Broadband choices - Help please

Will.Power_2

There's always two to choose from and I don't know which...
It's time I moved on from BT dial-up; I'm so fed-up with the slow speed compared to my access at work. I seem to have two things to sort and have narrowed my choices down in each:
Provider - I can't get TalkTalk from my exchange, so it's Freedom2Surf Lite at £14.99p.mth, or Madasafish at £10.99, then £16.99. There's only £12 difference over 12 months, so which should I go for?
Access; Netgear or Linksys - Again I think I've got the choice down to Netgear DG834G or Linksys WAG354G. With less than £6 difference at Amazon, it's down to speed and reliability etc.
Any advice on what choices to make would be much appreciated.

fguk

I know some people with F2S connections, and they are very happy with them. I have no experience of Madasafish.

As for the router/modem. I personally have the netgear, and have installed and supported many of them to many different customers. They seem perfect for the job (now the bugs have been ironed out).

So I vote

F2s, coupled with a DG834G and you should be fine.

windym_2

If you have a mobile contract with Orange, have you thought about their free 2.2 Meg broadband offer. Just so long as your talkplan is £30 or more a month then the £17.99 package is yours for free.

leesmithg

Here, best I have used.

danmanchester

Different strokes for different folks I suppose.but I have to say of the 4 ISPs that I have used in the last 5 years or so AOL were the worst - I couldn't even use Outlook Express unless I bought some other software!!
Plusnet were...ok, but kept changing their terms and conditions/bandwidth restrictions etc so bye bye Plusnet.
Pipex were excellent and my Current ISP Zen Internet (on a month to month contract - not 12 month tie in like the others) excellent, faultless.

leesmithg

danmanchester wrote:

Different strokes for different folks I suppose.but I have to say of the 4 ISPs that I have used in the last 5 years or so AOL were the worst - I couldn't even use Outlook Express unless I bought some other software!!
Plusnet were...ok, but kept changing their terms and conditions/bandwidth restrictions etc so bye bye Plusnet.
Pipex were excellent and my Current ISP Zen Internet (on a month to month contract - not 12 month tie in like the others) excellent, faultless.

AOL are great, unlimited, they don't whine if you download gigs upon gigs they bill you at the right time and they are open to haggling if you have been a long term customer, hence I pay £100 per year less than other users for 8 mega bits connection.

I don't use their software as for outlook express you probably installed something from the cd they gave you which changes your ole settings to work with aol mail, so you can't blame them for that, as that was your choice to install it.

When freeserve came along years ago, their software also used to rebrand IE and OLE and do the same thing.

Only gripe I have is with AOL is they use 0870 instead of 0800 number and I cannot speak with those lovely sound Irish ladies they employ for too long now, however it's better than paying for a premium rate number to phone, and being charged upto £1.50 pm.

danmanchester

Yes it was over 4 years ago when I was with AOL and I did use their cd, but I remember the feeling of "freedom" when I could get back control of my own pc instead of having it AOL branded!

They may be different now but I'm glad you're happy with them :money: .

adr0ck

aol....what a nighmare...thay could pay me and i still wouldnt use them

i agree with comments on plusnet....tend to be a bit pernickerty on terms and conditions etc

pipex......i found to be excellent......just a bit more £££££

what about a joint telephone/internet like tiscali £20 / month all in....though i've never used them

Will.Power_2

Thanks for the advice. (Had I known leesmithg was to reply, I'd have started with "10 choices" - I like that one).
I've been warned about AOL's desire to provide far more than I request before, so I'm not tempted by them, and I've just switched my Orange a/c to payg (after I'd checked their offering) as I don't make many calls.
Unlike AOL, ZEN score well on adslguide.com but are more expensive for a newbie like me.
I think FGUK's advice is where I'll put my trust, and I won't blame you if I've got it wrong

fguk

Thanks for that. If you hadnt slimmed down my choices for ISP and hardware the only difference would have been I would have chosen Plusnet as the ISP. Although as you can see, that would have been a bit controversial!! (never had a problem personally, or with a number of my customers....however they are business customers, so pay more, and probably get better service).

normanmark

http://www.adslguide.org.uk - use their comparison bit to judge between the isp's.

The cheapest may not necessarily be the best