Recomended Business ISP?

I am looking for an isp for ADSL broadband for 2 sites, one site is in the
Bulldog LLU region in London (Fleet Exchange), the other only has stand BT
ADSL avaliable. The main use will be light web browsing and some vpn traffic
between sites, including at some point VOIP. What isp should we go for. I
would go for plusnet as I have found them very aceptable at home, however I
think its unreasomably that we should pay significantly more (about double)
than I pay for my home account even though I will be placing much higher
load on their systems. Bulldog look very tempting for the London site as the
increased upload speed would be useful for the vpn traffic, however reading
this group and else where their service gets mixed reviews. Also it seems
that the 400kbps upload is now only avaliable on the 4mbit downstream
anytime product, which is a shame.

ISP requirements:

No blocking of ports
1mbit for the main site and 512 for the satellite site
Allows use of own hardware
Fixed IP's for both sites
Email and web hosting domain names etc.. are not required
Support for running an email server
Good support
High reliability

What restrictions are placed on home accounts at isps, at the moment both
sites have a standard user freeserve/bt openworld unmetered dialup billed to
credit card. Can we not do the same with say a plusnet home broadband
account?

Thanks

Jaime

"jaime" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:jH1zc.14908$(E-Mail Removed)
> I am looking for an isp for ADSL broadband for 2 sites, one site is
> in the Bulldog LLU region in London (Fleet Exchange), the other only
> has stand BT ADSL avaliable. The main use will be light web browsing
> and some vpn traffic between sites, including at some point VOIP.
> What isp should we go for. I would go for plusnet as I have found
> them very aceptable at home, however I think its unreasomably that we
> should pay significantly more (about double) than I pay for my home
> account even though I will be placing much higher load on their
> systems. Bulldog look very tempting for the London site as the
> increased upload speed would be useful for the vpn traffic, however
> reading this group and else where their service gets mixed reviews.
> Also it seems that the 400kbps upload is now only avaliable on the
> 4mbit downstream anytime product, which is a shame.

Do you want the same ISP for both sites or are you willing to have two
seperate ISP's?

Bulldog's LLU service is *very* good - and the 400K upload is standard on
all Bulldog LLU ADSL products (I'm not sure why you think its only for the
4MB+ one) - they also have virtually no contention on their LLU exchanges..
and its very reliable as there is no BT kit involved - Bulldog manage it
all.

Bulldog exchanges (the non LLU ones) are limited to 256K upload as Bulldog
use BT DSLAM's to provide those.

Hence, for your Fleet exchange location, I would definately go Bulldog.

>ISP requirements:
>
>No blocking of ports
>1mbit for the main site and 512 for the satellite site
>Allows use of own hardware
>Fixed IP's for both sites

Fixed IP is a chargeable option with Bulldog

>Email and web hosting domain names etc.. are not required
>Support for running an email server

When you say support - do you mean technical support or just that it be
allowed (i.e. not against the T&C's)

Running a mail server is not against most ISP's T&C's but if you need help
configuring it - AAISP may be your best choice as they are one of the more
technical ISP's and may be willing to help you on any config problems.

Otherwise, have a look at: Bulldog (again) for the 2nd lcoation or perhaps
Zen who are also quite popular as a "business ISP" (and include up to 8IP
addresses as standard)

If you/anyone does decide to use Bulldog would you mind quoting my referral
code when signing up - just quote "bdol 87431" when signing up online (under
"How did you hear about Bulldog?/Referred by a Friend") or by telephone.

Regards
Sunil

> > I am looking for an isp for ADSL broadband for 2 sites, one site is
> > in the Bulldog LLU region in London (Fleet Exchange), the other only
> > has stand BT ADSL avaliable. The main use will be light web browsing
> > and some vpn traffic between sites, including at some point VOIP.
> > What isp should we go for. I would go for plusnet as I have found
> > them very aceptable at home, however I think its unreasomably that we
> > should pay significantly more (about double) than I pay for my home
> > account even though I will be placing much higher load on their
> > systems. Bulldog look very tempting for the London site as the
> > increased upload speed would be useful for the vpn traffic, however
> > reading this group and else where their service gets mixed reviews.
> > Also it seems that the 400kbps upload is now only avaliable on the
> > 4mbit downstream anytime product, which is a shame.
>
> Do you want the same ISP for both sites or are you willing to have two
> seperate ISP's?

Seperate ISP's would be fine.

> Bulldog's LLU service is *very* good - and the 400K upload is standard on
> all Bulldog LLU ADSL products (I'm not sure why you think its only for the
> 4MB+ one) - they also have virtually no contention on their LLU
exchanges..
> and its very reliable as there is no BT kit involved - Bulldog manage it
> all.

http://www.bulldogdsl.com/residentia...me/alltime.asp gives 256
upload max for all but the 4 mbit, however in astrix it does say 400kb for
LLU exchanges, thats why I was confused.

I can not seem to find business prices on their site, are they simular to
the residential products?

> >Support for running an email server
>
> When you say support - do you mean technical support or just that it be
> allowed (i.e. not against the T&C's)

Just that its allowed and that their connection doesnt do anything that
might prevent it from working.


> If you/anyone does decide to use Bulldog would you mind quoting my
referral
> code when signing up - just quote "bdol 87431" when signing up online
(under
> "How did you hear about Bulldog?/Referred by a Friend") or by telephone.

Will do, thanks for the help.

Jaime

"jaime" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:nllzc.15245$(E-Mail Removed)
>> Bulldog's LLU service is *very* good - and the 400K upload is
>> standard on all Bulldog LLU ADSL products (I'm not sure why you
>> think its only for the 4MB+ one) - they also have virtually no
>> contention on their LLU exchanges.. and its very reliable as there
>> is no BT kit involved - Bulldog manage it all.
>
> http://www.bulldogdsl.com/residentia...me/alltime.asp
> gives 256 upload max for all but the 4 mbit, however in astrix it
> does say 400kb for LLU exchanges, thats why I was confused.

Ah - yes, I can see why that is confusing.

The 4 MB service is only available on LLU exchanges, which is why its the
only one listed on the table as 400K upload.

It would be better if they placed 256/400K next to the other entries.

> I can not seem to find business prices on their site, are they
> simular to the residential products?

I believe so - you would have to contact them for details, as I am a
residential user..

Otherwise, if the "residential" range suits your needs, use one of those
instead.

The only difference is likely to be the contention ratio - I believe the T&C
are the same for both services with Bulldog.

Some ISP's (Plusnet?) have different T&C for their home/business products
but I don't believe this applies to Bulldog.

>>> Support for running an email server
>>
>> When you say support - do you mean technical support or just that it
>> be allowed (i.e. not against the T&C's)
>
> Just that its allowed and that their connection doesnt do anything
> that might prevent it from working.

This is allowed on most (virtually all) ISP's - so shoudn't be a concern.

Regards
Sunil

In article <jH1zc.14908$(E-Mail Removed)>,
(E-Mail Removed) (jaime) wrote:

>
> ISP requirements:
>
> No blocking of ports
> 1mbit for the main site and 512 for the satellite site
> Allows use of own hardware
> Fixed IP's for both sites
> Email and web hosting domain names etc.. are not required
> Support for running an email server
> Good support
> High reliability

You can chat to us :-)

But there's also www.adslguide.co.uk.

If you can get the Bulldog product, I've heard it's very good, so go for
it, but I've no experience of it myself.

Leslie Costar
ICUK Computing Services Limited
http://www.icuknet.co.uk
ADSL, Dial Up, Hosting

Hello,

>> Do you want the same ISP for both sites or are you willing to have two
>> seperate ISP's?
>
>Seperate ISP's would be fine.

From experience I would suggest using the same ISPs where possible
when VPNs and VOIP is going to be used. Latency is a real killer with
VOIP and windows file sharing is also sensitive to latency.

Whilst not guaranteed, I would expect intra-ISP traffic to have a
lower latency than traffic going out onto the Internet and then back
into another ISP. The last thing you would want is for your traffic to
go via the states with a high latency just because of the peering
between two networks.

Kris.

Hi Jaime,

We'd be able to offer you this exact service.

Our 1Mb service is £26.99 a month and our 512Kb package is £21.99 a
month. Activation on both lines is £38.75, but if you'd like you can
pay a little bit extra per month and the activation will be included
in the price.

Our service is a wires only service, so you can use your own
equipment. This is why our prices are lower than those of BT etc.
Also, we have no download limits which is perfect for businesses. And
even though our package are called Home and Business, we have no
problems accepting businesses onto our Home packages. The only
difference between the two types of packages is the contention rate.

Any questions, sales & support is available online via a live chat. We
are also reviewed on Isp-Review.co.uk.

http://www.BroadSurf.co.uk

Dan Journo
BroadSurf



On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 20:13:42 +0100, "jaime" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>I am looking for an isp for ADSL broadband for 2 sites, one site is in the
>Bulldog LLU region in London (Fleet Exchange), the other only has stand BT
>ADSL avaliable. The main use will be light web browsing and some vpn traffic
>between sites, including at some point VOIP. What isp should we go for. I
>would go for plusnet as I have found them very aceptable at home, however I
>think its unreasomably that we should pay significantly more (about double)
>than I pay for my home account even though I will be placing much higher
>load on their systems. Bulldog look very tempting for the London site as the
>increased upload speed would be useful for the vpn traffic, however reading
>this group and else where their service gets mixed reviews. Also it seems
>that the 400kbps upload is now only avaliable on the 4mbit downstream
>anytime product, which is a shame.
>
>ISP requirements:
>
>No blocking of ports
>1mbit for the main site and 512 for the satellite site
>Allows use of own hardware
>Fixed IP's for both sites
>Email and web hosting domain names etc.. are not required
>Support for running an email server
>Good support
>High reliability
>
>What restrictions are placed on home accounts at isps, at the moment both
>sites have a standard user freeserve/bt openworld unmetered dialup billed to
>credit card. Can we not do the same with say a plusnet home broadband
>account?
>
>Thanks
>
>Jaime
>

"Dan Journo" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi Jaime,
>
> We'd be able to offer you this exact service.
>
> Our 1Mb service is £26.99 a month and our 512Kb package is £21.99 a
> month. Activation on both lines is £38.75, but if you'd like you can
> pay a little bit extra per month and the activation will be included
> in the price.
>
> Our service is a wires only service, so you can use your own
> equipment. This is why our prices are lower than those of BT etc.
> Also, we have no download limits which is perfect for businesses. And
> even though our package are called Home and Business, we have no
> problems accepting businesses onto our Home packages. The only
> difference between the two types of packages is the contention rate.
>
> Any questions, sales & support is available online via a live chat. We
> are also reviewed on Isp-Review.co.uk.
>
> http://www.BroadSurf.co.uk
>
> Dan Journo
> BroadSurf
>

What sort of 'downtime' would there be if we were to transfer our BT
Broadband
service to yours?




James H