Which broadband ???

paulb369uk

I am currently looking at getting broadband and was looking at Tiscali or Toucan on ADSL, can anyone say who is best, both £14.99 for 1Mb and no download limit. I am also looking to go wireless and get into the 21st century !!! which wireless router would I need (so many to chooose from). I think my laptop has an ethernet port but I have only ordered it today so not sure (Acer 3003WMLI).

Thanks in advance

Paul

nickmack

Tiscali are OK, not had any experience of Toucan.

If you are using your laptop wirelessly, you don't need an ethernet port, but you will need either a wireless card, either built in or as an add on.

kieran1985

for cheapness ukonline are good. i pay £15 per month for their 2mb service and there are no caps. however their customer service is crap. if you get an email answered within a month youre lucky. check out adslguide

paulb369uk

Thanks,
I am looking to put my desktop onto the broadband but its very old, have to let the mouse out to warm it up before I go on it, this does not have an ethernet but does have one USB port. Any suggestions on routers appreciated, I will possibly get one off e-bay unless anyone has any recomendations.

Thanks

Hillfly

I would avoid Tiscali.

Have a look at https://www.adslguide.org and also https://www.ispreview.co.uk for some comparissons and reviews.

Fleetwood_Lad

Toucan appear to be re-sellers of the Tiscali product. Looking at the feedback I'd steer well clear.

There are a lot of ISP's out there that appear to be struggling with speed issues and quality of customer service. My advise would be to avoid a long term contract that could tie you in with a poorly performing ISP. I was recently with f2s which went from being a superb product to something quite the opposite in a short space of time. Fortunately I was able to jump ship as I was on a monthly contract.

I'm with Nildram now. £25.99 a month. Monthly contract. 50gig limit which is more than enough for me and keeps the heavy downloaders away. 500 mins free national/local voice calls a month. Happy as larry so far.

Happy_saver_4

I use Naims for dial-up and are changing to their broadband service.

These people ALWAYS answer any e-mail enquiry very quickly and truly offer an exceptional customer service. They have always helped with any computer problems I have - even when nothing to do with their service.

I think their price is very competative SEE HERE but to me their customer help can't be beaten.

Before you ask - I've nothing to do with them apart from being a very satisfied customer.

Fleetwood_Lad

Routers.

I've got a Netgear DG834GT which has been very temperamental. It locks up and loses connection. When rebooted it's ok. The latest firmware seems to have settled things down. If I was in the market for a router, I wouldn't but the Netgear again. The problems are well documented if you google it.

wonderfullife_2

paulb369uk wrote:

I am currently looking at getting broadband and was looking at Tiscali or Toucan on ADSL, both £14.99 for 1Mb and no download limit.Paul

Hi
I wouldn't go near either of them, Toucan are Tiscali in disguise, they may advertise no broadband limit, but thats not true, read Tiscali's "Fair Usage Policy", if thet think you download to much, they send you emails, then they reduce your speed at peak times, to a crawl.
Cheap but nasty, unrealiable, crap speeds, and customer service is non-existant, premium rate telephone number, 50p a minute.
Look at the Tiscali forum
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=tiscali

Hope this helps

unsure

I've been with tiscali since they took over my previous ISP. Their customer service is truly appalling (look at their members forum for some ides how bad) If you can get any response at all when you need them you'll be doing well. I recently complained abut being unable to get webmail at peak times and, despite an automated message saying they would repsond within 24 hours, it took a week and 4 further emails before they admitted their servers might be oversubscribed. If you enjoy fractured conversations with workers in Indian call centres reading repsonses off screen they might be for you! Otherwise steer clear.
They also charged me for an upgrade to 1mb which I never received because the local exchange was not compatible. Took ages to sort out and get money back. They are cheap but I believe there are others in the same bracket(and soem even cheaper) who offer better service.

GaryS

I used Freenetname for dial-up, but they went rapidly downhill on Broadband Customer Service, and ended up appalling after the Wanadoo takeover.

Used Freenetname as a backup dial-up service and now use their broadband service. Currently only have a 1 meg line, but use up to 5 pcs at a time all on the net with no problems.

When my exchange gets upgraded at the end of the month (planned date) the speed should increase with no extra charge.

Service used is 5meg capped at £18.00 per month, free domain name and free static ip address.

I have not gone over the 5 meg limit since joining in Sept 05, even with 5 computers using the net.