namesco broadband

donerkebab

I have taken the plunge and signed up - like I said this seems a good stop gap before Sky roll out their free broadband in my area.

Stuart_W

This seems like a fantastic deal! Received router, line was activated, and I got connected all within 7 days of my initial phone call to namesco to sign up. Very impressed that this is all for £64.50 for the whole year.

allanmc

Yes it does seem like a great deal but my invoice says the total is £64.99 including postage. As I have an old ADSL modem I tried to order the package without the free router to save any postage fees now, and any return postage fees after 1st year, but the system kept putting the free modem back in the order. It looks like there is no escape from the free router. Depending on what they want for the router after the 1st year it may not be worth paying to return it.

tweeter

Hi peeps,
Just wondered what 2 gb download per month actually means and does this include surfing.Can anybody use a simple comparison scale as I don't do much surfing and email sending as I'm on dialup .Thanks for any replies.

allanmc

If you have been surviving on dialup, 2Gb is a massive amount. Unless you plan to drastically change your usage pattern this should be more than enough for you. For example, we use our broadband every day (surfing, shopping, emails, downloading security patches & anti virus updates, etc) and regularly have music streaming at the weekend. Normally we are well under 1Gb per month and the most we have ever used in a month is 1.5Gb. There is nothing surer than you will use your PC more with broadband. It just breathes life into the whole internet thingy. From your usage description, I would recommend you try this for a year and see how you get on. It is certainly not the fastest broadband out there but it is supersonic compared to what you will be used to. This is an excellent opportuntity to have a low cost (£64.99 works out at £5.41 per month. How does that compare to your dialup charges?) dabble with broadband and see what you think. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If you find you are struggling then regrade with Namesco or move on (remembering to return the "free" router within 7 days, or pay for it).

Ian_W

Many ISPs have a page on their website explaining what there limit would allow but they're pretty difficult to judge your own activity from if you don't download video or music as they always seem to include x hours of these as well as x hours surfing etc.
I'm surfing for 6-8hrs a day [can't stand tele!!] and download 6-10 emails a day, though most don't have photos or attachments. I also download programmes sometimes.
My download and upload for the month is usually around 1Gb so unless you're going to start with videos and music I think you're unlikely to exceed 2. But BB does make the internet a whole lot more user friendly so you may start being tempted to download stuff you wouldn't on dial-up.
Sorry it's not technical but HTH.

Stuart_W

If you don't do much surfing and emailing, and you're currently on dial up, then you'll be very safely within the 2GB limit.

You'll get very different answers to the "Is 2GB enough?" question as different people use their broadband connection for different things.

If you visit this site from Orange and click on "usage allowance" then a little calculator thingy appears that you can use to roughtly work out your usage on. It would take so long to use 2GB on dial-up that it is extremely unlikely you come anywhere close to this. Around 90% of broadband users use less than this according to most of the ISPs, but this is changing as video downloading and TV streaming become more common. I prefer to use a TV to watch TV pictures, but maybe that's just me!

http://www.orange.co.uk/time/broadbandaccess/default.htm

tweeter

allanmc, Ian W and Stuart_W.

Thanks for your replies and I'm now gonna dive in at the broadband deep end.Cheers, tweeter.

allanmc

If you go over the 2Gb limit they will email you and charge you £1 per extra Gb. That seems very fair and entirely reasonable to me.

Cancel that bit about paying for the router after your 1st year if you cancel. Here is the text from their terms and conditions amendment at http://www.names.co.uk/change-to-terms.html :

Schedule D - Terms and conditions for the provision of Broadband Services.
The current clause 6.b (Equipment) to be replaced in its entirety with the following:
Title to the equipment, whether purchased as individual item(s) or purchased as part of a bundled service, (for example the purchase of Broadband with free equipment) remains with us until we receive either payment in full for the item(s) or the initial payment for the bundled service (for example setup fee or first subscription payment).

I think that means this "free" router, once you give them £65, is yours to keep whatever happens. This really is an excellent deal as the router is worth approx £25 (generally a router has security and performance advantages over a modem) and the BT Wholesale activation fee, please correct me if I'm wrong, is almost £60 (which is generally hidden in the monthly charge with other broadband deals). This means over £80 worth of service activation and equipment for £65, and a year's broadband thrown in as well !!!!!! I'm almost tempted to apply again.

timbod

Looking at Namesco's website it seems the offer was only valid till the end of August. They are now offering £11.95 per month for 512K and you have to pay £50 connection and £10 for a router. I'm glad I got in when I did.