Help Choosing Internet Speed

StacFace

We're 5 girls moving into a student house and want the cheapest possible broadband deal we can get, but we don't want slow/laggy internet.

We all have a laptop and a mobile each. We mainly use our laptops for things like email, facebook/twitter, forums, uni research etc. We sometimes use youtube and a couple of the girls occassionally use skype too. Most of us have plenty of internet allowance on our phones but one girl relies on connecting to broadband (uses it for updates and facebook app when she's not on her laptop). One of the girls also has an Xbox which will be connected to the internet with SkyGo and Netflix, though it's likely that when we use these services all/most of us will be watching together so it's unlikely there'll be this plus 4 laptops competing at the same time. None of us do online gaming on our laptops.

The deal we're looking at is up to 14mbps with an estimated speed of just over 8mbps. Will this be enough? We basically just want to be able to use the internet at a decent speed which isn't noticeably slow, videos running smoothly once they've loaded etc, we don't mind loading times as long as they're not long enough to be a pain.

penrhyn

You don't choose your speed, you get what your line will support.
If you can get FTTC or cable they will be quicker than ADSL

StacFace

We know that, we're trying to find out if we need to pay the extra or if ADSL will be fine for our needs. Asking for what should be an appropriate speed so we can research and find the cheapest package that can offer that.

macman

It would help if you said who the intended provider is at 8MBps?
Do an exchange search on www.samknows.com for your LLU options.
Is VM cable or FTTC available?
It's not raw speed you're concerned with, it's bandwidth at peak time. The contention ratios on some ADSL services will limit you at peak times, especially with 5 of you hammering the connection. You also need to consider the data caps on some tariffs, as with multiple users you'll soon chew through a capped service.
Does the property already have a working landline?
PS: you can always take out a standard ADSL service and then upgrade to FTTC at any time if you find it inadequate. What you can't do is go the other way.
And, if you're not going to be in the property for at least 12m, beware minimum term contracts.

StacFace

Intended provider is TalkTalk and the previous tenants had the Virgin Media up to 30mbps fibre optic so we know we can get that (but at nearly twice the price we don't want to if it's unnecessary). The exchange search brought up Newcastle East. VM cable is "available in some areas" (we know it is for us because of previous tenants having it) but FTTC is unavailable. LLU options are AOL, O2/Be, C&W, Sky/Easynet, TalkTalk (CPW), Tiscali & Tiscali TV.

It's an unlimited tariff (we didn't want to risk getting a capped one). The property doesn't currently have a working landline, it has a disconnected one which an engineer would need to reconnect. The charge would be £50 with TalkTalk but with a £50 credit on the first bill. We've already arranged this so we can get internet asap if we go for it but have a couple of weeks to cancel if we decide it's going to be too slow.

The contract is for 12 months and we'll be in the house for 2-3 years depending on whether we sign up for final year when we can next year (we plan to atm).

Andy_Williams2

You should be fine with the standard package and shouldn't need to pay extra for higher speed. Just make sure you check the terms and get an unlimited package. Make sure it is truly unlimited and that they can't slow you down after a certain usage level is hit. Having to pay if you use over the allowance could get expensive with that number of people using the one connection.

Cycrow

with 5 people sharing, and sounds like alot of streaming between you, i think it might be better to go with Virgin.

remember with ADSL, you will need to get a landline and pay for it, so include that in your costs.

with Virgin, you don't.

Theres also the risk that you wont end up getting the estimated speed of 8mbps

penrhyn

Agreed, Virgin would be the better option with five giggly girls on line. The alternative would be BT Infinity or other FTTC provider if available.