Broadband. Who's the Cheapest? Article Discussion Area

moremula

Is the new TalkTalk deal thats everyones talking about (free internet forever!) the real thing or a big gimmick?

mrJ_5

i wouldn't signup to it, even if they paid me - bad CS, low P2P speeds, throttled usage - just avoid it at all costs

and its not free internet... as you have to pay a setup fee of £30

plus, if your not in a special area, you have to pay an extra £9.99 a month

Dave_The_Rave_2

I contacted TalkTalk after concerns that you pay £20.99 for the 'free broadband' TWO MONTHS before they connect you up. I was also concerned that if there was a delay from connecting you up to the broadband service, would you still have to pay the full amount. TalkTalk have advised that as their broadband service is 'free', I would still have to pay the full £20.99 EVEN THOUGH I WASN'T GETTING THE BROADBAND INITIALLY !

So if they don't deliver broadband for the first 6 months of you switching over to them, then basically tough !

It also makes you wonder that if the service has disruption (which is seeming likely in the early months at least), then in theory you have no comeback as it is 'free'.

So be careful folks. It's certainly put me off until I see what the competitors do, and see what happens to the early adopters of the TalkTalk service.

Sumaiya001

Hi. I don't have a BT telephone number, I'm currently paying telewest for my broadband. TalkTalk and the rest sound fab, but you need a BT number to connect with them. Are there any cheap braodband deals with a cable number? Or do I initially have to spend money on a BT number? I don't have a BT number because we use the free minutes on our mobile which costs less in total.

Thank you
Sumaiya

andy_young

Waited for 8 years for BT to upgrade my exchange to get broadband !! Can't get cable broadband as none of the big boys (NTL etc) will touch our street as it is in a "new estate". Been here 10 years now !

Currently with Homecall 1/2 meg service. No probs with service, VERY poor customer service - constant problems with billing, wrong 3 months in a row ! GRRRR. Finally sorted this month, too late as I'll now go elsewhere (unless they offer me something really nice !!)

Anyway looked into Talk-Talk yesterday, looked too good to be true, and it was. I'm one of the 30% who can't get this service as my local exchange hasn't had the "local loop unbundled" (whatever that means). I can get a 2 meg line but I have to pay an extra tenner over what someone who potenially can get 8 meg pays ?!

Don't think so matey ... I'll continue my search elsewhere.

Anyway thanks to all who post as any info is greatly appreciated in looking for fast reliable broadband at a fair price.

Cheers ! :beer:

sprocket

Has anyone heard of Euro1Net? as their offer sound good. OK you have to pay up front but if you pay for 2 years you get 1M speed and unlimited downloads for the equivalent of £10/month.

Check it out

https://www.euro1net.com/cgi-bin/home.cgi


If it a con someone let me know!

theloft

sprocket wrote:

Has anyone heard of Euro1Net? as their offer sound good. OK you have to pay up front but if you pay for 2 years you get 1M speed and unlimited downloads for the equivalent of £10/month. Check it out
https://www.euro1net.com/cgi-bin/home.cgi
If it a con someone let me know!

I think most of us have heard of euro1.net. I discovered this offer some time ago and as their offices were near to E7even's, tried to find out if they were connected in any way. They said they were not. But their website and their BB offer was very similar to E7even and look what has happened to their customers!! I would NEVER pay 2 years up front to any ISP especially after the E7even shambles. Having said that I have never heard any bad reports about euro1.net so if you like them and are happy to pay 2 years up front, "you pays your money and takes your choice" !!

tweeter

will this upset our well laid plans?



· Low-cost web telephony offered to laptop users
· Service will cover 7,000 locations in big cities

Bobbie Johnson and Richard Wray
Tuesday May 2, 2006
The Guardian


The UK's mobile phone networks will come under attack today as wireless internet provider The Cloud announces a low-cost tariff for unlimited web access, making it easier for people to make free calls through the web from big cities, rather than use their mobile phones.

The Cloud is Europe's biggest operator of wireless technology, commonly called wi-fi, and its network is used by companies including BT, O2 and Nintendo. It is offering an £11.99 a month "all you can eat" internet deal covering 7,000 hotspots in Britain.

Article continues

That will allow low-cost internet telephony in cities including London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. Using the internet to make calls has already disrupted the business models of fixed-line telecoms operators such as France Télécom.

Internet phone companies such as Skype, which has more than 100 million users worldwide, vastly undercut the price of traditional networks. Although mobile operators have yet to feel the impact, the combination of fixed-rate access, wi-fi equipped laptops and internet-enabled phone handsets could seriously undermine operators' profits.

George Polk, chief executive of The Cloud, said mobile operators ignored this growing market at their peril. "Mobile phone guys really need to decide whether to embrace it or reject it. If they are smart, they'll embrace this - and if they don't, then other people will do."

Handset manufacturers are already eyeing internet capabilities, and market leader Nokia has said all of its new devices will have built-in wi-fi by the end of this year. So-called "dual mode" phones operate like normal mobile phones most of the time but can switch to cheaper, wi-fi based telephony where available.

The concept has already proved popular in France, where TV and internet company Iliad offers its customers the ability to access wi-fi while on the move through a handset which operates as a normal mobile phone everywhere else.

Mobile phone operators are becoming increasingly concerned about internet telephony. Mobile network 3 recently announced it will be offering Skype through its phones later this year while Vodafone is expected to outline how it hopes to capitalise on new access technologies when it reports results at the end of the month.

The Cloud already has a close relationship with providers such as BT and O2, and will offer discounted wholesale prices to mobile networks and other service providers. But it also has partnerships with Skype and rival Vonage.

Its new cheap tariff is the latest shift in the wireless internet business, which has previously relied on pay as you go-style payments or on patchy free hotspots or municipal access. Last week T-Mobile, which also operates wireless zones at thousands of locations around the world, announced that it would be slashing the cost of its services.

"Other tariffs made sense in the early adopter world, but now we're moving into a much more consumer world," Mr Polk said. "In the old days, broadband would be charged by the minute and then flat rate changed the way people used it. I think this will grow the wireless market by an order of magnitude."

The new tariff could also put pressure on wireless providers which charge premiums for web access.

SteveTymms

Don't really know if this is totally relevant, but it is a relatively cheap way of saving major hassle.

We are all on the look-out for saving money on our broadband. One inhibitor to changing is the fact that your email address may change.
I have just changed from E7 (totally naff provider, lost connection for weeks on end) and moved to NTL (more money but a good service).
But I didn't have to change my email address, as I have registered a domain name (*****). All I had to do is redirect my id at my domain to my new ntl email address instead of my old E7 email address. But everyone still knows me as *****

Costs £10 for 2 years. Money well spent for the hassle saved.
I guess most people use yahoo or hotmail in a similar way. But are therefore exposed to annoying ads when retrieving mail.

rammell

That's a great idea BUT on a Money Saving website you don't think I can let someone get away with stating that they've paid £5 a year for a domain name!! This is far too much. You can get domain names for £2 a year at http://www.partnershop.co.uk/shop/3913. I've done the same as I'm about to change ISPs and only want to have to change my email address once.