Moving House - Need Broadband

macman

They are all just estimates-none are guaranteed speeds.
Have a look on samknows.com under exchange mapping and see what that says, it can give you an estimate of your distance from the exchange.
If you can get O2 LLU then that is the one to go for, but it looks like you are on the outer fringes of the available area.

mrploppy

samknows.com says I'm 2.9km from the exchange, as the crow flies.

macman

mrploppy wrote: »

samknows.com says I'm 2.9km from the exchange, as the crow flies.

OK, but remember that telephone cables do not travel the same way as crows. They tend to follow the roads, so the actual distance is probably much greater than that.
There's nothing you can do about that, so I would go with an ISP that will give you the right price and service. Which for me would rule out Orange or TT.
I would call up O2 and ask the if they can recheck the possibility of service to your location. What does the postcode checker say for their service?

espresso

mrploppy wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in order to get TT broadband and phone, I believe I need to deal entirely with TT (including paying line rental to them). I don't know that I can just ask BT to reconnect the line without paying line rental to them. And I've read elsewhere that when you reconnect to BT you're locked in for 12 months (?) and are charged an early termination fee if you switch.

Perhaps you can explain why you think that it is better to be locked into an 18 month contract with TalkTalk?

At least by paying your line rental to BT, you you have the widest possible choice for both BB and telephony providers and it's easy to switch if you want to.

:rolleyes:

mrploppy

macman wrote: »

What does the postcode checker say for their service?

We are sorry but O2 broadband is not available in your area.
Please call O2 customer care on 0800 380 0402.

Strange, because samknows says that O2 LLU is available at my exchange.

mrploppy

espresso wrote: »

Perhaps you can explain why you think that it is better to be locked into an 18 month contract with TalkTalk?

I don't necessarily. It's just that the TT broadband and phone deal (18.49pm including line rental, free locals calls, unlimited downloads and a predicted speed of 2Mb) sounds like a good deal, but it requires paying line rental to TT and an 18-month contract. But they will insist on the £59.99 "reconnection" fee.

espresso wrote: »

At least by paying your line rental to BT, you you have the widest possible choice for both BB and telephony providers and it's easy to switch if you want to.

:rolleyes:

Sure. I'm coming around to this idea, but if I understand correctly it does rule out TT completely.

I haven't lived in the UK for a while, but I've had excellent broadband wherever I've lived overseas. I appreciate all your comments and advice, because I have no experience of UK ISPs.

mrploppy

Having done a bit more research I'm definitely leaning towards O2, once they decide that I'm in their (LLU) coverage. One thing I'm not sure about is, if I sign up for O2 BB, and at a later date (say in a month's time) I get an O2 mobile, will I qualify for the discount on the BB at that point?

espresso

mrploppy wrote: »

Having done a bit more research I'm definitely leaning towards O2, once they decide that I'm in their (LLU) coverage. One thing I'm not sure about is, if I sign up for O2 BB, and at a later date (say in a month's time) I get an O2 mobile, will I qualify for the discount on the BB at that point?

I would recommend O2 LLU if you can get it and yes, you can give them an O2 mobile number at a later date to get the discount. Ring their freephone number for more info and help.

macman

mrploppy wrote: »

We are sorry but O2 broadband is not available in your area.
Please call O2 customer care on 0800 380 0402.

Strange, because samknows says that O2 LLU is available at my exchange.

O2 LLU is available on your exchange, but that doesn't mean that every property served by that exchange can get o2 broadband. As mentioned earlier, it's mainly down to line length.

mrploppy

macman wrote: »

O2 LLU is available on your exchange, but that doesn't mean that every property served by that exchange can get o2 broadband. As mentioned earlier, it's mainly down to line length.

Sure. But, as an experiment I checked various phone numbers on streets around my address and the checker says that BB is available at speeds varying from 3Mb upto 11Mb. I will give o2 a call tomorrow and ask them to check. I would be very disappointed if my street was the only one in the area that couldn't get it.