Need some advice, should I change from O2?

chelle

After reading Martin's latest email, I am thinking of changing phone/broadband provider.

Currently with O2, who have been brilliant, never had an issue (have used Sky and BT before and the service was appalling).

Currently pay £9.50 per month for home broadband standard, and £11.50 for phone evening and weekend.

My main concern about changing is download allowance. We currently run 2 laptops, 2 desktops (gaming), iPads, iPods, and xboxes.

We rarely download, but a lot of online gaming. (Some games are bought online through steam and I assume downloaded).

We currently have unlimited usage, am I better to try and find an unlimited package again, or will a 20mg limit be sufficient.

Trying to save money, but so confusing!

HappyMJ

£21 a month is good.

You may want to consider FTTC? Plus.net is doing an unlimited deal for £9.99 a month plus line rental. It'll cost more in the long run though as once the deal is finished it'll cost £19.99 a month which is much more than you are currently paying.

chelle

Thanks.
Glad I didn't just jump in quickly and change to the cheapest provider!

Nathanparkes

I've not read this email, am I to assume O2 are going to be capping at 20GB?
Steam does download over the internet, and with the average game being anywhere between 2 and 8GB, 20GB can soon get used up. It may be worth sticking with O2 and see if you get any warnings about your usage with them. If you find you're being throttled or receiving letters/emails about your usage, it may be time to get a bigger allowance or even a new provider.

Sky offer an unlimited package with no fair use policy, but their customer service is very hit and miss.
Virgin media is Cable/Fibre so distance from exchange isn't an issue like with ADSL, however when you call them, they let you choose hold music. Never a good sign for wait times if they're letting you choose the music you'll be listening to.
Try a broadband comparison service and see if there are any good deals you can take advantage of.

chelle

No the email was basically saying to check you do not pay too much.
But was going to change to Primus, the data allowance is 20GB.
I have emailed O2, to see how much we use a month, to be able to make a fair comparison.

JenniWR

chelle wrote: »

Currently pay £9.50 per month for home broadband standard, and £11.50 for phone evening and weekend.

That seems like a good price, depending on your usage allowance (and, of course, whether you'll be hitting your usage allowance!) Contrary to popular believe, gaming does not use a lot of data unless you're hosting the game (although of course downloading via Steam, PSN or XBox Live! will do). What do you use all these devices for? Browsing on the laptop, gaming on the desktops/XBox and checking emails on the phones will not eat into your allowance. downloading movies on the laptops, streaming iPlayer on the XBox and using Spotify and internet radio on the phones will!

HappyMJ wrote: »

£21 a month is good.

You may want to consider FTTC? Plus.net is doing an unlimited deal for £9.99 a month plus line rental. It'll cost more in the long run though as once the deal is finished it'll cost £19.99 a month which is much more than you are currently paying.

FTTC is great where it's available, but in many areas is barely quicker than ADSL2+ (although quicker than ADSL2+ would be in that area). I'm looking here particularly at Northern Ireland. A quick search on samknows.com should tell you if your exchange is FTTC enabled, but does not necessarily indicate whether your cabinet is - best bet (if you do need the additional speed) is to ring the ISP!

Alternatively, Plusnet do unlimited DSL for £9.99, half-price for 6 months when taking out a phone product (£13.99/month for evening and weekend). No rate limits as they had on their previous products either. Based on your post, I assume you're on the 20GB product on (cannot post link as I'm a n00b). If you don't get throttled/warned/charged additional, then ultimately, you'll do well to beat the price you're paying long-term. If you're getting a decent speed and don't hit a usage limit, stick with O2!

chelle

My Package
O2 Home Broadband StandardKey Features
Free 24/7 UK technical support
Contract
12 monthsDownload Speed
Up to 16 megUpload Speed
Up to 1.1 megUsage Allowance
UnlimitedWeb Texts
100 a monthSecurity Licenses
1Static IP Address
NoRouter
O2 Wireless box includedO2 Tech Support
NoFull monthly charge
£ 14.50Monthly charge including offers

We pay £9.50 a month. They cannot tell me what I use each month as we are on an unlimited package.
From looking, this seems a good deal for Broadband, may be able to get a better deal on home phone though?
£ 9.50

Quentin

If you are out of your minimum period with o2 tben you will be able to get the bb down to half price in exchange for a new 12 month contract.

See the o2 retentions thread.

chelle

They have offered us 1/2 price broadband, but then also line rental increases in March.
Dont know if you can pay for a year line rental with O2 to get it at a cheaper price.

Quentin

You don't "have" to have line rental from o2 to benefit from the half price BB retention offer!

macman

No, 02 do not currently offer any kind of Line Rental Saver deal.
O2's calls business seems very much secondary to the broadband side, which is why you can't have a call package without broadband.
Getting a retention deal from 02 could not be easier, I've never had to haggle to get the initial offer, as long as you go to retentions and not to the normal CS.