Broadband - what to go for & what to avoid

My daughter is about to move into a flat and will require broadband.
The exchange has been unbundled by the following operators:

AOL
O2/BE
C&W/Bulldog
Orange
Sky
Talk Talk
Tiscali

There doesn't appear to be a phone line in the flat at present so one
will have to be installed. We are also unsure at this point if
Freeview will work, so may require Sky or Freesat.

Broadband use is likely to be limited to email, browsing and some
music download and a small amount of BBC iplayer

Grateful if anyone could suggest which providers/packages would suit
the above at the lowest cost.

BT seem to be offering an 18 month contract which isn't of much use as
she may only be in the flat for a year.

Any suggestions etc would be much appreciated.

--
Cheers

Peter

Does she own flat or renting?
My daughter at one time rented a new flat and it was the owners who decided
if it should be BT or Cable for telephone.

This morning I have signed up with www.adsl24.co.uk on a 1 month contract,
so less than the 12/18 month ones can be had.

--
Regards,
David

Please reply to News Group

On Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:08:39 +0100, "David" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Does she own flat or renting?
>My daughter at one time rented a new flat and it was the owners who decided
>if it should be BT or Cable for telephone.
>
>This morning I have signed up with www.adsl24.co.uk on a 1 month contract,
>so less than the 12/18 month ones can be had.

She will be renting.

I've just spoken to Tiscali and they can do broadband and phone for
14.99/month - no BT line rental. Need to find out what their broadband
service is like.

--
Cheers

Peter

Petert wrote:
> On Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:08:39 +0100, "David" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
>> Does she own flat or renting?
>> My daughter at one time rented a new flat and it was the owners who decided
>> if it should be BT or Cable for telephone.
>>
>> This morning I have signed up with www.adsl24.co.uk on a 1 month contract,
>> so less than the 12/18 month ones can be had.
>
> She will be renting.
>
> I've just spoken to Tiscali and they can do broadband and phone for
> 14.99/month - no BT line rental. Need to find out what their broadband
> service is like.
>
TalkTalk and Tiscali seem to have particularly bad reputations.
Hopefully someone can recommend one of the others.

O2 seem to have a better reputation than some at present. I use Newnet
who are very good but not the cheapest.

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/co...commit=Compare

Invisible Man wrote:
> Petert wrote:
>> On Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:08:39 +0100, "David" <(E-Mail Removed)>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Does she own flat or renting?
>>> My daughter at one time rented a new flat and it was the owners who
>>> decided
>>> if it should be BT or Cable for telephone.
>>>
>>> This morning I have signed up with www.adsl24.co.uk on a 1 month
>>> contract,
>>> so less than the 12/18 month ones can be had.
>>
>> She will be renting.
>>
>> I've just spoken to Tiscali and they can do broadband and phone for
>> 14.99/month - no BT line rental. Need to find out what their broadband
>> service is like.
>>
> TalkTalk and Tiscali seem to have particularly bad reputations.
> Hopefully someone can recommend one of the others.
>
> O2 seem to have a better reputation than some at present. I use Newnet
> who are very good but not the cheapest.
>
> http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/co...commit=Compare

"Be" have a good reputaion. From my Nephews reviews, he has had no problems
with them what-so-ever. Good CS too.

Look around for a referal too, as you can get free months from it.

I hereby commend this to the House.

"Petert" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:08:39 +0100, "David" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
>>Does she own flat or renting?
>>My daughter at one time rented a new flat and it was the owners who
>>decided
>>if it should be BT or Cable for telephone.
>>
>>This morning I have signed up with www.adsl24.co.uk on a 1 month contract,
>>so less than the 12/18 month ones can be had.
>
> She will be renting.
>
> I've just spoken to Tiscali and they can do broadband and phone for
> 14.99/month - no BT line rental. Need to find out what their broadband
> service is like.
>

Is it your 18 mouth contract or 12 month which you require.
What I found with these cheaper offers is Broadband downloads are very
limiting for what I require, will this meet your daughters needs?

I test Customer Service by e-mailing a question surprising how long many
take to answer, some never answer. I do this because I hate the menus and
numbers when phoning and time taken to answer and my phone bill going up
with these non 01/02 numbers.

I'm with the Post Office phone and e-mailed them about my phone account and
asked question on upgrading to inc Broadband. Got a reply saying they would
respond in 5 days, they did to say I'm not a customer and therefore would
not answer questions from me. My account number etc was in my e-mail.
I e-mailed back pointing out I am got reply saying will respond in 5 days, 5
days is up today but so far no answer.

As you see in my other message the PO have lost a new broadband customer.
Also now risk loosing me as a phone customer too.

With broadband to me its a reliable thing to most people but when things
sometimes go wrong you want prompt action, this is what the popular ISP fall
down on. Mind you in all bussiness's CS leaves a lot to be desired.
Seems the Customer is always WRONG applies today.

--
Regards,
David

Please reply to News Group

"Invisible Man" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:g8baje$jd7
>
> O2 seem to have a better reputation than some at present. I use Newnet who
> are very good but not the cheapest.
>
> http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/co...commit=Compare
>
How do I get ASDL24 and Tesco.net to show on that?

--
Regards,
David

Please reply to News Group

Invisible Man wrote:

>> I've just spoken to Tiscali and they can do broadband and phone for
>> 14.99/month - no BT line rental. Need to find out what their broadband
>> service is like.
>>
> TalkTalk and Tiscali seem to have particularly bad reputations.
> Hopefully someone can recommend one of the others.
>
> O2 seem to have a better reputation than some at present. I use Newnet
> who are very good but not the cheapest.

I'll second that. We recently ditched pipex (tiscali now - eck) - we
seemed to have gotten "stuck" on an old old tariff - paying way over the
odds - and support, cust serv moved to phillipines ... very irritating.

O2 now - seems fine - they have no limits <8MB DSL for 12.50/month,
support etc. on a UK 0800 no. - techs not bad ...
downsides ... router is a bit on the dumb-down side (but works well)
and no news server.

David wrote:
>
>
> "Invisible Man" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:g8baje$jd7
>>
>> O2 seem to have a better reputation than some at present. I use Newnet
>> who are very good but not the cheapest.
>>
>> http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/co...commit=Compare
>>
>>
> How do I get ASDL24 and Tesco.net to show on that?
>
Looks like ADSL24 use Entanet.

http://www.dslzoneuk.net/isp_details.php?isp=98

No idea on Tesco

http://www.dslzoneuk.net/isp_details.php?isp=62

"Petert" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> My daughter is about to move into a flat and will require broadband.
> The exchange has been unbundled by the following operators:
>
> AOL
> O2/BE
> C&W/Bulldog
> Orange
> Sky
> Talk Talk
> Tiscali
>
> There doesn't appear to be a phone line in the flat at present so one
> will have to be installed. We are also unsure at this point if
> Freeview will work, so may require Sky or Freesat.
>
> Broadband use is likely to be limited to email, browsing and some
> music download and a small amount of BBC iplayer
>
> Grateful if anyone could suggest which providers/packages would suit
> the above at the lowest cost.
>
> BT seem to be offering an 18 month contract which isn't of much use as
> she may only be in the flat for a year.
>
> Any suggestions etc would be much appreciated.

You're not restricted to any of the above "unbundled" operators, but if you
are keen on having an unbundled LLU package, then you are (if that makes
sense).
Alternatively, you could just go for a BT phone line and choose any ISP you
like, using BT's ADSL Max.
The advantage with O2/Be is that they use ADSL2+, which gives much higher
speeds than any other ISP at present. That may be a deciding factor?
C&W/Bulldog is, I believe now dead - or dying, as C&W were reported a while
back as pulling out of the domestic ISP market.
From reading through posts here, the following are *not* generally
recommended: AOL, Orange, Talk Talk and Tiscali.
Sky is cheap and cheerful and may suit.

Hope that helps,

George