your exchange can handle. Most up here is around 8mb.

j4bberw0ck
05-Oct-06, 13:50
Are you sure about that?

Well, I claim no particular expertise here, but when broadband was enabled here and we found out no one on our exchange would get more than 512kb (and in fact that half the parish was only getting about 30kb!) guess which gobby, opinionated git took on the job of distributing line-test software, collecting and coordinating stats from users, and liaising with (pestering?) the local Enterprise company? You might think that gobby git was me, but I couldn't possibly comment.

The official explanation, right from the horse's mouth, was that we have an Exchange Activated exchange - a distinction, though not an honour, we share with about 30 other locations in the Highlands and Islands. Consequently the fibre coming out from Kirkwall will carry true broadband speeds quite happily, but the way the exchange works means that it has to be divided at the exchange into slabs of 512kb bandwidth, each of which can support something like 30 users (you'll have guessed that I'm not quoting verbatim, but it'll do). It's because of the way this antiquated exchange handles communications. Don't ask me more, the technical explanation passed waaaay over my head, I'm afraid.

The users getting only about 30kb downstream (I was one) were sorted when BT finally accepted there was a problem and changed some cards in the exchange. Tests didn't identify a fault, but changing the comms cards fixed it. :roll:

PlusNet were unable to offer me any service other than dialup on an EA exchange, and at the time only BT Internet would supply a service. There are at least 3 EA exchanges in Orkney and although 512kb is hugely better than 56kb dialup, it's still an issue.

blueivy
05-Oct-06, 14:38
Just received an email about the new BT Speedtester site that will allow you to test the connection between your ISP and your modem (okay the telephone box on the wall) and provide you with some stats that you can use to monitor line speed.

You need a Java enabled browser, and although it claims to have been tested with Firefox I could only get it to work with IE.

I have a 1Mb connection and my line speed came in at 936kb ... which is pretty good!

You can find it here (http://www.whatsthepigfor.info/broadband).

DrSzin
06-Oct-06, 18:23
Have any of the happy Pipex customers tried to phone Pipex's Customer Services recently? I am coming to the conclusion that their Customer Services phone department doesn't actually exist!

I've used Pipex home broadband for several years, and I've been trying to upgrade to an 8MB service with inclusive phone calls for several months. This service seems to be provided by Pipex Homecall which is part of the Pipex "empire". However, Pipex Homecall seems to work independently from the branch of Pipex I have my broadband account with. Indeed, they are so independent that they say I need to get a MAC (Migration Authority Code) from "my" part of Pipex in order to transfer my broadband to "their" part. Ok, that sounds complicated but not overly so. However, I can't get a MAC code because I simply can't get through to the people who dish out MAC codes. Grrr...

I've had a few email exchanges with Pipex Customer Services but they haven't been particularly useful either - they just tell me to phone Customer Services to sort things out!

It seems that no one part of Pipex is familiar with what any other part is doing.

If anyone wants to sign up with such a company, then please feel free to do so. They used to be good, but I definitely wouldn't recommend them now.

Edit: For an example of the muddle at Pipex, take a look at the page which details their Pipex Max Services: (http://www.pipex.co.uk/products/max/)

The pipexmax + anytime service costs £27.49 a month.

The pipexmax + hometime service costs £29.49 a month.

Unless I'm missing something, the package with free off-peak phone calls is more expensive than the package with free anytime phone calls! Are these packages provided by two different companies trading under the Pipex name? The more I delve into things, the messier they seem to be.

Geo
06-Oct-06, 18:39
"Free" broadband below...

I'm with Virgin.net and have been for just over a year. I'm very happy with the service. I was on the 512kbps version but on Monday they upgraded me to ADSL Max which is connecting at 4.3mb. It's going through the line training thing so don't know what it will settle at. I would have been happy with 1mb though given the distance I am from the exchange, so anything over that is a plus.

Btw the upgrade came via VirginMobile. You get one of their sim cards which costs £15 per month. It gives you 300 anytime xnet minutes and 300 texts, or 200 minutes and 500 texts. You choose which one suits you best. They give you free Virgin Broadband with it for 12 months.

I was already paying £15 a month for the 512kbps service so now I've got a faster connection, twice the cap (6GB) and free phone calls and texts for the same money.

http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/paymonthlySimOnly.do

peedie
06-Oct-06, 19:27
drszin, we've got pipex homecall and they are different i got confused when i was tryin to set this up, but i've never had any bother while phoning them, never had to wait to long and i always found them helpful, but homecall is definatley a separate company (or a separate bit of the company i dont know) that might have something to do with it:roll:

j4bberw0ck
06-Oct-06, 19:46
Have any of the happy Pipex customers tried to phone Pipex's Customer Services recently? I am coming to the conclusion that their Customer Services phone department doesn't actually exist!

I imagine most of their operational budget was blown on the adverts featuring "The Hoff", as I believe he likes to be known.

All that's left is "The Hassel". :lol:

DrSzin
06-Oct-06, 19:50
Thanks for the info peedie. I guess my problem isn't with Pipex Homecall, it's with the "other" part of Pipex: the upgrade facility on their "My Pipex" website seems to have been broken for at least six months, their Customer Services email guys keep fobbing me off, and I simply can't get through to Customer Services on the phone. Hence my frustration.

I suspect j4bberw0ck is right: Pipex seem to be going for the mass market, and old customers are treated like the stuff you really don't want to find on the bottom of your shoe when you've just walked across your brand-new living-room carpet.

Moonboots
07-Oct-06, 12:13
Will not be available for atleast 12 months if you are lucky and will only go asfast as your exchange can handle. Most up here is around 8mb.


I must advise that Sky Broadband is available through LLU and this will change the limited broadband speed of adsl max of up to 8mb as Sky LLU will not be using ADSL but ADSL2+. So basically we will get faster speeds with the same line ratio's.

It is true, our exchanges will not be enabled for Sky's LLU service until the end of 2007 as they are more focusing on the demand in each exchange and If for instance 6 people out of every 10 pre-registered their interest for Sky Broadband then they would look at our exchanges alot earlier.

You can at this moment get Sky Broadband Connect which is ADSLMax and this will provide you upto 8mb for £17.99 a month. I know Sky are having problems with their service but thats the usual in any new service... these teething problems will be overcome by the time our exchanges are enabled.

Im personally on Virgin Broadband upto 8Mb and ive never had a problem with them and I get about 5mb connection. I have complained about this and Virgin investigated it and put it to BT and they said they will not look at it even though by my modem stats, I should be getting 7mb without a problem so watch out if you are getting a bad speed then BT will not investigate unless you are getting slower speeds than 400kb.

Hope this helps any queries.

Paul

daviddd
07-Oct-06, 13:41
One of the reasons why those of us "out in the sticks" are restricted to 512k is the exchange type. If the broadband connection between you and the local exchange is of the type called "Exchange Activated" then you'll find that not only are you stuck with a 512k service for the same price as others pay for 2MB, but you can only use BT Internet as your ISP - although one or two other ISPs will now offer service at 512k through EA exchanges (AOL, I think, mainly). The irony is that the line to the exchange will carry >2MB. I had to ditch PlusNet to upgrade to broadband (broadband? Hah!) when it became available here.

Best solution in this case is to hope for a breakdown in the exchange; BT's policy is apparently to upgrade the exchange to fix the fault, rather than to repair the outdated EA equipment.

Fingers crossed...... and if the local exchange here suffers a catastrophic failure I was somewhere else at the time.

Note for those Government Agencies monitoring Web traffic: This is intended to be mildly humorous. I have some reservations about Government foreign policy but feel no inclination at all to take it out on a telephone exchange...... :lol::lol:Thanks for this, but I'm with Orange (formerly Wanadoo) and do get (max) 512K Broadband.

wmac
07-Oct-06, 22:57
would also recomend demon. now up to 8mb. have been with them for 10years in total and ever since broadband came to Wick