Good internet package

bobbydavro

I have decided to go with the Virgin Media Broadband 60Meg, so superfast this works out at £27.50 a month for 9 months (student deal) with free installation.

Just wondering if anyone knows if you can switch the wifi off on this router and just use it cabled via ethernet as I am worried about having WIFI on all the time around kids. The people at virign have said you can use the ethernet but cant turn the wifi function off.....just wanted to check with anyone who already has the package.

All the best

Bob

macman

What about the half-dozen neighbouring wi-fi networks that you can't turn off that will be visible in your house? Or the mobiles that most kids have permanently attached to their heads?

Scrounger

bobbydavro wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone knows if you can switch the wifi off on this router...

Click HERE.

Scrounger

bobbydavro

Scrounger wrote: »

Click HERE.

Scrounger

Hi Scrounger this is great every little preventative action helps!

Thanks for the link

Kregards

anotheruser

Preventative from what exactly?

bobbydavro

anotheruser wrote: »

Preventative from what exactly?

Hi,

Preventative is to say measures to evade overexposure to electro magnetic Radiation.

I dont really know much on the subject but I have used a meter to measure the output levels and you would be surprised to see the kind of radiation WIFI boxes kick out and dodgy microwaves for cooking.

I know these days its hard to avoid, but thats why its taking one's own preventative measures.

Anyone on the forum who has knowledge of this subject area, I would be very interested to hear your views/ advice

Krgards

BD

amorphix

My advice to anyone thinking of going with the likes of Sky, Virgin, Talk Talk, Orange etc and those offering mega cheap broadband is be very wary of BIG providers like these. I've been on them all, and their service sucks and so do the companies that run them. Especially Sky and Virgin, very arrogant and dishonest.

If you want a cheap no thrills service that can save you money and you don't need to make peak rate calls, look at Primus Saver Unlimited, if you don't mind being in an 18 months contract.

If you don't like the idea of a contract, and want a 30-day rolling cheap but good broadband service, look at Xilo's £12.50/month service. You will of course have upfront costs, £63 for the router and £58 connection fee (ouch!). I've been told though, you can pick up the routers they use very cheap on eBay and Amazon and Xilo confirmed they can be updated via their website to work on their service, even if they've been used for other ISPs.

amorphix

bobbydavro wrote: »

Hi all,

I am looking for a decent, no frills internet package. I assume this means I need a land line installed as currently I do not have one.

Can anyone recommend a package that is Unlimited data and doesn't cost the earth.

On the other hand I would be interested to know what the fancy packages include and whether there are any freebies available.

All the best.

Bobby

Usually cheap broadband means being tied into a contract AND probably having your phone service with the same provider. So that's something to consider, and you'll need to think about your call costs and usage etc*.

If you don't mind being tied into an 18 month contract, I can recommend Primus Saver Unlimited Broadband as the ultimate low cost unlimited Internet and phone combo.

I'm paying:

£10/month phone rental (paid annually in advance, else it's £14/month)
£2/month broadband for 6 months, then £4 thereafter

Off the above, I get deducted:

£15 credit on first bill
£63 cashback via TopCashBack website

So all in all, a very good deal. Also, the company Newcall Telecom (despite some negative feedback experiences) is very very good I've been with them two years (I came back to them from Sky!). They have freephone numbers and work late for support. Yes there's long queues, but you get helpful friendly people (in UK) and the company is honest and straightforward (they gave me £20 credit for not doing the installation on time).


The downsides:

1. You have to pay £7.95 delivery charge for the router.
2. You don't get a fixed/static IP.
3. The service might not be as fast as other services.
4. There's a fixed connection charge on calls, and peak rate calls are more expensive.
5. Billing is online only, no paper bills.
6. You have to pay by Direct Debit, else they charge £2 a month.
7. Since the broadband relies on using their phone package for the low pricing and broadband is an 18-month contract, you're effectively tied into 24 months of phone service with Primus, assuming you pay annually instead of monthly for phone service.
8. 12.9p connection fee on calls.
9. Some standard features, like call-baring and caller-id, are monthly chargeable add-ons with Primus.

The upsides:

1. The WiFi router is free and very good interface, no port blocking and you can use ANY dynamic IP updating service you like, should you need to. It also has a high/low power setting so you can limit or extend the range.
2. The IP address doesn't change if you leave the router connected.
3. The service is very stable and reliable, and speed is fine for streaming videos.
4. Phone line transfer and/or reactivation is free.
5. Phone line rental is cheapest I know of, so ideal for broadband only/light phone users.
6. Free unlimited evening and weekend calls (for 90 mins duration).
7. Freephone support, until late in evenings at weekends.


* You can though use Indirect Access Call (IAC) services like 18185's freephone number with Primus and other services, to get low-cost calls at peak rate if you need to. I'm not sure if this would by-pass the call connection charge fee of Primus. I will report back when I find out.

bobbydavro

amorphix wrote: »

My advice to anyone thinking of going with the likes of Sky, Virgin, Talk Talk, Orange etc and those offering mega cheap broadband is be very wary of BIG providers like these. I've been on them all, and their service sucks and so do the companies that run them. Especially Sky and Virgin, very arrogant and dishonest.

If you want a cheap no thrills service that can save you money and you don't need to make peak rate calls, look at Primus Saver Unlimited, if you don't mind being in an 18 months contract.

If you don't like the idea of a contract, and want a 30-day rolling cheap but good broadband service, look at Xilo's £12.50/month service. You will of course have upfront costs, £63 for the router and £58 connection fee (ouch!). I've been told though, you can pick up the routers they use very cheap on eBay and Amazon and Xilo confirmed they can be updated via their website to work on their service, even if they've been used for other ISPs.

Hi there,

in the end I went with Virgin Media Broadband 60mb student 9 month contract

It works out at £27.50 pcm and seems good so far plus no installation fee.

If they try and mess me about I have the head office email contacts and will have to deal with them that way.

All the best