Broadband suppliers

balloo_2

Hi A question for all you guys in the know I was having my broadband from Pipex now its talk talk because of problems with talktalk i swore i would never go back to them so i am looking at either Plusnet or Tesco Broadband or dare i say it staying here any advice would be greatly appreciated

SteveJH200

If you're going for a stand alone broadband package then Plusnet. Been with them for years and no regrets.

S0litaire

Check to see what Cable/LLU's are in your area.
http://www.samknows.com/broadband/broadband_checker

I'm with Xilo.net (it's using SKY/Easynet LLU but you get unlimited and, I mean unlimited!!!! downloads for 17.99 inc vat for up to 16Mbs)
So check around and see what ISP's are using LLU's you'll get the best deal from them.

gonzo127

agreed with above, check samknows and find out if you can get any LLU suppliers, as these can open up other options

Gillor

+1 for Plusnet, one of Which? magazine's recommended broadband providers who give it four stars for connection reliability, value for money and customer service .

ChiefGrasscutter

I'm with plusnet and find them excellent, though to be fair I've not had any serious problems on my line so have not tested them in adversity!

Whatever you do....
Make sure you read all the terms/pricing etc
Make sure you understand whats included and what is not.
Make sure you understand the monthly data limits on each package.
In short do your own research properely as each ISP has slightly different offerings to appeal to a different market sector.

Plusnet for example have free unmetered internet from midnight to 8am....but that does not mean you can download the entire internet overnight to the detriment of everyone else. Those that do get throttled then they moan/!!!!! about their 'rights' etc.

Plusnet also charge less if you are on a market 2 or market 3 telephone exchange and more if you are on a market 1 exchange. So make sure the figures you are looking at refer to your situation.

Iconic

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

Plusnet also charge less if you are on a market 2 or market 3 telephone exchange and more if you are on a market 1 exchange. So make sure the figures you are looking at refer to your situation.

I have just checked the classifications on Samknows as I have never heard of this before:

'Market 1 - Exchanges where the incumbent operator (BT Wholesale) is the only provider of broadband services
Market 2 - Exchanges where two or three operators provided broadband services (including BT)
Market 3 - Exchanges where four or more operators provided broadband services'

Funnily enough my exchange didn't have any LLU suppliers until Dec last year when TalkTalk moved in.

It's still classed as Market 1 on Samknows!

debitcardmayhem

I am not advocating TalkTalk, since you do need perseverance with them, but they unbundled our Exchange last year, and I got a good deal with them for phone and broadband and I now get 14Mbps download (up from 5-6Mbps on Plusnet)
I have been with Plusnet since the old dial up days in the guise of totalise-->madasafish--->Plusnet, and always had very good service from them, but they wouldn't commit to ADSL2+ so I left.

ChiefGrasscutter

Iconic wrote: »

I have just checked the classifications on Samknows as I have never heard of this before:

'Market 1 - Exchanges where the incumbent operator (BT Wholesale) is the only provider of broadband services
Market 2 - Exchanges where two or three operators provided broadband services (including BT)
Market 3 - Exchanges where four or more operators provided broadband services'

Funnily enough my exchange didn't have any LLU suppliers until Dec last year when TalkTalk moved in.

It's still classed as Market 1 on Samknows!

To generalise:
Basically market 3 exchanges are big city/town exchanges Approx 1500 of then
Market 1 are smallish rural exchanges approx 3000 of them
Market 2's tend to be mid way - around 800 of them.

Regardless of when/if LLU operators actually move in the exchange is only actually re-graded when OFCOM does a review. When the next one is due is anyone's guess. The last was 2010 with the regrading announced in early 2011. This point is regularly brought up on the plusnet forums by people in exactly this position wanting to take advantage of lower prices now that their exchange has multiple operators but sitting there awaiting the next review date.........

LadyMorticia

The in-laws have Plusnet and I know some people have had good experiences but they haven't. The internet connection is unstable and they can only get a max of 3mbps.

When we moved into our own place a couple of months ago we went with BT, but only primarily because we needed them to connect up our sockets and need unlimited downloads. However, our extensions haven't actually been connected (it's a new-build) and BT wanted £200 to do it. We've found a local telephone engineer who will do it for £40.
We get about 6mbps here, which I know doesn't seem alot to some people, but we live in Somerset which has some of the worst broadband speeds in the country so it's quite good for our village.
Also, deviantART wouldn't load at all on the in-laws internet but it loads perfectly fine here!