512 ADSL Thames Valley area

Hi,

I wonder if anyone would care to give me some advice.
I'm looking for an ADSL connection for an aging parent in the Thames
Valley area. Main points are:

a) less than 20 quid per month

b) easy to set up

c) new email accounts not required

d) 100% reliability (he must not have to spend hours on a hotline being
directed to open/close/click here/select/deselect etc as he would be
completely out of his depth and this would be too traumatic for him. It
has to work properly from the start and never stop working

e) he must maintain his current BT phone line and number

f) free usb modem or router included

g) no setup fee or hidden charges

h) 12-month upfront payment ok if funcionality is guaranteed (see point d)

I've been checking adslguide.org.uk for info and prices, but some first
hand experience from end-users would be more helpful.

MTIA

Agustin

> f) free usb modem or router included

> MTIA
>
> Agustin

If he wants to be free of hassle, I would buy him a router and forget USB
modems free or otherwise.

Dave

--

Some people use windows, others have a life.

"Dave Stanton" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>> f) free usb modem or router included
>
>> MTIA
>>
>> Agustin
>
> If he wants to be free of hassle, I would buy him a router and forget USB
> modems free or otherwise.

Agreed

Agustin wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I wonder if anyone would care to give me some advice.
> I'm looking for an ADSL connection for an aging parent in the Thames
> Valley area. Main points are:
>
> a) less than 20 quid per month
>
> b) easy to set up
>
> c) new email accounts not required
>
> d) 100% reliability (he must not have to spend hours on a hotline being
> directed to open/close/click here/select/deselect etc as he would be
> completely out of his depth and this would be too traumatic for him. It
> has to work properly from the start and never stop working
>
> e) he must maintain his current BT phone line and number
>
> f) free usb modem or router included
>
> g) no setup fee or hidden charges
>
> h) 12-month upfront payment ok if funcionality is guaranteed (see point d)
>
> I've been checking adslguide.org.uk for info and prices, but some first
> hand experience from end-users would be more helpful.
>
> MTIA
>
> Agustin
>

Basically, such a provider doesn't exist.

PIPEX's 250k package might come close. As might Metronet's and
Plusnet's 512k packages.

alex

> d) 100% reliability (he must not have to spend hours on a hotline being
> directed to open/close/click here/select/deselect etc as he would be
> completely out of his depth and this would be too traumatic for him. It
> has to work properly from the start and never stop working

A totally unrealistic requirement that no ISP on the planet can meet.

In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Agustin
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>Hi,
>
>I wonder if anyone would care to give me some advice.
>I'm looking for an ADSL connection for an aging parent in the Thames
>Valley area. Main points are:
>
>a) less than 20 quid per month
>
>b) easy to set up
>
>c) new email accounts not required
>
>d) 100% reliability (he must not have to spend hours on a hotline being
>directed to open/close/click here/select/deselect etc as he would be
>completely out of his depth and this would be too traumatic for him. It
>has to work properly from the start and never stop working
>
>e) he must maintain his current BT phone line and number
>
>f) free usb modem or router included
>
>g) no setup fee or hidden charges
>
>h) 12-month upfront payment ok if funcionality is guaranteed (see point d)
>
>I've been checking adslguide.org.uk for info and prices, but some first
>hand experience from end-users would be more helpful.
>
>MTIA
>
>Agustin
>
Apart from (f) & (g) I recommend PlusNet

I was with freeserve/Wanadoo on dial up . Got BB when it became
available (Sept6 ) researched five ISPs Decided on PlusNetI which I
liken to a BMW and Wanadoo as Ford.. You pay your money and take your
choice :-)
As an 80 yr. old Maidenhead resident I appreciate the ability to use
the net free from spam and meet the criteria you list I am well pleased
..
Regards
--
Ronald Jones

On 3 Oct 2004 in uk.telecom.broadband, Ronald Jones wrote:

>As an 80 yr. old Maidenhead resident I appreciate the ability to use
>the net free from spam and meet the criteria you list I am well pleased

Glad it all worked out (without needing the wireless service in the end)

"Agustin" (E-Mail Removed) wrote in message
news(E-Mail Removed)
>
> d) 100% reliability
> [...]
> It has to work properly from the start and never stop working

A list of qualifying ISPs is listed below:

On Sun, 03 Oct 2004 14:06:51 +0100, alex wrote:


>
> Basically, such a provider doesn't exist.
>
> PIPEX's 250k package might come close. As might Metronet's and
> Plusnet's 512k packages.
>
> alex

Hi again,

I take Alex and Peter's point on the wishfullness of my thinking

What I mean by point (d) is that in my father's case he can become
extremely disturbed when something doesn't work and he is unable to do
anything about it or correctly interpret instructions given to him by a
stranger over the phone. This means that he needs a connection with the
highest possible degree of reliablity, so as to avoid complications as
much as possible.

On my own setup I'm running a router connected to a LAN card I installed
on my computer. Something of this kind would be quite satisfactory for my
father, as long as his Dell laptop (running ME on a Pentium 3) has the
right sort of connection (I can't handle any hardware adaptations for in
person as I'm several thousand kms away) though I suppose someone else
might. I'll try to check what his specifications are.

Thanks to everyone for the input.

Regards,

Agustin

Peter Crosland <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>> d) 100% reliability (he must not have to spend hours on a hotline being
>> directed to open/close/click here/select/deselect etc as he would be
>> completely out of his depth and this would be too traumatic for him. It
>> has to work properly from the start and never stop working
>
> A totally unrealistic requirement that no ISP on the planet can meet.

Many would fall over themselves to supply services that closely approach
this.
Not for 20 quid a month, or even a day though.
20 quid an hour, and you could probably get something approaching this.