Updated Find the cheapest broadband discussion thread

greenalien_2

Following the advice from MSE.com, in August I decided to switch from Pipex to Tiscali broadband. The potential savings were certainly there - £19.95 (+ VAT) per month for Pipex plus a tenner a month for my BT line, versus £9.95 a month for 3 months, then £14.95 per month with free line rental from Tiscali - overall, a handy 50% saving.:T

So, I signed up with Tiscali and let them get on with the process. Pipex and Tiscali have common ownership, and I was assured that they'd look after ending my Pipex account - no MAC code needed. They gave me a new email account at once, that I could access online, so I diverted my email to it so that I wouldn't lose anything once my Pipex account was terminated. Unfortunately, after 3 weeks, this email account became inaccessible - I phoned Tiscali, to be told that 'my account had been terminated due to technical problems' and that I must start the process again. No apologies for discarding all my emails, of course... So, I applied for another account, carefully explaining what had happened the first time. I was assured that my account wouldn't be cancelled again without prior notice, so I changed my email diversion to my new account and waited. In the meantime, I got billed for another month of Pipex...3 weeks later, I got a phone call from Tiscali to say that my account had been terminated as I had a 'non-portable' phone number', and that I must contact BT. Needless to say, all my emails had been deleted again... So, I called BT and, after an hour or so, being passed from pillar to post in what seemed to be a sort of 'telephonic world tour' (judging by the different accents of the operatives) eventually found out that, because my home phone number had originally been allocated to Videotron, who were then taken over by NTL, from whom I had transferred to BT, it was technically impossible to keep the same number if I wished to transfer to Tiscali, as NTL still 'owned' the number. I got back in touch with Tiscali who then said they couldn't 'take over' my phone line, I had to get BT to disconnect it first. So, back to BT, and after dire warnings 'it'll cost £££ to reconnect if you change your mind' I got the line disconnected. (I'd also taken the precaution of opening a Google Mail account for my email diversion!) And so, back to Tiscali for a third try, Tiscali were then able to pick up the line; however, a couple of days later I got a call on my mobile asking me to be at home a couple of days later to await a BT engineer... The engineer duly arrived, checked the line, went away, then came back 20 minutes later to say my new line was now working. Total time without home phone - 7 days, plus 3 hours lost wages. I then waited for the broadband connection - 2 weeks later and it was finally enabled. Now it's finally in, it's much better than the Pipex connection - seems faster, remains connected (the old Pipex connection would drop out at least once every 24 hours) and no download limit except between 6pm and 11pm, which seems very fair.
So, all-in-all, it was worth the hassle -so far - although I'll have to send my Christmas cards early this year to let my family and friends know my new phone number!:j

hethmar

Ive been on talk talk since they released their "free broadband" package. I still havent got the free broadband after nearly 2 years? But give them their due, the service has been excellent after the initial problems due to them being inundated and when I whinged about not getting the freebie broadband they gave me it free for 6 months (my local exchange is one that hasnt updated yet). Further, they just rang me last week saying that as Id been with them over 18 months they were giving me a loyalty thank you and my bill would be halved for the next 6 months.

HOLLYDAYS - if you are going to change to talktalk or BT go through quidco.com where they are offering a fair sized cashback and other incentives.

yinhong

I think it's really worth mentioning that you can now get £60 cashback through quidco for signing up to O2 broadband. It used to be £30, but today (or yesterday) they doubled the cashback!

So let's think. If you're an O2 customer, you can get £5 discount off standard prices for non-o2 customers. The cheapest tariff including the discount would be £7.50/month. £7.50*12=£90. Minus the £60 cashback, and that's £30 for 1 year's broadband that includes unlimited download/upload (i.e. no cap), up to 8 meg speed, and free customer support!

That's (30÷12) £2.50 a month!

Just don't all sign up at once please. I don't want my internet connection getting worse!

goldingwebb

Hi there

I get TV, broadband and telephone from Virgin (used to be cabletel) but I'd like to switch to a cheaper deal for phone and broadband and just get a set-top box. The one thing that worries me though is that I might lose my email addresses.

Can anyone explain to me what will happen if I switch - can I still keep my @ntlworld.com email addresses that I use for business?

Thanks!

lipidicman

goldingwebb wrote: »

Can anyone explain to me what will happen if I switch - can I still keep my @ntlworld.com email addresses that I use for business?

This would not be likely. This is why you should have a domain name for a business.

For personal use I use gmail, rather than my providers email. Much simpler if I want to change

Speedee

lipidicman wrote: »

For personal use I use gmail, rather than my providers email. Much simpler if I want to change

Me too!!

:xmassign:

TarquinFauntleroy

Afternoon Chaps!

Apologies if this has been asked a million times before, but I've finally decided to take the plunge and get that home interweb thing.
I need it for downloading !!!!!! and dodgy music/ dvd's primarily, but also to start to move my slavery and mail-order bride business online.

The question is, I don't have a landline connection. The only phone I have is my pay as you go mobile, as it's the cheapest option.

Can anyone advise what is the best wireless broadband connection package, or am I stuffed without a landline?

Any help greatly appreciated.

Regards, Tarquin

slackboy

You can get cashback on the latest beunlimited promotion recommended in todays (18/2/2009) email. Quidco are currently offering £45.00 cash back on a bethere broadband connection which, used in conjuction with the "broadbandchoices" promo code brings the monthly cost for unlimited broadband down to £3.00!!

axean

The Broadband guide mentions a current deal by Be There. Under a list of Quick Facts it states "Be There" traffic shapes. This is not true.

Traffic Shaping commonly refers to an internet service supplier slowing down some uses of the internet. This usually means the slowing down of file sharing via p2p. File sharing or p2p uses huge amounts of internet suppliers resources which is why many companies reduce their customers access this.

Be There is a "premium" brand, which means its fair use policy is genuinely fair (nobody has ever been told they have downloaded to much) and it doesn't traffics shape. It is a very popular choice for those that regularly use p2p

I am a Be There customer on its "Be There Value" service, I am supposed to get download speeds of 8Mbps but actually average around 11Mbps. I can highly recommend it. You get what you pay for.

Lynn_Curnow

MSE_Lawrence wrote: »

This thread is specifically to discuss the content of the updated article:

Find The Cheapest Broadband

To discuss or ask a question about this article: click the reply button.

Or click here to see the old discussion

Moneysavers, beware.....whilst you can get the PLUSNET Broadband for as little as £5.99 a month, it DEPENDS ON YOUR LOCATION! The small print states that it starts at £5.99 per month but ALSO states "IF YOU LIVE IN ONE OF OUR LOW COST AREAS YOU WILL PAY THIS PRICE EVERY MONTH. IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE ONE OF THESE AREAS YOU WILL PAY £5.99 FOR THE FIRST THREE MONTHS AND £11.99 A MONTH THEREAFTER."
It is also not easy finding out which location one falls into. I have tried and failed to do so. How one finds out, is difficult, to say the least!