A dire choice of broadband providers in my new place :(

qpop

"The following services are available in your location:

• BT Wholesale ADSL
• BT Wholesale ADSL Max
• BT Wholesale SDSL
• AOL LLU
• Bulldog LLU
• TalkTalk (CPW) LLU
• Sky Broadband / Easynet LLU
• Tiscali LLU
• Tiscali TV (via Tiscali LLU)
• Orange LLU (Formerly Wanadoo)

Please select the options on the left for more information about broadband availability at your location."

And that's the lot!

What do you guys reckon? Honestly I'm considering Orange (Used to work in sales for Orange and don't rate them at all but best of a bad bunch?

To give you an idea... I'm a very high download user, easily in excess of 60gb per month, some months over 100gb. I was on o2 LLU in my last place until they borked their contract terms and I was mis-sold an "upgrade" onto their new package. I promptly moved to Be There for far better contract terms, and found out I was moving 3 months later...paid £150 to get out of the contract (no choice), was told could get a credit on my bill in new place - sadly o2 don't provide LLU services in the area!

So...Orange. Are they as bad as they were? I'm quite impressed that:
* they don't have a fair usage limit
*they only throttle bT and only between 6-11
*I think I can get it for £10pm if I top up £10 on an Orange SIM
*they don't bundle a useless re-branded Thomson box (a la o2, be, etc.) - instead you get what looks like it might be a half decent Netgear router.
*most importantly, from the list above, I don't really have any other choice!

My only other choice really is Sky... other than not wanting to line the Murdoch's pockets any further, it's £15 pm for "unlimited" - does anyone have experience or opinions either way? - I can't move my line rental as I'm carrying my Primus contract over.

Also of note : the new exchange only seems to support speeds of up to 8mbps, according to Samknows - but that being said, Sky's estimator gives 11-18mbps presumed speed


BT Wholesale information
ADSL status:Enabled as of 31/01/2001
ADSL Max status:Enabled as of 31/03/2006
SDSL status:Enabled as of 07/08/2005
21CN WBC status:RFS date set : 31/03/2012
FTTC status:Not available



That's what Samknows says, so I presume ADSL Max = max 8mbps
21CN WBC from what I understand will in theory enable 20mbps but I have quite a wait for that

What do you lot reckon?

qpop

As a bit of an update, this is confusingly written (a la BT Wholesale)

"For Telephone Number xxxx on Exchange GOSCOTE

Your exchange is ADSL enabled, and our initial test on your line indicates that your line should be able to have an ADSL broadband service that provides a fixed line speed up to 2Mbps.

Our test also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL Max broadband line speed of 8Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 7Mbps and 8Mbps.

Your exchange is planned to have ADSL2+ by 31st March 2012. Our test also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL2+ broadband line speed of 15.5Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 8.5Mbps and 18.5Mbps. Our test also indicates that your line could support an estimated ADSL 2+ Annex-M broadband upstream line speed of 1.5Mbps and downstream line speed of 15.5Mbps; typically the downstream speed would range between 8.5Mbps and 18.5Mbps.
The actual stable line speed supportable will be determined during the first 10 days of use. This speed may change over time, to ensure line stability is maintained.

Thank you for your interest.
Please note that dates and exchanges are indicative and subject to change.

Please note that postcode and address check results are indicative only. Most accurate results can be obtained from a telephone number check. "

Am I right in assuming from the above that they are only estimating what my ADSL2+ speeds will be once installed?

GRM

Reading Orange's FUP page it appears that they block access to non-Orange SMTP servers. Given that there are a few threads on here regarding Orange's own SMTP servers ending up on blacklists it might be something to bear in mind.

I was on Sky LLU for a few years. Also has no FUP policy and did what it said on the tin,

qpop

I use gmail - and to be fair I can only invisage using my work e-mail when on VPN.

so far I can see some disadvantages to both:
Sky insist in T&C that you must use their hardware. They have just started providing a Sagem N Wireless router (This doesn't fill me with confidence!) - Knowing just how tempramental routers can be I think it's brave of them to go with Sagem who have very little exposure in this market.

Orange, well, are Orange. Every fifth thread on here seems to be a complaint. And am I right in thinking they're shutting down their LLU? What are the implications of this for customers?

Cheers all.

Short_Seller

Maybe one of the the smaller CPW resellers ISP's such as Xilo ,ADSL24 & Vivaciti could be another option to consider?

They all offer unlimited un-throttled use for between £17 & £19 per month.

qpop

Short_Seller wrote: »

Maybe one of the the smaller CPW resellers ISP's such as Xilo ,ADSL24 & Vivaciti could be another option to consider?

They all offer unlimited un-throttled use for between £17 & £19 per month.

That sounds quite appealling - didn't know about these. Any independent info on service levels, customer support, etc.?

Short_Seller

Not used them my self but there's lot of info on http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/.

They generally get good feedback & score high it the small ISP awards.

Cheers

qpop

The statrup costs are a bit prohibitive...of the three XILO look the best overall, 1 mth rolling contract, £18pm including VAT - but they want to charge £40 for setting up the line (never been charged by a mainstream provider, possibly just absorbed in their charges due to economies of scale) and a £25 charge for leaving them. Coupled with the requirement to purchase a new wireless router and the fact there's 0 chance of cashback (unlike Sky: £50, Orange: £70) - I am really torn now!!

Short_Seller

Yes Xilo has a strong following & is usually the highest rated out of the CPW resellers.
The cost are standard, There only waved on the larger isp's due to the silly 12 or 18 mount contract tie in. Break the contract early & its £££.
Xilo has more reviews here:
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/review/top10.php

Seems your used to unthrotted LLU on Be* networks , so the mainstream ISP like orange which is now part of (BT's 21cn control) will always be sub standard.

Another option could be with Primus they use CPW but have a soft limit of 100gb per month on their unlimited broadband option ?

Its not an easy task picking a new ISP once your used to unrestricted LLU:(
Cheers

qpop

I know! It's terrible. I'm most annoyed that I paid £150 to cancel with Be having only been with them 3/4 months, thinking (naively) that they'd have unbundled a fairly non-rural area around Leicester! Obviously incorrect. Given that Orange have decided to eschew LLU that takes them off my list completely, leaving me with Sky and Xilo. I spent half an hour on their sales chat platform trying to convince them to lower the sign-up cost and they weren't having any of it! Damn them having prices that are supported by the good feedback they get

Short_Seller

Its BT open reach charges. The smaller ISP really have no option on charges other than to pass them on

http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/home/products/pricing/loadPricing.do

Sky is the cheapest option with cash back. They seem from reviews as not to bad for a large ISP.

The normal bugs bears seem High SNR defaults & no fastpath. Questions do linger on protocol-based throttling during peak hours.