Cheapest Broadband Provider Discussion

BexTech

huggermugger wrote:

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!

https://www.1and1.co.uk and http://www.123-reg.co.uk are two of the best for domain names.

As an example https://www.bextech.co.uk is my domain name, I can have set up email addresses as myname@bextech.co.uk.

Depending on the service you pay for any email sent to an email address at your domain name can be forwarded to your ISP email, you just update the details where to forward to whenever you change ISPs, so your email address stays the same. The other way is to pay a little extra and have pop/smtp email service so the email isn't forwarded but you pull your emails off the server as you would with your ISP email.

1&1 charge 69p+vat per month for pop3 email and £1.99+vat per year for your domain name.

You can point your domain name to your ISPs free web-space, or you can pay a little more again and have your website hosted by your domain provider (this will also include pop3 email).

Roger_Rampant

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!

I tend to shy away from things that cost money, when you can achieve the same effect for free. I use web-based email, and I have two main accounts

One is a Hotmail account, www.hotmail.com, and I give my Hotmail address to websites that insist on having an email address from me. I have Hotmail set up to automatically put messages from anybody that isn't in my contacts list straight into the junkmail folder

My "real" email addy, which I give out to friends and family, is my Gmail account. I have plenty of invites to Gmail available for anybody who wants them, just PM me, or there are plenty available elsewhere on the web. I currently have 2398 Mb of storage with Gmail (all free), and it increases over time so that you don't need to delete your archived emails

I can use the Hotmail and Gmail accounts from anywhere in the world, and changing my ISP doesn't affect them. Also I avoid the potential security problems of using Outlook Express

huggermugger

Hi

Have spent ages trawling this forum and the adsl guide and find myself no further forward so am hoping I can get some semi-specific advice...

I currently have dial up and a fairly ancient computer running Windows 98. I would like to upgrade partly for increased speed (just because I get bored waiting for things to load) and partly to free up the phone line.

We use an internet connection less than 3 hours a day on average for surfing and e-mail. We don't download anything other than the occasional adobe text file and don't play games. We're not techie but we can use our common sense and follow instructions.

I don't want to pay more than £15 a month, don't have the money to pay annual fees up front & prefer not to pay set-up charges. Slightly wary of buying modems etc so would prefer a package. As it would be our only connection & I do rely on it, would like reliable provider.

Was attracted by Tiscali & UK Online packages but have been seriously put off by all the reports of problems...

Am I asking too much/wishful thinking??

Sorry for long post but am really boggled by all this and have already spent hours trying to sort it out!

Sally-Ann

BexTech

I hate web based email services, much prefer pop3, though the pop3 email addresses I have can be accessed via their web-based interface for when I'm away from my PC.

BexTech

huggermugger wrote:

Hi

Have spent ages trawling this forum and the adsl guide and find myself no further forward so am hoping I can get some semi-specific advice...

I currently have dial up and a fairly ancient computer running Windows 98. I would like to upgrade partly for increased speed (just because I get bored waiting for things to load) and partly to free up the phone line.

We use an internet connection less than 3 hours a day on average for surfing and e-mail. We don't download anything other than the occasional adobe text file and don't play games. We're not techie but we can use our common sense and follow instructions.

I don't want to pay more than £15 a month, don't have the money to pay annual fees up front & prefer not to pay set-up charges. Slightly wary of buying modems etc so would prefer a package. As it would be our only connection & I do rely on it, would like reliable provider.

Was attracted by Tiscali & UK Online packages but have been seriously put off by all the reports of problems...

Am I asking too much/wishful thinking??

Sorry for long post but am really boggled by all this and have already spent hours trying to sort it out!

Sally-Ann

I use Pipex as they are extremely reliable, though I could see https://www.plus.net being ideal for yourself (also reliable), even with the faster internet connection on an 'ancient' machine you may not see much difference as it struggles to keep up with the data being thrown at it, this depends on how ancient is ancient, at least it does free up your phone line.

huggermugger

Thanks for the suggestion BexTech - my computer is a few years old which seems to count as ancient. Can't remember the spec & forgotten how to check... it's got a celeron thingy!

SA

BexTech

If it is two - three years old, it should be more than adequate.

You can speed up web browsing by disabling java, activex, adverts, flash etc, and just switch them on when you come across a site the will not work without them.

Felix_the_Cash

I notice Ukonline are now offering no connection charge. So it's a straight £9.99 a month.

I'm about to sign up - if any existing member wants to 'recommend' me - I understand there's some kind of benefit. Do it in the next 10 mins!!!

nemo183

huggermugger wrote:

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!

I'm sure you've probably got this fixed by now, but if you haven't, I'd suggest https://www.mail.com

They have a number of services on offer, although I wouldn't recommend the free one. I think I paid about £20 for ads free 2 year deal of "yourname"@mail.com, but if you don't like @mail.com, they've got a wide choice of others.

This is not the same as having a domain name, but a domain name can be a pain - it needs hosting, and paying for.

That's why I'd suggest mail.com as a simple online email service - easy to use, access from anywhere, quite cheap, and you can change ISP as often as you wish.

theloft

nemo183 wrote:

I'm sure you've probably got this fixed by now, but if you haven't, I'd suggest https://www.mail.com
That's why I'd suggest mail.com as a simple online email service - easy to use, access from anywhere, quite cheap, and you can change ISP as often as you wish.

Yes, fine, but why pay £20 per year when you can have Google mail (gmail) completely free. 2GB of storage and you can take it with you to any ISP, download using OE or similar, etc. etc. I have invites if you want any, but you have to send me a PM with your current e-mail address. Unless of course nemo183 can suggest a good reason why mail.com is worth the £20 per annum. I have no axe to grind but this is a money saving forum!!