Cheapest Broadband Provider Discussion

Donop wrote:

Could somebody kindly explain to me in layman's terms what this contention ratio is? I am looking to get Broadband (new customer) and have read all sorts of sites and the smallprint but am none the wiser! I'm happy with a 1GB monthly limit but want the best for my money. I'm also not keen to enter in to a contract that may cause problems when we move home (Forces and moved on often, also abroad!). Any advice please would be welcome. Am considering the Tesco Value package? Thanks.

I expected a techie expert to answer your question, but as nobody has bothered, I wil give it a try, hope it is of help. As I understand it the contention ration is the number of customers the ISP has for each connection, so different ADSL products also come with different contention ratios, which does affect how much of your bandwidth you are able to use. Usually contention ratios offered are 50:1 and 20:1.
So with a contention ratio of 50:1 there could, at peak times, be 50 people in total also using your connection. This would of course result in the speed of your line slowing down dramatically. In reality this does not happen but contention ratios are a factor to bear in mind as they give an indication of how fast your connection will be during peak usage periods. You would have to pay a higher rate to get a 20:1 contention ratio service.
I have heard good things about Tesco . A couple of others to consider could be : https://www.adsl4less.com and https://www.newnet.co.uk

theloft wrote:

I expected a techie expert to answer your question, but as nobody has bothered, I wil give it a try, hope it is of help. As I understand it the contention ration is the number of customers the ISP has for each connection, so different ADSL products also come with different contention ratios, which does affect how much of your bandwidth you are able to use. Usually contention ratios offered are 50:1 and 20:1.
So with a contention ratio of 50:1 there could, at peak times, be 50 people in total also using your connection. This would of course result in the speed of your line slowing down dramatically. In reality this does not happen but contention ratios are a factor to bear in mind as they give an indication of how fast your connection will be during peak usage periods. You would have to pay a higher rate to get a 20:1 contention ratio service.
I have heard good things about Tesco . A couple of others to consider could be : https://www.adsl4less.com and https://www.newnet.co.uk

Just got in and seen this thread.

Although your answer is technically correct. There is another factor that comes into the equation. Most ISPs are accessed through a BT phone line. BT have their own maximum contention rates before your broadband gets onto your ISPs network.

The standard maximum contention on the BT network for a normal consumer phone line is 50:1. The maximum contention on a BT business phone line is 20:1. What this means is.................

Even though an ISP can promise 20:1 maximum contention on their own network. If you are using a BT phone line at home. Your true maximum contention rate will be 50:1. Most of the time this will not affect you at all. The only time it does, is if your are on a busy (highly contended) BT exchange. Before your signal gets to your ISP, it can share a single line with up to 49 other people on broadband. If you are all downloading at the same time. You will all notice a speed drop. This is nothing to do with your ISP, and there isn't a lot they can do for you if this is the case. It will happen whatever ISP you are with.

My ISP (Zen Internet) guarantee a zero contention rate (I don't share my line with anyone else) on their own network, but before my signal gets to them. I have to go through the BT exchange which could theoretically cause me to share the line with up to 49 others. Luckily for me this is never a problem, but the possibility is always there.

If you ever have speed problems on broadband, and you are using a BT phone line to access the net. There is a BT speedtest that can test your signal on the BT network before it gets to your ISP.

Here's how to use the test..................

Go to your modem or router. Log out of your broadband (make sure you remember your login details). Reconnect to broadband using these details....

Username: speedtest@speedtest_domain
Password: (leave blank)

When you connect to this network. Open your browser (your homepage or any normal web pages wont load) and go to the page http://speedtester.bt.com/ (copy this address in the address bar) You will be prompted for your phone number. Enter this and click Go. This test will show you how your broadband is performing on the BT network before it gets to your ISP. You can do this test only once every 30 minutes.

Once you have finished the test. You need to go back to your modem/router and enter your login details for your normal ISP.

If you are having speed problems, this is a good test to try. If the BT speedtest is fast, and an online speedtest (say at https://www.adslguide.org) is slow. Then chances are that the speed issues lie with your ISP. If the BT test is slow. This would point to contention issues on the BT network. There is nothing your ISP can do for this and no matter what ISP you choose, you will have the same problem.

temin wrote:

I've been looking at Euro1net which looks very reasonable indeed for unlimited downloading-13.99 for 1Mb on a 1 year contract, 10.00 on a 2 year one. Also seems to have a static IP address.

I was looking at this ISP last year, but was put off by the big similarity between their offerings and E7broadband. I even asked them if there was a connection which they denied. But their rates at that time were identical to E7, even to the free modem & connection if you paid 2 yrs, up front. I would not sign up with anyone where you have to pay up front, but 'you pays your money and takes your choice'. If you pay by credit card, it has been said elsewhere on these threads, that you are covered, but check with your CC company.

RDA wrote:

My package (Broadband Plus) gives me unlimited data transfer and 1Gb of bandwidth all for £14.99.

I think you must have made a mistake with your figures here. There are NO services offering 1Gb bandwidth. I think you mean 1Mb (pretty standard)

Plusnet are OK for people that want to just surf the net, pick up emails etc. Because of their traffic shaping policies, they are most definately no good for anyone that wants to download anything. They slow down various (most) downloading services at peak times. They will also slow down your downloading if you use this a lot.