Updated Find the cheapest broadband discussion thread

Speedee

opportunity_cost wrote: »

That Entanet entry that Samknows is showing is for Entanet LLU service, which is an altogether different service to Entanet ADSL Max (ADSL Max being the bog standard way in which people get broadband via a BT line).

If you have a BT line you can get Entanet, no problem. No Entanet reseller is offering LLU yet, so all the packages you see on UKFSN, ADSL24, etc. are for the ADSL Max product.

That £17 for broadband Sky would offer you is the Sky Broadband Connect package, which, unlike the other Sky broadband packages (Max/Mid/Base, the LLU ones you can't get), has a poor reputation. It's just not worth paying £17/month for an unreliable Sky Broadband Connect service with a 40GB usage limit when you can get Entanet 30GB/300GB package for £20/month.

Just take Sky TV on its own or with the free Sky Talk package if you like. Alternatively, you could get Eurosport the moneysaving way by DIYing your own satellite system and pointing the dish towards Eurosport Germany (with English Sountrack) on 19.2E Analogue. Monthly cost: £0 :cool:

Thanks for info on LLU's and packages from Sky.
I know this is off topic ! I'm not sure if British Eurosport and Eurosport are the same? I tried to find out this last year on a satellite forum, but ended up missing all the WSB races ! as couldn't find the answer. Where is the schedule for Eurosport if it isn't the same. And how do you get an English soundtrack? I have an old Sky analogue system my uncle gave me when he went digital I got it working a few years ago! My Dad would be :j if I could get WSB for him, he loves MotoGP too, but misses the WSB! Is 19.2.E where old Sky was? If you can point me in the right direction I would be grateful :beer:

opportunity_cost

moonrakerz wrote: »

The trouble is with this thread is that someone says "I have JoeBloggsISPLtd as my ISP. I get 100gb (peak) and unlimited off peak, per week. 100mb download speeds ALL the time. The call centre is 0800 and is guaranteed to answer on the second ring or you get your annual payment back. Oh - and it is in the UK !"

Three million people immediately move to JoeBloggs and their system collapses under the load !!

That's a very common but irrational fear. ISP 'A' can perfectly cope with a big surge of say 50,000 new customers while ISP 'B' may struggle with the addition of just a few thousand new customers. It's all about capacity. Some ISPs invest in capacity as their customer base grows while others don't and think they can rewrite the record books for squeezing ridiculous amounts of users into their existing centrals *cough* Plusnet *cough* Pipex *cough*.

Zen, Entanet, IDNet, Newnet, Be/O2 have seen their customer base grow exponentially during the last few years through word of mouth and their systems haven't collapsed... 'cos they invested in new centrals!
No need for fancy ellacoyas and traffic shapping users to death then.

moonrakerz

opportunity_cost wrote: »

That's a very common but irrational fear. ISP 'A' can perfectly cope with a big surge of say 50,000 new customers while ISP 'B' may struggle with the addition of just a few thousand new customers. It's all about capacity. Some ISPs invest in capacity as their customer base grows while others don't and think they can rewrite the record books for squeezing ridiculous amounts of users into their existing centrals *cough* Plusnet *cough* Pipex *cough*.

Zen, Entanet, IDNet, Newnet, Be/O2 have seen their customer base grow exponentially during the last few years through word of mouth and their systems haven't collapsed... 'cos they invested in new centrals!
No need for fancy ellacoyas and traffic shapping users to death then.

You forgot TalkTalk in your first list !

My point was that you will get exactly what you pay for ! I tried PlusNet, Tiscali etc.
I'm now with Zen, it does cost more, but it is worth every penny.

opportunity_cost

Speedee wrote: »

Thanks for info on LLU's and packages from Sky.
I know this is off topic ! I'm not sure if British Eurosport and Eurosport are the same? I tried to find out this last year on a satellite forum, but ended up missing all the WSB races ! as couldn't find the answer. Where is the schedule for Eurosport if it isn't the same. And how do you get an English soundtrack? I have an old Sky analogue system my uncle gave me when he went digital I got it working a few years ago! My Dad would be :j if I could get WSB for him, he loves MotoGP too, but misses the WSB! Is 19.2.E where old Sky was? If you can point me in the right direction I would be grateful :beer:

Yes, 19.2E was the old Sky analogue satellite position. You access the English soundtrack via the channel menu on your receiver. It's got to be an analogue receiver though! If it's a digital receiver you won't be able to get the English audio (gotta love it when older technology proves superior to new technology ).

I'm not too sure how British Eurosport compares to Eurosport International. It used to be that both channels showed pretty much the same programming but I've heard British Eurosport is quite a different channel nowadays. Still, Eurosport International shows all the main events (tennis, cycling, motosports, footie...) and it's free, so that's good enough for me.
Schedule is here.

satellites.co.uk forums have a lot more info on all this stuff.

opportunity_cost

- O2 Broadband:
Standard (requires O2 / Be LLU)
£7.50/month for O2 contract customers
£10.83/month if you top up an O2 PAYG phone with £10 every 3 months
£12.50/month for everyone else

12 months contract, 50 day money back guarantee, free activation/free migration, £25 cashback via Quidco, free wireless router, up to 8MBit, unlimited usage*, no throttling

- NewNet:
Home LITE
£11.95/month, 12 months contract
£12.95/month, monthly contract
£39.95 activation/free migration, up to 8Mbit, 3GB usage allowance, no throttling

- UK Online:
Lite Broadband (requires Sky Broadband / Easynet LLU)
£14.99/month
12 months contract, £25 activation/£25 migration, 2Mbit, unlimited usage*, no throttling

- Entanet (UKFSN / ADSL24 / Vivaciti / TitanADSL / Falconnet):
Home 3
£16.50/month
monthly contract, £47 activation/free migration, up to 8Mbit, 3GB peak/30GB off-peak usage allowance, no throttling

- (Sky TV customers) Sky Broadband:
Sky Base/Mid/Max (requires Sky Broadband / Easynet LLU)
£0-£10/month
12 months contract, £30 set up fee, free wireless router, up to 8Mbit, 2GB/40GB/unlimited usage*, no throttling

*Subject to Fair Usage Policy

Note: Any deals from ISPs with poor feedback have been omitted on purpose. Sorry, but it had to be done!
Some LLU deals may not be available to you, depending on the telephone exchange you're connected to. To find out what LLU and other services you can get on your line, use the Samknows' Broadband Availabilty Checker.

*** I urge anyone who's thinking about switching ISPs to check the feedback for any given provider on DSL ZoneUK, thinkbroadband and ISPreview ***

DatabaseError

no mention of orange, tiscali, talktalk, redten, aol, bt etc....

Well Done opportunity_cost!

opportunity_cost

Did you just say...


(cue 'O Fortuna'* from The Omen movies)


...Redten! :eek:


Even Tincansandstring look good compared to the devil.

*alternative link

DatabaseError

2nd version for me thanks, then a link to 'a little less conversation', then 106 endclip then...?. i guess that'll be my evening sorted. thanks

cm233lh

opportunity_cost wrote: »

- O2 Broadband:
Standard (requires O2 / Be LLU)
£7.50/month for O2 contract customers
£10.83/month if you top up an O2 PAYG phone with £10 every 3 months
£12.50/month for everyone else

12 months contract, 50 day money back guarantee, free activation/free migration, £25 cashback via Quidco, free wireless router, up to 8MBit, unlimited usage*, no throttling

- NewNet:
Home LITE
£11.95/month, 12 months contract
£12.95/month, monthly contract
£39.95 activation/free migration, up to 8Mbit, 3GB usage allowance, no throttling

- UK Online:
Lite Broadband (requires Sky Broadband / Easynet LLU)
£14.99/month
12 months contract, £25 activation/£25 migration, 2Mbit, unlimited usage*, no throttling

- Entanet (UKFSN / ADSL24 / Vivaciti / TitanADSL / Falconnet):
Home 3
£16.50/month
monthly contract, £47 activation/free migration, up to 8Mbit, 3GB peak/30GB off-peak usage allowance, no throttling

- (Sky TV customers) Sky Broadband:
Sky Base/Mid/Max (requires Sky Broadband / Easynet LLU)
£0-£10/month
12 months contract, £30 set up fee, free wireless router, up to 8Mbit, 2GB/40GB/unlimited usage*, no throttling

*Subject to Fair Usage Policy

Note: Any deals from ISPs with poor feedback have been omitted on purpose. Sorry, but it had to be done!
Some LLU deals may not be available to you, depending on the telephone exchange you're connected to. To find out what LLU and other services you can get on your line, use the Samknows' Broadband Availabilty Checker.

*** I urge anyone who's thinking about switching ISPs to check the feedback for any given provider on DSL ZoneUK, thinkbroadband and ISPreview ***

O_C, thanks for this, it's fantastic information. Could you tell us how you came by this information. It can't be from personal experience, unless you've got an enormous number of home telephones. Are you an industry insider, or have you spent many hours researching this?

opportunity_cost

cm233lh wrote: »

O_C, thanks for this, it's fantastic information. Could you tell us how you came by this information. It can't be from personal experience, unless you've got an enormous number of home telephones. Are you an industry insider, or have you spent many hours researching this?

Glad it helped.

When it comes to broadband, one person's experience alone counts for little. Nothing beats the feedback left on the above mentioned sites by hundreds of users on all sorts of phone line qualities and distances from exchanges. I'm no industry insider . I've been on broadband since 2001 and have spent countless hours on ADSLGuide (as it was first known)/thinkbroadband and ISPreview since, always on the lookout for a better deal from a reliable ISP, so um, yes, I've done a lot of research on this.