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Zambo
16-Jan-06, 20:58
Hi guys

Just wondering how many people on here are using Broadband?

I've been thinking about getting Broadband for ages now, and I'm planning to upgrade next week. I'm just not sure which provider to go with.

I need a provider that is reliable, and can provide webspace, as I have a website that I would need to keep.

Which Broadband package does everyone think is the best? Is is worth the hassle, and is it easy to install?

Thanks.

_Ju_
16-Jan-06, 21:01
Just changed from dial up to broadband and from night to day!!!!! Virgin net here. No problems so far and very easy to use and install.

Loafer
16-Jan-06, 21:02
I Say this. GO FOR IT!!!! We got it a couple of months ago after humming and hawing and I wish I had got it sooner. I could NEVER go back to dial-up. We are with Tiscali, it is fine for me and easy-peasy to install, but everyone has their own favourite.

Don't delay, do it today!!!!

The Loafer

golach
16-Jan-06, 21:07
Go for it, as said before its like the difference as to night and day I am with Wannadoo formerly Freeserve and never had a bit of trouble since day one

Rheghead
16-Jan-06, 21:07
I am on AOL Broadband. There is no d/load limit and I have had no problems so far. It is a tad dear @£29.99 but I find the customer service to be very good. I get my phone calls through AOL Talk now so I am saving money there which helps.

krieve
16-Jan-06, 21:09
Dont have it yet i am also planning it soon when i get round to it lol.
My uncle is a computer programmer and he says one of the best he has used is tiscali .

Donald W MacDonald
16-Jan-06, 21:17
Go for Tiscali & £14.99 per month

landmarker
16-Jan-06, 21:23
After pontificating for ages I went broadband last month when AOL offered it for the same price as dial up and one month free!

It's £15.99 for the 'silver' service. It's fast enough for my needs. I dont play games or download movie clips. The biggest benefit is the freeing up of the phone line.

You get up to seven different 'identities' all with loads of 'free' webspace plus 'easy designing' software - basic but okay.

Alice in Blunderland
16-Jan-06, 21:25
Dont go for BT Broadband im stuck for another 6 months I go over my download/ surftime limit all the time cause Im on Caithness.org too much.

brandy
16-Jan-06, 21:30
we hav ebeen on broadband since caithness was brought up to scratch *G* broadband wise! and would never go back to dial up
with BT but think we will change it.. as we have had it for a year .. and planning on going wirless.. any sugestions?

teddybear1873
16-Jan-06, 21:34
When i lived in Caithness i used AOL and i never had any problems, my brother uses Eclipse and he has a bit of bother with them. As for BT i'd keep well clear of them. I believe Nildram and Pipex is good.

Phoebus_Apollo
16-Jan-06, 21:42
Wanadoo have never given me as much as one single error message for 4 years of use. First 6 months @ £14.99 for up to 8Mb. :D

DW
16-Jan-06, 21:46
Had broadband since it was available. Me and maboys had 2meg from the start and couldn't do without it. We regularly surf with 5/6 computers and never have a problem
Plusnet are the berries - low contention rates and stonking speed.:lol:

phoenix
16-Jan-06, 21:57
Were with Onetel..........£29.99 for Broadband Unlimited Internet Access 24/7, Unlimited Local and National calls 24/7 plus Line rental of around £10.50 = Around £40 per month for the whole package...........Anyone know how to do it all any cheaper?

Tugmistress
16-Jan-06, 22:25
must say i am with BT, though no doubt could get it cheaper i haven't had aproblem with them. must look into some of the cheaper options available will read this thread with great interest :)

Zambo
16-Jan-06, 22:30
Thanks for all the replies everyone.

I had hoped to go with BT or Wanadoo, as I have accounts and websites with both of them. I'm not sure I want to continue with BT though, and was thinking more about Wanadoo.

Oh, decisions, decisions!!!

r.rackstraw
16-Jan-06, 22:33
I use freedom2surf.
Have had no problems and it costs less than the dial-up service I had before broadband.

luskentyre
16-Jan-06, 23:50
I went with BT because I'm a fair distance from the exchange, and thought it would be best in case of any technical difficulties.

Two things I'd say about BT

1) Their customer service is awful. Once I was on hold for an hour, and passed to four different departments.

2) Their webspace is provided through geocities - and you get adverts on your own webspace.

Try the following link to compare different ISPs and see how their customers rate them >>> http://www.adslguide.org.uk/isps/compare.asp

The Angel Of Death
17-Jan-06, 00:49
Dont go with bt there support is laughable to say the least waiting an hour till get through to someone in another country that doesnt have the slightest clue what your on about before they pass you to another department and then you start the cycle all over again

I was with plus net and as long as you arent downloading loads then there fine but today i just switched back to eclipse although there slightly dearer they dotn give you any grief about large downloads

BazzaG
17-Jan-06, 12:42
Im with Tiscali 2mb unlimited @ £17.99 per/month, Can not fault them, Excellent service.

Alice in Blunderland
17-Jan-06, 15:28
Stay away from BT my friend works for BT and got offered broadband for free she didnt even take it so that doesnt give you much faith.I will change as soon as I can...six months left and I cant wait.

scorrie
17-Jan-06, 19:33
Im with Tiscali 2mb unlimited @ £17.99 per/month, Can not fault them, Excellent service.

I find Tiscali customer service to be terrible. When I wanted to switch my Broadband package from 512k to 1 meg because it was £9 cheaper per month they re-activated my old dial up account instead. Not only that, they also kept charging me at the full price for my Broadband as well so I was paying the best part of £40 a month!!

After contacting them I had to speak to two loads of people because dial-up and broadband are seperate departments and they only have the authority to deal with their "speciality" They promised to refund me and cancel the dial up access, also I was to get a reduced rate for 512K broadband. One month later they duly took another £40 and I was told that the guy had failed to cancel my dial up package!!

After much gnashing of teeth, I finally got back about a quarter of the money they had overcharged me and was reduced to payment of £9.99 a month. Due to their incompetence I actually get 2meg speed for that price. The first time they try to alter any of that I will be waving them goodbye!!

rfr10
17-Jan-06, 20:00
Dont go for BT Broadband im stuck for another 6 months I go over my download/ surftime limit all the time cause Im on Caithness.org too much.

They have upgraded their system so now, if you go over your limit a few times, they don't charge you on top of your monthly payment. It's only if you are constantly going over it a lot. I have BT Broadband and it is very good and the Desktop Help is very useful. I am using BT Broadband Option 1 at the moment.

rfr10
17-Jan-06, 20:03
I find Tiscali customer service to be terrible. When I wanted to switch my Broadband package from 512k to 1 meg because it was £9 cheaper per month they re-activated my old dial up account instead. Not only that, they also kept charging me at the full price for my Broadband as well so I was paying the best part of £40 a month!!

After contacting them I had to speak to two loads of people because dial-up and broadband are seperate departments and they only have the authority to deal with their "speciality" They promised to refund me and cancel the dial up access, also I was to get a reduced rate for 512K broadband. One month later they duly took another £40 and I was told that the guy had failed to cancel my dial up package!!

After much gnashing of teeth, I finally got back about a quarter of the money they had overcharged me and was reduced to payment of £9.99 a month. Due to their incompetence I actually get 2meg speed for that price. The first time they try to alter any of that I will be waving them goodbye!!

From what I have heard from people, Tiscali broadband aren't very good. I used to be with Tiscali as a dial up account and when I decided to upgrade to broadband, I cancelled my account with Tiscali.

shin chan
17-Jan-06, 21:45
I am with Tiscali and I have had no problem with them.

Alice in Blunderland
17-Jan-06, 22:10
They have upgraded their system so now, if you go over your limit a few times, they don't charge you on top of your monthly payment. It's only if you are constantly going over it a lot. I have BT Broadband and it is very good and the Desktop Help is very useful. I am using BT Broadband Option 1 at the moment. (Quote)
__________________
I had a problem with my broadband and after spending ages on the phone to customer support I gave up as they couldnt help me eventualy my friend came round and fixed it in no time.We will all have good and bad experiences and yes I know they have upgraded it but there are a lot of better suppliers out there just ask BT staff.Do you know that new BT broadband customers (after October last year) have their help desk located in India also if you get a virus in your system and the abuse team are unable to contact you to advise your account is suspended until you fix it and contact them back(by the way you still have to pay)

Doolally
17-Jan-06, 23:42
I'm with BT. No problems so far. Easy to setup and never had any down-time. The only problem is that they are expensive now compared to some. I'm thinking about changing because of this.

Wizzbang
18-Jan-06, 00:18
With BT Yahoo
I must admit the help desks leave a lot to be desired.

The plus side for me is the BT communicator that comes with the package.
I can use a headset on the pc (a bit like skype) and call to prvarte telephones in other countries for a bout 0.5pence a minute.

I know it can be done on any pc by using skype but that is no good if the other person doesnt have a pc as is the case here.

Wizzbang
18-Jan-06, 00:19
With broad band I can listen to Classic fm :)

paris
18-Jan-06, 00:29
Wanadoo, 1st class service.

Moonboots
18-Jan-06, 00:31
I got broadband from the start and also been with Virgin.Net from the start.
They charge £24.99 a month for 2mb. But they a are monthly contract and not like other providers which have a minimum of 12 months contract.

I have never had one single problem with them and thats thy I am still with them. I have never called Customer Services as I have never needed it but its 25p per min to call the helpdesk.

I know I can get cheaper too but Im happy where I am.

pedromcgrory
18-Jan-06, 03:14
been with aol 2meg for just over a year and no probs ,got a christmas card saying its getting upgraded to 8 meg for no extra cost and thats 29.99 a month so cant complain when i havent like moonboots foned them once all the time ive been with them

Moonboots
18-Jan-06, 10:22
Pedromcgrory - AOL is upgrading to 8meg but the most a BT line here can hold just now is 2meg and i am sorry but your not going to benefit from it until they upgrade the exchange again.

hungryhiller
18-Jan-06, 10:36
Get broadband...if you use the Net it is positively life-changing. £19.99 pm gets you 2 meg unlimited connection and all your standard-rate phone-calls with my provider, Tiscali. With so many companies currently competing, these 'all in' deals are offered by many and will probably get even cheaper if you hang on a month or so. I have found Tiscali to be consistently reliable and hassle free. Good luck......hungryhiller

scorrie
18-Jan-06, 11:55
You can compare stats for speed, reliability and customer service at the following link.

http://www.adslguide.org.uk/isps/compare.asp

You can check up to six at a time. The list seems pretty comprehensive, there are certainly loads of them there that I have never heard of.

A casual glance seems to show Tiscali a bit behind most others I compared them to.

krieve
18-Jan-06, 12:52
Has anyone got bulldog i saw it in woolies just wondering if it is any good.

krieve
18-Jan-06, 16:52
I just had a phone call from wanadoo who i am with at the moment with dial up so i have changed to broadband for 14.99 a month for the first 6 months so i am happy. Should have it up in running sometime next week .

Niall Fernie
18-Jan-06, 17:16
Can only say good things about PlusNet (http://portal.plus.net/my/mydiscount_info/landing_page.html?zWVl6A8AruuylVaHtkq2oSK3g4HCXoea P8pbxICCYgI%3D), 2mb connection, 30gb per month of on-peak downloads and unlimited (well really its 100gb) off-peak all for £22.

Zambo
18-Jan-06, 20:43
Can only say good things about PlusNet (http://portal.plus.net/my/mydiscount_info/landing_page.html?zWVl6A8AruuylVaHtkq2oSK3g4HCXoea P8pbxICCYgI%3D), 2mb connection, 30gb per month of on-peak downloads and unlimited (well really its 100gb) off-peak all for £22.


Hi Niall - thanks for that. I've actually been comparing a few Broadband providers, and PlusNet seem to come out on top for speed, reliability and customer care. Well, they seem to come out on top for everything reallly! Now that I have a personal recommendation for them, I'm thinking about going with them.

Thanks for all the replies everyone - I'll let you know how I get on!

klibreck45
18-Jan-06, 21:46
I use Tiscali broadband and its the best i never have any problems with it.

Pink Lippy
18-Jan-06, 21:50
Tiscali's the best?
Betcha ain't tried the rest,
Go 'way an' do it,
Don't just intuit. :eyes

Fran
19-Jan-06, 00:52
Toucan seem very good, unlimited broadband for £13.99 a month, they also do phone offers. www.toucan.com or tel 08000613491

rfr10
19-Jan-06, 17:44
If you are just wanting a faster internet connection, try onspeed www.onspeed.com

Zambo
29-Jan-06, 15:27
Just to let everyone know - I am now on Broadband!

I eventually decided to go with Wanadoo Wireless and Talk, as I had an account and website with Wanadoo anyway.

The equipment arrived within a week. It was very easy to install - I had it done within 15 minutes. The only part I had a problem with was setting up the Wireless and Talk part for the free phone calls. Should be able to set that up in the next few days though, when the account is updated.

What a difference! If anyone is thinking about getting Broadband - go for it! It is really easy to set up, and it is so much faster!

Thanks for all the help earlier on in this thread - much appreciated.

ice box
29-Jan-06, 15:53
Great choice zambo i also just got wireless and talk as you said it's very easy to set up it only took me minutes to get going i waiting for the calls as well it as it take a few days for your name to be added to the data base but free calls al weekend yippe .

airdlass
29-Jan-06, 16:28
I am with AOL broadband,gold version. Up until 2 weeks ago I had no problems - then all of a sudden I couldn't connect. Phoned AOL(when I first joined the call was free then they changed to 0870) followed all their instructions after finally getting through to them(press this button and that button)came off the line,did what they told me but still no joy, I phoned them back 4 times ,twice I got different solution. Eventually managed to use dial up and decided to contact them via their interactive helpline. What a joke! Spent at least an hour waiting for them to reply, got cut off twice(either that or they hung up on me as I was not happy by this time having spent best part of an evening trying to sort it out,so I told them so!
Decided to bring in outside help and he said it was the modem which was faulty,he replaced it as well as one of the leads to the modem. Bliss.I've had no trouble since.
I have 3 months to run on the contract and then I am definately changing. Been recomended to try Tiscali which is what I'll do.
I was totally disgusted with AOL.
Final irony is that if i wanted to complain I had to either write to them OR contact them by their 0870 number.I think not.

Niall Fernie
29-Jan-06, 16:44
Thats the spirit, dump AOL, I've been considering banning AOL from Caithness.Org because of all the trouble their software causes me.

"I cant get logged into the forum..."

"I cant get logged into the chatroom..."

Of course I won't ban AOL until everyone wakens up and changes to a proper ISP that gives access to the actual internet and provides browser software that wasnt written using the "infinite number of monkeys on a infinite number of PCs" method....

Everyone who is still stuck with AOL should at least download a decent browser that works, like Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com) and use that instead of the AOL muck.

AOL = Abolish Our Liberties :roll:

http://www.nomoreaolcds.com/

connieb19
29-Jan-06, 16:47
Thats the spirit, dump AOL, I've been considering banning AOL from Caithness.Org because of all the trouble their software causes me.

"I cant get logged into the forum..."

"I cant get logged into the chatroom..."

Of course I won't ban AOL until everyone wakens up and changes to a proper ISP that gives access to the actual internet and provides browser software that wasnt written using the "infinite number of monkeys on a infinite number of PCs" method....

Everyone who is still stuck with AOL should at least download a decent browser that works, like Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com) and use that instead of the AOL muck.

AOL = Abolish Our Liberties :roll:

http://www.nomoreaolcds.com/Grrrrrrrrrr AOL, I wish I read this before I went with them... now i'm stuck with them for a year and I still can't get into the chat rooms..lol :confused:

Cocoa
29-Jan-06, 17:45
i'm on broadband, it's so kool :cool:
chat 'n type at once!
[lol]

Bobinovich
29-Jan-06, 21:48
Thats the spirit, dump AOL, I've been considering banning AOL from Caithness.Org because of all the trouble their software causes me.

"I cant get logged into the forum..."

"I cant get logged into the chatroom..."

Of course I won't ban AOL until everyone wakens up and changes to a proper ISP that gives access to the actual internet and provides browser software that wasnt written using the "infinite number of monkeys on a infinite number of PCs" method....

Everyone who is still stuck with AOL should at least download a decent browser that works, like Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com) and use that instead of the AOL muck.

AOL = Abolish Our Liberties :roll:

http://www.nomoreaolcds.com/

Having spent 6 hours, over 4 separate phone calls, to AOL [evil] on behalf of a customer I heartily agree. The customer had ordered Broadband, and were right on the edge of the acceptable distance limit, but I just couldn't get the ADSL LED on his modem to light up.

I talked to many people in a language which bordered on English but was not! After 5 hours and 48 minutes going through all the first line non-techies (a third of which must have been trying to decipher what they were actually saying, another third was being on hold) I was promoted to genuine second line techies in the UK who, within minutes, detected a fault on the line and had put an error report in to BT to get it fixed!!!

The customer was, understandably, unhappy with AOL [evil] for their poor support and I believe has since left them.... intelligent person.

So to save your sanity do as Niall says, ditch AOL [evil] at your earliest opportunity and get a real ISP.

dragonfly
29-Jan-06, 22:00
been with AOL for over 7 years both dial-up and broadband, and had no problem with them and seeing as I'm not at all a 'techie' really appreciate their helpdesk, everyone I have spoken to has been Irish and genuinely happy to help and have helped in solving my problems (only had about 3 and last one was a problem with my wireless networking which they helped me solve even though they didn't support the brand I was using).

Interface is user friendly, has great parental controls for the kids, so sorry I won't be dumping them for the foreseeable future!

no problem logging onto this site as long as you put a tick in the 'remember me' box otherwise you go round in a loop

airdlass
30-Jan-06, 00:49
I have been with AOL for over 5 years andI agree there are a lot of things which I like about them,parental controls being one of them(my 16yr old son doesn't agree !!)however I felt that they let me down badly when I needed help and for someone as thick as I am when it comes to computer's etc I feel technical help put across in a way that I can understand was important.
Maybe I'm becoming more intolerant the older I'm getting!

tommy1979
30-Jan-06, 01:15
Dont go with bt there support is laughable to say the least waiting an hour till get through to someone in another country that doesnt have the slightest clue what your on about before they pass you to another department and then you start the cycle all over again

I was with plus net and as long as you arent downloading loads then there fine but today i just switched back to eclipse although there slightly dearer they dotn give you any grief about large downloads

BT has the worst customer service record I have ever seen and it shows no sign of getting any better...if anything, its getting WORSE!!!!! No training = Clueless advisors = Unhappy customers

BT is a sorry excuse for a British company

Rant over

I also find eclipse to be excellent for heavy use, if you dont mind paying 30 notes a month you have the freedom to download all day and all night without worrying about stupid download limits...which kinda makes having broadband pointless....nearly anyway lol