New user - need broadband - Orange or other?

Bargain_Rzl

Having recently moved and just got my phone connected, I need to find a suitable broadband package.

I'm currently on Orange Anytime dialup which I've had for years, ever since it was Freeserve, so when shopping around for broadband the first place I looked (before here, even!) was the Orange website. I like the look of the unlimited package for £19.99, given the speed (up to 8meg), free landline calls, non-premium-rate customer service number, and particularly the fact that you get a free wireless router which (in my estimation?) makes the package equivalent to the £14.99 you'd pay for a basic package with most providers, Orange included. (I'd have been buying a wireless router anyway).

However, having trawled through a few Orange threads on this board, there seem to be a fair few customer service horror stories, but not a disproportionate number compared with the other major providers - can anybody supply the other side of the coin? Anybody using Orange and finding it excellent?

Or is there perhaps an alternative with similar features for a similar price? (I should add, I'm NOT an Orang mobile phone customer).

Any advice would be appreciated.

tightbarsteward

In my experience you may pay a little more but it much better to go with smaller companies such as Zen as their speeds & customer service are miles better than the bigger boys. You will save yourself hassle in long run. Compare ISP's on:

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/compare.html

and

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/review/top10.php

Welcome to the minefield. For what I have heard Eclipse don't seem to be that bad & @ £14.99 a month you get a free router aswell. I am with Lixxus which is capped at £17.99 a month and works very well. If I use under 2GB it is £13.99 per month. Only 1 month contract.

Happy hunting. Oh & avoid Tiscali & Bullbog at all costs.

Bargain_Rzl

Thanks TightBarsteward! That was really helpful. Lixxus looks good - how long have you been with them? (I'd just like an idea of whether you've had a fairly lengthy history of good service from them.)

tightbarsteward

Off the top of my head I have been with them for 6 months & no problems to speak of. Initially I was a bit concerned about the speed of the connection. I phoned them & you get through more or less straight away & they seem pretty knowledgable. Something they told me, that I didn't know is that when you are 1st connected it is best to use your connection as much as you can as over the 1st seven days which enables them to find the optimum speed for your line. You should get a good connection speed being in London.

I know this is a moneysaving board but I have had many problems with big ISP's & try to keep up to date with which companies seem to be performing well & think is best to pay a little more as good service goes a hell of a long way with broadband.



Oh & buy a router with a firewall. I have a Netgear DG834GT & it works like a dream.

Bargain_Rzl

Right, I like the sound of Lixxus so much that I am now their customer

Any ideas as to how long it will be before I'm connected? The Lixxus site says 5-7 days; given that it's the first time I've set up a broadband connection so I'm a bit ignorant (I lived in a houseshare before), is this inclusive? I mean - does it take BT a while to grant Lixxus access to my line, for example? (It's a new line, never had broadband on it before, was only connected by BT yesterday). Will I be online by Christmas?

I didn't order any of the hardware I was offered while ordering through Lixxus; ex-housemate has a spare ADSL modem I know I can borrow until I can find something I like.

tightbarsteward

I can't remember how long it took me to get connected although I migrated from another ISP but is around 7 days. I would think you should be online by Christmas. Phone & ask. They will just tell it like it is.