Bargain basement ISP suggestions?

I'm trying to advise a friend on which ISP/phone combination to go for. She
was initially interested in Virgin's 20quid for phone+2Mbit, but I dissuaded
her on the basis that Virgin's phone connection is really expensive for
calls. However Virgin have a 10quid for 2Mbit for 12 months offer until the
end of the month, which is tempting, and means she could get a BT line for
phone plus Primus Saver2/18185 for calls. But I'm in endless disputes with
Virgin over billing, and their new premium rate fault line doesn't inspire
confidence.

So any suggestion of other cheap-ish ISPs? If she went for a BT line she'd
have the pick of ADSL ISPs, so which should be looked at? She doesn't make
too many calls (to mobiles are going to be the expensive ones) so packages
like TalkTalk where there's some degree of lockin for calls (you can't use
1xxxx access codes, and 0844/0871 are more expensive than BT's rates) might
be OK. What are they like for data these days?

She doesn't use the net for much more than websurfing and email, so traffic
isn't an issue. But she wouldn't want anything longer than a 12 month
contract. If it's a BT line+separate ISP combo we're talking about ISPs in
the ballpark of a tenner a month, and she's in central Cardiff so her area
is probably LLUed. Any suggestions?

Cheers,
Theo

> She doesn't use the net for much more than websurfing and email, so traffic
> isn't an issue. But she wouldn't want anything longer than a 12 month
> contract. If it's a BT line+separate ISP combo we're talking about ISPs in
> the ballpark of a tenner a month, and she's in central Cardiff so her area
> is probably LLUed. Any suggestions?

http://www.samknows.com (see whether her exchange is LLU or not)

Does she have Sky ? - they do *free* broadband with up to a 2Gb
download limit (up to 2Mbit) as long as you take the phone bills out
with them - 40Gb limit is £5 per month (up to 8Mbit).

Avoid the "connect" package under all circumstances though - it
doesn't use LLU and is a bought-in and heavily filtered service - but
the base / mid / max (up to 16Mbit / unlimited downloads -
theoretically) packages do use LLU and have no apparent traffic
filtering.

"Theo Markettos" <theom+(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:mqg*(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm trying to advise a friend on which ISP/phone combination to go for.
> She
> was initially interested in Virgin's 20quid for phone+2Mbit, but I
> dissuaded
> her on the basis that Virgin's phone connection is really expensive for
> calls. However Virgin have a 10quid for 2Mbit for 12 months offer until
> the
> end of the month, which is tempting, and means she could get a BT line for
> phone plus Primus Saver2/18185 for calls. But I'm in endless disputes
> with
> Virgin over billing, and their new premium rate fault line doesn't inspire
> confidence.
>
> So any suggestion of other cheap-ish ISPs? If she went for a BT line
> she'd
> have the pick of ADSL ISPs, so which should be looked at? She doesn't
> make
> too many calls (to mobiles are going to be the expensive ones) so packages
> like TalkTalk where there's some degree of lockin for calls (you can't use
> 1xxxx access codes, and 0844/0871 are more expensive than BT's rates)
> might
> be OK. What are they like for data these days?
>
> She doesn't use the net for much more than websurfing and email, so
> traffic
> isn't an issue. But she wouldn't want anything longer than a 12 month
> contract. If it's a BT line+separate ISP combo we're talking about ISPs
> in
> the ballpark of a tenner a month, and she's in central Cardiff so her area
> is probably LLUed. Any suggestions?
>
> Cheers,
> Theo

Find a friendly neighbour with a wireless router and connect through that,
perhaps making the occasional contribution to the cost...

In uk.telecom.broadband, on Fri, 13 Jul 2007 20:15:04, Theo Markettos
wrote:

>She doesn't use the net for much more than websurfing and email, so traffic
>isn't an issue. But she wouldn't want anything longer than a 12 month
>contract. If it's a BT line+separate ISP combo we're talking about ISPs in
>the ballpark of a tenner a month, and she's in central Cardiff so her area
>is probably LLUed. Any suggestions?

Newnet http://www.newnet.co.uk/ GBP9.95 for an annual contract (1GB
pm), GBP12.95 for a monthly one (3GB pm). Anything over those figures
gets charged at GBP1.30 per GB (chargeable in 3GB blocks in arrears).

Static IP, etc etc...

--
Jim Crowther.

West London MAG: Popes Grotto, Twickenham, every Tuesday from 21:00 onwards.

Jim Crowther <Don'(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> Newnet http://www.newnet.co.uk/ GBP9.95 for an annual contract (1GB
> pm), GBP12.95 for a monthly one (3GB pm). Anything over those figures
> gets charged at GBP1.30 per GB (chargeable in 3GB blocks in arrears).

Thanks, that looks great. And it seems to get good feedback on
thinkbroadband too.

Theo