BROADBAND services - NI

Belfastbelle

Hi-
BROADBAND - 2 issues:

I am on tiscali at the minute- @ £17.99 (supposedly unlimited) per month.
Are there any better deals?

[They've just told me that as per their "Fair Use Policy" I am a large user and they will now restrict my service to share with other large users.
The service is now -very slow- between the peak hrs of 6-11 pm weekdays.
We buy music and download bought shows from the U.S.
- I CAN'T see how that is any different from other users (might be a bit more than some) BUT - are they having me on?
- or is someone else tapping into my service? Unbeknown to me??
Should I be worried about that and how would I know its happening???]
:eek:

declanh

Belfastbelle wrote: »

Hi-
BROADBAND - 2 issues:

I am on tiscali at the minute- @ £17.99 (supposedly unlimited) per month.
Are there any better deals?

[They've just told me that as per their "Fair Use Policy" I am a large user and they will now restrict my service to share with other large users.
The service is now -very slow- between the peak hrs of 6-11 pm weekdays.
We buy music and download bought shows from the U.S.
- I CAN'T see how that is any different from other users (might be a bit more than some) BUT - are they having me on?
- or is someone else tapping into my service? Unbeknown to me??
Should I be worried about that and how would I know its happening???]
:eek:

Do you have a wireless router, and if so do you have security enabled ?
Unsecured wireless could mean that others can use your service.

Most routers have a status page which shows how much traffic has been thru the router.

You can check this with your expectations based on your usage and with what tiscali claim you are using.

AceCobra

Apart from the wireless security issue yu may actually find you are an above average user, downloading music/video will certainly eat bandwidth. I tend to avoid companys that offer unlimited useage with a FUP because in essence they have you over a barrel, they decide whats fair and whats not.

Migrate to a similar provider without a FUP, Primus is a good example who I'm with at the moment.

Martin.

bopper_2

Hi all, I am moving house this week and have been thinking about signing up with Tiscali. They aredoing a deal for 8mb with anytime phone calls for £19.99. But am I right in thinking you cant download music or movies in peak time only? If I do this in off peak times will they still restrict my line?? Anyone else using this offer?? The other one is Talk Talk but I've heard that their service including the free phone calls is not available yet?? Another one is orange broadband who are also bundling free calls. Basically I want to take advantage of the free calls, so can anyone recommend any providers or are there any satisfied Tiscali customers out there??? You help is appreciated.

bopper_2

Oh, and does anyone use the Bt home hub broadband thingy?

Milko

I'm currently with Sky BB with an alledged 8meg connection but a phone line only capable of 5.5meg and an actual connection of 3meg !

But hey for £5 a month and a further £5 a month for telephone calls inc. international and free wireless router and Mcafee securtiy it's well worth it IMO

Robothell

I'm looking at the Talk Talk one at the moment cos it looks like a good deal. I know some people have had bad experiences but they seem to have smoothed out now. As for availability, I apparently can get the Talk Talk 3 International package in Belfast. Anyone have any experiences with them or can recommend a suitable alternative?

Al64

Bopper, I've had the BT home hub for quite a while now - the user interface from the original firmware was terrible but has improved with the current version. I know people have had problems with it but it has been fairly stable for me

Belfastbelle

thanks for the info...will do a check now on other providers
(dont have wireless router etc)

Broadband ~ will check Sky, BT, AOL, UTV...any others??:j

Wee_Bargain_Hunter

Hi Belfastbelle, sorry to hijack your topic . I've got some info for you though, as well as questions for any kind folk out there who can answer.

Anyone know if NTL/Virgin are any good? I rang & got their prices:
if you take another servce then the prices are:

• £10 (med) 2mb
• £17 (l) 4
• £24 (xl) 10

Its £8 more if you just take the broadband. They said it was unlimited but i didn't ask about a FUP.

Also, i've been told because it's cable then you get the bandwidth you pay for - anyone know?

Generally, is there much of a mess with cables & drilling holes etc when you get broadband installed?

Thanks

Raven

Wee Bargain Hunter

Firstly if I can suggest there may be better Ntl/Virgin deals to be had if you press them a bit more because they are havin a bit of a go at Sky at the moment - so taking the Tv may give you a good deal. There are many threads on other forums that may help with this but its always down to how well you drive the negotiations.

(I've just got my prices lowered, got the XL tv with free phonecalls 24/7 to landlines anywhere in the uk plus 4Mb broadband for £30)

Plus it looks like a free upgrade to 8mb is coming in May.


At peak times I sometimes only get 3mb download but it really doesn't make a big difference when compared to the days of 56k dial-up, my upload is always pretty constant about 375k.

Most of our family have switched to Ntl and the mess during fitting has been minimal and even though our garden had to be tracked for the cable it was a neat job and back to normal very quick but maybe others can offer other viewpoints.


Hope thats of some help.


Raven