Want to save money but not compromise on service

calx

Hi,
Recently freaked out when realised that we are spending £90 a month on telecommunications

SKY £40
BT Phone £22
BT Broadband £29.99

I've been looking around the forums and signed up to 1899 for the phone
I want to shave some money off the broadband but I run an IT business from home and can't afford to have a rubbish service. BT has been faultless, except the price.
Any ideas?

Many thanks

Calx

durain

since you got sky, why not sky broadband? you will be using easynet networks since sky bought them over.

djohn2002uk

Ring BT and ask for a MAC number. When they ask why you want to leave tell them it's too dear and they will offer you a reduction. Make sure it is a good reduction, they will come down quite a bit. I did it.

mrJ_5

how much data do you actually transfer a month on average - if you don't know download netmeter (google it) - run it for a month or 2, on your main computer and it should tell you roughly how much you use

with this information, add say 10% on as a buffer - then look for a replacement supplier

you should also ask yourself questions, such as is speed really that important - ie. do you do a lot of downloading (cos thats the only thing speed makes a difference to).... I am on 512k, not because I cannot go any higher, but because 1) the price is far cheaper, and 2) I don't see the point in going any higher in speed just yet

calx

mrJ wrote:

how much data do you actually transfer a month on average - if you don't know download netmeter (google it) - run it for a month or 2, on your main computer and it should tell you roughly how much you use

with this information, add say 10% on as a buffer - then look for a replacement supplier

you should also ask yourself questions, such as is speed really that important - ie. do you do a lot of downloading (cos thats the only thing speed makes a difference to).... I am on 512k, not because I cannot go any higher, but because 1) the price is far cheaper, and 2) I don't see the point in going any higher in speed just yet

No idea what our usage is.. I work from home so a reliable service is essential. I'll try the netmeter... its my husband who does the downloading.
Great help thanks

calx

Tils

djohn2002uk wrote:

Ring BT and ask for a MAC number. When they ask why you want to leave tell them it's too dear and they will offer you a reduction. Make sure it is a good reduction, they will come down quite a bit. I did it.

Permi or just a month or so offer? Also how much is quite a bit?

ckerrd

You should be able to get the BSkyB money down a bit - other discussion threads will help with that.

£29.99 is a helluva lot for broadband.
Watch out for providers who promise up to 16Mb (for example) as it will depend on lots of things. My ISP offers up to 8Mb but the fastest I can get at the moment is 6.5Mb.

melpomene

i am also paying £29.99 for BT broadband, & was wondering if i should just downscale to a lesser product. should i phone them & see if they offer a reduction on what i've already got? more details please on how to play this, it's a huge amount of £s for me but somehow i've let it slide,
thanks,
Mel

Rex_Mundi

Although the Sky deal could be a lot cheaper for you. Be aware that this is an untested service at the moment. Sky have never run a broadband company before, so there will be no way to judge what their service will be like. If it's reliability you need, I would give this a miss untill you get some feedback from users of this service.

If you download less than 20GB a month, I would recommend Zen. Their product Zen 8000 Active is £24.99 (inc VAT) a month. This gives up to 8Mb speed. 20GB download limit (not including uploads), 1GB of free webspace, free newsgroup access, up to 8 free static IP addresses, and absolute top quality support staff who know what they are doing (plus full support for Macs). You could get a MAC from BT, and sign up with Zen for free (with one month minimum contract).

They are one of the best ISPs in the UK, and have been for a long time. Check out this link to see how they are rated against BT. They consistently beat them in every category. I've been with them a couple of years, and I've not even had 5 minutes downtime. I've never needed to contact them over a problem. For reliability and good quality customer service, you can't go wrong with Zen.

mrJ_5

just ring up BT, threaten to migrate away (if your after 12 months in contract) and they should offer you something... otherwise just take the MAC and migrate.... though if you know your usage - then you should be able to get a better idea of what to migrate to

mrJ_5

Rex_Mundi wrote:

....Sky have never run a broadband company before....

I'd say Sky have run a broadband company, since they bought EasyNet last year for £2-300mn... and I would imagine that they would be using the EasyNet network since they own it