Cheapest Broadband Provider Discussion

justanother_3

Has anyone have any opinion about a good deal from TALKTALK? 1 Mb broadband with evening and weekend UK calls free for £14.99. they are offering free modem and connection. Sounds interesting

ZUBAIR_3

bulldog is offering 4mg broadband unlimited use for £19.50.unbelievable!!!!.can anyone beat this deal?

ZUBAIR_3

unclekim wrote:

tiscali are rubbish they closed my account after they changed their terms and conditions because they said l was downloading too much and now l cant get them off my line to install a new isp, account closed 7/02/05 and they sais 10 days to remove their marker from telephone line it is still here today and l am reduced to dial up for the internet after repeated calls to high charge telephone number they now admit my account is closed but still hav'nt removed the marker so l can get an new isp which will be pipiex 1mb for £23.44pm tiscali's help line is in india so you have to speak to someone their and they only go by thier info on the computer that tells them how to fix thing parrot fashion l would not advise anyone to use tiscali look on some of the fourm sites like the scream to see what they are like

try bulldog broadband for fast speed of 4MG with no limit on downloads for only £19.50

gradgrind

crunchy_with_ketchup wrote:

It's important to note when comparing broadband deals that there are two types of connection.

The most common type is IPstream, and users of an IPstream service can switch between providers (subject to any minimum contract length) at a low cost with no loss of service.

Some providers (including Tiscali and Bulldog) install their own equipment in local exchanges, and you connect to this (service known as Datastream). If you have a Datastream product and want to change service providers, you have to cease your ADSL line and then get it reprovided, which normaly takes 7-10 days *and* you can't get the lower cost "migration" fee, you have to pay a new connection fee.

Also Datastream services can have real capacity problems, as the ISPs often use low bandwidth lines from each exchange, so if there are a lot of users locally your speed can hit the floor.

So, while Tiscali are undeniably cheap, switching away will be difficult, and you may encounter more problems with lack of speed.

These are good points, ketchup, but I don't think it stops there...
Many others have mentioned the comparison site https://www.adslguide.org.uk There is one other thing to look at when comparing ISPs: how much bandwidth do they have to the internet? If you're getting an amazing deal, but the ISP is swamped with users and only has a limited connection to the internet, you won't get high speed.

Finally (for me), what about the extras? Do you get mailboxes? Are they virus/spam protected? What about some free webspace? Worth looking at, if you might have a use for these extras in the future.

As with many of the others who have posted here, I'm with freedom 2 surf, and very happy with an uncapped 512K.

I think the original article approached this purely from a cost point of view, and not from any notion of technical quality, let alone customer service.

DevonWolf

I very rarely recommend anything, but I have to tell everyone thinking of either starting or migrating to a new provider about E7even.

Their service in all respects has been 1st class over the 13 mths I have been with them and they will shortly be upgrading in April to new servers giving even faster connections.


Ta

theloft

I have been reading some of these posts again just to keep updated, as I am still looking for that "offer I cannot refuse" to switch to BB from dial-up. However I am amazed that after all the bad posts about Tiscali, MSE Martin is recommending them as a Best Buy for newbie BBers in his latest newsletter.
:money: Why ??

MSE_Martin

OK let me answer some of these points. I think to start let me quote from the article

Advanced MoneySavers note. Price versus Service

This is a MoneySaving site, price is the prime concern. Yet service and speed matter, and in the world of technology there are often complex limiting factors e.g. contention ratios.

Publishing my ‘broadband article’ often involves a deep breath, as there are many different views when it comes to technology and MoneySaving techies always argue fiercely. There’s certainly a place for technological merit and its valid, but its not my core remit. This article is written for regular users looking for good value broadband that works.

However, I always find Adslguide.org.uk is a cracking site for those wanting the techie view to balance against the MoneySaving, or of course you can use the Chat Forum link to discuss it yourself.

Now to address a couple of specific points.

1. Theloft - The answers simple - 1. remember the article comes first the comments are afterwards. 2. I've never written a broadband article without every suppiler being slagged off - it happens everytime and i'm sanguine about it.

The funny thing is when you have an email like mine with many flooding in - i get complaints about every company. They're normally balanced, the reason Tiscali is mentioned is as its the lead recommendation. I've also seen many people email and compliment the service too - its a mainstream big supplier of course it gets some things wrong, they all do, for newcomers its an easy, cheap option.

2. TalkTalk. Yes I'm aware of TalkTalk's 14.99 offer yet it requires you to have its phone line too. The article deliberately is the best 'standalone' broadband provider because confusing the two means you end up using a more expensive phone providers e.g. Talk Talk. Of course more sophisticated MoneySavers can sign up to Talk Talk and use call18866 to override the calls and take advantage of the broadband offer, but to start adding that level of confusion to something most already find complex was i decided something best left to the forums not the article.

Overall as i note in the quoted bit from the article above - broadband recommendations always quote this level of discussion. I would ask you to remember that while it seems from the forums that most people reading this site are sophisticated MoneySavers, actually that's not true.

The people in the forums tend to have good knowledge, but that is less than 15% of the actual readers and users of the site. When I write i have to write for everyone, and therefore this article is more commonly read by those with little time, interest or understanding of the issues. I write on MoneySaving, as i note in the article for the more technical ends of stuff then adslguide is a good option.

And finally i would add i so often get emails in all areas such as

"Company A is a nightmare, terrible, I've had an awful case with them, why are you recommending them" from someone who then considers every customer has had this experience

yet my next email will be

"Thanks so much for telling me about Company A, it's been fantastic I've saved a fortune".

So while for many individuals some companies are pants, for others they're great. I judge from the macro level of seeing hundreds of pieces of feedback together

Martin

nik_2

I recently signed up with https://www.totalise.co.uk service ok so far and with the offer at the moment 2 months free it is a good deal may not be the cheapest but £17.99 with 2 free months free modem and no activation charge it's not bad

omicron_2

Could anyone confirm the theory that some broadband enabled exchanges have a limitation which means that they cannot deliver anything greater than - say - 512kb? (even if you have signed up for a 2MB connection)

e.g. I have heard this about some rural exchanges in Wales. If this is true, where can one find out details before signing up?

Also, is there a good link to find out more about datastream and IPstream?

Excellent conference by the way ...

DVB_3

The restriction imposed on speed normally comes from the length of the line between the exchange and the end-user. https://www.adslguide.org.uk is a good place to learn about ADSL and you can use the BT ADSL checker to find out more about your line and exchange. Here is the link to it from the adslguide: http://www.adslguide.org.uk/availability/btchecker.asp