o2 Broadband VS Virgin Broadband (should I switch over? )

Danny_G

I am on virgin broadband (£17.99 month)

o2 are offering it for £7.99 a month (saving £10 a month)


so i was thinking of switching. Is it worth it? Virgin are to be the best, but i heard o2 are good too.

Are you with o2? have you had any probems with them before? and what is their customer service like?

and has anybody switched from Virgin to o2? are you happy?


EDIT NOTE- I am on a BT line, im NOT on a virgin line, and Not on cable. I have a BT Phone line.

kwikbreaks

If you are on Virgin National ADSL then yes take the plunge. If you are on cable it is more complicated as you will need a BT phone line too in order to move. O2 now has defined download limits and employs shaping (as do VM).

Danny_G

kwikbreaks wrote: »

If you are on Virgin National ADSL then yes take the plunge. If you are on cable it is more complicated as you will need a BT phone line too in order to move. O2 now has defined download limits and employs shaping (as do VM).

employs shaping? what do you mean

C_Mababejive

I switched from VM cable to O2 ADSL and dont regret it.

The thing that made me switcg was VM restructuring its packages and forcing me to upgrade my speed from 4 to 10mb when i didnt want to.

Also their continual back door deals being done via retentions.

Check via samknows (?) that o2 have their own kit in your local exchange,also check your possible speed/distance etc.

If there is no o2 kit in your exch then stick with VM as they will both be simply reselling BTs wholesale ADSL product if i am correct.

kwikbreaks

Danny_G wrote: »

employs shaping? what do you mean

Some (most?) ISPs slow down traffic for some protocols and that is known as "shaping". This is done to improve the service for the other protocols as they in effect get priority. If you don't use the "shaped" protocols it should be a benefit. That said many ISPs just use it to reduce their costs.

In the case of VM they slow down newsgroup access and a variety of peer to peer protocols between the hours of (I think) 9am and midnight. I think O2 do the same 24x7 but you'd need to check their websites as the info will be there somewhere although often with little detail and usually hard to find.

I've been on O2 (prior to the new regime though) and I'm currently on cable. I moved to cable because of a phone line fault which BT failed to fix after 5 voice callouts (it was audible noise) and I lost patience with O2's ham fisted attempts to avoid calling out a BT ADSL engineer.

The O2 pricing means you won't be on the abysmal O2 Access product. VM pricing is so haphazard I'm not sure if you are on cable or Virgin National ADSL.

macman

For £7.99 you will find O2 LLU vastly better than Virgin National, which is just a resold BT Wholesale product.