Which Broadband.....going dizzy!

gatita

PLEASE don't shout at me for asking this, I know there is a wealth of information on here and on the iSP forums, but it seems a minefield to me ???
I am fed-up of my miserably slow connection on NTL dial-up 31kps and would like to get broadband. I don't download big files, videos, music etc so I am looking for a fairly basic offer. I have a BT line, am not in a cable area but can receive broadband. Is it better to choose one that offers connection and modem included? but that would involve being tied into a lengthy contract? If I was to provide my own modem/routier how much would that cost.
I would be so grateful for an opinion and advice please.

Irishorangutan

can't say i'm too clued up on different packages - but, i'm currently with tesco, who provide the modem etc. Postives - now that it's up and running it seems reliable. It is also cheap for the speed I have.
Negatives - it took almost 2 months for it to be actually activated!! There was a major error where they actually cancelled my sign up - but in the end, it's working, and touch wood, working well.

Browntoa

currently Virgin are doing free activation and no 12 month contract, modem cost about £20 from them...you can give broadband a try with them for £17.99 a month and if you feel you want it then swap to adsl4less after a couple of months as the transfer fee is only abot £14 and they charge £14.99 a month

mike_paterson

I had the same dilemma 4 months ago when my area received broadband.
I went with e7even and I have to say it was a great choice. They are amongst the cheapest - for £15 per month (paid in advance) you get a 512kbps link with unlimited downloads (great) you get a stat=ic ip address (other isps charge £1-£5 for this - useful if you want to run a website on your pc at some time). They also throw in a free .uk domain name and registration (worth around £25-75 per year).

I have used their email support (which is free) and it has been amazing - they have even replied to me within a couple of minutes at one time!

They recently phoned me to see if I wanted to extend my contract for £7.50 per month - so they look after their existing customers well.

They often have special offers on (none at the moment) like free connection and modem etc. I try to keep my referrers board link up to date with offers (see signature below)

With regard to equipment, I decided that I wanted to go wireless and chose a Corega 6-in-1 adsl modem router. This plugs into the phone line and allows me to connect from my laptop anywhere in my house (garden) without wires trailing.

I set up e7even for my neighbours too, and they didn't want wireless, so I found them an alcatel adsl modem on ebay for £12 or so. I just plugged it in to the phone line - connected it to a usb port on their PC and it all sprang into life.

So all in all it is quite easy to get going.

Good Luck !

FangKat

"If I was to provide my own modem/routier how much would that cost. "


If you can afford to get your own router you should do so.
Way more secure than modems since you can easily close down your ports on yr pc, it's faster and you can easily share your bband with other pcs if you have them since todays routers usually have ports on i.e. are mini switches.
Good time to buy one too, with sales etc. - 50 or 60 quid.. maybe less.

gatita

Thank you all for your replies.......... I have just looked on Ebay re. Routers......its so confusing, prices are from £20 ie this one:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5740038796

to£400!!!!!!!!!! I know you can get a wired one or cordless, BUT, what should I look out for? the price difference is tremendous.

FangKat

The following (I have no interest etc. with them - just use them sometimes) are some routers -
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/products/a653x1y0z1p0s0n0m0


Linksys are pretty good as are d-link

when u get into wireless or not this is a whole new issue.
I do not use wireless - my machines are all in the same room so they are wired. If your machine(s) is/are to be located next to your broadband socket (i.e. same room) and you don't envisage wanting to float about the house and garden to use the broadband then this is def. the best option and the cheapest.
There is a huge problem emerging with wireless systems - you might want to have a look at this article - http://www.itweek.co.uk/comment/1157779

hope above is useful
FK

gatita

Thank you FangKat for your reply again, well I have come to the conclusion I don't need a wireless one! I had a look at Novoteck, but there again there are so many different models with different specifications my tiny mind boggles! for example what is the difference between the one on Ebay (cheap as chips!!!) to the ones on Novotech?
Please bare wit me a little longer lol I am getting there..........I think :-/

PS How I agree with your comments re. Brown ha ha ha

Tom_Jones

I have no doubt there are better deals out there as some say AOL is expensive, and I have used them for about 2 years now, but I recently upgraded to their broadband service, and which they gave a free modem etc, and I was connected about 8 days after I ordered.

I have never had any major problems with AOL, always have a reliable connection, and they provide a freephone tech support, some providers charge up to £1 a minute for this service, which I've used about twice, as I'm not too teccy as regards computers.

Depends what you want I suppose.

FangKat

Gatita. Don't know the model on ebay.
Bear in mind you switch this on and leave it on forwever so I always like to have a product name I know of and have used to be left in that state. So yr ebay one might be ok - I just don't know.

however I do know linksys - this one for instance wud do the trick - only a few quid and it has a firewall too

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NGR-745144

It seems to include a 3m network cable so that will go from the switch/router to your pc.


hope helpful
FK

mike_paterson

One thing I forget to mention - you will need an ADSL modem or ADSL modem router - the DSL ones are for cable connections like NTL and blue yonder and are not suitable for an ADSL (phone line) connection.

For wireless there are a couple of standards - 11g and 54g are the main ones - 54g is 5 times the speed of 11g (transfer between the pc and the router - not broadband speed).
I bought a Corega ADSL All in one 54G Wireless Modem Router /VPN/SPI from http://www.ebuyer.com for £54.99. I chose this because it had a built in firewall and VPN capability and was also 54g. It also had a few good reviews.

The ADSL modem I bought for my neighbours was an Alcatel Speed Touch USB ADSL Broadband Modem on ebay (several available there now). I chose this as it was a) fairly cheap and b) Alcatel is a solid brand name manufacturer.
Both seem to have been good choices so far.

Regards
Mike