Best BB choice in a Market 1 Exchange

Andy001_2

Hi everyone, I've just reached the end of my 18 month BT Total Broadband contract and am on the lookout for a better deal if it's possible.

I'm living in a Market 1 exchange area where I only have access to BT Wholesale providers (No LLU here).

I've looked at Plusnet (Owned by BT) and O2 as possible replacements, quidco have good cashback deals for both but overall I think I can get my BB for around £14-£15 a month saving me £10 a month. The best BT could offer me was £19.99 a month

I am a heavy user (Sky Player, Skype, Online Gaming...) and was wondering what other MSE users in these kinds of areas use and think of the service they receive?

dylanuk

O2 Home Access (their non-LLU) package has very bad reviews - lots of congestion problems I think.

Plusnet is a good bet, although you can only get up to 80GB usage, with totally unlimited between midnight and 8am.

In fact a lot of the good BT wholesale providers seem to have max usage limits and no unlimited packages: Madasafish, Zen.

What about Virgin Media National? I don't know if that's any good - I guess it's likely to have a stricter fair use policy, but does offer unlimited for £20 (or £25 if you don't want to move your line rental to them).

Rufus_348

Orange have an unlimited non-LLU package for £20 a month - but they do tend to have quite bad reviews...

Remember that even when your exchange is non-LLU it doesn't mean that all the BT wholesale providers will be enabled there - have you done a postcode check on SamKnows or another site? Some will let you search just for the unlimited deals available in your area (2nd link).

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php
http://www.chooseisp.co.uk/compare/broadband/unlimited.asp

Andy001_2

Thanks for that Rufus_348, I have already checked those sites, top results are plusnet and 02.

I'm just unsure as to the difference I would get from switching from BT.

It's a very small exchange and has like 360 homes to service. does anyone know 02's traffic shaping policy for the access plans?

dylanuk

I don't think it's the traffic shaping that's causing the problems. O2 are generally pretty lenient and I don't think their policy changes that much on Home Access.

I don't know the technical specifics but it sounds like it's congestion/contention, because a lot of people are just experiencing much slower speeds than before they switched, e.g. going from 1-2mbps down to 0.5mbps.

O2 do have a 30 day money back guarantee on their home broadband though, so I guess if you really wanted it that much you could at least try it before you get stuck into a 12 month contract with poor service.

You should create a post titled "O2 Home Access - should I get it?" - and see the responses.

macman

Plusnet Premium at £19.99 is probably your best option as a heavy user.

mrtom21

See if you can get Talk and Surf Unlimited with BT. It's their option 3 broadband and unlimited anytime plan. If you are out of contract they should be able to do it for £19.99 a month instead of gettin just your broadband for that.

Nostromo

Whatever you do dont goto O2 Access you will live to regret it.Your speeds will be fine at first and then drop like a stone to dial up speeds once your out of the 30 day get of jail free period.
I would try and find a monthly contract ISP that way if their pants you can easily move on.You might pay a bit more but at least you wont be tied down to 12-18 month contract where the speeds could be dire.