Recommendation for broadband access wanted

Hi all,

having moved to the UK half a year ago from Germany I must say the
amount of information you have to gather before being able to make a
sensible choice in the question of finding a new access provider
confuses me.

What I see mostly is not recommendations on which provider to choose but
rather which one to avoid at any cost. And there are at least as many
opinions around as there are people.

For a time I thought Tiscali would be interesting, but after having read
their policy is very restrictive on downloads during peak hours I am
afraid I would easily be hit by them (the figure I saw yesterday
mentioned 50 MB as one file during peak hours might get you throttled).

I have already had a look at http://www.adslguide.org.uk/, most of the
offers there seem though to be metered or restricted in some form or
another. So I thought it might be a good idea and say what I have and
what I want to get some ideas from you in what direction to look. So
please find my list below and tell me what you think.

Regards,
Gunde



What I have currently:
- NTL broadband, contract running out in the end of July
- a D-Link router DI-604 capable of both ADSL and cable
- a phone line with BT


Programmes and protocols I am using regularly during internet access:
- FTP (20/21), HTTP (80), telnet (23), ssh (22), Pop3 (110),
SMTP (25), NNTP (119)
- music streams
- Skype
- VNC
- Sipgate
- Diablo 2 (ports 4000 and 6112)


What I don't need:
- newsgroup access (using individual.net)
- mail account (have my own domains with mail server)
- webspace (have my own domains with webspace)
- ludicrous line speed


What I prefer not to have:
- static IP (not good when playing Diablo 2)
- transparent web proxy


What I want:
- no outgoing port blocked for well-known services
- downloading files up to a size of 400 MB at any time
without being throttled (no filesharing or p2p, but
sometimes I download or upload large files via FTP or
HTTP)
- acceptable consistent line speed, I am used to 1024 kbit/s
and although it might be nice I am not desparate for more


Wishful thinking:
- a hotline that is capable of speaking proper English and is at
least willing either to put you through to a person with technical
understanding if they are not capable of that themselves, or at
least write down your diagnosis as you give it to them without
mangling it too much

Gundemarie Scholz wrote:

> Programmes and protocols I am using regularly during internet access:
> - FTP (20/21), HTTP (80), telnet (23), ssh (22), Pop3 (110),
> SMTP (25), NNTP (119)
> - music streams
> - Skype
> - VNC
> - Sipgate
> - Diablo 2 (ports 4000 and 6112)
>
>
> What I don't need:
> - newsgroup access (using individual.net)
> - mail account (have my own domains with mail server)
> - webspace (have my own domains with webspace)
> - ludicrous line speed
>
>
> What I prefer not to have:
> - static IP (not good when playing Diablo 2)
> - transparent web proxy
>
>
> What I want:
> - no outgoing port blocked for well-known services
> - downloading files up to a size of 400 MB at any time
> without being throttled (no filesharing or p2p, but
> sometimes I download or upload large files via FTP or
> HTTP)
> - acceptable consistent line speed, I am used to 1024 kbit/s
> and although it might be nice I am not desparate for more
>
>
> Wishful thinking:
> - a hotline that is capable of speaking proper English and is at
> least willing either to put you through to a person with technical
> understanding if they are not capable of that themselves, or at
> least write down your diagnosis as you give it to them without
> mangling it too much

plusnet have been mostly excellent since I first started with them 2
years ago. Static IP is available but optional, I'm not aware of any
ports being blocked off, and you can get MaxADSL for £22 per month.

Single files aren't throttled, although if you go past the monthly
peak-time traffic limits you will be throttled down. If you think you're
likely to use more than 10GB per month peak time (defined as between
16:00 and midnight) then pay more (they have increased limits at £30 for
22.5GB, £40 for 30GB) or use a different provider. I just schedule my
largest downloads before I go to bed and avoid the whole issue.

http://www.plus.net/residential/broa..._premier.shtml

The (Sheffield-based) support staff are available 24 hours a day and
have been very helpful the (three) times I've had occasion to call. They
also have a very nice ticketing system for online support.

With regards to your comments about negative experience, a lot of people
seem to think that it's their god-given right to pay £15 per month and
get a service which costs their supplier £100 per month; it's mostly
they who are complaining. You also get the occasional customer who got
unlucky - their order ended up lost in the queue or the ISP's system had
a paddy on them and cut them off or whatever; I think you're likely to
get some of this for every ISP.

You will get people complaining about plusnet, but you also get people
sticking up for them. You don't see much of that for most of the budget
mainstream suppliers (anyone want to speak up for BTOpenworld or Talktalk?)

Put it this way, if you're coming from NTL plusnet will be a breath of
fresh air.

Geoff
(ex NTL customer)

Gundemarie Scholz wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> having moved to the UK half a year ago from Germany I must say the
> amount of information you have to gather before being able to make a
> sensible choice in the question of finding a new access provider
> confuses me.
>
> What I see mostly is not recommendations on which provider to choose but
> rather which one to avoid at any cost. And there are at least as many
> opinions around as there are people.
>
> For a time I thought Tiscali would be interesting, but after having read
> their policy is very restrictive on downloads during peak hours I am
> afraid I would easily be hit by them (the figure I saw yesterday
> mentioned 50 MB as one file during peak hours might get you throttled).
>
> I have already had a look at http://www.adslguide.org.uk/, most of the
> offers there seem though to be metered or restricted in some form or
> another. So I thought it might be a good idea and say what I have and
> what I want to get some ideas from you in what direction to look. So
> please find my list below and tell me what you think.
>
> Regards,
> Gunde
>
>
>
> What I have currently:
> - NTL broadband, contract running out in the end of July
> - a D-Link router DI-604 capable of both ADSL and cable
> - a phone line with BT
>
>
> Programmes and protocols I am using regularly during internet access:
> - FTP (20/21), HTTP (80), telnet (23), ssh (22), Pop3 (110),
> SMTP (25), NNTP (119)
> - music streams
> - Skype
> - VNC
> - Sipgate
> - Diablo 2 (ports 4000 and 6112)
>
>
> What I don't need:
> - newsgroup access (using individual.net)
> - mail account (have my own domains with mail server)
> - webspace (have my own domains with webspace)
> - ludicrous line speed
>
>
> What I prefer not to have:
> - static IP (not good when playing Diablo 2)
> - transparent web proxy
>
>
> What I want:
> - no outgoing port blocked for well-known services
> - downloading files up to a size of 400 MB at any time
> without being throttled (no filesharing or p2p, but
> sometimes I download or upload large files via FTP or
> HTTP)
> - acceptable consistent line speed, I am used to 1024 kbit/s
> and although it might be nice I am not desparate for more
>
>
> Wishful thinking:
> - a hotline that is capable of speaking proper English and is at
> least willing either to put you through to a person with technical
> understanding if they are not capable of that themselves, or at
> least write down your diagnosis as you give it to them without
> mangling it too much

Nildram's DSL Surf could suit you --
http://broadband.nildram.net/products/dslsurf/ -- IIRC, they do block
SMTP connections *inbound* by default, but can turn it off by request.

For a little more, you could double your upload speed as well (by being
on Broadband2), which would make those big uploads go past more easily...

xF,

....Nick

On 13 Jun 2006, Geoff Winkless wrote:

>Gundemarie Scholz wrote:

>> What I don't need:

makes life a bit easier... "connection only" :-)


>> What I prefer not to have:
>> - static IP (not good when playing Diablo 2)

?? (Sorry, I know nothing about "Diablo 2", but I guess a dynamic
IP allows you to go back in and start "afresh" without anyone
being sure it is the same person in the game...)



>> Wishful thinking:
>> - a hotline that is capable of speaking proper English and is at
>> least willing either to put you through to a person with technical
>> understanding if they are not capable of that themselves, or at
>> least write down your diagnosis as you give it to them without
>> mangling it too much

I've had some dealings with Eclipse over the past few years (initially
when helping a friend get set up with Eclipse, and later when I wanted
to switch). They aren't open 24x7... They are open 0800-2000 Mon-Fri
and on Saturday for less hours, but they do respond to tickets and the
few times I have rung them, have had prompt response (not 20 mins wait
in a queue, and someone so "rushed" they want me to go away quickly as
they are under pressure to answer the next person). My calls... first
was about a DACS unit preventing ADSL from working on my friend's line
while second and third concerned switching from a different ISP and if
I would be able to use their news service (or external news services),
because for the account I wanted, it was not an included service... I
found that external services were not blocked, and anyway Giganews can
be used... Just happen to have this newsreader set to use an old Tera
account...


>Single files aren't throttled, although if you go past the monthly
>peak-time traffic limits you will be throttled down. If you think you're
>likely to use more than 10GB per month peak time (defined as between
>16:00 and midnight) then pay more (they have increased limits at £30 for
>22.5GB, £40 for 30GB) or use a different provider. I just schedule my
>largest downloads before I go to bed and avoid the whole issue.

Good point... There was no mention of either a desired budget or any
idea of the amount of traffic the OP might transfer... I moved from a
Plus.Net 10 GB/month account to Eclipse. I've been happy enough over
2-3 years with PN, but from time to time my traffic would exceed the
10 GB mark (before that I had one month hitting 75 GB when on BB Plus,
another account which they offer, but now has a "peak hours" limit of
around 3 GB. Eclipse evolution range offers different levels of peak
traffic from 20 to 50 GB and prices from 14.99 to 29.99. Some users
have described even the top level service as "unusable" but given the
"peak hours" of 1800-0000 I have to say I've not found speeds for my
downloading and audio streaming to be affected. I use VNC, ssh, and
a number of other types of traffic very happily and run the radio for
hours at a time without problems/breaks. Peter M.

--
following added by news server, not me

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"Gundemarie Scholz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
: Hi all,
:
: having moved to the UK half a year ago from Germany I must say the
: amount of information you have to gather before being able to make a
: sensible choice in the question of finding a new access provider
: confuses me.
:
: What I see mostly is not recommendations on which provider to choose but
: rather which one to avoid at any cost. And there are at least as many
: opinions around as there are people.
:
: For a time I thought Tiscali would be interesting, but after having read
: their policy is very restrictive on downloads during peak hours I am
: afraid I would easily be hit by them (the figure I saw yesterday
: mentioned 50 MB as one file during peak hours might get you throttled).
:
: I have already had a look at http://www.adslguide.org.uk/, most of the
: offers there seem though to be metered or restricted in some form or
: another. So I thought it might be a good idea and say what I have and
: what I want to get some ideas from you in what direction to look. So
: please find my list below and tell me what you think.
:
: Regards,
: Gunde
:
:
:
: What I have currently:
: - NTL broadband, contract running out in the end of July
: - a D-Link router DI-604 capable of both ADSL and cable
: - a phone line with BT
:
:
: Programmes and protocols I am using regularly during internet access:
: - FTP (20/21), HTTP (80), telnet (23), ssh (22), Pop3 (110),
: SMTP (25), NNTP (119)
: - music streams
: - Skype
: - VNC
: - Sipgate
: - Diablo 2 (ports 4000 and 6112)
:
:
: What I don't need:
: - newsgroup access (using individual.net)
: - mail account (have my own domains with mail server)
: - webspace (have my own domains with webspace)
: - ludicrous line speed
:
:
: What I prefer not to have:
: - static IP (not good when playing Diablo 2)
: - transparent web proxy
:
:
: What I want:
: - no outgoing port blocked for well-known services
: - downloading files up to a size of 400 MB at any time
: without being throttled (no filesharing or p2p, but
: sometimes I download or upload large files via FTP or
: HTTP)
: - acceptable consistent line speed, I am used to 1024 kbit/s
: and although it might be nice I am not desparate for more
:
:
: Wishful thinking:
: - a hotline that is capable of speaking proper English and is at
: least willing either to put you through to a person with technical
: understanding if they are not capable of that themselves, or at
: least write down your diagnosis as you give it to them without
: mangling it too much


I have used Plusnet for over a year now with out any problems - some user
have had problem with them,but like most thing in life you get what one
pay's for.If you go with the cheapest deal you will get a cheap service.

I have never be throttled and as you up/down large files by ftp etc.

I hope this helps
Chris


--
Cheap As Chips Broadband http://yeah.kick-butt.co.uk
Superb hosting & domain name deals http://host.kick-butt.co.uk
:

Gundemarie Scholz Wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> having moved to the UK half a year ago from Germany I must say the
> amount of information you have to gather before being able to make a
> sensible choice in the question of finding a new access provider
> confuses me.
>
> What I see mostly is not recommendations on which provider to choos
> but
> rather which one to avoid at any cost. And there are at least as many
> opinions around as there are people.
>

from a quick look around the forums, the ISP's which are perceived t
be 'premier league' and worth a look are-
ACE
ZEN
AAISP
NEWNET
NILDRAM

none is likely to meet all your criterea, so compromises will need t
be made.
hope this provides a more positive steer to your enquir

--
jannerboy

Despite the support from two posters for PlusNet I am going to do what
they said and strongly suggest you avoid them.

I don't know how much the other posters have used the supposed 24x7
supports line (which has recently changed the way it operates) or the
ticket system but you can usually expect to que on the phone for 30 -
50 minutes to get a reply if you don't get cut off first.

When you do get a reply the person on the other end is usually not very
knowledgeable.

It can take days to get a response to a ticket and again unless you are
lucky the response will be less than helpful, in fairness they usually
answer within 12 hours in my experience.

Generally speaking the connection has been fine but there have been
problems recently, how wide reaching I don't know but I certainly had
nearly two days with no connection a couple of months back.

They were good now they are not so good, I think they have outgrown
their own abilities.

Try Zen or Nildram, Newnet may be worth a look but I have heard
cautionary tails about their support too.

Andy Barron wrote:

> Despite the support from two posters for PlusNet I am going to do what
> they said and strongly suggest you avoid them.
>
> I don't know how much the other posters have used the supposed 24x7
> supports line (which has recently changed the way it operates) or the
> ticket system but you can usually expect to que on the phone for 30 -
> 50 minutes to get a reply if you don't get cut off first.

Not true. I have used it before and I have waited that long but that was
early evening, which (I guess) is peak support time.

I figured I'd test it: at 16:07 today I called and reached a real person
in under 4 minutes. Given the current state of things with Max I'd say
that's not bad.

> When you do get a reply the person on the other end is usually not very
> knowledgeable.

I'd disagree with "usually". I suppose it depends on your definition of
"very" - you're not going to get straight through to the NOC, no.

> It can take days to get a response to a ticket and again unless you are
> lucky the response will be less than helpful, in fairness they usually
> answer within 12 hours in my experience.

Can be true. On the other hand recently every ticket I've posted has had
a response within a couple of hours.

> Generally speaking the connection has been fine but there have been
> problems recently, how wide reaching I don't know but I certainly had
> nearly two days with no connection a couple of months back.

Apart from problems where BT were at fault (and therefore I would have
been affected whatever ISP I was with) I have had 4 hours of downtime in
the last year, caused by a problem which has been identified and a full
explanation posted to the site.

> They were good now they are not so good, I think they have outgrown
> their own abilities.

That's fair - when I first joined they were superb. Now they're just OK.
However I think they still offer a great value-for-money proposition for
a mid-level user.

Note: I have no axe to grind. I do get a couple of quid a month for some
referrals of friends and family but I don't ask people here to use my
referral ID (simply because I believe it invalidates my advice). For
what it's worth I did try - a year or so back - to get a job there but
they turned me down after interview (bah) so if anything I should be
dissing them

Geoff

reader wrote:
> On 13 Jun 2006, Geoff Winkless wrote:
>>Gundemarie Scholz wrote:
>
>>>What I don't need:
>
> makes life a bit easier... "connection only" :-)

Indeed. Seems though there is nothing like that over here, neither is
something like DSL by call where you can easily switch provider just by
changing the login data (as you can do with dialup).

>>>What I prefer not to have:
>>>- static IP (not good when playing Diablo 2)
>
>
> ?? (Sorry, I know nothing about "Diablo 2", but I guess a dynamic
> IP allows you to go back in and start "afresh" without anyone
> being sure it is the same person in the game...)

No, sometimes the server hiccups, kicks you out and doesn't let you log
in again from the same IP, time varies between 20 minutes and 48 hours.

>>>Wishful thinking:
>>>- a hotline that is capable of speaking proper English and is at
>>> least willing either to put you through to a person with technical
>>> understanding if they are not capable of that themselves, or at
>>> least write down your diagnosis as you give it to them without
>>> mangling it too much
>
>
> I've had some dealings with Eclipse over the past few years (initially
> when helping a friend get set up with Eclipse, and later when I wanted
> to switch). They aren't open 24x7... They are open 0800-2000 Mon-Fri
> and on Saturday for less hours, but they do respond to tickets and the
> few times I have rung them, have had prompt response (not 20 mins wait
> in a queue, and someone so "rushed" they want me to go away quickly as
> they are under pressure to answer the next person).

That sounds good already. What kind of number do they give you to call
their support? I had to find out two days ago that NTL's 0800 (free)
redirected you to a 0845 (5p/min), and that again asked me to call a
0871 (10p/min) with quite a queue.

> I use VNC, ssh, and
> a number of other types of traffic very happily and run the radio for
> hours at a time without problems/breaks.

That is good. Additionally the fair use policy explicitly mentions "p2p,
ftp and usenet access". Would that mean any large downloads via HTTP are
not measured? (-:

Gunde

Nick wrote:
> Nildram's DSL Surf could suit you --
> http://broadband.nildram.net/products/dslsurf/ -- IIRC, they do block
> SMTP connections *inbound* by default, but can turn it off by request.

Hardware has only a USB port and costs extra anyway. As I want to use a
router behind the modem with an RJ45 socket, what kind of requirement
does an ADSL modem here have to fulfill in order to work properly? I
would then just try and buy a different one than the provider offers.

> For a little more, you could double your upload speed as well (by being
> on Broadband2), which would make those big uploads go past more
> easily...

Most uploads are from Germany to the UK, and there the upstream is only
128kbit/s anyway.

Gunde