Broadband. Who's the Cheapest? Article Discussion Area

Gingertom_2

Has anyone has any experience with Toucan as a Broadband provider ???

RatAtAt

Please can someone point me to where 'Migration Authentication Code' (MAC) is explained. -- For instance if I get my current ISP to issue mewith a 'Migration Authentication Code' how long is it valid for? and does it mean I MUST then transfer to another ISP?

mrJ_5

its valid for 30 days - and you dont have to use it, if you change your mind

wonderfullife_2

Gingertom wrote:

Has anyone has any experience with Toucan as a Broadband provider ???

Hi
Apparently their not very good, very similiar to Tiscali, you get what you pay for, unreliable and slow speeds.

Hope this helps

drlunanerd

sandyl wrote:

Just thought that I would add my tuppence worth on how to save money and maintain connection with an excellent provider.

When you look at broadband prices, you MUST check out the company and their customer service then and only then should you decide who is right for you. Some are absolutely lousy!

I have been with Pipex for 2 years and when any problems occurred got them resolved very quickly and helpfully. However, as I noticed that they are no longer competitive, I decided to move. Looked at every offer and decided to go for PlusNet. As I am a firm believer in customer power, I asked Pipex why they were offering newbies 2Mb broadband from £19.99 per month when I was paying £23.44 per month for 1Mb. Their response was that this price was only available if you took their phone deal (which actually meant that I would have to commit more for something I didn't want). Told them "no way" so they suggested I upgrade to 2Mb wich would only cost 50P a month more but I would have to sign up for 12 months. I then told them that this was not good enough and requested my MAC key. They asked who I was transferring to and I told them. The immediate response was to offer a 2Mb connection for £17.99 per month with 30Gbyte cap. This I naturally agreed to as they are the best for customer service (in my opinion).

If you don't bluff, you won't save. Remember that it is in a company's interest to keep their exisiting customer base whilst also attracting new business.

A very happy surfer!

Sandy

I too rate Pipex's service, but they are naughty when it comes to their T&Cs, just like most other ISPs.

Can you believe they charge an extortionate £58.75 to change to a better current deal, even if you've been a customer for years?

I'm sick of NTL's abysmal broadband service, but at least they charge nothing to switch to a cheaper deal.

I've threatened Pipex that I'll cancel my parent's contract, advise friends to cancel also and not switch to them myself. We'll see how long it takes before they cave in and offer a competitive deal!

siware

I've tried about 4 very cheap broadband offers, but struggled with them actually meeting the 512mbs or 1Mb offers.

Quality versus price versus service, I'd go for https://www.plus.net everyday. I'm on 2Mb (uncapped) at £15 a month now, and they're the best company and best service I've ever had in 6 years of Broadband, and they're a British company...

siware

Gingertom wrote:

Has anyone has any experience with Toucan as a Broadband provider ???

they're the worst company i've ever used, and are that bad, they even tried to link my ADSL to my mobile number rather than my home phone...

I don't think they should even be allowed to use computers, never mind offer a service via them...

pigeonpie

I agree with hhobba that Zen are outstanding, but at 34.99 they aren't cheap. However if you use your PC for free telephony, then it's worth it. The connection and customer service are excellent and they are patient with non-geeks ;-)
It's also a month to month contract so you can change if you are unhappy.
Only go for cheaper if you need limited bandwidth and are confident you won't need tech support. And avoid anyone who makes you use installation software - in many cases, almost impossible to subsequently remove when you change ISP (thank you, wanadoo :-S )

daverowe

This is my first post here, so go easy with me.

I've just changed my ISP after a company who claim everything's a 'doddle' wanted 25 quid because I'd moved house. I went through to 'Cancellations' who tried to keep me. By that time the damage had been done and I'd started to shop around, starting with a visit here. As the big W could'nt match another major player mentioned in Martin's article I passed up on their invitation to stay with them.

Having researched the available providers in a bit more depth I found one that I'm now on-line with and very happy with so far. I'm paying 9.98 a month which includes a 2 pound discount per month because I chose to go with their phone package which I believe is cheaper all round than BT but perhaps not as cheap as you can get. Still I should still be able to 18866 etc when I remember and the combined price seems to make it worthwhile for me at least.

The broadband package allows speeds up to 8Mbs, and 2Gb download per month which is loads more than I will use. Due to my address I can only get 1Mbs but thats ample for me.


So who is it? It's V21. The customer service has been really good for me. I had a bit of a problem migrating but after spending a while on the phone to V21, my old ISP, BT, Oftel, BT and then V21 again it got sorted. Not too sure where the blame lie for the issue but I'm fairly sure it wasn't with V21.

Catches???? There was a set up / transfer fee. I needed to pay 47 pounds for 'activation' and set up. Still, compared to the cheapest big player I'll get that back and be up on the deal inside a year.

I hope this may help some of you who may be shoping around. All I can say about the company is that so far I've been impressed.

The company again is V21 and their web site is www.V21.co.uk If anybody would like an introduction I'd love to save a bit more each month and hopefully you will too.

Dave

PS. just worked out to view this forum properly and see that there are few others who've found v21. There's nothing new in this world but somethings are better than others.

trisontana

I have just signed up with Waitrose Broadband. This costs £18.99 per month for the highest speed available in the area (for me this is 2Mbs). When speeds are increased at the exchange I get a free upgrade. The price includes the modem, two filters and a free (0800) help-line. There is a 5GB per month limit, with each extra GB costing another £2 a month. The contract is for a minimum of 12 months.