want broadband but confused ....

pennymakespounds

i've got a normal bt landline (c£10 month rent) .. very few calls as i do them on my mobiles' free minutes.

i use aol dial up on their unlimited tariff (c£15 month)


our sleepy village has just recently got bt broadband facility.

what is it i need to do to "go broadband" ??

... i keep reading about all the BT/TISCALI/AOL/ packages at differring speeds , sizes and prices ... c£10 to £17 ? month ..

but do i first of all have to get BT to "change me to broadband".. and at what cost ??

and then do i have to change my aol package to a broadband one ??.... i really would prefer to stay with aol as my email address is vital.

as you can see i keep thinking that broadband is in 2 bits ... ie i firstly have to have something differrent from BT ... then from my isp ?

am i daft or just confused ?? !!!!!

StephenB_2

Not daft at all. Have a read at http://www.adslguide.org.uk/, especially the 'News and info' section at the top-left of the front page, and very especially the beginner's guide at http://www.adslguide.org.uk/guide/summary.asp

The ISP deals with BT for you. You order broadband through the ISP, install the hardware (depending on the package, you either get given it by the ISP or you buy it yourself) and wait for your line to go 'live'.

SJB

mr_fishbulb

The initial cost to you will be the BT activation (about £50) plus a broadband modem or router, and splitters (plugs that go on your phone sockets to seperate the phone signal from the broadband).

The total should be just under or just over £100 depending on if you go for a modem or router (more expensive).

Some ISPs will offer free activation or free modems but read the small print as you may end up paying extra per month for it or they could make you pay for it if you leave them within 12 months.

Once you move over to broadband though, you will never look back

JohalaReewi

The different broadband speeds are just that. Typical broadband connection speeds (over a BT line) are now 2Mb/sec but if you are a long way from the exchange or have dodgy wiring you may have to use the slower speeds of 1Mb/sec or 512Kb/sec. As a guide, your dial up service will operate at around 45Kb/sec so expect a massive speed increase when you go broadband. A 2Mb connection is more than adequate for 99% of web surfing and faster speeds are really only useful if you are gaming or downloading very large files or perhaps watching streaming video.

You also need to pay attention to the quantity of data you are allowed to access with your broadband account (normally called usage). A few packages offer unlimited usage but many have a monthly allowance (measured in GigaBytes). These accounts often have the facility to buy extra GBs of access if you use up your monthly allowance but some will just block your internet connection until the month is up. This is not something you are likely to have had with dial up access.

As StephenB said, always check the T&Cs carefully for any broadband account you are interested in. Lots have a 12 month contract so if you leave before the year is up, you still have to pay for a year's access. This can happen if you move house and want the broadband transferred to the new premises. There may be other exit penalities like repayment of the connection fee if you had a free connection offer.

In addition to the broadband line speed (eg 2Mb), you also have to take into account the speed of your ISPs servers. This is no different to dial up but it is more noticable. You might have a 2Mb connection but if your ISP's servers are not able to keep up, your effective speed could be a lot less. You can check ISP speeds at adslguide.

Another consideration is support. If there is a problem, who are you gonna call and how much is it going to cost? Some ISPs offer 24 hour UK based support, others outsource support overseas, or just offer basic 9 til 5. Watch out for premium number support lines. Use ADSLguide to get an indication of how good users think their ISP is with customer support.

Finally, don't be taken in by big adverts. Many of the better ISPs are smaller players who spend thier money on improving the service and lowering costs, and not glossy adverts.