Internet Access Discussion area

grumpyoldman_3

I also have had no problems with the German ISPS, using 1899... up till now.All plugs now appear to have been pulled!! Have tried most of the options suggested by oliverkinne,but with no success.
Any more suggestions anyone, for cheap internet access?

theloft

grumpyoldman wrote:

I also have had no problems with the German ISPS, using 1899... up till now.All plugs now appear to have been pulled!! Have tried most of the options suggested by oliverkinne,but with no success.
Any more suggestions anyone, for cheap internet access?

Although I haven't had to use the alternative dial-ups lately, as Fast 4 have been OK, but last night could not get connected so used the 1899 freenet method and as you say, the plugs seem to have been pulled! Could not access any of them, so I guess 1899 have sussed that MSE members were exploiting the cheap calls. Any other recommendations anyone ?? If you don't want it broadcast, please send me a PM. thanks.

grumpyoldman_3

Retried using the 1899 method, and guess what, all back up and running now.Must have been a temporary glitch...yippee!! :j

andy88_2

Fine, but don''t forget to keep an eye on the call charges. USA was free a while back, but not forever. UK calls have been 0p/min on 1899 since Sept or so.

theloft

andy88 wrote:

Fine, but don''t forget to keep an eye on the call charges. USA was free a while back, but not forever. UK calls have been 0p/min on 1899 since Sept or so.

Andy88 is right. I have just checked and GERMANY no longer appears as a Super Value rate !! In fact it does not appear at all (except for mobiles). I have e-mailed them asking the question, will let you know when they reply, because although the deal is that they tell you the rate before connection, this does not always work and certainly doesn't if you are using it for Internet purposes. So Beware, you may be paying more than you think, in which case you can use a local call rate one in the UK. e.g. https://www.aardvaak.net.

theloft

Well I've had a reply back from 1899 and they state that calls to landlines are still 3p per call from a BT line :T But it is well worth watching to see if the rate changes. Strange they are not showing it as a special though!

F1_Saver

Last year the monthly average I paid for anytime dial-up internet access was £5.66. This was using a combination of Freeserve/Wanadoo, Tesco and BT Yahoo. For the first 6 months of this year my average is £6.08 per month using Wanadoo only even though it would normally cost £14.99 per month.

I have kept the costs down by taking advantage of introductory offers such as the first three months for half price (£7.49) with Wanadoo. Just before this offer comes to an end, I phone Wanadoo to switch from the anytime package to pay as you go.
When they ask why, I say that I am switching to Tesco anytime as it is cheaper (which it is but I still wouldn't pay £12.49 per month). More often than not they will try to keep my custom my offering me another deal such as the next three months for £6.99 per month or 1 month free or even on one occasion the next three months free.
In the event that they do not offer me another deal, I will cancel anyway and then sign up for another three month half price introductory offer in my wifes name. After these three months I can sign up for the three month half price offer in my name again as the offer is not just open to new customers but also to existing customers who want to upgrade from a different package (such as pay as you go).
Therefore as long as this offer is available (which it has been for probably two years now), you can keep alternating between two user accounts and pay a maximum of £7.49 per month.

As I mentioned before, I have also used Tesco and BT Yahoo, this has been when they have also had offers on and have worked out cheaper than Wanadoo.

I know that there are cheaper ISP's available but I have heard of some connection problems but with Wanadoo and the other ISP's I have mentioned, I have never had any problem connecting and always connect at a reasonable speed. Therefore I get the benefit of a reliable connection at a price cheaper than some less reliable ISP's.
I have not paid the full monthly price for at least two years now and this is part of the reason why I have not switched to broadband yet.

One tip I would give if you choose to do the same thing is to rename your connection with something like 'Wanadoo Cancel B4 09.06.05'. This will hopefully prevent you forgetting to phone up at the end of the offer period so that you don't get charged full price the next month.

pinksterp_2

i have just called wanadoo and they say they are not offering any introductory offers on their anytime dial-up at the moment. what a shame, this looked like a great moneysaving tip!

Victors_Bruvver

I do hope that this is the right place to ask if someone help me please as I feel I have been suckered into the higher charges for a BT BB connection. The section of my letter below was sent to them on the 2 February this year:

“I am completely and utterly confused with how and what internet/broadband products you are offering your customers, and I suspect the reason is to get your customers to subscribe for the more expensive BT Yahoo Broadband service, including myself.

I originally subscribed to BT Internet which you changed to BT Yahoo Internet. That was fine by me because I did not think that it would really make much difference. Now that Broadband has arrived in my village I have had to subscribe to Yahoo Broadband at £26.99 a month. All I want is to have BT as my ISP and keep my email addresses. I get very miffed when I see that you have a £19.99 (now 17.99) package, and that, I think, is what I should have been told I could have. I.E. I do not want to download videos or music or even play games on the web.

I have all the internet security and firewalls packages from a reputable international software company, so why have I got to pay BT for something I already have?

Where, in the last couple of years, did I agree to go over to BT Yahoo, surely my original agreement was with BT Internet? Can you explain please?"

The answer, nearly some six months on from BT, is that there is nothing they can do about it as it is TWO different companies I have been dealing with BT Retail and BT Yahoo, the latter I suspect is something to do with BT Wholesale. can anyone adviseif I barking up the wrong tree?

If this is in the wrong thread please remove it.

kinesin_2

theloft wrote:

Well I've had a reply back from 1899 and they state that calls to landlines are still 3p per call from a BT line :T But it is well worth watching to see if the rate changes. Strange they are not showing it as a special though!

the 1899 website is now showing Germary as 0.5 pence/min. - Time to find another free dial-up ISP??? :money: