Which ISP to go with!? Help!

Kamran

Hi All :female: and a very happy easter! :EasterBun :easter_ba

There's just SO much confusion over ISPs and speeds and download capping and stuff, I just don't know who to TRUST! :mad: it seems that everyone is lying about something, so I'm totally confused as to which ISP to go with! :huh:

I'd say that i'm a heavy user, and i'd be p2p-ing quite a lot, online gaming etc, hence I think i'd need an unlimited dowload limit? and in terms of speed, my exchange can handle at least 6mbps, so I was hoping to go for one of the 8mpbs connections.. Also due to the fact that at home we'd like to have both computers connected to broadband, so that would in theory split the speed to some extent right? I reckon I'd use it mainly in the evenings, but pretty heavily at those times..

Which ISP packages would you recommend? I'm a student so I don't have millions of pounds to spend per month, in fact i don't even have millions of lire!! A little help would be very much appreciated!

I was interested in this new TALKTALK deal, but it seems that they have peak hour trafic-ing and have blocked all p2p! I've read that ZEN internet are excellent but very much over-priced, and also that not all homes can have it as yet anyway.. As for AOL, UK ONLINE, BULLDOG, and a few others, many users have said not to go near them! MADASAFISH seem like a good option according to :money: MSE, but a 5GB cap?I think i'd rattle that pretty fast!

One thing that does interest me is that a few companies who are currently only providing 2mbps exchanges are upgrading to 8mbps shortly for free (so I hear, i think PLUSNET are one of them?), so would it be an idea to go with a 2mpbs exchange for the moment, and "ride" the free upgrade so to speak? or have I just said total rubbish? tee hee! :rotfl:

Thanks very much for your help! :kisses:

Toxteth_OGrady

See here.

:cool:

TOG

Madasafish_Customer_Care

If you're interested in P2P, you may wish to review PlusNet's vision for 2006 before you sign the dotted line!

Best of luck finding your perfect provider.

Kind regards,
Samara

Kamran

Would I really need an "unlimited" download limit? It seems that most ISPs don't even offer it, or if they do, its pretty much restricted, from what I've seen at least.. How many GBs would suffice for a heavy evening user?

Thanks!

wonderfullife_2

Hi
How about Nidram, up to 8mbs, 50gb download limit, but free outside the hours of midnight and 8am, pretty good reputation, don't know if they throttle or traffic shape though.

Broadband 2, £25.99 per month, 1 mth contract.

Kamran

but how's their reliablility and customer care? It's the first time I've heard that name..?

Toxteth_OGrady

@ kamran

My earlier post #2 showed the top 5 for customer service and reliability with links to each ISP's website.

If you want to do addtional comparisons, such as Nildram, the use this ADSLGuide link to compare any 2 - 6 ISPs for speed, reliability and customer service.

Then if you see one you think is of interest you can go to that ISP's website and check out the features of the various products they offer.

It's then worth visiting the ADSLGuide forums and read what other users think of a particular ISP - you'll soon get an idea of how good or bad an ISP is.

Also on ADSLGuide you can compare annual Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for the various ISPs and their products here.

For further opinions take a look at https://www.ispreview.co.uk

HTH

:cool:

TOG

wonderfullife_2

Hi
They are quite well known, belong to the Pipex group, have a look here, this is how they compare to others, bearing in mind that Zen are the best
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/isps/compare.asp?bulldog=ON&freenetname=ON&nildram=ON&ukonline=ON&zen=ON&cmp_action=Compare

Its a minefield at the moment, so choose carefully, I might go with these myself, and its only a 1mth contract so if I don't like it I can get out.

Toxteth_OGrady

When using the ADSLGuide comparison link here, if you put in E7even as the benchmark for the worst ISP and Zen as the benchmark for the best, selection of any other third ISP you might be interested in will give you a fairly good idea of where they fit in the spectrum.

:cool:

TOG

electron_3

Another thread that may help out, I think Zen are way too pricey, IMHO

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=184422

Kamran

OK, so I'd like to share my research so far with people that may be in the same boat as me, do tel me if there's something that I've totally gotten wrong!!

Euronet - 2mbps unlimited £15.99 (12m) + £50 (equipment+setup)
IDnet - 8 or 2mpbs (30GB) £24.99(1m only) + £47 setup
KeConnect - 8mbps (20GB) £24.99 (12m) + £47
NewNet - 8mbps (25GB) £17.95 + £47
NewNet - 8mbps (100GB) £36.95
NewNet - 8mbps (60GB) £24.95
Zen - 8mbps (50GB) £34.99 (1m only)
Zen - 8mbps (20GB) £24.99 (1m only)
Madasafish - 8mbps (20GB) £25.99 (12m) (-£1/m with "CHEAPER" code)
Surfanytime - 2mbps (5GB) £19.99
Firefly - 2mbps (30GB) £24.99 (12)
Nidram - 8mbps unlimited off peak (50GB peak times) £25.99 (1m only) + £47

Phew!! I know thats not ALL the options, but thats what I've seen so far. Can anyone see any major flaws in what I've seen? any inside info? like "throttling" or suchlike? or better still any clear cut winners??

This is strange, because most of these companies are ones i've never heard of. it seems that the big companies like tiscali, aol, bulldog, plusnet, wannadoo etc etc arent even close??

Thanks for your help!!