My Wanadoo 1 year is up, so.....

(Reposted from another newsgroup)

I've been checking the alternatives.

However, I'm somewhat reluctant to consider moving again. After a rather
poor time with PlusNet, despite their reputation at the time, I found
Wanadoo to be pretty good after all, and again despite reputation.

In the 14 months I've been with Wanadoo now, I haven't yet had any
outages, and Email has never failed at all, although it does seem to
attract a lot more spam than any other mail account I have (although
they do filter it very well). Although I tend to use 'The German' news
server, the Wanadoo news server has worked OK too.

I generally hit the 2GB limit, but rarely actually need more than that
anyway.

The only problem I've had, is with their website uploading, it's
appalling. It often takes four or five attempts to get a successful
upload (this is with large ZIP uploads - over 20MB), and I've never
managed to connect using FTP clients. Oh yes, and it breaks any filename
with a space in it, converting them to an under-score automatically, so
none of the links work. Now I know I work around it, but it's never been
a problem before.

I've looked at some alternatives, Bulldog, UK Online, Zen, MetroNet and
ADS4Less.

Most of them don't actually seem to offer anything over Wanadoo, and are
mostly more expensive if I want 2Mb connection and 2GB cap.

The latter pair of that list stand out, offering a flexible system of
paying as you use it. Metronet I like the look of, but at £18.75 is a
tad more for 2Mb, although it does have a 10GB cap, which I'll never
use.

ADSL4Less is offering a better package for my budget, at £11.99 for 2GB
(any speed) and £1.75 per extra GB. So far I've never exceeded the cap
with Wanadoo, although I could have used a little more from time to
time, so to pay an occasion £1.75 extra looks ideal for me.

My needs are:

Mostly off-peak Internet.
5 Email addresses.
Moderate web space (50MB maybe).
Moderate music downloads (may one or two albums p/m from iTunes)
Newsgroups, although I use news.individual.net, so not essential.
Some software downloads.
My usage realistically is about 1.5-3Gb per month.

And to be brutally honest, 2Gb speed is more than I need too.

--
Andy Hewitt ** FAF#1, (Ex-OSOS#5) - FJ1200 ABS
Honda Civic: Windows free zone (Mac G5 Dual Processor)
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/...tts2/index.htm
(updated Aug 28 2005)

On Sun, 2 Oct 2005 19:20:18 +0100, (E-Mail Removed) (Andy Hewitt)
wrote:

>However, I'm somewhat reluctant to consider moving again. After a rather
>poor time with PlusNet, despite their reputation at the time, I found
>Wanadoo to be pretty good after all, and again despite reputation.

Sounds like you've answered your own question <g>.

--
Cheers,

Guy

** Stress - the condition brought about by having to
** resist the temptation to beat the living daylights
** out of someone who richly deserves it.

Dr Teeth <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> On Sun, 2 Oct 2005 19:20:18 +0100, (E-Mail Removed) (Andy Hewitt)
> wrote:
>
> >However, I'm somewhat reluctant to consider moving again. After a rather
> >poor time with PlusNet, despite their reputation at the time, I found
> >Wanadoo to be pretty good after all, and again despite reputation.
>
> Sounds like you've answered your own question <g>.

In some ways, I do know the answer, but my usage does show that using
MetroNet or ADS4Less I could save quite a chunk over a year.

If both of these are good ISPs, and some reports suggest they are, then
I could consider a move. The biggest worry is getting the MAC from
Wanadoo.

--
Andy Hewitt ** FAF#1, (Ex-OSOS#5) - FJ1200 ABS
Honda Civic: Windows free zone (Mac G5 Dual Processor)
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/...tts2/index.htm
(updated Aug 28 2005)

Andy Hewitt <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

: However, I'm somewhat reluctant to consider moving again. After a rather
: poor time with PlusNet, despite their reputation at the time, I found
: Wanadoo to be pretty good after all, and again despite reputation.

I also find Wanadoo to be rock solid and would not contemplate a move until
something goes wrong!

: I generally hit the 2GB limit, but rarely actually need more than that
: anyway.

But does anything happen? I suspect that I go somewhat over 2Gb most months
and noting seems to happen - as they *STILL* have no user level traffic
monitoring in place the limits seem very flexible. Many other ISPs will
not be as flexible.

Brian McIlwrath <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Andy Hewitt <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> : However, I'm somewhat reluctant to consider moving again. After a rather
> : poor time with PlusNet, despite their reputation at the time, I found
> : Wanadoo to be pretty good after all, and again despite reputation.
>
> I also find Wanadoo to be rock solid and would not contemplate a move until
> something goes wrong!

Yes, I'm not definite in this desire to move away, but my actual usage
suggests I could save about £6 per month with ADSL4Less, who do seem to
have a good reputation. Mind you, so did PlusNet when I first went with
them, they'd be my last choice now.

> : I generally hit the 2GB limit, but rarely actually need more than that
> : anyway.
>
> But does anything happen? I suspect that I go somewhat over 2Gb most months
> and noting seems to happen - as they *STILL* have no user level traffic
> monitoring in place the limits seem very flexible. Many other ISPs will
> not be as flexible.

Not yet no, although as you say if you can't monitor your usage, how can
they possibly control it. I guess they probably won't bother until you
start using it enough to warrant the 6GB limit.

Either that or they've found that realistically the capping isn't that
much of an issue anyway. I would guess that most users come nowhere near
the limits.

--
Andy Hewitt ** FAF#1, (Ex-OSOS#5) - FJ1200 ABS
Honda Civic: Windows free zone (Mac G5 Dual Processor)
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/...tts2/index.htm
(updated Aug 28 2005)

On Sun, 2 Oct 2005 19:20:18 +0100, (E-Mail Removed) (Andy Hewitt)
wrote:

>(Reposted from another newsgroup)
>
>I've been checking the alternatives.
I am in exactly the same situation as you. My wanadoo connection is 12
moths old next month and I am looking to move.
>
>However, I'm somewhat reluctant to consider moving again. After a rather
>poor time with PlusNet, despite their reputation at the time, I found
>Wanadoo to be pretty good after all, and again despite reputation.
I have had a couple of outages but in general it has been OK. (Slow in
the eves but thats to be expected I guess)
>
>In the 14 months I've been with Wanadoo now, I haven't yet had any
>outages, and Email has never failed at all, although it does seem to
>attract a lot more spam than any other mail account I have (although
>they do filter it very well). Although I tend to use 'The German' news
>server, the Wanadoo news server has worked OK too.
>
>I generally hit the 2GB limit, but rarely actually need more than that
>anyway.
>
>The only problem I've had, is with their website uploading, it's
>appalling. It often takes four or five attempts to get a successful
>upload (this is with large ZIP uploads - over 20MB), and I've never
>managed to connect using FTP clients. Oh yes, and it breaks any filename
>with a space in it, converting them to an under-score automatically, so
>none of the links work. Now I know I work around it, but it's never been
>a problem before.
>
>I've looked at some alternatives, Bulldog, UK Online, Zen, MetroNet and
>ADS4Less.
I have short listed Metronet and Freedom2Surf

Freedom2Surf will automatically try and get you the fastest connection
utp 8Meg when you switch. They also use any of IPStream, DataStream
and LLU.


Metronet only use IPStream which apparently has stricter rules on the
line quality (They say that some migrators have had issues moving from
DataStream connections (like Wanadoo) to IPStream.

Both Metronet and Freedom2Surf are wires only connections. Metronet
dont offer webspace or email addresses (you have to pay extra). Which
is fine for me as I have my own domain and separate email/web server
account.

>
>Most of them don't actually seem to offer anything over Wanadoo, and are
>mostly more expensive if I want 2Mb connection and 2GB cap.
>
>The latter pair of that list stand out, offering a flexible system of
>paying as you use it. Metronet I like the look of, but at £18.75 is a
>tad more for 2Mb, although it does have a 10GB cap, which I'll never
>use.
Paying for Metronet seems a little odd in that they dont do Direct
Debit. You have to go on line and issue a "Pay" notice from you user
account. You can automate it, but they stress that it is not Direct
debit.
>
>ADSL4Less is offering a better package for my budget, at £11.99 for 2GB
>(any speed) and £1.75 per extra GB. So far I've never exceeded the cap
>with Wanadoo, although I could have used a little more from time to
>time, so to pay an occasion £1.75 extra looks ideal for me.
I have heard the odd thing about ADSL4Less that has put me off.
Nothing concrete just a few user opinions.
>
>My needs are:
>
>Mostly off-peak Internet.
>5 Email addresses.
>Moderate web space (50MB maybe).
>Moderate music downloads (may one or two albums p/m from iTunes)
>Newsgroups, although I use news.individual.net, so not essential.
>Some software downloads.
>My usage realistically is about 1.5-3Gb per month.
>
>And to be brutally honest, 2Gb speed is more than I need too.
Freedom2Surf give 20 email addresses, 200Mb of webspace
Its 14.99 for a 2Gb cap and 19.99 for a 10Gb cap.

Oh and the speed will be upto 8Meg.

For me I will be probably be going for the 10Gb cap.

To be honest I will be looking around for a better deal but as yet I
havent found one I feel more comfortable with.

HTH

Harry

On Tue, 04 Oct 2005 10:14:44 +0100, Harry
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Metronet only use IPStream which apparently has stricter rules on the
>line quality (They say that some migrators have had issues moving from
>DataStream connections (like Wanadoo) to IPStream.

some urban legends in there, Wanadoo use IPstream and the technical
rules for IPstream and Datastream end user connections are the same.

>Both Metronet and Freedom2Surf are wires only connections.


>Paying for Metronet seems a little odd in that they dont do Direct
>Debit. You have to go on line and issue a "Pay" notice from you user
>account. You can automate it, but they stress that it is not Direct
>debit.

that's because its PAYG so the amount varies monthly. You can set it
to auto-pay from a credit card, do it manually, or mail a cheque etc.

Phil
--
Tiscali - dialup speeds at Broadband prices, see
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist...&Board=tiscali

AOL - the unlimited ISP of choice for heavy downloaders.

Harry <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

: Metronet only use IPStream which apparently has stricter rules on the
: line quality (They say that some migrators have had issues moving from
: DataStream connections (like Wanadoo) to IPStream.

Wanadoo - AFAIK - do not and have never used Datastream!!! You may be
thinking of Tiscali.

On Tue, 4 Oct 2005 09:57:02 +0000 (UTC), Brian McIlwrath
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Harry <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>: Metronet only use IPStream which apparently has stricter rules on the
>: line quality (They say that some migrators have had issues moving from
>: DataStream connections (like Wanadoo) to IPStream.
>
>Wanadoo - AFAIK - do not and have never used Datastream!!! You may be
>thinking of Tiscali.
Sorry my mistake. They were heavily into Datastream last year
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=1732

but it look like it all IPStream now.

Sorry for the mistake.

Harry <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
: Sorry my mistake. They were heavily into Datastream last year
: http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=1732

: but it look like it all IPStream now.

: Sorry for the mistake.

I am not sure if you made a mistake or if they just changed their mind about
going the Datastream route after all!!! I had not read that article.

I was going by the fact that my ex-Freeserve account is IPstream (from about
3 years ago) and so is a Wanadoo one setup by a colleague not long ago.