Is BT Broadband Basic worth considering?

Hello -

I'm looking for a broadband supplier for my non-technical parents. They want
something faster than their modem, but their current usage is less than
500MB per month.

Having had a bad experience with accounts departments of another ISP, I'm
reluctant to recommend them paying via direct-debit or
continuous-credit-card, so BT Broadband Basic (with the 1GB/month limit and
payment by cheque) seems like a good choice.

I've got some questions:
- when I phoned BT, they said it was possible to configure the account so
that when the 1GB limit is reached, the account stops working until the new
month starts (this is good, because I don't want them getting a trojan and
running up a big bill). Is this actually what happens, or does it continue
working at reduced speed as I've seen mentioned elsewhere?

- Are there any other products I should be considering?

- Any guesses about the future of this product, eg. price cuts or
data-allowance increases?

Thanks.

On Mon, 23 May 2005 17:57:59 +0100, "Simon"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>- Are there any other products I should be considering?

Metronet's PAYG service as little as £11.75 per month rising to £22
ish maximum but no cap on data. Can pay by cheque among other methods.

100 odd ISPs to choose from, I'm sure others do alternative payment
methods.

Phil
--
Tiscali - dialup speeds at Broadband prices.
AOL - the unlimited ISP of choice for heavy downloaders.

On 23 May 2005 17:57, "Simon" wrote:

>I'm looking for a broadband supplier for my non-technical parents. ...
> ... their current usage is less than 500MB per month.

While that's understandable on dial-up, the options to use more are quite
considerably increased if they start to download material from the BBC's
'listen again' services, or when the BBC interactive media player comes
out for general use in the Autumn (I heard mention on Feedback that some
video material will be available too... since it's almost as easy as a
'click of the link' they might get frustrated if they are part way into
the month and it all stops...

>- Are there any other products I should be considering?

Quite likely, and perhaps the first year costs (many others have a setup
fee, but might have lower monthly fees) would be similar, but they'd have
a more generous quota, or not have any significant restrictions for your
parents' type of use. As for a trojan, get Avast or Grisoft AVG to scan
daily and worry about it that way, rather than restrict them by way of
a BT BB account :-)

As for payments, a number of ISPs would accept cheque, but probably don't
like it, because of the delays, cost and it not being as easy to automate
(so costs are higher for them). Eclipse and a few others spring to mind,
but if that's the main factor, you may want to stick with your choice and
put up with slightly lower value for money (my opinion, despite bringing
the price down to 17.99, since you can have unlimited mail and browsing
account for 14.99/month if they ggo with Plus.Net and paid with Direct
Debit)... (Broadband Plus account... up to 2000 kbps too). Peter M.


--
Plus.Net <http://tinyurl.com/5jpa4>
I recommend them and save some cash.

With a guarantee allowing new users to migrate if they're unhappy!

"Simon" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:42920ba2$0$38044$(E-Mail Removed).. .
> Hello -
>
> I'm looking for a broadband supplier for my non-technical parents. They want
> something faster than their modem, but their current usage is less than
> 500MB per month.
>
> Having had a bad experience with accounts departments of another ISP, I'm
> reluctant to recommend them paying via direct-debit or
> continuous-credit-card, so BT Broadband Basic (with the 1GB/month limit and
> payment by cheque) seems like a good choice.

Sending a cheque each month would be to like hard work for me!

With Direct Debits you can just tell your bank not to pay. With credit cards
(which I use) it is harder to cancel by telling the credit card operator.

I would consider it safe to pay any of the major ISPs by credit card.


--

Michael Chare

"Michael Chare" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Simon" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:42920ba2$0$38044$(E-Mail Removed).. .
> > Hello -
> >
> > I'm looking for a broadband supplier for my non-technical parents. They want
> > something faster than their modem, but their current usage is less than
> > 500MB per month.
> >
> > Having had a bad experience with accounts departments of another ISP, I'm
> > reluctant to recommend them paying via direct-debit or
> > continuous-credit-card, so BT Broadband Basic (with the 1GB/month limit and
> > payment by cheque) seems like a good choice.
>
> Sending a cheque each month would be to like hard work for me!
>
> With Direct Debits you can just tell your bank not to pay. With credit cards
> (which I use) it is harder to cancel by telling the credit card operator.
>
> I would consider it safe to pay any of the major ISPs by credit card.
>
>
> --
>
> Michael Chare
>
>
>

Check out www.zen.co.uk they have several ways of making payments

As well as no cap , the only problems I've had with Zen over the last year have
been caused by bt .

A fire in a tunnel at Manchester and some of bt's tackle taking a hike , it took
bt a day to sort it out.

Got the usual excuses , platitudes and TALL STORIES from bt.

DieSea