Cheapest Broadband Provider Discussion

For anybody planning on migrating soon and who is not a P2P user it might be worth waiting for PlusNet's 'Broadband Plus' package (available from April 04). No DL limits *, they just throttle the P2P ports so that the other traffic gets priority. It will be interesting to see how well this works in practice. 14.99pm for 512Kbps and 19.99pm for 1Mbps.

* note: the exact quote is "No fair usage limits" and "Generous fair usage policy" so we will have to wait and see exactly what this means.

I agree with Graham1 that Plusnet is well worth looking at - based on its' current range as well as the awaited new packages.

I'm with Force9, a plusnet brand and although it is a bit more expensive than the cheapest providers in the article, it incluses the extras such as anti-virus and spam filtering, unlimiited mail boxes, webspace etc that others charge for. The control panel has lots of features and they are currently offering free migration * As always conditions apply! You have to keep the same speed and contention otherwise £14.99.

I pay £14.99 per month for 1Mb 1Gb. I think it is good value if you want the extras and compares well with the best buys.

***sorry, please keep any referral suggestions to the Referral Board, thank you, Board Guide***

http://www.f9.net.uk/

Unless their customer support has changed I recommend you avoid Tiscali. I was with them and had minor technical problems but had a nightmare trying to sort things out because their technical support was so busy and the staff frequently couldn't understand what I was saying.

See www.adslguide.org.uk/isps/compare.asp

I am now with Zen who are expensive but have their support in the UK and I even have a standard code phone number for them.

Gabriel

It's important to note when comparing broadband deals that there are two types of connection.

The most common type is IPstream, and users of an IPstream service can switch between providers (subject to any minimum contract length) at a low cost with no loss of service.

Some providers (including Tiscali and Bulldog) install their own equipment in local exchanges, and you connect to this (service known as Datastream). If you have a Datastream product and want to change service providers, you have to cease your ADSL line and then get it reprovided, which normaly takes 7-10 days *and* you can't get the lower cost "migration" fee, you have to pay a new connection fee.

Also Datastream services can have real capacity problems, as the ISPs often use low bandwidth lines from each exchange, so if there are a lot of users locally your speed can hit the floor.

So, while Tiscali are undeniably cheap, switching away will be difficult, and you may encounter more problems with lack of speed.

it really is a poor article...

broadband service is so much more than just the cost, the service and reliability of the provider is paramount.

the compared providers *tiscali* and efh don't really have the best reputations around.

whislt efh is new and super cheap they are selling below the cost they pay to bt for each line. is that sustainable ??? who knows... as for tiscali the pain to leave and take advantage of a competitive market in adsl is effectively removed with the datastream provisioning.

tiscali also insist on a 12 month contract, the standard for many isps is a month so you can leave should things not turn out to be as good as you think it should

for bb reading you must visit https://www.adslguide.org.uk it is the definitive site for adsl, with forums for each provider so *you* can see the in's and outs as well as the good and ugly sides to each isp