Broadband for Students

Hey guys. I'm looking at broadband deals for students for my house next
year and I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations? It's going to
be a 4 person house. So far Virgin Net caught my eye as they offer
monthly contracts.

What sort of download limit would be reasonable? I can't imagine that
there will be much file sharing or online gaming going on, but it would
be a pain if we have to spend a lot of money buying extra bandwidth
each month.

Finally, do I need to get the MAC code off the current residents in the
house to avoid a reconnection charge, assuming I want to change the
broadband provider?

Kind Regards,

Matt Boulton

On 19 Jun 2005 08:56:04 -0700,it is alleged that (E-Mail Removed)
spake thusly in uk.telecom.broadband:


>What sort of download limit would be reasonable? I can't imagine that
>there will be much file sharing or online gaming going on, but it would
>be a pain if we have to spend a lot of money buying extra bandwidth
>each month.

For regular web surfing/email and maybe a little bit of downloading,
for applications required, large jpegs of the party the night before
etc. <g> 1 to 1.5 Gb/month would seem reasonable. I am on virgin.net
and they recently increased the download cap on the account I am on
from 3 to 6 Gb per month, for no increase in cost, so I can't imagine
it being much more on the monthly contracts.

--
There are three things which I consider excellent advice. First, don't
smoke to excess. Second, don't drink to excess.
Third, don't marry to excess.
- Mark Twain

On 19 Jun 2005 16:30 GMT, Chip <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>>I can't imagine that there will be much file sharing or online gaming
>>going on, but it would be a pain if we have to spend a lot of money
>>buying extra bandwidth each month.

Crumbs, for a student group, I'd expect they're main activities but you
know who you'll be living with so don't let me confuse the issue! As
for the MAC, yes that would be a sensible thing to obtain, but also
you may need to know what service they are on now (or rather, what BT
product, so a transfer will be smoother - eg 50:1 1000 kbps IPstream)

Don't forget a MAC is only valid for 30 days, so either you'll pay for
the summer months, or they will, but switching needs to be done from a
*live* service so be sure to know when they plan to stop paying for it.

>I am on virgin.net and they recently increased the download cap on the
>account I am on from 3 to 6 Gb per month, for no increase in cost, so
>I can't imagine it being much more on the monthly contracts.

What are you paying, and for what speed is that ? Just curious!

--

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On Sun, 19 Jun 2005 17:39:14 +0100,it is alleged that Peter M
<us-(E-Mail Removed)> spake thusly in uk.telecom.broadband:

>What are you paying, and for what speed is that ? Just curious!

That's for the lowly 512k [still WAY fast enough for surfing / email]
and it's GBP22.95 per month at the moment. Also, they only charge 2
pounds more per Gb if you go over the limit, and they email you about
it fairly quickly.

Just be prepared to deal with them over the phone because emails to
customer services have gone unanswered for *weeks*.


--
"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on
*no* account be allowed to do the job."
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

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Chip wrote:
> On Sun, 19 Jun 2005 17:39:14 +0100,it is alleged that Peter M
> <us-(E-Mail Removed)> spake thusly in uk.telecom.broadband:
>
>
>>What are you paying, and for what speed is that ? Just curious!
>
>
> That's for the lowly 512k [still WAY fast enough for surfing / email]
> and it's GBP22.95 per month at the moment. Also, they only charge 2
> pounds more per Gb if you go over the limit, and they email you about
> it fairly quickly.

As I see you're not necessarily after the cheapest "stack em high, shift em
fast" ISP I'd recommend Andrews and Arnold.

A&A offer a 2MBps (assuming line can support it) with 3GB of
weekday daytime usage (evening and weekend unmetered) for £27/month, 1GB of
extra usage (pre-paid) is ~£5.
No contract period/cancellation fee, friendly and knowledgeable staff,
quote "no bullshit" unquote attitude to customer service which they offer
promptly over IRC, Usenet, email and telephone. Good at chasing BT if they
drag their heels as well.

Their online pages allow you to monitor your usage (even down to the
nearest hour) and pay online etc.

http://www.aaisp.net.uk



- --
Adam Piggott, Proprietor, Proactive Services (Computing).
http://www.proactiveservices.co.uk/

Please replace dot invalid with dot uk to email me.
Apply personally for PGP public key.
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MAC codes are not, AFAIK, transferable between customers so you will have to
get the existing account closed and apply for another when that has been
done.

Peter Crosland

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
(E-Mail Removed) <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Hey guys. I'm looking at broadband deals for students for my house
> next year and I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations? It's
> going to be a 4 person house. So far Virgin Net caught my eye as they
> offer monthly contracts.
>
> What sort of download limit would be reasonable? I can't imagine that
> there will be much file sharing or online gaming going on, but it
> would be a pain if we have to spend a lot of money buying extra
> bandwidth each month.
>
> Finally, do I need to get the MAC code off the current residents in
> the house to avoid a reconnection charge, assuming I want to change
> the broadband provider?
>
> Kind Regards,
>
> Matt Boulton

It sounds as if PlusNet's Broadband Plus at £14.99 per month may suit you.
Check it out at
http://www.plus.net/residential/broa...and_plus.shtml

Its not intended for avid file sharers - but will probably do what you
want - and has no bandwidth cap as such. If the phone line already has ADSL,
you can change suppliers with no set-up charge - and have a monthly contract
with (to the best of my understanding) no cancellation fee.

Unless you go with the current BB supplier, you will definitely need a MAC
code - because your new supplier won't be able to implement the service
without it.

I assume that you will buy an ADSL Modem/router (if you don't already have
one) to share the connection between 4 PC's?
--
Cheers,
Tim
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> Hey guys. I'm looking at broadband deals for students for my house
> next year and I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations? It's
> going to be a 4 person house. So far Virgin Net caught my eye as they
> offer monthly contracts.
>
> What sort of download limit would be reasonable? I can't imagine that
> there will be much file sharing or online gaming going on, but it
> would be a pain if we have to spend a lot of money buying extra
> bandwidth each month.
>
> Finally, do I need to get the MAC code off the current residents in
> the house to avoid a reconnection charge, assuming I want to change
> the broadband provider?
>

I believe that Virgin now charge £58.75 if you terminate within 12 months.

On 19 Jun 2005 18:36, "Peter Crosland" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>MAC codes are not, AFAIK, transferable between customers so you will have

Good point. Major pain. Unless the phone line is in the name of the owner
of the property (though I somehow doubt it!) Peter M.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>
> What sort of download limit would be reasonable? I can't imagine that
> there will be much file sharing or online gaming going on, but it would
> be a pain if we have to spend a lot of money buying extra bandwidth
> each month.
>

I wouldn't even consider a capped plan if other people are going to be
sharing the connection (in which event you should allow at least
30gb/month). I would also recommend PlusNet. Last I check most the
capped services were actually more expensive than the 'unlimited'
PlusNet package.