Technophobe needs help

GiJo

Last November me and my OH were persuaded to move away from our existing fuel provider (NPower) and phone/internet provider (BT/Yahoo) and use Utility Warehouse, at the same time going from evening/weekend internet use to broadband. We are now thinking of moving again as UW has put the prices up. The fuel side of things will be straight forward, we know, but we're not sure how to go about changing to another phone/internet provider and the thought of what might be involved gives me the eebie jeebies. :eek: A friend helped in setting up the broadband etc and all the other stuff on the computer but he has moved away and we just haven't got a clue what we need to do. For instance, I presume the little black box that sits on top of the tower and winks at us is ours to keep? Is it as simple as telling UW we no longer require their services as from a certain date, then telling company X we want to use their services from that certain date? Will we be sent instructions on how to set up a new email address? I tell you, we really are computer illiterate so any advice/information will be greatly appreciated.

mrJ_5

the modem is yours to keep - and you do not need to get a new ne to use anyone else's broadband service, nor get new filters

what you need to do is ask UW for your MAC (Migration Authentication Code) - and give this to your new provider, whom will move your current broadband connection from UW to theirs

looking at what UW offer - which package are you on? as the usage on those packages looks pretty poor
I recommend that you join my current broadband provider zazizam - whom offers both unlimited and capped broadband packages - and also a phone service (if taken up - gives you a discount off the standard broadband price)

I would be guessing that you are a lightish user - if you use under 2GB a month - or there abouts, you could move to zazizam's capped package at £11.99 a month with the phone, which is 2mb speed, and 2GB usage every month - you can go over it, but it is something like £2 per 1GB - but if your a light user that probably wont be a problem. Alternatively you could pick their unlimited 512k (£15.99) - which I use, unlimited 1mb (£19.99), or unlimited 2mb (£29.99).

I've been using zazizam for over a year, and cannot fault them

GiJo

Thanks mrJ. It doesn't sound too complicated then.
I'm not sure what package we're on but would guess it's the light user one. Will look into what zazizam can offer.

mrJ_5

if you know how fast your download speed is - that should be the key

the best thing to do would be a speed test - you can do that at the following link - http://specials.zdnet.co.uk/misc/band-test/speedtest50.html

the results basically tell you the speed your at on the Speed Test Thermometer - just look whether or not it is between 0 and 500kbps, or 500 and 1Mbps, or 1 and 2Mbps - the actual line speed will give a more accurate picture eg. 470kbps is 512k, 950kbps is about 1mb, and 1900kbps is about 2mb (these are off the top of my head)

GiJo

I'm at work so just tried the link - neat. Will try it again when I get home.