Best Gaming network

[Jammer]

Hi,
Im going to be moving house soon and building a new network.
At the moment im on BT broadband (which likes to turn itself off when it feels like it) and on 'Powerline' internet, which basicly... runs though the house powerlines to the router. This typiclly gives me 30+ ping to outher people.

Basicly,
Does ISP matter? (Im not in a cable area)
Is it worth investing in a better router outher then 'bt home hub'?

Im not exacly network savy so any advice is appriciated

[Nick]

Look for ISP's with low contention ratios, that is fewer users on the same line as you.

This site can be handy: http://www.broadbandchecker.co.uk/ but do a Google for broadband suppliers and you'll find loads.

You might find that companies offer different speeds even though you're on the same line so check 'em out.

[Jammer]

Thanks alot nick,
I think im going to go with virgin non-cable as thats the most reliable no-nonsense package i could find.

However with 'low contention ratios' I couldnt find any infomation on them from mainstream providers, How does on the same line work? Is it from the postcode to the exchange, or Just the customers with that ISP :/

[Steve B]

its the number of users per bandwidth allocation at exchange level for each ISP.
the lower the contention ratio, the less people you share bandwidth with, therefore the faster your connection, at peak times. In theory.