Advice on what broadband service to get - Bangor

sor_fes2

Hi Ya Samsyerman,
I had to pay for activating the line @ £58.75 and I bought my own wireless modem.

Think that is a new offer in the past couple of days -- the free activation etc. Its not clear if you have a download limit per month.... I have 1Gb download limit, but if you go over that you just pay for the extra in bands of 1Gb (about £1.75 per band).

***EDIT BY BOARD GUIDE***CODE REMOVED***
Please do not post links or names for referrals publicly on boards. This is a violation of site rules and they should only be used, if appropriate, in the referral section of the site.

sor_fes2

Ah.... now I understand ... I think. The package I am on is now call the pay as you go option, and if I go over my monthly 1Gb download then i pay an extra £1.25 per 1Gb extra used.

I have only once gone over my 1Gb limit when I was uploading alot of photos. I think it was also around xmas so I was shopping quite a bit... even then it was only into the next 1GB.

Having al look at the features, the PAYG is very very similar to the premier option which costs £21.99. So..... the PAYG option may be the best?

I'm assuming that with premier and plus you get unlimited download/data transfer?

Reading some of the FAQs,:
UPGRADES: If you move to a product with a higher monthly subscription charge it is classed as an upgrade. Upgrades are FREE unless your upgrade requires a BT speed change - Find out more.
DOWNGRADES: If you change to a product with a lower monthly subscription, this is classed as a downgrade. Residential downgrades incur a one off fee of £14.99.
Please note that the monthly subscription for Broadband Pay As You Go, formerly called Broadband Home Lite, is the base cost of £14.99 and additional pre-paid data transfer

And as for the higher speeds of 4Mb and 8Mb, you're line may eventually be upgraded to that speed so don't initially opt for them - you'll have to pay for the upgrade of your line speed. I think. I was initially on 1Mb then got an email saying about upgrading to 2Mb which I did. Cost me a one-off fee of £14.99 to upgrade my BT line, but if I had waited I think that upgrade would have been automatic and thus cost me nothing. At least that is what I understand from some of the info on the plus.net site.

Hope that helps.

IvanOpinion

One thing to keep an eye out for is that the Bangor exchange does not appear to be the best (or is overloaded or something else). We live on the outskirts of Bangor and have been told that the maximum speed we can get is 512Kb and even that may require an engineer to call. You might want to double check your new postcode before forking out for an ultra high speed line.

Ivan

D.A.

Ivan, if the line doesn't support broadband, he won't have to fork out for anything - there will be no charge if service can't be provided.

Use the BT checker at https://www.btwholesale.com to check what the maximum speed available on the line will be. (although it's not entirely accurate, since mine supports 1Meg even though BT said it would need an engineer visit to even get 512K ;-) )

BigAl94

Ivan - this BT check is totally inaccurate. D A is quite right though. For example, I live on the outskirts of Bangor and BT wholesale check says I can have 256 or 512 but may need an engineer for 1mb whereas I actually have 2mb with no problem.

IvanOpinion

You guys have just got me all excited. One of the reasons I have not installed broadband is because of the restriction to 512 so I have just checked again and BT still says

"Our initial test on your line indicates that you may be able to have an ADSL broadband service that provides 512Kbps or 256Kbps download speed. However, due to the length of your line, an engineer visit may be required, who will, where possible, supply the broadband service. "

In work we have a direct connection to the ISP therefore I can do most stuff from there (at full network speeds) and unless I can be assured of getting half decent speed at home (i.e. at least 1Mb) I have no intention of getting rid of my dialup.

I suppose it all depends exactly on whereabouts you live. I live off Albany - do any of you guys live out this direction?

Ivan

BigAl94

Similar area Ivan (Ballycrochan) but it depends on actual line length to the exchange and maybe the quality of actual joints at and to your property. I recently upgraded from 512 to 2mb. It's great for downloading files but no real difference for ordinary surfing. Remember that your upload speed will still be 256. Depends what you want it for, 512 was a massive improvement on dial up!!

LesterPiglet

I'm in central Bangor and have had Pipex internet for 3 years or so. Pipex consistently come out best for speed and reliability according to https://www.adslguide.org.
I've had 0 problems in the time I've been with them. £23.44pm for 1mb, no limits. Read the small print with Tiscali/BT or whoever. The price might be tempting but I download non-stop so an account with BT would cost me loads. For instance I've downloaded 98gb between 18th-30th April. BT have a 30gb limit, after that pay for every additional 1gb.
Besides, I hate BT )

samsyerman

I too live in Bangor, Robinson Road area and I have just checked with BT regarding what I can get by way of Broadband. This is what they say

"Your exchange has ADSL broadband.

Our initial test on your line indicates that you should be able to have an ADSL broadband service that provides 2Mbps, 1Mbps, 512Kbps or 256Kbps download speed.

If you decide to place an order, a further test will be performed to confirm if your line is suitable for the speed of service you wish to purchase.

Thank you for your interest"

I am thinking of changing from my Tesco dial-up connection which costs £12.49 per month, to Broadband, as Tesco sent me an e-mail advising me that their broadband costs were now reduced to £17.99 per month. I think however it was only for 512k. I do not profess to know what speed 512k is but I would be interested if other MSE members felt this was a good deal.

Many thanks


samsyerman

sor_fes2

Since there are providers offering 2Mb for £14.99 I'd forget about tesco. I'd go for at least 1Mb but try to get as fast a speed for the price with everything else you want.

As some of the other posters have said check out https://www.adslguide.org as there is a good comparer on that of the providers.