Cheapest Broadband Provider Discussion

BexTech

There are far less people sharing a cable connection than there is sharing an ADSL connection.

At peak times with ADSL you will receive a poorer service, usually more so than cable.

He may be the 1st of five people to be on that segment.

Roger_Rampant

Ah OK, thanks for clarifying that. Sounds as though what I was told is correct, but that there is a similar problem with ADSL too...

Celtic

At the moment we pay 50p a month for unlimited calls in the uk with telewest,
The tv package gives us more of the channels we need for less than sky and you do not have problems in bad weather.
One of the good things about telewest is you can incress the speed of your internet connection or just the tv package for 30 days at a time .
The problem with bt is that all the cables ect are very old around here but telewest is new and heavily used and we are not near the exchange !
The technical people at telewest told me each user has their own line for internet there is no sharing on telewest.

Celtic

Sorry the unlimited calls are at weekend only !
But thats when we call the most .

BexTech

There is sharing on Telewest, just not as much as ADSL.

You shouldn't loose the picture on satellite, unless you have a poor installation, and in very very extreme weather. The phenomenon is called "Rain Fade". A slightly bigger dish will help with the UK weather.

I'm getting the free digital TV with Telewest as I am having their broadband this week, as mentioned above, wouldn't get rid of satellite, as for less money, you get many more channels - granted around 100 are FTA so require no subscription.

If you still have Sky Digital installed, might as well use that for the 100 FTA channels in addition to the few you get with cable.

Sharpy

Did anyone see Watchdog Tonight (6th September 2005) It had on there about Bulldog. It was saying how bad their Customer Service is and that they are getting billings wrong and customers are waiting 9 hours just to get to speak to a rep. (who waits on the phone for 9hrs) anyway Bulldog not in the Good books at mo...

shagzdan

What about this Possible free surfing for xx months then like a card tart switch isp's, theres only a small catch.
Im going to try when I hook up with ASDL
register with Lixxus but don't download anything then migrate to a freebee or no migratory cost company etc...
Its a tight race still but hopefully the Isp field will wither.

signmeup

Hi guys

When looking at ADSL just bear in mind the usage caps that the majority of ADSL providers enforce.

When comparing cable and ADSL both are contended services and are likely to degrade at peak times. Your service will depend on your region of the counrty as network infrastructures are not the same nationally. Your best bet is to ask friends / neighbours in your area as to the performance of certain providers as this should give you a relative idea.

If Telewest is available in your area then I would generally say go for it over ADSL. Reasons being, their service is uncapped so you don't have to worry about usage limits. They offer 24 hour tech support at local call rates and it is UK based. Telewest always own the cable modem so if it breaks they have to replace it. If you buy an ADSL modem and it breaks outside the warranty you have to replace it yourself. You also need to buy micro filters for ADSL too.

Cable is a better network infrastructure for high speed broadband. You won't get reliable 10meg connections anytime soon from ADSL whereas cable will deliver this before the end of the year. Also cable companies deliver TV over their networks so they want to keep them as stable as possible, as people will usually notice the loss of their TV over their internet connection. Telewest are planning on a lot of network upgrades from what I understand so contention issues should not be too much of a worry.

The best deals I can see at the moment are Telewest's 512Kbps service for £9.99 for 12 months (you do need to take telephone too at £10.50) or £14.99 if taken alone. From what I can see on the site the £14.99 offer should include the free upgrade to 2meg whereas the £9.99 doesn't. Where else can you get 2meg uncapped for less than £15? (these offers finish at the end of this month according to the site).

http://www.telewest.co.uk/html/specialoffers/internet.html

If you have any questions you want answering about Broadband then just PM me.

HTH

BexTech

Those offers also ended at the end of last month too, though there is a risk that next month will be the last month on those offers.

peteraj

ADSL4LESS seem to have some very good deals, I am in the process of a migration to them from OneTel and it will save me £45 on the first year after taking the £15 migration fee into account. At £14.99 for a 512Kbps unlimited downloads I have not come across anything else at the same price & they seem reliable (I know someone else who uses them without problems).
http://adsl4less.co.uk/cheapest-broadband.htm