Cheap broadband/phone packages

Hi all,

Currently I am with A&A and have been on the same package for around 6
years. I run email from home (Exchange), and everything is working
fine.

Due to moving house at some point in the next few months, I want to
get a broadband package in for the parents that will provide both
phone and broadband on the same bill. We are in a rural area, but
Talktalk have come to our door recently selling us 12MB broadband for
£15 including evening and weekend calls and line rental. I wouldn't
consider that for me, but for the parents, it may be worth looking at.
BT also do a similar, but more expensive deal.

Are there any other deals I need to look at?

I also need to decide what to do with the email hosting, I would love
to somehow keep my Exchange mailboxes as I have been using the same
mailbox for around 7 years (moving it to new Exchange servers as
required), that may mean hosting it on a server in the cloud (as well
as looking at Linux alternatives to Exchange which support
ActiveSync), or going with a more expensive Exchange hosting company
such as Mail2web.

Any suggestions?
Thanks.
Andrew.

Andrew Hodgson wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Currently I am with A&A and have been on the same package for around 6
> years. I run email from home (Exchange), and everything is working
> fine.
>
> Due to moving house at some point in the next few months, I want to
> get a broadband package in for the parents that will provide both
> phone and broadband on the same bill. We are in a rural area, but
> Talktalk have come to our door recently selling us 12MB broadband for
> £15 including evening and weekend calls and line rental. I wouldn't
> consider that for me, but for the parents, it may be worth looking at.
> BT also do a similar, but more expensive deal.
>
> Are there any other deals I need to look at?
>
> I also need to decide what to do with the email hosting, I would love
> to somehow keep my Exchange mailboxes as I have been using the same
> mailbox for around 7 years (moving it to new Exchange servers as
> required), that may mean hosting it on a server in the cloud (as well
> as looking at Linux alternatives to Exchange which support
> ActiveSync), or going with a more expensive Exchange hosting company
> such as Mail2web.
>
> Any suggestions?
> Thanks.
> Andrew.

Do your parents live at your current address, and will they continue to
live there?

In your rural area and using ADSL no supplier will be able to offer a
speed better than any other, because the length and quality of the
telephone line is the limiting factor. Conversely some suppliers might
achieve significantly lower speeds if their backhaul is too congested.

Look at the sync parameters for your router - that will give you an idea
of the maximum achievable. Don't be surprised if it is very different
from the 12Mbyte/sec touted by TT.

If you can get FTTC that will be different; but probably not relevant
for your parents.

I can see the benefit of a bundled option for your parents; but I can't
make a recommendation. You should be very wary of any speeds offered;
anything better than your current figure with A&A will be unrealistic.

For yourself, almost certainly you will need a static IP address. If
you're happy with A&A ask them to move their service to your new
location. Talk to them about how this can be managed and you should be
able to achieve a seamless transfer to your new location. If you intend
to rent the voice line from BT there will be specific incantations to
make at the time you place the order ("Simultaneous Provide").

--
Graham J

On Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:31:40 +0100, Graham J wrote:

> In your rural area and using ADSL no supplier will be able to offer a
> speed better than any other, because the length and quality of the
> telephone line is the limiting factor. Conversely some suppliers might
> achieve significantly lower speeds if their backhaul is too congested.
>
> Look at the sync parameters for your router - that will give you an idea
> of the maximum achievable. Don't be surprised if it is very different
> from the 12Mbyte/sec touted by TT.

12 Mbyte, or 12 Mbit?



--
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Bob Eager wrote:
> On Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:31:40 +0100, Graham J wrote:
>
>> In your rural area and using ADSL no supplier will be able to offer a
>> speed better than any other, because the length and quality of the
>> telephone line is the limiting factor. Conversely some suppliers might
>> achieve significantly lower speeds if their backhaul is too congested.
>>
>> Look at the sync parameters for your router - that will give you an idea
>> of the maximum achievable. Don't be surprised if it is very different
>> from the 12Mbyte/sec touted by TT.
>
> 12 Mbyte, or 12 Mbit?


Sorry - 12 Mbits/sec

--
Graham J

On Wed, 31 Aug 2011 20:05:22 +0100, Graham J wrote:

> Bob Eager wrote:
>> On Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:31:40 +0100, Graham J wrote:
>>
>>> In your rural area and using ADSL no supplier will be able to offer a
>>> speed better than any other, because the length and quality of the
>>> telephone line is the limiting factor. Conversely some suppliers
>>> might achieve significantly lower speeds if their backhaul is too
>>> congested.
>>>
>>> Look at the sync parameters for your router - that will give you an
>>> idea of the maximum achievable. Don't be surprised if it is very
>>> different from the 12Mbyte/sec touted by TT.
>>
>> 12 Mbyte, or 12 Mbit?
>
>
> Sorry - 12 Mbits/sec

Well, the OP got it wrong really. I doubt he meant 12 MB/s, which is what
he put!



--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 31/08/2011 21:24, Bob Eager wrote:
> On Wed, 31 Aug 2011 20:05:22 +0100, Graham J wrote:
>
>> Bob Eager wrote:
>>> On Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:31:40 +0100, Graham J wrote:
>>>
>>>> In your rural area and using ADSL no supplier will be able to offer a
>>>> speed better than any other, because the length and quality of the
>>>> telephone line is the limiting factor. Conversely some suppliers
>>>> might achieve significantly lower speeds if their backhaul is too
>>>> congested.
>>>>
>>>> Look at the sync parameters for your router - that will give you an
>>>> idea of the maximum achievable. Don't be surprised if it is very
>>>> different from the 12Mbyte/sec touted by TT.
>>>
>>> 12 Mbyte, or 12 Mbit?
>>
>>
>> Sorry - 12 Mbits/sec
>
> Well, the OP got it wrong really. I doubt he meant 12 MB/s, which is what
> he put!
>
>
>

This is a sorry area for incorrect units.

1) do k and M refer to 1000x or 1024x

2) are they bits or bytes?

There does not seem to be a standard [used].

and one leading ISP has its speedtest scale as 'mb'

Flop

In article <i_ydnUR6v5JE-(E-Mail Removed)>,
Flop <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>and one leading ISP has its speedtest scale as 'mb'

Hey look, I'm getting 10 billion mb/second here :-)

Nick
--
Serendipity: http://www.leverton.org/blosxom (last update 29th March 2010)
"The Internet, a sort of ersatz counterfeit of real life"
-- Janet Street-Porter, BBC2, 19th March 1996

On Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:06:06 +0100, Flop wrote:

> This is a sorry area for incorrect units.
>
> 1) do k and M refer to 1000x or 1024x

That's a messy area. In theory, 'k' means 1000 and 'ki' means 1024, but
not everyone bothers with 'ki'. Likewise with 'M' and 'm'.

> 2) are they bits or bytes?

B is bytes, b is bits.



--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
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"Bob Eager" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:06:06 +0100, Flop wrote:
>
>> This is a sorry area for incorrect units.
>>
>> 1) do k and M refer to 1000x or 1024x
>
> That's a messy area. In theory, 'k' means 1000 and 'ki' means 1024, but
> not everyone bothers with 'ki'. Likewise with 'M' and 'm'.

M would be Mega as in 10^6. m would be milli as in 10^-6. Don't get those
messed up!

>
>> 2) are they bits or bytes?
>
> B is bytes, b is bits.
>
>
>
> --
> Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
> http://www.mirrorservice.org
>
> *lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

On Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:32:16 +0000, Nick Leverton wrote:

> In article <i_ydnUR6v5JE-(E-Mail Removed)>, Flop
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>>and one leading ISP has its speedtest scale as 'mb'
>
> Hey look, I'm getting 10 billion mb/second here :-)

US or UK billions ? (Just to muddy the waters further).