Help choosing ISP provider + calls

hr_money

Hi,
Perhaps someone on here can help with some advice.

My current ISP provider is AOL (owned by TalkTalk) and my phone line/calls provided by TalkTalk. Both contracts have expired.

My internet connection has been appalling just recently which has meant the signal dropping in and out which is really annoying when in the middle of something on the PC.

I've entered my details into samknows and come up with providers in my area. I am considering currently either O2 (I have my iPhone with them) or Sky. I am, of course, looking for the best deal cost wise, but I also want a decent service. Jointly at the present time I am paying about £35 per month for these services.

Does anyone have any advice which is the better operator, is unlimited downloads best, or can I reasonably cap at 60mb etc? I'm not sure how to check current usage. I've also seen threads re. plusnet, but have no knowledge about how reliable they are.

Any advice welcome thanks.

honestsammy

I've been with Plus net for a few years and they are solid and cheap. Currently phone (evening and weekend free) costs £12.99 or 9.75 if you pay it all up front. 60Gb download broadband is half price at 5.74 currently. Service I've found to be very good generally and call centres are in the UK with an 0800 number.

HOWEVER! I am at the end of my contract and they won't let me take the offer above so I've been looking about and have just seen that https://www.bethere.co.uk are offering half price in September! Similar deal except unlimited broadband should be £16.50 all in. I think it's also a very good company but going to look at their service rating a bit later.

hr_money

honestsammy wrote: »

I've been with Plus net for a few years and they are solid and cheap. Currently phone (evening and weekend free) costs £12.99 or 9.75 if you pay it all up front. 60Gb download broadband is half price at 5.74 currently. Service I've found to be very good generally and call centres are in the UK with an 0800 number.

HOWEVER! I am at the end of my contract and they won't let me take the offer above so I've been looking about and have just seen that www.bethere.co.uk are offering half price in September! Similar deal except unlimited broadband should be £16.50 all in. I think it's also a very good company but going to look at their service rating a bit later.

Many thanks for replying - think I will investigate further. I have done a broadband speed test through uswitch and its come out that BT is the best in my area. Not sure how reliable that information is or a sales pitch leaning towards BT! Gonna have a look now

honestsammy

Bethere looks comparable to plusnet although sample sizes for bethere are low so comparisons maybe taken with a pinch of salt. Plusnet are owned by BT but not sure that means anything!

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/compare.html?isp_4=1&isp_77=1&isp_21=1&commit=Compare

honestsammy

Would take the speed test thing with a pinch of salt too!
Once you're signed on all sorts of complex variables will account for your speed, including the types of traffic you are downloading, the number of customers BT have sharing your pipe, and that's just the stuff I have heard about but don't understand!
My plus net line speed has varied from 0.5 to 3Mbps over the years and is now a very steady 1.5. I would stay with them if they offered me the deal for new customers.

hr_money

honestsammy wrote: »

Would take the speed test thing with a pinch of salt too!
Once you're signed on all sorts of complex variables will account for your speed, including the types of traffic you are downloading, the number of customers BT have sharing your pipe, and that's just the stuff I have heard about but don't understand!
My plus net line speed has varied from 0.5 to 3Mbps over the years and is now a very steady 1.5. I would stay with them if they offered me the deal for new customers.

Thank you - have done the speed test twice and slightly different results each time.

Websites have got so much info its difficult to make an informed choice! :rotfl:

hr_money

OK, updated to say I've gone with Plusnet in the end and hope it will be a significant improvement to my current ISP. Thanks for the advice honestsammy.

Plusnet_company_representative

Hi all,

@hr_money - thanks very much for choosing us, hope we impress. If there's anything we can help with please don't hesitate to ask - we will pick things up here but are more easily found in our own community forums (community.plus.net/forum).

@honestsammy - sorry to hear you're getting mixed messages, if you could post a ticket ID we'll be able to find your account from that and let you know what'd be available for you? I'm quite sure we could better your current deal at the very least.

Kind regards,

Matt Taylor
Customer Support

honestsammy

Oh yeah, forgot to say that they have a crack ninja team of forum guys picking up messages and replying! Must say that that part of the service is particularly good, and sometimes better than calling up.

Damn! I forgot that I could have got a referral if you used my user name when you joined!!! :rotfl:

Hope the change over goes smoothly mr_honey!

@Plus.net ninja - I'll raise a ticket - cheers!

macman

If the signal drop is due to a line fault, then switching ISP's will make no difference. Did you try changing the wireless channel if connecting by wireless? That could be all that was required to fix the problem..
PS: your contracts haven't expired-your minimum term has, you are still in a contract which requires 30 days notice.