aol offer - when I said I'll leave

u751904

So I spoke to aol and said I am thinking of leaving. They offered this:

Broadband line rental and anytime international and UK landline calls including 0845 and 0870 numbers for £19.09 per month.

Also a new wireless router and an upgrade to my line so that I can improve slightly my speed. I am only getting 2mb download and 3mb upload. Don't know how typical this is but it doesn't feel much of a broad band. Apparently I am some distance from the exchange.

My contract runs out in oct this year. I am tempted to go for this £19 per month option...

macman

Impossible to say without knowing what your other LLU options are, and their cost.
Do an exchange search on https://www.samknows.com for your LLU options.
Sounds like you are on an old capped 2MBps tariff, your line may support more than that.
You are not getting a line upgrade, they're simply removing the cap.
And I doubt that you are getting 3Mbps upload at present?

backache_2

just took up this offer,went live this week, to stay with them i requested new router+all carried out very efficiently+my speed has improved by from average of 5.2 to 7.9kbps.Have been with aol 10years
would have left,but happy at £19.09 for 18 months.unlimited

macman

I think you mean 5.2-7.9 MBps. Otherwise that would be less than dial up.

u751904

there were certainly providers who were getting greater speeds than I was on samknows. Virgin for a start. I am quite puzzled why they can't all offer the same speed levels? I am guessing this is what they offer against this price. The all inclusive price plan seems good but I need to compare. My router (netgear) is quite old would a new router help? I am not sure how but this part of the package - a new router.

macman

Virgin runs on a different network (cable), so their speeds are higher because being fibre-optic based it does not suffer attenuation as distance from the cabinet increases.
All the ADSL providers on your exchange will offer a similar speed, i.e. what your line can support-not related to price. Cheaper services these days tend to cap data, not line speed.
This link will give an indication of the speed that your line can support.
https://www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/main.html

u751904

macman wrote: »

Virgin runs on a different network (cable), so their speeds are higher because being fibre-optic based it does not suffer attenuation as distance from the cabinet increases.
All the ADSL providers on your exchange will offer a similar speed, i.e. what your line can support-not related to price. Cheaper services these days tend to cap data, not line speed.
This link will give an indication of the speed that your line can support.
https://www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/main.html

that is interesting, I have to ask here (don't know if you know) why is it only virgin who provide fibre optic links then? Seems a bit strange... thanks for the response very useful.

macman

They don't. BT are also upgrading some of their network to fibre optic, that is what BT Infinity is (fibre to the cabinet).
The VM (ex NTL/Telwest) network was designed from the outset to carry TV signals, not just phone signals, and is about 20 years old. The BT network is more like 75 years old-way before fibre optics were developed.
The VM network is completely separate to the BT network, so you can' swap service from one to the other-you require a new line.

sam1970

u751904 wrote: »

So I spoke to aol and said I am thinking of leaving. They offered this:

Broadband line rental and anytime international and UK landline calls including 0845 and 0870 numbers for £19.09 per month.

Also a new wireless router and an upgrade to my line so that I can improve slightly my speed. I am only getting 2mb download and 3mb upload. Don't know how typical this is but it doesn't feel much of a broad band. Apparently I am some distance from the exchange.

My contract runs out in oct this year. I am tempted to go for this £19 per month option...

sounds like a good deal to me. I am in the same boat. I have been with aol for 12 years and need to renew contract now. my line rental is still with BT but calls and BB with aol. If i move my line rental to aol, does that mean if i decide to go back to BT in future they will charge me horrendous connection fees?

macman

No, a return to donor is free of charge, it just requires a 12m line rental contract.
But once the line is LLU'd, it limits your future migration options for line rental to BT only, at least for a year.

sam1970

thank you..is there a lanline or free phone number to call AOL about the upgrade? I could not find one on saynoto870