What broadband provider should I go with instead of BT?

**GuitarHero** · 04-Jul-10, 20:47

I want to get my broadband with a new provider as am currently with BT and they are too expensive and also find them to be slow. I can't afford to keep their payments up especially when the broadband speed isn't worth what they charge. What companys do you guys recommend I go with instead of BT? There must be some good cheaper packages around for your calls plus broadband?

**Kodiak** · 04-Jul-10, 22:30

If you have SKY TV then go for their Package of Free Broadband and Evening and Weekend Calls. That has to be cheaper than BT.

**gollach** · 04-Jul-10, 22:39

Check for deals on broadband from your mobile phone provider.

**EDDIE** · 04-Jul-10, 22:48

Im with orange and its slow i was toying with the idea of going back to bt

**S&LHEN** · 04-Jul-10, 23:15

Ive had Aol for years I find it fast and value for money and easy to get around.

**Bobinovich** · 05-Jul-10, 00:10

Don't forget that BT own and operate all the phone lines up here so changing provider will almost certainly NOT speed up your broadband connection. Do you know what speed you're actually getting to your router/modem?

**Alan16** · 05-Jul-10, 00:11

I've been using Virgin Media for a while now and never had any problems. They offer a friendly service.

**Gronnuck** · 05-Jul-10, 07:26

Originally Posted by GuitarHero

I want to get my broadband with a new provider as am currently with BT and they are too expensive and also find them to be slow. I can't afford to keep their payments up especially when the broadband speed isn't worth what they charge. What companys do you guys recommend I go with instead of BT? There must be some good cheaper packages around for your calls plus broadband?

Your Broadband speed is not necessarily dependent upon your ISP. You might want to check here . If you look at the menu on the left and click on ‘Exchange Search’, key in the requested details they will display full details of your telephone exchange. Your exchange status might well be ADSL Max but you're still not going to get 20Mbps unless you live right next door with a direct line to your house.

The speed you experience with your Broadband is dependent upon how far you are from your exchange. If you live as far from the excange as I do you'll be lucky to get 310 Kbps!

My own view is that Broadband subscriptions should be based upon speed rather than any thing else. It is not fair that I, we, pay the same as subscribers elsewhere who get much faster connections.

**Geo** · 05-Jul-10, 09:49

Originally Posted by Bobinovich

Don't forget that BT own and operate all the phone lines up here so changing provider will almost certainly NOT speed up your broadband connection. Do you know what speed you're actually getting to your router/modem?

There is more to it than that. It will also depend on the service level agreement the ISP has with BT vs the size of the customer base. The ISP can buy extra bandwidth. I recently joined O2 broadband who said I should get 2.5Mb broadband. It was consistently less than 1Mb, sometimes as low as 120Kb. It was useless for streaming media such as iPlayer, Youtube etc. I changed to Plus.net and now get 4Mb and iPlayer etc works perfectly.

**Bobinovich** · 05-Jul-10, 10:14

Aye Geo but the OP is already with BT so I didn't feel that would need to be taken into account - I would imagine that BT Broadband will have a very good SLA with BT Wholesale!

I was simply wondering if the OP has knew what speed their router/modem says they're getting, and was then going to suggest running speedtests over a period to determine what they're actually achieving.

**cuddlepop** · 05-Jul-10, 10:24

We switched to vodafone as this would be £25 a month inclusive.

Its been slower than BT but cheaper so it depends what you want.

**celtchicky** · 05-Jul-10, 12:08

interesting thread!!!

im planning on leaving BT aswell but they are now coming it saying ive an 18month contract! however MY paperwork states 12months, so ive now to post off a copy. well hacked off with them

**gollach** · 05-Jul-10, 12:14

Originally Posted by celtchicky

interesting thread!!!

im planning on leaving BT aswell but they are now coming it saying ive an 18month contract! however MY paperwork states 12months, so ive now to post off a copy. well hacked off with them

I had same problem with BT. I went with them 2 years ago for phone and broadband. I agreed to take old stock and got a white homehub router, they only have the black ones now, I think. In return for this, they gave me my internet for £5 a month! OK, so it was the lowest package but if you are not using filesharing sites, then 10GB is still quite a lot.

When I went to renew this year, I was told that my contract still had 18 months to run! It turned out it was because I had returned a faulty BT Vision box. Someone at BT had restarted me on a longer contract when the shipped the replacement. I argued that they had no right to reset my internet contract and they agreed to extend my cheap internet deal for the duration of the BT Vision. Dreadful mess but cheap internet

**EVILUTION** · 05-Jul-10, 13:05

have been with tiscali for 6 years but they have now been taken over by talk talk. i have anytime broadband pack with them and i recommend them as i download alot and have had no probs.

**ducati** · 05-Jul-10, 13:07

I've no choice, when I moved I was told by various providers that it was impossible. Only BT could provide broadband to my address. I have a broadband and phone package with optional free landline calls and it works out quite cost effective for me.

**upolian** · 05-Jul-10, 14:09

Originally Posted by EVILUTION

have been with tiscali for 6 years but they have now been taken over by talk talk. i have anytime broadband pack with them and i recommend them as i download alot and have had no probs.

3years with tiscali for me,and now talk talk,absolutely faultless service!!

**scorrie** · 06-Jul-10, 15:55

Originally Posted by Kodiak

If you have SKY TV then go for their Package of Free Broadband and Evening and Weekend Calls. That has to be cheaper than BT.

Sadly, this is not the case. Once you put your landline number in to check product availability (I am in Wick) you get a message stating that you are outside the Sky Broadband Network Area. Your free package then changes to Sky Connect, at £17 per month AND they charge you a £30 connection fee on top!!

**thejudd** · 06-Jul-10, 19:06

Originally Posted by Alan16

I've been using Virgin Media for a while now and never had any problems. They offer a friendly service.

I'm with you Alan, I have had a few isp since going online aol,talk talk and bt and I must say virgin have been the best for continuous good broadband speeds, I always found that I could set my clock by when my broadband was going to be on a go slow especially with talk talk.
So I would deffo recomend Virgin

**oldmarine** · 07-Jul-10, 20:20

Some good interesting comments on this thread. My experience: you get what you pay for. It depends on what you want your ISP to do for you. Shop around and go for the best fit for you.

**pottheed** · 09-Jul-10, 15:22

BT wholesale are responsible for the sync rate and your IP profile of your line. your throughput is determined by your service provider (most of the time anyway)

Run a test:

www.speedtester.bt.com

if your "download throughput rate" is much lower than your IP profile, then changing ISP will most likely have an effect on it, however if it is only slightly lower than your IP profile, then changing ISP will do nothing for your speed

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