Which provider is best?

Drodough

I have been using Virgin Media for 3 years at my current address as no BT landline and they wanted a fortune to install one!!

I have not been impressed with Virgin- services are fine, Cust Service pretty shocking (so surprised as Virgin Atlantic/ Virgin Active etc have always been pretty good??)

Anyway we're moving in a week or so to a new property. It has BT, Sky dish, but not cable. Virgin have offered me a package where they buy the BT line and I get my TV from somewhere else. Avoiding this like the plague.

So, do I go for:

Sky broadband, TV and phone (but I still have to pay line rental to BT dont I?)

BT broadband, TV, phone

Or a mix of stuff from different companies (eg 02 have offered me cheap home broadband as I have a mobile with them)?

I have costs from them all but the features vary and I am quite frankly baffled by the whole thing! Also have read bad things about both BT and Sky cust service and cant decide which is better/worse?

Really interested to see what others went for and if it is any good.

Thanks

[Deleted User]

If you are going to be using the Sky dish for TV, then Sky broadband is probably the cheapest option. You do still need to pay landline rental.

Before anyone can offer you firm advice, you need to check if your exchange has been enabled for LLU and, if so, by which providers. LLU is local loop unbundling, which means that other ISPs can install their equipment in BT exchanges. The cheapest broadband packages (including the cheap Sky deals) are generally only available on LLU. You should check your exchange at www.samknows.com

Incidentally, unlike many other Virgin companies, Virgin Media are not majority owned by the Virgin group and only license the name, so I wouldn't necessarily expect the same standard of service!

Drodough

tentonine wrote: »

If you are going to be using the Sky dish for TV, then Sky broadband is probably the cheapest option. You do still need to pay landline rental.

Before anyone can offer you firm advice, you need to check if your exchange has been enabled for LLU and, if so, by which providers. LLU is local loop unbundling, which means that other ISPs can install their equipment in BT exchanges. The cheapest broadband packages (including the cheap Sky deals) are generally only available on LLU. You should check your exchange at www.samknows.com

Incidentally, unlike many other Virgin companies, Virgin Media are not majority owned by the Virgin group and only license the name, so I wouldn't necessarily expect the same standard of service!

That is so helpful- thank you! Had no awareness whatsoever of LLU. Will investigate now.

And very interesting about Virgin Media- if I was Virgin i would not want them using my name- Cust Services dept is terrible!

Drodough

Samknows.com exchange checker for my new postcode:

ADSL:


Yes
SDSL:No LLU services:No Cable:Yes Wireless:Yes

Guess this limits my options??

Drodough

Sorry, it pasted badly. I do not have LLu according to this.

[Deleted User]

Yes, your options are somewhat limited then. Well, you still have a wide range of providers to choose from, but you won't be able to get the best deals. The next thing to do is to check the estimated internet speed on your new phone line using BT's checker:
http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/adslchecker.welcome

If the quoted speed is very low, then I'm afraid the best option might actually be to see if Virgin will install one of their lines! Hopefully it won't be low and then you can choose from the whole range of providers.

jem16

Drodough wrote: »

Samknows.com exchange checker for my new postcode:

ADSL:


Yes
SDSL:No LLU services:No Cable:Yes Wireless:Yes

Guess this limits my options??

I'm afraid it does limit your options.

O2 that you mention earlier would only be able to offer you their Access package which is much cheaper and not very good - it's throttled at peak times. All the other cheaper LLU services would not be available.

Drodough

Oh nooooo I work from home online and just assumed I would be better off having a BT line

tentonine- I think I will have to move in before I can check the line? I don't have the phone no of the people who currently live in the property so cannot check.

Excuse me for being very stupid (know so little about broadband etc) but is wireless different? Or are you talking about wireless too? BT offered me a package for phone, TV and Wireless broadband, with a free router, sounded good and they made no mention of LLU?

Thanks

Drodough

There is no cable to the whole village, so i doubt Virgin will be able to do anything? They tried to keep me by offering to buy the BT line and provide some TV- I think it was called simplified digital? - but run by another company and contracted to them. But I guess thiswould mean the internet access would only be the same standard (speed etc) as that provided by BT?

[Deleted User]

BT do not require LLU, as they own the exchange and can already install their own equipment! LLU just affects other providers.

Wireless broadband in this sense just means that it still comes down your phone line and then the router sends it around your house wirelessly. This isn't anything special - many ISPs offer wireless routers and, even if they don't, you can buy one for a reasonable price (say £60-£70 for a good one or a lot less just for a cheap one) and it would work with any internet connection. In the long run, it is better to choose a provider based on recurring monthly fees, performance, and service rather than the router.

Incidentally, if you are on a fast Virgin package now, you won't be able to get anything like that speed on most BT lines. You are right about Virgin at the new house though - it will be at the same speed as any other provider.

[Deleted User]

One other thing to consider - do you download a lot on the internet or use it very heavily? Some ISPs (but not Virgin) impose caps on how much you can use the internet every month. If you go over, there are significant fees. It is something to think about when choosing your ISP.

You can get a much more approximate indication of your line speed using just the post code and this checker:
http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/adslchecker.php