Orange Home Broadband - Just how good/bad is it?

RoboDog

Hi All,

After much contemplation & research, it is evident that Orange Home Broadband would be the best value for £££ for me. I have not definitely decided that I am going to get it, but just want to assess whether it will be worthwhile.

Firstly, I want to point out that having a landline is of zero use to me. I just need it to be activated so that I can plug in a router. I will never ever use the land line.

Secondly, I have been a customer of Orange mobile for the past 4-years & can get a fantastic deal through them. Even more so since they sort out the line rental, activation etc.

Other points to note –
Unlimited downloads is vital for me
I live in the city of London, West Hampstead & very close to this exchange - http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/WEWMAI

I have heard bitter-sweet reviews about Orange Home broadband services. Some do say that it's really good. Many say that it used to be horrible, but has recently improved.

Taking into account my location & proximity to the exchange, do you think I will get satisfactory speeds? Also, do you think that I will be able to get anything better for £14-17 (including line rental) that has unlimited downloads?

Thank you & I appreciate any feedback.

macman

Orange is consistently rated in consumer surveys as one of the worst ISP's around.
Which and Computer Shopper to name but two.
I would look at Sky or 02/BE as your other LLU options.
If you're determined to have a bottom-end ISP then I'd probably pick TalkTalk as they are usually the cheapest around if LLU.

granville_2

I signed up for the Orange £10/month 'Simply Broadband' package in January. The contract length is 18 months, and Quidco were offereing £100 cash back effectively making the cost £4.44/month.

(Like you, I don't use a landline that much, but have a Primus supplied phone line which costs £7.99/month).

To my surprise I was connected one day after I placed my order (even before receiving the Orange supplied router).

Speed has been ok... the original estimate Orange gave me was 11-12Mb on their LLU product. I get just under 10Mb. I don't download massive amounts, but do use iPlayer a lot and there has been no issues.

Orange are in the process of migrating their LLU customers over to the BT ADSL2+ / WBC platform - I was notified yesterday that this will happen to me next week. I am hoping this may increase my speed.

It's a cheap service and first line support calls usually get routed to India.

YMMV.

kwikbreaks

If you are getting over 8Mbps you are already on ADSL2+ so moving provider won't make a difference to the actual sync.

Moving away from LLU will put you back on the problematic BTw dynamic line management. I'd see the move as bad news rather than good.

steveE2

Robodog
As per your other post https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3084330 there is only the choice of Be or Sky for truly unlimited.

I believe the FUP on Orange is around 50GB,you say "Unlimited downloads is vital for me" ,see above

Reviews:
http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/freeserve.html
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/review/products/208.html

If it were me I would be choosing a short term supplier then changing to FTTC in September

You do seem to be leaning more towards Cheap rather than either reliable or unlimited,if cheap is really the most important by all means go with Orange at least you'll have 18 months to contemplate and research the next move.

lucylucky

"Unlimited downloads is vital for me" - that rules out Orange then as a provider

spud17

I don't download massive amounts, but do use iPlayer a lot and there has been no issues.

So you do in fact download a lot, this all counts towards your allowance.

victor2

Another issue with Orange is that they only allow a connection on the standard port used for email to their own servers.
Someone I knew with them had trouble with his non-orange email not getting through. Orange were absolutely no help whatsoever. Found a way round it eventually without their "help."