O2 and BETHERE broadband

bobweston

Hi there,

Sorry but I can't find a thread devoted to this.

I've heard good things about O2 (and BETHERE who apparently are also an O2 company). Bethere have been rated highly in a recent Which? report on BB providers, as have O2.

Seems they are good for reliability and speed - as they tend to have LLU* enabled on the BT exchanges, and also good comments about their Customer Service.

O2 offer an enticing package for existing customers (eg 1/2 price BB for 12 months if you've had a mobile phone with them for over 2 years).

Has anyone used these Broadband services? Any comments - good or bad.

Thanks.


*Local Loop Unbundled

TakeThis

O2 has 'Traffic Shaping'. BeThere does not.

bobweston

Interesting. What's Traffic shaping?

bobweston

TakeThis wrote: »

O2 has 'Traffic Shaping'. BeThere does not.

I've just had an online chat with O2.

They say their "the Works" package does not use Traffic Management. Which indicates their basic and 'All Rounder' packages do.

Detail from O2:

[FONT=&quot]

We manage traffic as we want to protect the network to ensure the majority of users are not adversely affected by a small minority.

Our type of traffic management is Deep Packet Inspection (DPI). This allows us to determine the type of traffic on our network, and manage it in the best way.

Traffic management allows everyone their fair share of the network. High use Peer to Peer users may make streaming slower. By managing our network it stops it being a first come, first served approach, allowing everyone access.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]This only happens in Peak Hours (4pm to midnight, weekdays - and noon to midnight on weekends).

It appears there is less Traffic Management on the All Rounder package than on their Basic package.

They employ TM on their LLU lines.

[/FONT]

Mark_In_Hampshire

Different types of internet activity use different protocols and ports.

For example, email is different to P2P downloading.

Traffic shaping is typically used to monitor a connection and penalise traffic on the latter, so it runs more slowly (in some cases it barely works at all). Not, however, exclusive to P2P, different ISPs have different policies.

For example some, perhaps all of the O2 packages have it, so while you might be able to download a file from this site at 4Mbps or whatever, you might find that a P2P download would run at dial up speeds.

O2 uses the BE network.

BE does not employ traffic shaping, so if you use them directly, you don't experience it, but if you "go via O2" then you may or will.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_shaping

Edit: think our posts just crossed there

bod1467

Basically, if you use P2P apps (torrents, and perhaps also streams like Sopcast) then it'll be throttled to hell and may not give a usable service for such connections.

If this is important then go to BE. If not then you'll get a cheaper deal with O2.

Put your phone number/postcode in this Samknows checker and it'll confirm whether O2/BE LLU is actually available to you (if you haven't already confirmed this). And if you post your current router stats I'll be able to estimate what speed you could get with BE (who I am with).

bobweston

Thanks for those responses. O2/BE LLU is enabled at my local Exchange.

bod1467 wrote: »

if you post your current router stats I'll be able to estimate what speed you could get with BE (who I am with).

What review would you give BE?

bod1467 wrote: »

Basically, if you use P2P apps (torrents, and perhaps also streams like Sopcast) then it'll be throttled to hell and may not give a usable service for such connections.

If this is important then go to BE. If not then you'll get a cheaper deal with O2.

Thank you. I have a mobile contract with O2, so they can offer me good deals (1/2 price broadband for a year etc).

Although O2 own BE, I don't think I'll be able to use the discount with BE by being an O2 customer.

bod1467

I would rate BE as excellent. I have been with them for 4 years now. I live 650m direct line to the exchange, with a line length of 1920m (confirmed by BT Openreach tests). My down sync is 18.5meg and my up sync is just under 1.4meg. And there is no data usage limits or throttling of any kind.

Customer service (including tech support) is based in Bulgaria, but their grasp of English is very good. They also are happy to go off-script to resolve customer issues. Add in that the support number is freephone from landlines (0808) then you get good customer service when you need it for no cost.

Another bonus - they have a geographic number (020) which can be used by people needing to use a mobile (e.g. if the landline is down), and this number is inclusive with contract minutes - so no high mobile costs to call your ISP. (Yes, I'm pointing the finger at YOU TalkTalk).

Furthermore there is a lively and helpful user forum (members only) where you can find additional support, and this is also supported by BE staff. So if you have an issue you can get advice from BE in there.

To your last question - No, having an O2 mobile does not provide any discount entitlement with BE. (My mobile isn't with O2 anyway so this doesn't matter to me).

BE Pro is the maximum account which also allows up to 2.5meg upload speed (called Upload+). I'm on BE Unlimited, which is basically the same as Pro except I can't get multiple static IP addresses nor Upload+. Neither is an issue for me - I get 1 free static IP address anyway.

bobweston

Thanks for that review. Much appreciated.

I like the fact their Customer services team are able to go off-script!

To your last question - No, having an O2 mobile does not provide any discount entitlement with BE.

Thanks for answering that. I didn't think this would be the case. Naturally O2 wanted to steer my custom to them rather than answering questions about BE.

All they need to do now is change the font on their website away from Courier bold!

bod1467

Your current stats?

spud17

O2 traffic management