O2 Broadband (merged)

mk-donald

**woody123** wrote: »

Another question..

Its says on o2's website that you have to pay another £5 a month if you want a static IP.. what is this..

The o2 wireless box will usually be allocated a DYNAMIC IP number (ie one of those n.n.n.n numbers, eg 200.17.103.17 ) by o2's systems. It's having that IP # that allows the box to "join in on the public/global Internet".

The standard o2 service provides that DYNAMIC number - ie when your o2 box needs to get one it gets given any that's available.

ie after it's been off due to you turning it off, or a power cut, or when it needs to "refresh" its number (as numbers are only 'leased' for a short while to prevent then being given out but not actively used) it asks for one and gets given one, any valid/available one.

With a STATIC IP # - at extra cost - your box is ALLOCATED a specific number that is its for as long as you're paying o2 for it. That number gets input by you into the o2 box and stays in it all day every day.

UNLESS you are running a public Internet service from your home you'll not want or need a STATIC IP #.

PS: You added the bit about MAC while i was responding to your first query. The whole REASON for a MAC is to ensure MINIMUM downtime to your ADSL/broadband service. At the moment your phoneline is at the exchange PHYSICALLY connected to an ADSL service/blackbox you're paying Tiscali for. What a MAC code does is AUTHORISE an engineer to move that physical connection over to the o2 provided ADSL service/blackbox at the exhange. That process takes from a few minutes to a few hours UNLESS of course something goes wrong, but very few reports of that in o2 user land.

The alternative to having a MAC is to have a 'cease' and 'reprovide' and that means Tiscali order the REMOVAL of ADSL from your BT phoneline. ONCE that is done and ONLY once that is done, your line is ADSL'less and THEN and ONLY then can an order be placed for ADSL to be PROVIDED on that line. eg it typically takes 5-7 days for o2 to ADD ADSL to an ADSLless line (and that's as fast as it gets anywhere).

mk-donald

Quinny wrote: »

Just requested my mac code form F2S,via e.mail,and have also spoke to a guy from 02 about some technical issues.

Just a case of waiting now,and at least if I'm not happy with 02,I have the 100 day guarantee to get out if I need to.

Decided to go for the 16 meg package @ £10,which is half of what I'm currently paying for an alleged 8 meg service,but the most I usually get at the moment is 1.8 meg.

We shall have to wait and see.

Ken.

For anyone else do remember the 100 day "Money back guarantee available on contracts signed before 31/01/08". They might renew/refresh that offer but as at todays date it's only on offer for another 5 days.

And you should be VERY pleasantly surprised.

You do though need to recognise there are TWO aspects to SPEED of broadband.

1) Speed your modem SYNCHRONISES with the exchange equipment ie the circuit
2) Speed data actually moves over that circuit

1 is affected by what SORT of ADSL service it is (o2's is the best ADSL2+) but mostly by how long your phoneline is, what quality it is (including any joints along it), whether its in flooded ducts or flapping in the wind, whether it runs alongside/near sources of radio/magnetic interference, and of course how well your in home phone extension wiring has been done.

2 is affected both by your provider's circuitry and how much they invest in 'data pipes' to connect to the Internet and how much traffic they have on those pipes - and of course what EVERYONE else on the Internet is doing so is more of a black art and can be difficult to know WHERE to point guilty fingers at.

It's analogous to lanes on a motorway. If you connect at 8Mbps with say 8 lanes available to you, but then maybe 7 lanes are coned off so you get only 1Mbps; or maybe the 'traffic police' set a speed limit of 30mph so no 70mph racing; or maybe there a lot of other people also driving there and it's stop/start; or maybe there's a big accident and traffic's only trickling. (And technically some of the 8 lanes is used for (say) hard shoulder, so you never get full 8MBps anyway.)

I have a relatively long/poor phoneline and thus I 'synch' at not at 8000 but at 3800 and get around 3300 usable speed, but on o2 that is a BIG improvement as 3800 is about 25% higher than I had before and the 3300 is about 40% more than I had before AND it stays at 3300 everytime I check! And that is the typical o2 broadband user experience.

bow1508

can u get o2 broadband without the mobile phone part of it all?

**woody123**

Thanks to M-K Donald you have been a great help..

I shall phone tiscali tonight for my MAC and take it from there..

TVPIPE

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Right.. i'm on it now.. took a good 2 minutes to change over. Unplugged old box, plugged in new one (even uses old power supply), reconnected wireless using new WEP key on the side of the box.. bang, internet is on.

Seems ok but i've not pushed it.

It's worth noting that my old Be* box never stopped working. i had 0 downtime while I did this

I joined O2 broadband from BE yesterday (I placed the order and it was accepted yesterday). - One question - is the modem that O2 send out the same as the BE modem and is it branded as a BE modem or as an O2 modem?

mk-donald

TVPIPE wrote: »

I joined O2 broadband from BE yesterday (I placed the order and it was accepted yesterday). - One question - is the modem that O2 send out the same as the BE modem and is it branded as a BE modem or as an O2 modem?

The "o2 wireless box" is a badged Alcatel / Thomson SpeedTouch ST780WL with an o2 specific firmware/BIOS in it.

That is the same BOX as many Be users got but the Be box had different firmware.

It is only on LOAN from o2 and has to be freeposted back if/when you leave them.

mk-donald

bow1508 wrote: »

can u get o2 broadband without the mobile phone part of it all?

Absolutely, the only determinant of whether you can have o2 broadband is whether they have their equipment installed at your exchange or not (it'll soon tell you if you check on their website for available and expected speed).

- eg their basic/standard package is £12.50/m but is reduces to £7.50/m IF you have an o2 monthly contract mobile phone (or if you get one in the future).

It USED to be £10/m cheaper for o2 mobile users BUT the starting price was £17.50/m then.

That basic/standard package as an ADSL2+ upto 8Mbps unlimited service (except for clear fair use policy) is better than 90% of the ADSL offers out there which are just ADSL or ADSLmax and many limited/managed.

**woody123**

Oh dear i phoned tiscali too late and they were closed, i've sent an e-mail asking for my MAC key but i don't hold any hope until i ring them on monday, i just hope they give to me there and then..

I've also phoned O2 and they said it was fine that i wasn't a customer of there's but my dad was and i could provide his mobile number and get the deal in his name, when i mentioned quidco though they didn't know what i was talking about.. I doubt if i go through quidco that i will be able to put in my dad's name and then my bank details when i am diverted to the O2 site..

Fingers crossed for monday then..

Quinny_2

Do yourself a favour,and go through Quidco,as that's what I'll be doing.

I have a confirmaton that F2S have received my e.mail request,and like Woody,I was too late to make phone contact with them.

Hopefully I shall get some news on Monday.

I'll keep you posted.

Ken.

**woody123**

Hi,
Hopefully i will get £40 off my O2 broadband.

From the quidco site i've just clicked and gone straight into getting broadband from O2.. Whilst completing the questions i saw nothing where i enter anything to do with quidco...

So my question is where do i get my £40 from quidco..

May be a simple answer but its the first time i've used them..

On a good note i requested my MAC code from tiscali today after being on hold with them for 20 minutes... I requested it by text.. and to my surprise 5.30pm i got a text from tiscali with my MAC code,:rotfl: Hope its all plain sailing from here on..

Thanks in advance