Arrgh - Can't work out the best Broadband for me

Whirly

In a fit of Moneysaving I've decided to cancel my NTL service (Phone, Internet, TV) and replace them with cheaper alternatives. Phones I have sussed after reading Martin's recommendations but ADSL has me stumped.

There are just so many companies with so many complaints that I've spent 2 evenings going round in circles so I thought I'd ask my fellow moneysavers for help...

My requirements (In order of importance):

Reliability (I work from home so this is really important)
Uncapped (I don't ever want to have to think about how much I'm downloading again)
No long contracts (I'm sick of being tied in like I have been with NTL)
Speed (Not too bothered as long as it's 512k+)

I'm obviously looking for something cheap but I recognise that my requirements on reliability and having a truly unlimited service means that I'll have to pay more. So my aim is to pay the same as I pay now (changing the phone will save me loads anyway) as a maximum *unless* there is a damn good reason to pay more. I currently pay £25/month.

Things to consider:

MUST be a BT line (not a phone/ADSL package like Bulldog)
I'm having a new BT line put in so I'll also need a new ADSL connection (not migration). I'd hate to pay a connection fee but if I must it needs to be for a good reason
The shorter the contract length the better because I want to be able to migrate to better deals when they become available - not sitting here on a 512k line for a year while others are getting 24mbits for less money.
I'm willing to go out and buy my own ADSL modem/router but I don't want to waste money with ADSL2 not far away so a free modem (Network only - not USB) would be a bonus.

Phew, a lot of things to consider, eh? Now you know why I'm confused - especially as I'm completely new to ADSL.

Help! Anyone?

paul_h

If you're worried about buying a obsolete router, ADSL2 routers are widely available already, I'm using one right now.

As for which ISP, I'm sure there will be a flood of recommendations - I'm with e7even and find it works great and is very cheap, works out at £10 per month and is unlimited , but you have to pay up front for the best deals. Note that e7 don't like illegal filesharing.

They also offer good upgrade deals.

I suggest reading some of the comments on the ADSLGuide forums, to get a feel how customers like their ISPs.

http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/

Maddie

Hi paul_h

What do you mean by "Note that e7 don't like illegal filesharing"?

Do you mean using P2P and newsgroups?

I was thinking of going with e7even but my boyfriend uses newsgroups quite a lot so we need a provider with a good news server.

Thanks.

JimArnold

don't look for good newsgroup service with any of the cheaper packages - buy your newsgroup access separately eg from Forte for £1-70 a month (capped at 5Gb)

mhendo

Which exchange are you on? Use this checker to see if there are any LLU providers at your local exchange.

LLU providers may be able to provide you a good connection, at a more competative price that ISP's that use BTw services.

If www.bethere.co.uk are available at your exchange, you might want to consider them for ADSL2+ up to 24Mbps for only £20pm!!! - you can only check the availability of that one on their own web-site.

[EDIT] - comes with a supplied ADSL2+ wireless router (Speedtouch 716), and has a 3-month contract.

Maddie

Thanks for the ideas, he downloads a lot more than 5G, but we would consider using a seperate newsgroup provider if we could afford one with higher limits.

The LLU providers look too expensive and the £20 one is not available yet

In the past he has been with Blueyonder who apparently have a good news server and no limits, so we are just looking for something similar (cable is ntl in our area unfortunatly).

Demon look good, only on their site it mentions four newsgroups which have been stopped, two of which he would have used, and we are not sure what newsgroups are still available.

We were also considering E7even, unfortunatley could not sign up in Aug for their double speed offer as our new bt line was not running in time.

youreds

Maddie wrote:

Thanks for the ideas, he downloads a lot more than 5G, but we would consider using a seperate newsgroup provider if we could afford one with higher limits.

I have used [URL][/url]Claranews in the past which costs £29.99 for a full year, with a 10GB limit per month.
However, I have just discovered Astraweb which is a pay by download news service. I've just had 25GB for $10 & it is just fine. You can buy up to 280GB if you wish for $100.

Youreds!

Swattie

I use PlusNet as my Broadband provider - they have won awards for best internet provider. I've been with them about 4 yrs first for dial up and now broadband and have only ever had 1 hiccup which was whilst I was changing over and they dealt with that really well and gave me a free month.

They have a £14.99 per month package all in - they also have email, internet and phone help facilities - the phone one being an 0845 number for both customer services and technical support which is really good. I recently got a new computer and had problems with email and they were 30 mins on the phone trouble shooting with me which was great.

If you are interested I'd be happy to recommend you (there is a small finders fee) - PM me if you're interested

or you could go straight to the web-site https://www.plus.net

GreenB_2

I would not touch plusnet with a bargepole - they are upsetting a lot of customers at the moment and its NOT Uncapped. Their customer service of late is terrible, though in the past it was very good. Take a look on their forums................

I would recommend Zen,F2s or Metronet
Also do you need 2MB if just surfing and stuff 1MB is more than adequate unless you are doing lots of downloading.

Maddie

Thanks for the advice, I went for demon and get activated on the 13th, can't wait - having to use the library at the mo.