Be

ElkyElky

Hi

I'm considering ditching my Virgin Media broadband and switching to Be. Virgin doesn't offer several features that I need but Be does luckily. I will have to also have to switch my landline to BT.

I'm just wondering if Be is worth switching to?

According to samknows, I can get 15Mbps on ADSL2+ which is more than I need however I'm worried that this is just an estimate and I may regret switching if speeds are considerably lower.

Any opinions on Be broadband?

Thanks

ElkyElky

No happy or disgruntled Be customers?

Gary1963

They are a very good company. Been with them a year and very happy. They also offer a landline now. Also check out cash back from Quidco.

Hope this is of help

i8change

Moved from Talk Talk to BE Value broadband end of March.

Everything was great, kept informed all throughout the process.

From what I have seen so far, viewing their Forum etc. they are very attentive and seem to want to provide a service that customers will be very happy with.

My speeds are as expected and reliable.

They are one of the best providers:-

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/4592-customer-service-awards-2010.html

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/articles/11_Best_UK_Broadband_ISPs/

Just depends on the copper between your house and the exchange, they cannot do much about that and are reliant on Openreach for any repairs.

If everything is OK with that then it is full-speed ahead with no throttling of bandwidth at peak times.

Except for my "Value" package which is limited to a max of 12k possible and gives me a steady 10.5k at 32.5dB Line Attenuation Down. Still more than adequate for my needs.

ElkyElky

That's that then. I'd prefer to stay with Virgin as their speeds are always consistent but I need a static IP and better upload speeds, which I could have with Virgin but if I pay through the nose for a business plan. My upload speed at present is 0.40 which is just pathetic.

macman

Are you currently on VM cable or Virgin National (ADSL) service?
You don't need to switch your line rental to BT, BR also offer landline rental:
https://www.bethere.co.uk/web/beportal/landline

rob_wiltshire

As I have posted elsewhere on MSE I am a very happy BE customer having switched my phone and broadband to them in March.

The forecasted speed from their website prior to connection was 16 Mbps and, in practice, I find that my router syncs at 17 meg and gives me an actual download of 14.8 meg (double what I got from BT). My upload speed has tripled to 1.1Mbps.

To get a static IP address you will need to go with the Unlimited or Pro account.

ElkyElky

macman wrote: »

Are you currently on VM cable or Virgin National (ADSL) service?
You don't need to switch your line rental to BT, BR also offer landline rental:
https://www.bethere.co.uk/web/beportal/landline

VM Cable.

I looked at that but they are going to charge £85 to setup the line which is just rediculous. I can set up the line on BT's website for free and it would be connected in a few minutes.

macman

ElkyElky wrote: »

VM Cable.

I looked at that but they are going to charge £85 to setup the line which is just rediculous. I can set up the line on BT's website for free and it would be connected in a few minutes.

No, you can't. If you are on VM cable then VM are the only supplier, no transfer is possible. In order to get any other broadband service (ADSL) then you first need a BT landline.
The standard charge for this is around £130, but some suppliers discount it to around £80 as a starting point.
You will probably have a wait of several weeks for OR to provision the line, so keep your VM service going in the meantime.

ElkyElky

macman wrote: »

No, you can't. If you are on VM cable then VM are the only supplier, no transfer is possible. In order to get any other broadband service (ADSL) then you first need a BT landline.
The standard charge for this is around £130, but some suppliers discount it to around £80 as a starting point.
You will probably have a wait of several weeks for OR to provision the line, so keep your VM service going in the meantime.

Yes, there's already a BT line in my property. I was using it prior to moving to VM, it's just a case of flicking a switch on a computer to make it active again. Though at that time, I had dialup and major anger issues at the sheer slowness of it.

Stompa

My service from BE is fine. The only issue I've ever had with them is when they withdrew the package I was using, which effectively meant an 80%+ increase in price to stay with them.