Zoom7000 Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 I've been happilly living at my parents house using Cable broadband since the days of 512kbps @ ?24.99 (Damn, that was a long time ago!) Since then I have got married, wife had a baby girl and not forgetting the speed upgrades!;)) So anyway, life goes on and living in 1 room in a packed house of 8 is not so comfortable, hence, I'm gonna be moving out on rent come the end of this month... In to a Non-Cable Area! So, I have to go down the dredded route of ADSL, and I can't even get Cable TV so, I'm gonna have to shell out extortionate prices for Sky! Anyway, it seems a BT phone line is an enevitability. However, who should I turn to for ADSL. Ironically, Virgin Media seem to have a decent offer for Non Cable customers, offering "Upto 8Mbps" ADSL and Free Nationwide Calls for ?20 a month. However, I'm worried about the "Upto 8Mbps" this could mean anything from 512kbps - 8Mbps. Not only am I looking for a good deal, but also, for good customer service. My collegues have had absolute nightmares with BT and Talk Talk (Like going for months without Internet). So they are a no no. Also, I am a heavy user, sUnlimited Downloads at High Speedsb> are a must. I was interested by Bethere.co.uk, but again it is "Upto 24Mbps". I'd also like to use my own ADSL Wireless Router if possible. I may go and buy a decent Linksys. Any recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinetix63 Veteran Posted February 28, 2007 Veteran Share Posted February 28, 2007 Moved here, and thread title change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Topham Hatt Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Might find this helpful: [uK] Which Broadband Provider Do You Use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spielo Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 When a service is advertised as "up to 8Mbps", the speed is determined by the quality of your phone line and the distance from your telephone exchange, in much the same way that a 56K modem provides a connection "up to 56K". An "Up to 8Mbps" service typically offers speeds between 5 and 7Mbps. Without much doubt whatsoever, the ISP that offers the highest quality service in the UK is Zen, though of course they're pretty expensive... you get what you pay for. I'm on Be's "Up to 24Mbps" service, having ditched Bulldog/Pipex when they introduced excessive bandwidth shaping policies. The "Up to 24Mbps" system works in much the same way as an 8Mbps service does. We get about 16Mbps out of ours, which is plenty fast enough really. The main benefit of Be's ADSL2 service isn't the up to 24Mbps downstream, it's the 1.3Mbps upstream, much faster than most ADSL services. To connect to Be you will of course need an ADSL2 compatible router, which Be include for free (It's a Speedtouch something Wireless thing). I've been really happy with Be's service, the connection is fast and reliable, and the support staff are accessible and friendly; there's an online support forum which is regularly monitored by several staff members. The telephone support is India-based, and isn't the best Indian call centre I've ever dealt with (that would be AppleCare), but they're fairly easy to communicate with (much better than BT, for instance). If you're intending to sign up for Sky TV, you may want to visit www.skybroadband.com and see if you're in an area capable of receiving their free/cheap broadband... I've heard that it's not bad, but don't quote me on that. It goes up to 16Mbps. Personally, I ditched Sky a long time ago and haven't missed it at all; the channel selection on Freeview is definiately good enough for me! I don't see the use of Sky unless you really want Sky Sports, sure, there's hundreds of channels, but they're mostly terrible, and the ones that aren't only carry repeats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larney Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Be's Customer Support is in India? Really? It's a real shame companies are moving their support over to India as a lot of the time it just makes it worse or maybe that's me just being generalist having heard such horror stories and having back experiences myself. Always wondered what they are like as a company with support as I've heard some terrible stories much as the same as BT who are pathetic. I am on Telewest myself and the service is perfect. Real shame you will not in a cable area Zoom7000. Zen look interesting as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spielo Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Be's Customer Support is in India? Really? It's a real shame companies are moving their support over to India as a lot of the time it just makes it worse or maybe that's me just being generalist having heard such horror stories and having back experiences myself. I don't mind Indian call centres as long as there isn't a language barrier. I've had horrible times with HSBC and BT, both of which have dreadful call centres; I fail to see how me calling an HSBC call centre in India, having them not understand me, and then having them send a message to my branch that doesn't make sense, and having to have the branch call me to find out what the message was supposed to say saves HSBC any money. Other times have been fine, Apple's Indian support is top notch, and I couldn't get any better service had the call centre been local. Be's is pretty good, not quite as superb as Apple's, but perfectly acceptable... It just depends on the company and how well they train their staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoom7000 Posted February 28, 2007 Author Share Posted February 28, 2007 Well, I went to see the flat at 5pm yesterday, just before the agent closed and told him I would call this morning. So I did, just after they opened at 9:30am and told him I would come to see him after work to place the deposit. He tells me someone else has agreed to pay a higher rent and already placed the deposit. :crazy: Bloody hell, I knew the property buying sector was cut throat, but damn, I didn't know that renting was just as bad. Looks like it's back to the drawing board! :( Either way, thanks for your help guys, a lot of my friends in non cable areas have asked me the same question (about ADSL), so it's good to know the options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.MULLA Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 i use Bethere with their 24mbps service - goto www.samknows.com and fill in the telephone number and postcode and it will give u a list of providors within your area along with estimated maximum speeds on that line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneNutter MVC Posted February 28, 2007 MVC Share Posted February 28, 2007 i use Bethere with their 24mbps service - goto www.samknows.com and fill in the telephone number and postcode and it will give u a list of providors within your area along with estimated maximum speeds on that line. Thats a good site aparently i might just be able to get 1mb ADSL :pinch: good job we have been on cable since 2001 :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Rapture| Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Be's Customer Support is in India? Really? It's a real shame companies are moving their support over to India as a lot of the time it just makes it worse or maybe that's me just being generalist having heard such horror stories and having back experiences myself. No it's in Sophia but they're still useless over the phone. Ticketing system is slightly better but if your line develops a fault you're basically screwed if you can't take it up with BT directly. I had a week of phoning and another week of emailing a fault through but luckily my line got worse and voice was affected so I was able to take it up with BT instead. Ended up with 10mb instead of the 5mb I had before but Be never admitted there was a fault. I like my connection with Be and I have no intention of moving in the near future but I wouldn’t recommend them to anybody. Knowing how ADSL works in the UK the same goes for any DSL provider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larney Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Well, I went to see the flat at 5pm yesterday, just before the agent closed and told him I would call this morning. So I did, just after they opened at 9:30am and told him I would come to see him after work to place the deposit. He tells me someone else has agreed to pay a higher rent and already placed the deposit. :crazy: Bloody hell, I knew the property buying sector was cut throat, but damn, I didn't know that renting was just as bad. Looks like it's back to the drawing board! :( Either way, thanks for your help guys, a lot of my friends in non cable areas have asked me the same question (about ADSL), so it's good to know the options. That sucks, sorry to hear that. Try and find a house to rent in a Telewest area :) Elite_graphix, thanks was trying to remember that site! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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