Cheapest Broadband Provider Discussion

Stumpy

sarinkov wrote:

Our exchange has just been upgraded today to enable broadband and I have no idea where to go from here.

Been looking around and madasafish looks about right but what's the best one? Is there a list somewhere.

I'm looking for under £20, not too heavy useage and not too bothered about it being lightning speed - just want decent reliable service.

Can anyone help?
TIA

Best bet is to have a good look at various IP homepages, have a look at the prices and the deals on offer (especially when you need the equipment as well) - the first time, I ended up doing a little spreadsheet totalling the cost per year for the first year, and for each year after that. The other thing to consider is the contract length - some you are tied into for 12 months (or longer) others only have one month contracts.

Then once you've found a few that seem about right price-wise, go to https://www.adslguide.org.uk where, for a lot of them anyway, you'll be able to compare various providers for things like speed, reliability, customer services, etc. And it might be worth, once you've narrowed it down, going to their forums as well to ask. Oh - and if you find one or two you like, try their own forums, if you can find them - best place to find any complaints about them.

From my personal experience, I'd avoid the ones like tiscali, freeserve, virgin, BT, etc - from what I can tell and from what I have experienced, they're okay until something goes wrong, and then customer services are dreadful.

I've been looking for somewhere to migrate to recently (ie, I already have a broadband connection and the equipment) and there have been a couple I've come up with - theres v21, e7even, ndo (who I'm with currently - excellent speed and consistency, just a bit pricy now) and the one I'm thinking of going over to which is plusnet.

You also want to check things like number of e-mail addresses, how much you're allowed to download per month (whether its capped or not), if it is capped, how much they charge when you go over, how much web space you get, etc.

And if you need to connect more than one computer to the internet, you'll need a router, rather than the standard modem you get with these packages.

You can also check to see if there is cable in your area, as you can often get special deals with these that can include digital TV and telephone, although then if you want to change later it's a lot more difficult.

HTH.

WebJunkie007

Sarinkov - I have broadband with freenetname which is the sister company of Madasafish. I would recommend them. My connection is good and the service is as promised. I have contacted their customer service on e-mail a few times and they were very helpful.

loveabargin

My broadband is with ntl (2mb) I recently contacted them with regard to disconnecting as I was looking for a better deal. They offered me 4 months free and £12.50 a month there after. I asked them if I accepted there offer would I be tied in with them for another year and they said no so the deal was done.

I have a ntl email address and would like to set up a email address that I wont have to change should I decide to swap providers. I would prefer it to include my name also be free if poss. What website's would you recommend please ?

Roger_Rampant

I'd recommend Gmail, lots of free invites available on the net, I can send you one if you're struggling, just PM me with your current email addy and I'll send over an invite

loveabargin

Thanks roger_rampant I have pm you.

Gem_

Virgin seem to be one of the best providors price wise at the moment and have a fair reputation for customer service as well.

For low users the option 3 package at £14.99 a month with no set up fee and no 12 month contract is almost too good to be true.

http://www.virgin.net/internetaccess/broadband/planthree/

they do offer a 17.99 package and a 24.99 package (6gb and 20gb pf download respectivly).

It is really the zero set up fee and zero contract that attracted me though.

Gem

WebJunkie007

Hey Gem_ while Virgin don't have a "12 month contract" they charge you £50 for leaving prior to when the 12 months is up.

"Leaving Virgin.net Broadband:

If you ordered Virgin.net Broadband on or after 7th June 2005 and you wish to leave, you'll need to give us 30 days notice of your cancellation. In addition, while we don't tie you into a 12 month contact (unlike most broadband providers), we do reserve the right to apply a £50 cancellation charge if your service is cancelled within 12 months of activation. Unfortunately, this charge is necessary due to the cost of activating your broadband service."

http://www.virgin.net/internetaccess/broadband/faqs/index.html#cancellations

huggermugger

Hi

Various people have recommended getting a domain name to make moving ISP easier - could you please explain what this is and where is the best place to get one? I tried googling and got hundreds of sites - too much choice again!

BigSky_3

Thanks PF.

In my raging anger I put the post on the wrong board.

I've calmed down now!!!

BigSky

Stumpy

Virgin - yurgh - don't touch with a bargepole. Dreadful company. (actually, their wines are quite nice, and I currently have a 0% credit card of theirs - but the IP is awful!!). I was with them for approximately a year - the best customer service I got from them was prior to joining, when they were very helpful. After that, it all went downhill. They over-extended themselves, couldn't provide the service, kept getting disconnected - often for long periods of time - when I complained about it (which I did several times) they used all sorts of excuses - primarily that there was something wrong with my settings, or my computer, or I had a virus. It took about two months for them to admit that they had had problems and couldn't cope with the demand. I then had another month or so of e-mails back and forth trying to claim some compensation, it got better for a month, then got worse again, so I gave up. Then took me about another month of e-mails, phone calls, etc, to, first of all, get a code to enable me to migrate, then to get them to allow BT to release the line from them so I could go with the new company (this had to be resubmitted twice). In the end I had to correspond with some special "problem solving team" that had a vague understanding of what "migration" meant.

Definately was well unimpressed with customer services. Even wrote a very long letter to Mr Branson (even got a short compliment slip back saying he would reply shortly). Needless to say he didn't feel the urge to deal with it.

(can you tell I'm still not happy with them )