Any tips on picking an ISP?

[acrobat]

I am with Virgin Media (Cable) at the moment and I am really annoyed at them. They were great when I signed up 12 months ago, now they are pants. My "cheaper for the first 12 months" deal has expired now, and there is nothing good for me to upgrade to.

I'm looking at the alternatives if I switch back to ADSL (I still have a router and modem), and they are MUCH better value than cable. I am currently spending £18 for just a 2mbit service on VM. If I went with Sky for example (I already have Sky TV), I could have a 16mbit connection, with three times faster upload, for just a tenner... So eight times faster than my current connection, and eight quid cheaper each month.. I am shocked.

There is also "Be Internet". I could get an 8mbit connection with a 1.3 meg upload speed for just £14... So again, that would be 4 times faster than my current connection, and 4 quid cheaper each month.

My phone line can evidently only get a 5mbit connection maximum, and I need unlimited because I am constantly downloading game demos and MMORPG trials and betas and stuff, so a limited service just wouldn't work for me. And I often work from home so a decent upload would help. I'm on a piddling 25kB/s upload at the moment. So I'm thinking of cancelling my Virgin account and going with Sky or Be Internet.

I did call Virgin by the way, to ask if they would do a deal. I went through to India and she explained that there are no deals unless I take a TV/mobile/landline package which I'm absolutely not interested in at all. So screw them.

What went wrong with Virgin? I thought they were meant to be great? And does anyone here have Be Internet or Sky internet? If so, are you happy with it?

[adam1701]

you can get 2.5mb upload on the £22 a month package from bethere.co.uk

maybe you're just downloading too much between 4 and 9pm, and are getting limited.

[acrobat]

you can get 2.5mb upload on the £22 a month package from bethere.co.uk

maybe you're just downloading too much between 4 and 9pm, and are getting limited.

Oh no my connection is great. I am only paying for 2mb and I get that full speed, so I can't complain about that. The problem is that it's costing me £18 when the likes of "Be Internet" can give me 8mbit for just £14. (And a faster upload too).

So basically Virgin are absolutely shafting me.

I think I might have decided on one anyway. I already have Sky TV here, so I think I'm going to get Sky Internet. Evidently they have a "LLU" service and a none LLU service. The none one is a bit mediocre, but the LLU one is meant to be really good. My exchange is LLU enabled so hopefully I can get on that.

Either way... the Sky deal is a whopping 16mbit for an amazing £10 a month. Even if I only get half that, it would still be 5 times quicker than my current deal and 8 quid cheaper I just need to call them tomorrow and ask if I can get the LLU one (whatever that is ).

p.s. Thanks, that connection looks great by the way. Be There seem to be kings of the ISP's at the moment. I would probably go with the Value pack because even 8mbit download and 1.3 meg upload speed would be plenty for me

[adam1701]

yeh .. if you cant get any LLU broadband get adsl24, they have set limits which allow you to download heavily off peak.

[TAKTAK]

if I can get the LLU one (whatever that is ).

IMHO sky are one of the best ISP's up there with easynet, Be etc...

LLU is basically where thISP's have their own equipment in the exchange, therefore your line is partially transferred to their equipment, and doesn't come it contact with bt for broadband therefore allowing you to ditch the bt profiles.

[Agent]

I dont know why you're paying so much mate....I get 4meg with VM for £17.
They will reduce the cost to the 'new customers' one as soon as you ring them - they won't let you go that easy

In fact I'm upgrading to 20meg next week as family wants to phone line in. It will only cost me an additional £4 or so, due to the money they knock off when taking bundles

[moogle]

Hi acrobat,
Use Samknows Broadband - Comprehensive Broadband Information and enter your phone no or postcode to check if your exchange has Be or LLU etc. You need BT landline for Be though. If you are check the distance you are from your exchange, as the crow flies im about 600m away from mine but by road it's 900m and from my attenuation (signal loss - you only find this out when you are connected to them through the adsl modem) my line length is 2.03km

I am on the Unlimited package and I get a sync of 18meg which is stable for about 18 hours or so until it resyncs but only because I have a different router to the one provided which is a DG834GT, the DG834N is said to be the best for Be. The resyncs are quick. I am also on something called fastpath which is basically a non interleaved line. When your line is stable with not alot of errors you can ask to be switched to fastpath and what it does is turn the interleaving off and reduces your pings quite a bit.

Pings to Jolt.co.uk - Online Gaming - Clan Server Rental I recieve responses of about 22ms. Fastpath is mainly for gamers, and you can only get it on the Unlimited (£18 pm) or Pro (£22 pm) package. I've yet to be beaten on pings , AOL, SKY, Virgin, BT are the isp's my clanmates have and each time I have the lowest ping compared to them. Virgin come second and thats a cable net.

Also the tech support is free and 24/7. I changed my package at 1am in the morning and I also opted for fastpath at 6am and although I had to wait a bit in line it got done in no time. Alternatively you can use a ticket system to contact them too. Also if you don't require Fastpath or Upload Plus (Thats the extra upload speed you can receive on the Pro Package) then you should go with o2 broadband, basically the same thing but cheaper and without fastpath and upload+.

It's said if you take out a o2 payg deal ie £10 top up every 3 months or £40 a year the o2 bb package is significantly cheaper But if you require a static ip on o2 it will be more. Be packages above the value one give 1 static ip for free. Don't forget you can get £40 from quidco for signing up to be. Also you can refer a friend maximum of 6 per year I think, and if you get referred you get a month free and so does that person. Personally take the quidco as you get more worth than 1 month free You can't refer and quidco at the same time so quidco is the better choice. o2 has a 100 day or your money back guarantee as well so you can test your line out with o2 first if you wish.
Heres a post with all the comparisons to help you.

BE/O2 Service Comparison - Be and O2 Broadband User Forum

HTH in choosing your ISP
I think o2 would be your best choice as I have a feeling you're not a gamer and the pings don't matter to you

[acrobat]

Wow, thanks everyone! Especially moogle, there was a lot of good info in that one post alone.

I dont know why you're paying so much mate....I get 4meg with VM for £17.

Ahhh hmm.

I think it's cause I just get the internet by itself. I should probably get the phone line too, instead of my BT landline, and then together it should be a much better deal. I'll just need to work out how much that will be compared to SKY Internet and sticking with my current phone line.

[Agent]

I _only_ have the internet from them too mate

Honestly, one phone call will sort your price out instantly

[BUFF]

speak to retentions - I pay about £12pm for 20Mb (about 15Mb in reality for me) but I do have more than just internet.

[moogle]

Wow, thanks everyone! Especially moogle, there was a lot of good info in that one post alone.

yw, laying out all the options so you can make that choice. also if you don't wanna switch do what agent and buff said. I used to do that and get the half price deal for x months then I'd have to ring em up again.

[acrobat]

I _only_ have the internet from them too mate

Honestly, one phone call will sort your price out instantly

Oh my god!! They are totally screwing me. It actually shows this price online too, so it's not even like I've misinterpreted anything or something. Proof:


I already called them too. I got directed straight to India where some woman with a script told me there are no deals unless I take a phone/TV package, and they will not price match. I asked to speak to a manager, and they called me back an hour later (another Indian woman) who told me the exact same thing.

I'll call them and ask them to fix my price or cancel my account. Either they give me a better deal or I'll feck them off. Gits

speak to retentions - I pay about £12pm for 20Mb (about 15Mb in reality for me) but I do have more than just internet.

Blummin hell Even that's a good deal! With a phone and internet, that deal is usually £20 a month (£10 for the first 3 months). It seems I really need to speak to retentions! I am glad I researched the ADSL companies now though, because at least if Virgin refuse to fix my price, I can just tell them I want to leave, safe in the knowledge that I can just go on ADSL if the worst comes to the worst.


Thanks all of you! I'm lucky I asked.


-------------update-------------

Someone just linked this for me:
thinkbroadband :: Virgin Media testing changes to traffic management policies

It's a bit scary... I'm starting to wonder if I should just drop Virgin media like a hot potato. I need to decide if I'm going to do that, or try to get a better deal from them. I have until tomorrow to decide anyway seeing as they are closed now.

[Agent]

Yeah, thats what I was getting at...That *is* the normal price I'm paying

Oh, and I'm planning on bringing that down more tomorrow when I ring them (they've messed my bill up for a start -god knows how, its DD and the same every month )

How long have you been paying more? You might be able to kick up a fuss about it. Keep in mind that's for the 1st year only though, it goes up a bit after that (one call to get it back down though).

And has horrid as this may sound - do it in the day, you won't get foreign call centrer that is always a bad connection and usually difficult to understand the other person. They also never seem to shift the prices.
Credit where is due, I find the UK one pretty good

[acrobat]

Ahhhh thats not too bad then Cause for the first year I was just paying £10. But that ended about 2 months ago so I'm now up to £18.

But it's still a total rip off because for the same price I could be getting "24 meg unlimited download / 1.3 meg upload speeds" from Be Internet. Sky's deal is amazing too, (16mb down and 750k up for just a tenner ) although you need their TV package for that. (I think).

It's funny cause people are telling me, "Sky (LLU) and Be Internet have much better contention ratios than the other ISP's so you get close to your maximum speed with them". But that's how it was with every ISP I've ever been with, and within a year or two, they all go downhill =P

And has horrid as this may sound - do it in the day, you won't get foreign call centrer that is always a bad connection and usually difficult to understand the other person. They also never seem to shift the prices.
Credit where is due, I find the UK one pretty good

My call that got sent to India was done in the day 2pm this afternoon. I think it might be different departments, because I called them last week to inquire about their TV deals, and that time I spoke to an English fella.

It makes a difference. Some of the Indian accents aren't too strong but sometimes it's hard to understand and the line can get soooo faint, it sounds like they are talking to me from mars.

[MadduckUK]

It's funny cause people are telling me, "Sky (LLU) and Be Internet have much better contention ratios than the other ISP's so you get close to your maximum speed with them". But that's how it was with every ISP I've ever been with, and within a year or two, they all go downhill =P

so your to blame then eh?

seriously though, been with "be" a year now and it is exactly the same as when i got it, whatever time of the day or night - whatever speed the line can do is the speed you get, no "peak time slowdown" or anything.

[acrobat]

Thanks MadduckUK

I'm getting excited now because several other people have said the exact same thing about "Be". They sound really promising. I am really happy to have some options now anyway. I've gotta say i was quite impressed with Sky too. People telling me that if you can get their LLU whatsit, it's really good and reliable, and they told me on the phone today that they can send the pack in the post and you can install it yourself - so no installation cost at all.

I'll spend the weekend thinking anyway and choose on Monday Big relief having some choices now.

Thanks again all.