AOL..are they telling me the truth?

picklednut

Hi

I have been a loyal AOL customer for over 6 years but think that I'm paying far too much for Broadband - £24.99 for an unlimited download, with a 2MB connection. I've looked around and the main two contenders I am looking at are Talk Talk and Sky, mainly because I use Sky for my digital viewing and Talk Talk for my landline calls.

I phoned up AOL tonight and told them I was considering moving to Talk Talk or Sky to see whether they could "do me a deal". They could only offer me £19.99 for a 2MB and I would be tied in to a 12 month contract or they could give me £9.99 for 1MB connection, again with 12 month contract.

These were the reasons they gave me for not going to Sky / Talk Talk and wonder if they are telling me the truth.

1. I'm a high user of Broadband - 300 hours per month - admittedly this is usually because I forgot to "switch off" my Broadband connection so it's almost constantly connected. The AOL person said because of this if I moved to Sky / Talk Talk who are "limited" to 40GB that this "limited" usage applies to time as well as download so 40GB would not be enough for me.

2. They also told me that Sky / Talk Talk also restrict the bandwidth at popular times i.e evenings and weekends and that if I moved they have had people who go back to AOL because they cannot get onto Sky / Talk Talk when they want to.

The main advantages of AOL they were selling were:

1. Unlimited restriction - i.e no cap to how much download you had or the time you spent online.
2. No restriction on bandwidth - they don't reduce bandwith at popular times.

Would anyone (esp. those on Talk Talk / Sky Broadband) be able to tell me if AOL are telling me the truth?

arealhighlander

With the choice of stay on AOL or move to Talk Talk I would take AOLs offered deal.

Firstly, AOL are half right. TT and Sky both have Fair Use Policies (I get REALLy annoyed at all these "Unlimited" adverts when they ARE limited cos if their Fair Use policy!)

However the limitation is amount of data you transfer, not the amount of time your are connected. Looked at TTs policy, it doesnt seem to state an amount but they do say if you download a lot of data during "peak" hours then that is considered overuse (they dont say what they will do about it tho!) Looking through the Net it seems this is 8am to midnight!

For all ISPs, take their speed connections with a pinch of salt. Many quote 8Meg speed connections, however in reality it will depend on the quality of your line, how far you are away from the exchange etc etc.. Note they say "up to".

For Sky, their Fair use is up to 40GB, you can go over occasionally and you will get a warning. If you continue, they will restrict you or cut you off.

So, firstly. Just being connected to Broadband is NOT limited. Receiving ANY data (web browsing, email, downloading, skype, etc.) all counts towards any Fair Use policy. So its all about data. There are various free programs you can download and install and will keep a running tally of the amount of data you are transferring, so you could see how much data (as opposed to time which is irrelevant) you actually transfer each month.

A lot of ISPs are alleged to "throttle" badwidth on users if their system gets busy but they wont always admit to it.

I believe TT are a !!!!!! to get out of once you have signed up.

AOL have NO download limits that I am aware of, they are very family friendly and for day to day users have good support. Sky may be cheaper and if you are anormal user, 40GB a month may be fine for you.

Hope this helps.

picklednut

Many thanks for replying. Sky Broadband does seem a better option then although I'm still not quite sure what "fair usage" relates to i.e in practical terms eg. how many emails, websites, downloaded songs make up 40GB?

I do usually switch on my internet when I get home from work, I probably use Broadband about 25 hours a week, mainly for browsing websites. Don't know whether I would end up going over the 40GB limit?

atlantic_2

Our members who are AOL customers are reporting that they believe restrictions have been introduced from 7pm to 12 Mon. to Fri.
They have been posting speedtest results to back this up. Are you finding this?
The speedtests results on News-Shack are <Link Removed MSE Forum Team 2>

picklednut

To be honest I haven't really noticed a restriction in bandwidth, but it will be something I am keeping an eye out for!

HotchPotch_2

picklednut wrote:

Hi

I have been a loyal AOL customer for over 6 years but think that I'm paying far too much for Broadband - £24.99 for an unlimited download, with a 2MB connection. I've looked around and the main two contenders I am looking at are Talk Talk and Sky, mainly because I use Sky for my digital viewing and Talk Talk for my landline calls.

I phoned up AOL tonight and told them I was considering moving to Talk Talk or Sky to see whether they could "do me a deal". They could only offer me £19.99 for a 2MB and I would be tied in to a 12 month contract or they could give me £9.99 for 1MB connection, again with 12 month contract.

If you take up a 12 month contract with them, at least make sure you get a free router out of them for it, others have http://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/showthread.php?t=21471

These were the reasons they gave me for not going to Sky / Talk Talk and wonder if they are telling me the truth.

1. I'm a high user of Broadband - 300 hours per month - admittedly this is usually because I forgot to "switch off" my Broadband connection so it's almost constantly connected. The AOL person said because of this if I moved to Sky / Talk Talk who are "limited" to 40GB that this "limited" usage applies to time as well as download so 40GB would not be enough for me.

I haven't tuned my router off in the last two years, like many people I keep it constantly connected as it is intended to be and unsurprisingly neither ISP I've been with have ever objected to this. Broadband ISPs pay for capacity and a monthly connection fee, time spent online is irrelevant, other than that ISPs with download caps can advertise their service as unlimited because you can use it 24/7.

2. They also told me that Sky / Talk Talk also restrict the bandwidth at popular times i.e evenings and weekends and that if I moved they have had people who go back to AOL because they cannot get onto Sky / Talk Talk when they want to.

The main advantages of AOL they were selling were:

1. Unlimited restriction - i.e no cap to how much download you had or the time you spent online.
2. No restriction on bandwidth - they don't reduce bandwith at popular times.

Would anyone (esp. those on Talk Talk / Sky Broadband) be able to tell me if AOL are telling me the truth?

Sky looks OK to me, if my exchange was easynet enabled I'd be on the the Sky £10 per month package in a shot. Talk Talk does not appeal, I wonder what will happen to AOL's quality of service now Carphonewarehouse are taking them over.