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Chat => Entertainment & Technology => Topic started by: chrisdicko on August 16, 2007, 22:55:19 PM

Title: ISPs?
Post by: chrisdicko on August 16, 2007, 22:55:19 PM
Have ISPs all started capping a lot now??

I signed up about 9 months ago to Toucan.....who arent too bad. The downloads arent the fastest, but cant complain really.

My friend is wanting to get broadband, and wants to spend as little as he can as he isnt too rich tbh, would like upto 8meg, and unlimited.....or summat like 20Gb a month, as he deffo wont go above that!!

Is there many knocking about at less that £15 with no activation fee??

Cheers
Title: ISPs?
Post by: Leon on August 17, 2007, 00:43:51 AM
More or less all the fair use policies are around 40gb a month which isnt bad at all. Ive been fairly impressed with talktalk (esp as its free) can be a right pain to get setup but once its up and working havent had a problem... they dont seem to inforce their fair use either
Title: ISPs?
Post by: Beaker on August 17, 2007, 08:38:27 AM
Quote from: DoomsMore or less all the fair use policies are around 40gb a month which isnt bad at all. Ive been fairly impressed with talktalk (esp as its free) can be a right pain to get setup but once its up and working havent had a problem... they dont seem to inforce their fair use either

ive just got a job with CPW in the Geek Squad.  They share the same building, and one of the guys who interviewed me was a TalkTalk team leader.  They are going to be enforcing the limits pretty soon, hes on Be Unlimited, that says something....
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: Mark on August 21, 2007, 00:12:53 AM
fast4? no contract, no cap, up to 8 meg and £16 pm
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: chrisdicko on August 21, 2007, 07:16:39 AM
Cheers for the replies guys.

For some reason my mate has just gone for Virgin up to 8meg. Not really sure, as it isnt that cheap and im not sure about the service etc really.
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: chrisdicko on October 02, 2007, 17:36:49 PM
Anyone got any new recommendations??

Just Ive moved in to my new flat now, and got a land line set up..........I do want CHEAP really, as im going to be poor from now on.

TalkTalk does look the cheapest, as do they take over the line rental from BT, then you pay £6 odd for some phone package, and you get the broadband for free???

I dont mind a 40Gb limit to be honest, as I dont download anywhere near that much! Although, with the phone package from talktalk, I dont need that, as I wont be using the phone. Although, suppose you could say thats £6 for broadband really couldnt you.

Cheers.
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: Quixoticish on October 02, 2007, 17:42:16 PM
Edit : nevermind, answered the wrong question.
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: chrisdicko on October 02, 2007, 17:59:47 PM
hmmm, just was looking at the ordering page for talktalk to see what the score was, and it seems that broadband isnt free.....its £15 on the order page!!

Also, says I can only get up to 2meg, which is crap, as I know it is up to 8meg

(http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b31/chrisdicko/talktalk.jpg)
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: Beaker on October 02, 2007, 18:09:06 PM
*chuckle*

dont get the wireless setup if you do go with talktalk, and be aware, the Ecolife router is a repackaged speedtouch with different firmware.  Ive been having to set them up all f**king week!
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: chrisdicko on October 02, 2007, 18:11:11 PM
For that price, I dont think im going to go with them anyway! If the braodband was free I would have, but Id rather go with a different company if im paying £15-£20 for broadband.
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: Beaker on October 02, 2007, 18:18:41 PM
Be are doing 8Mb, actually unlimited for £14 per month.  I would offer a referrer code, but it seems you have to attract users onto the same tariff you are on :(
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: chrisdicko on October 02, 2007, 18:22:52 PM
I cant get Be where I live :(
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: Beaker on October 02, 2007, 18:26:52 PM
Quote from: chrisdickoI cant get Be where I live :(

have you used samknows to check what else you can have?
Title: ISPs?
Post by: M3ta7h3ad on October 02, 2007, 18:35:57 PM
virgin cable... my god 20mbit its lush. :) £29 a month online price.
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: chrisdicko on October 02, 2007, 18:36:32 PM
Just checked then, says I can get adsl max

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange.php?ecode=NEWHY
Title: ISPs?
Post by: chrisdicko on October 02, 2007, 18:36:47 PM
Quote from: M3ta7h3advirgin cable... my god 20mbit its lush. :) £29 a month online price.

Cant get cable round here.
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: Beaker on October 02, 2007, 21:54:49 PM
so basically, any BT Reseller.  What type of limts are you looking at?  Youll also not be able to get the cheap deal from TalkTalk if they haven;t unbundled the exchange.  Nice area of the world btw, though Whitby Goth Festival will likely do your head in :)
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: chrisdicko on October 02, 2007, 22:18:44 PM
The goths arent too bad TBH. Theyre all friendly etc.

Oh right, wondered why I couldnt get the deal! Cant get the Sky one either, which must be the same reason I cant get talk talk.

Im wanting a 40Gb download limit, up to 8 meg, and be able to download stuff at decent speeds during the day. Was with Toucan at my mums place, and you couldnt seem to get any decent speed during the day. Oh, and as cheap as possible!!!!

Cheers :)
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: Beaker on October 02, 2007, 22:34:17 PM
To be fair, i would probably use Demon then.  Their Customer Service is  notrriously crap, but their products are pretty good.
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: cornet on October 02, 2007, 23:05:49 PM
Quote from: Beakerso basically, any BT Reseller.  What type of limts are you looking at?  Youll also not be able to get the cheap deal from TalkTalk if they haven;t unbundled the exchange.  Nice area of the world btw, though Whitby Goth Festival will likely do your head in :)

ADSL ISPs are not all the same and they vary in quality and speed wildly.

Case in point, I use eclipse who give me unlimited downloads (subject to fair usage policy as ever). I always get great speeds and the connection is reliable.

My mate, who lives 3 doors down from me, went with Sky cos they were cheap. He has no end of connection problems and the reliability of the connection is appalling. Yes the distance from the exchange and the physical line itself do play a big part in the speed you will get... but if the ISP is running off 2 tin cans and a piece of string then youre in trouble.

My recommendations are Zen and Eclipse. Both have excellent customer service, good peerings to tier 1 ISPs and reliable connections.



Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: Beaker on October 02, 2007, 23:15:30 PM
Quote from: cornetADSL ISPs are not all the same and they vary in quality and speed wildly.

Case in point, I use eclipse who give me unlimited downloads (subject to fair usage policy as ever). I always get great speeds and the connection is reliable.

My mate, who lives 3 doors down from me, went with Sky cos they were cheap. He has no end of connection problems and the reliability of the connection is appalling. Yes the distance from the exchange and the physical line itself do play a big part in the speed you will get... but if the ISP is running off 2 tin cans and a piece of string then youre in trouble.

My recommendations are Zen and Eclipse. Both have excellent customer service, good peerings to tier 1 ISPs and reliable connections.

i know they vary wildly, ive tried one of the "Cheap" ISPs, and wasnt impressed, and the value hunters are always complaining about theirs.  I wouldnt use Sky because ive heard that once you are on them they couldnt give a sh*t.  I work for Geek Squad now, and IIRC we can get phone + 8Mb ADSL for £11 a month.  Ill stick with BT and Be though because they suit me better, despite the fact its 3 times the price.  

I recommend Demon because the place i used to work had customers on various ISPs, and we had less problems with Demon and with any other provider.  
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: chrisdicko on October 03, 2007, 23:48:11 PM
Cheers for the recommendations, will check them out. Just in the process of trawling through the billion sites finding one.

Anyone heard of Fast4.net??
They seem good, adsl max up to 8meg, unlimited downloads, 1 month contract, no activation fee, £16/month.

Seems good!?
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: chrisdicko on October 03, 2007, 23:53:40 PM
Ok, forget them!!! Faaaaaaaaaaar to many sh*tty reviews.
Title: ISPs?
Post by: knighty on October 04, 2007, 07:44:41 AM
Im on Be.... and theyre awsome so far :)

(only been a few weeks tho)

started setting it up before the phone line was even in... download at 1900k upload at 240k... never had any lag, a single disconnect :-)
Title: ISPs?
Post by: Quixoticish on October 04, 2007, 08:59:18 AM
Quote from: knightyIm on Be.... and theyre awsome so far :)

(only been a few weeks tho)

started setting it up before the phone line was even in... download at 1900k upload at 240k... never had any lag, a single disconnect :-)

If youre going with Be I recommend calling them and getting them to check the line length between you and the exchange. Im only about 1.5km from the exchange but the local cabling is in such a mess that Ive got something like between 3 and 7 km of cable connecting me, and I only connect at 6.5 (early in the morning, drops to 4.5 late at night) and have disconnections twice a day at 6:30 and 11:30. Apparently Be are investigating the latter but its still something of a disappointment.
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: chrisdicko on October 04, 2007, 21:55:22 PM
Cant get Be where I live.
Title: ISPs?
Post by: knighty on October 05, 2007, 01:28:21 AM
Quote from: Chris HIf youre going with Be I recommend calling them and getting them to check the line length between you and the exchange. Im only about 1.5km from the exchange but the local cabling is in such a mess that Ive got something like between 3 and 7 km of cable connecting me, and I only connect at 6.5 (early in the morning, drops to 4.5 late at night) and have disconnections twice a day at 6:30 and 11:30. Apparently Be are investigating the latter but its still something of a disappointment.

lucky for me I can see the main exchange out of my front window !
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: chrisdicko on October 08, 2007, 13:45:56 PM
Anyone been with Virgin (non cable). Just they do an up to 8 meg, unlimited package for £15 which is good.......

Most the reviews Ive read on the net though seem to slag Virgin off.....although, most reviews ive read about any ISP slags them all off........you dont seem to get any good reviews anywhere!!
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: Beaker on October 08, 2007, 13:51:47 PM
Quote from: chrisdickoAnyone been with Virgin (non cable). Just they do an up to 8 meg, unlimited package for £15 which is good.......

Most the reviews Ive read on the net though seem to slag Virgin off.....although, most reviews ive read about any ISP slags them all off........you dont seem to get any good reviews anywhere!!

Virgin ADSL isnt very good.  One of my friends is on it, and she has nothing but problems, including her own website being null-routed for some reason.  According to Virgin they havent blocked the site, but the virgin network wont let her on it, it wont even send a ping back.  While shes pinging it, i can sit there and browse round it!   Also when she tries to ftp itll let her on, for abotu 30 seconds, then it cuts her out.  
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: chrisdicko on October 08, 2007, 16:42:03 PM
Ok, Ill keep away from them then!

Dont know how accurate/good ispreview.co.uk is, but companies like Naims, ADSL24 seem to score quite high. But a lot of the reviews are quite old now. They only have a 1 month contract, but then they do have a connection fee of £47.
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: chrisdicko on October 11, 2007, 17:20:24 PM
Well, Ive finally gone with TitanADSL. £20/month, 1 month contract, 30Gb Peak, and 300Gb off peak, which I wont go near that.

They are a reseller of Enta, and seem to get very good reviews. There are a few companies who are resellers of Enta, and all charge the same etc, but this company seemed to be the fastest at replying to emails (5 mins max), and have a good control panel, FTP space etc etc.
Title: Re:ISPs?
Post by: chrisdicko on October 12, 2007, 18:54:58 PM
Ordered Wednesday night, and its on now!!! Thats what I call service! Happy boy now ive got the net.