Recommendations for Broadband/phone please

tajk321

I am looking for a broadband/phone package and I need advice. I am currently with AOL Broadband and BT for my phone. I am not tied into either with contracts and I have received my MAC code. I admit to not having much knowledge when it comes to ISP's so am hoping if I provide some info that more knowledgable folks will be able to help me out. According to BT wholesale my phone line should be able to support 8Mbps via ADSL max and the only LLU service provider in my area is Talk Talk, who after much research I wouldn't touch with a bargepole. I would obviously like the package as cheap as possible but will pay more for reliability. I will need 20gb or more. I have been looking at Plusnet, does anybody else have any recommendations? Thanks

tajk321

Anybody? Thanks

fozzeh

Read spud17's post in here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2756600

Samknows will show you what is available. Should be more LLU available surely?!?!

spud17

fozzeh wrote: »

Should be more LLU available surely?!?!

Plenty of places with no LLU at all.

120,000 people in this city but a mile from the outskirts no LLU.

macman

GIven no other LLU options than TT, then Plusnet is probably your best bet (depending on which tariff you are referring to-presumably Plusnet Extra if you are looking for a 20GB package).
NB: your line supports up to 8Mbps-not 8Mbps.

tajk321

Fozzeh - I got the information from Samknows thanks and definitely only LLU is TalkTalk and that only became available last month.

Macman - thanks for that. I think I will go with Plusnet.

fozzeh

spud17 wrote: »

Plenty of places with no LLU at all.

120,000 people in this city but a mile from the outskirts no LLU.

That's silly! The place I am moving is 22,568 (albeit probably a lot smaller but has a lot less people to service...) and it has:

BT Wholesale ADSL
BT Wholesale ADSL Max
BT Wholesale WBC (21CN
BT Wholesale SDSL
AOL LLU
O2 / Be LLU
Bulldog LLU
TalkTalk (CPW) LLU
Sky Broadband / Easynet LLU
Tiscali LLU
Tiscali TV (via Tiscali LLU
Orange LLU (Formerly Wanadoo)

macman

It's not silly. Exeter is a large(ish city), but it is surrounded by many small rural exchanges which will only have a few hundred subscribers at most. No ISP is going to LLU an exchange with less than say 4,000 subscribers. A town of 22,000 probably has around 7,000 subscribers, so worth LLU-ing.
It's not the distance from the city centre that is relevant, but which exchange you are connected to. Many formerly rural exchanges are probably now in built-up suburban areas.

fozzeh

I still say it is silly with the progress on technology etc.

macman

fozzeh wrote: »

I still say it is silly with the progress on technology etc.

But the technology is irrelevant, it's purely an economic calculation. If it costs an ISP (say) £100,000 to LLU an exchange, and the subscriber base is such that they would only pick up 100 subscribers, then they'd need to earn £1,000 back from each of them just to break even, so they're never going to do it. (I've pulled that 100K figure out of the air, it's probably much higher).
There are about 5,500 exchanges in the UK, and most of them that are ever going to be LLU'd have already been done.

spud17

macman wrote: »

It's not silly. Exeter is a large(ish city), but it is surrounded by many small rural exchanges which will only have a few hundred subscribers at most. No ISP is going to LLU an exchange with less than say 4,000 subscribers. A town of 22,000 probably has around 7,000 subscribers, so worth LLU-ing.
It's not the distance from the city centre that is relevant, but which exchange you are connected to. Many formerly rural exchanges are probably now in built-up suburban areas.

Hit the nail right on the head.

E.g. about half a mile from my house is the boundary of the Longdown exchange.
456 residential premises.

The problem I get is convincing people that ask about isps, to understand that even though they have an Exeter number,(old Longdown number preceded by 81) they are still on the Longdown exchange.