Fast4/V21/Biscit (merged threads)

alared

Nix
Have a look at this

http://www.fast4.net/_files/8mb_unlim_new.asp

Now completely seperate from V21

lotstolearn

Nix wrote:

Thanks Random, that's useful info. When did they take over?

I think I'm going to cry:

Primus don't offer their rebate anymore.

EHF have just been taken over and are now presumably an unknown quantity.

Virgin can be a hit or monstrous miss.

Bethere aren't enabling my exchange 'til June 2007.

Hi Nix, I looked at all the ones you have mentioned and more except Primus. Very nearly went with EHF until I was cautioned otherwise on here, thank goodness. Was very interested in Bethere but similar problem to you. Finally, after looking at everything very carefully and bearing in mind possible takeovers etc., etc., I finally went with BT on a 12 month contract, maybe in a year many of these uncertainties will be sorted. BB is bundled with other things and is obviously more expensive than those mentioned but when I took everything into consideration, i.e., BB with free evening and weekend telephone, equipment, introductory offers, no connection fee, no cancellation or MAC fee at end of contract etc., it evens out and I have peace of mind.

So far, however, I cannot speak highly enough of BT, its equipment or the service I've had from them - it has been outstanding.

Nix

lotstolearn - thanks for that and good luck with BT! I'm old enough to remember the years, nay, decades of BT rip-off prices and shoddy service. Have you tried ringing an operator recently or customer services? The reviews are reminiscent of Virgin. Let us know how you get on.

alared - in true MSE style, I'm desperately trying to cap my monthly spending on accessing the internet. At the moment even £15 is a three fold increase! With so many offerings around, you'd think at least one company could stand out with a good solid reliable deal that represents excellent value for money. Fast4 were very good previously...

Random

Nix wrote:

Thanks Random, that's useful info. When did they take over?

I think I'm going to cry:

Primus don't offer their rebate anymore.

EHF have just been taken over and are now presumably an unknown quantity.

Virgin can be a hit or monstrous miss.

Bethere aren't enabling my exchange 'til June 2007.

Sometime in december I think. I had a look on their forum, the existing users didn't seem too happy. And as the old V21 customers who went to Ezee were still waiting for upgrades last I heard, I wouldn't choose any company related to them.

I'm quite happy at the moment with Orange. Ok it is more than V21, but at least I'm fairly secure that this sort of thing wont happen to me again. And my livebox gives me free phone calls, which saves a bit of the extra.

Have you been to ispchatzone.co.uk? Some of the old V21 members there seem quite happy with the new Fast4.

Random

Ps, I so nearly joined EFH, the main thing that stopped me was having the line ceased by Netservices. I couldn't afford to pay out activation, so I went for one that included it free. I'm sooo glad now! I just couldn't bring myself to sign up to another small isp and go through it all again!

lotstolearn

Nix Thanks for your reply - :rotfl: I too am old enough to remember those things and at first I did not consider BT at all it was trusted friends that finally got me to take a serious look at them. As it happens I have spoken to their customer services people a few times prior to and then after connection and the service was outstanding, honestly, but I'll see how it goes over time. I had also been looking to keep costs below the £15 mark. But echoing Random's comments here
"I couldn't afford to pay out activation, so I went for one that included it free. I'm sooo glad now! I just couldn't bring myself to sign up to another small isp and go through it all again!"
when the overall figures stacked up for me too that was my deciding factor.
Good luck in your search

spud17

Its been interesting reading peoples views on BB.

A few posts ago someone asked if I was going to change from dialup , well my thoughts alter almost daily.

Until xmas I was ok with Biscits sevice (admin apart+no access to members page),but over Xmas and since then connection has been either slow (16.2kbs)or cut off every couple of minutes.

I could afford £15/month but I'd rather put that against the mortgage to pay off my max amount before my Fixed rate deal finishes Feb 08.

I would make use of it ,but can I justify it for a bit of browsing and a few emails?

Virgin might be worth considering but I have recently switched my phone to Primus and have been pleased with service and customer services alike.I don't fancy changing phone again.
Primus BB does't seem to be the bargain it initially seemed.
Newnet was talked up weeks ago by GuessWho on these pages I think one thing in their favour was that they were a visp as opposed to a isp, or was it the other way round?
Supanet is used by someone I know and he is VV fussy and would have caried out lots of research.
I have used www.thinkbroadband.com
and IDNet ,Supanet and Newnet all showed up quite well.
Or I could just move back to the new Fast4, has anyone any experience of the new company?
I was well satisfied with the original Fast4.

Apologies if this is a bit jumbled but I'm afraid of losing the connection again.

Initially it was 16.2 but on redialling it went up to 45.2.

oap

I changed to Newnet,lite user. excellent service and I pay £12.95 monthly contract, no problems at all, and very helpful if you have to phone initially to set it up. 0845 number, but I have their companynumber as well!! It does not interfere with any of your phone companies, we are still with Bt.
There is a limit on what you use, but I have been on for ages, (I do not download films though) every day I go on for one thing or another, and I am nowhere near the limit each month.
Have a look at their website for information. Well satisfied and a real treat after having suffered with V21. Regards oap

Nix

spud17 - I know what you mean. This weekend, I had to download a 40Mb driver file to sort a laptop I've reloaded. Bang on 3 hours, the connection dropped, which is fair enough, but could I get the connection back? Nope. Not 'til 24 hours latter! In the meantime, I'm trying desperately to download the last 80Kb!! It would have only taken less than a minute and yet I was there for hours trying to connect up. :wall:

Problem is, when the connection is there and reliable, it's very acceptable, especially for £4.99. Matter of fact, it's the best deal out there. Since Bis*it took over, it's been a little hit or miss. When it's missing, blood pressure goes up, frustration levels are high and a hell of a lot of time is wasted just waiting and gnashing teeth - never mind the serious damage to some innocent piece of computer equipment that's just sitting there minding its own business!

I now find that this is no longer acceptable to me.

But it's not the only reason I want to move onto a BB package. Consider:

• the phone line is no longer tied up - other members of the household need to be considered!

• when you are online, the speed is so much faster that you actually spend less time online - much better for the ol' posterior and eyesight!

• for me personally, I can start messing about with IP CCTV.

Then consider that some BB packages actually include FREE setup, modem and phone calls for eves/weekends.

The Virgin Bundle 3 package deal @ £9.99 is sorely tempting me but so is the Tiscali all-in deal @ £19.99.

With either I could even end up saving money in true MSE fashion!

Also, I won't need to keep replacing monitors with fist holes in 'em...

PS
re NewNet, you might want to reconsider. They've just made a massive price hike.
OAP - has your price shot up yet?

oap

No and it is not doing only for very very heavy users, regards oap