Find The Cheapest Broadband Article Discussion Area

mbailey

The plusnet option 1 says that VPN is not a product option. Does this mean it wouldn't work, or they believe the usage allowance would be to low to use it?

iwChameleon

Have been looking at Talk Talk plan for broadband (currently Madasafish) and phone line rental (currently BT). Followed advice and first contacted Madasafish about current setup. Currently they provide approx the same deal as Talk Talk but this would normally cost about £28pm. They dropped the price to £23 and this included free evening and weekend calls, plus I get to keep my current website which I would have lost by moving to Talk Talk. Thanks Martin

BAS_2

klint wrote: »

I don't understand why so many people consider a phone/broadband combination simpler than having it separately. Why should it be simpler? Just because they use the same length of copper cable? That's just a technical implementation detail, irrelevant to the end-user. Phone and broadband are different things used for different purposes. Why combine broadband with your phone? Why not combine broadband with gas, petrol or groceries instead?

It's a mystery! To me, a simple non techie, they are the same product using the same wires. Gas and groceries use different wires in my house, and diesel comes from a pipe! Are Talk Talk or BT the only solution? I would really appreciate some contructive advice rather than telling what I'm doing wrong. I'm just not as clever as klint I guess.

klint

BAS wrote: »

I would really appreciate some contructive advice rather than telling what I'm doing wrong.

I'm sorry you took it the wrong way. I can't help because I don't know about combined deals. I didn't mean you were doing anything wrong. I was trying to point out that separate deals really aren't all that complicated, so don't be put off. Look at both combined and separate and see which gives you better value.

Generally speaking, there are advantages and disadvantages for combined or separate. If your broadband suddenly goes down and you have a separate supplier, your ISP may blame BT (or whoever your phone supplier is) and your phone supplier may blame your ISP for the fault, and you are sitting in the middle. If you have a combined deal, you have only one company to deal with. (Strictly speaking, with a separate ISP, your contract is with your ISP so it's up to them to sort it out with your phone line provider, but in reality it may not happen that way.)

On the other hand, the disadvantage of combined deals is that a company may be very good at providing a phone line, but not so good with their broadband service, or vice versa. By keeping them separate, you can pick and choose from the best of both worlds.

Some people prefer to receive a combine bill for their phone and broadband. I prefer separate bills, as I find it easier to see how the cost is broken down.

I hope the above pros and cons will help you with your decision.

jimbob_3

hi,

im thinking of signing up with plus net

ive got a 2 year old bt modem and some splitters etc

do i need the 1 port router that they are offering or is my equipment good enough?

also was looking at the ebuyer offer of the £29.99 wireless router, is this something that i could use instead?

thanks

HeyBigSpender

I want to find a broadband provider that will provide a wireless router, and either set it up, or make it so easy to set up it is virtually plug and play. Just for general web browsing, the occasional video download kind of thing. I am not bothered with having my own webspace or email address (I stick to hotmail.)

I am technically inept. Help!

Blackjack_Davy

MSE_Martin wrote: »

2. Why is plusnet in with customer service errors? As can be seen above some like it and some hate it - this is always the way with broadband. As the article states...

"Below are my top picks after comparing over 50 broadband products. It’s purely focused on price, as customer service in broadband tends to have a huge ‘luck of the draw’ element; with every provider having its ‘disgusteds of Dorset’ and ‘delighted of Devon’.

Martin not to have a dig at you mate but you do seem to be saying that every broadband supplier is equally the same as regards a balance of disgusted and delighted customers - but it ain't so, there is a definate trend of ISP's that have a better reputation, and others that have a worse reputation (not just for customer service but also service reliability and speed (or lack of), billing errors and for just overall poor or shoddy service) - this site gives a good overall comparison of customer satisfaction - http://www.dslzoneuk.net/isp_ratings.php

jonbro

Has anyone seen the standalone offer on the Virgin media website?
2GB line, uncapped for £10 p/m (12 month contract).
They also offer £10 off if you order online.

Am I misreading this offer? If not it sounds pretty sweet.

Lady_K

jonbro wrote: »

Has anyone seen the standalone offer on the Virgin media website?
2GB line, uncapped for £10 p/m (12 month contract).
They also offer £10 off if you order online.

Am I misreading this offer? If not it sounds pretty sweet.

People have been getting the 2mb for that price for quite a long time, my daughter has for a year now and its the only service she has at its a student house.

Thing is though the service has gone down a huge amount in my opinion and I've been with them from day one. Since its gone to virgin media I've lost service 4 times and its become so slow its unuseable at times. They are also gonna be charging for customer support plus its overseas support and they are virtually useless after waiting ages on the phone. I wouldnt recommend them any more really I wouldnt.

I have tv phone and bb with them and I now want to move but its more involved moving them all. It has got so bad though I am willing to do it. I'm just looking at which to go to. Not bothered about the tv really, its my phoneline and bb thats important. Its probably not as difficult to move as I'm thinking really so long as I get the right one to move to and I do have a bt socket that I can reinstate

On top of the broadband problems I forgot to mention that since they changed to virgin my tv has had to have 3 call outs and my phone 2 call outs, never had one prob with either of them before so its quite sus to me, they are useless

jmf68

Hi
From my experience forget cheap broadband with your phone go for an isp with no traffic shaping (drastic reduction in speed @ peak times). You will pay more but you will get fast broadband 24 hours a day.
check out ispreview.co.uk
j