To switch, or not to switch?

[Output]

I'm currently locked into BT Broadband until next month (turned out to be an 18 month contract), but I'm wondering whether it's worth switching?

Reason being is that I've heard great things about Be*, and I'm sure ADSL2+ would obviously be better than ADSL, not to mention they're supposed to be cheaper.

The things I worry about however are the following:

• Line Rental - now I realise this is needed if I want ADSL/ADSL2, but to be honest it's only really there for that purpose (if I do actually use it for a call, it would most likely be for a freephone number or to take advantage of the weekend free calls if I happen to need it - which is usually unlikely though), plus it seems that from the sounds of it Virgin is getting really bad, thus is not worth switching to cable.
• Speed - would I actually get that much of an increase? According to DSLZoneUK I am "around 2.17 kilometres from your exchange (as the crow flies)."
• Downtime - If I did switch, wouldn't that mean a period of time without any internet access?
• 21CN - According to SamKnows, my exchange is having 21CN enabled in November, so would that mean that it's worth waiting and just staying with BT then?
• Contract - If I did stay put with BT and wait for 21CN, would that mean that to get the faster speeds, I'd have to sign up for another long contract or something? Whereas month-to-month contracts do sound more tempting than being locked in again.
• Cost - currently paying £26.99 per month for BT Option 3 (obviously this is not counting line rental), is the price going to be any better?
• Throttling - I believe I remember reading that Be* does not throttle connections, however it appears to me that between 6.30pm and 11.30pm (approx times), BT throttle speeds to about 10% of what you can achieve any other time - whilst I have obviously put up with it (since I've not had much choice anyway), I would obviously prefer to be able to surf around as fast as I want all the time (I can get impatient ). Would the 21CN continue to do the same though?

Thanks for any answers and advice people can give

[Mossy]

I have just renewed my BT they said because I stayed with them they knocked £5 a month off option 3 and £1 off my line rental also to top it of I got £40 off my new connection from my first bill when I did my home move.

I use the HUB phone as my landline so its quite useful and BT have never been slow for what I use it for.

[peterb]

21Cn is irrelevant in all those considerations. If you stay with BT it won't affect your local loop, and if you switch to a supplier that doesn't have its own infrastructure, you will still be using BT's - which happens to be changing to 21Cn.

If you switch to a supplier that is LLU enabled at your exchange you may get higher speeds, but in all these cases, the limiting factor will be the quality of the line between you and the exchange. (Unless you can switch to a cable supplier)

If the service you are getting from BT is OK, then there is probably little reason for changing - although the threat of moving might get some price concessions out of BT - although at the expense of locking into another longish term contract.

[MarcLister]

BePro is £22 a month. Plus the £10 or so for the line rental from BT so about £32. You are paying about £37 for the BT line and broadband. So about £5 a month better off. Not much but every little helps.

If you use The ADSL and ADSL2+ Line Capability Estimator and get the numbers from your router you can see what speeds you could expect to get from Be.

[Lourdes]

21CN won't affect your phone or internet service.

If Be* is available then get it, if you post your line stats I could give you an idea of the speeds you might get on ADSL2+ but with ADSL2+ speeds will always be faster than ADSL, plus Be are cheaper and unlimited.

[s_kinton]

Dump BT and switch to O2, you wont regret it. I did the exact same thing last month.

O2 starts at £7.50 a month if you have a mobile with them, £10 if not. Either way its alot cheaper, unlimited downloads and much better upload speed.

There will be a downtime of 0-2hrs when the switch over of ISP occurs. Just ring BT, get your MAC code and call O2, very very simple. O2 customer service is second to none, plus its UK based 24/7.

[Funkstar]

O2 starts at £7.50 a month if you have a mobile with them, £10 if not.

£12.50 if you aren't already a customer apparently

O2 Broadband - Home broadband made better

[peterb]

£22.50 if you aren't on an O2 unbundled exchange (outside O2's infrastructure cobverage). Add £5/month if you want a static IP address.

[Output]

Thanks for the advice (and links)...

According to the Home Hub as of 2.05am:
Line speed: 6016 Kbps
Attenuation: 25.5
Noise Margin: 20

Therefore, would it definitely be worth the switch, and to which ISP (O2 or Be*) & product?
(I'm not an O2 mobile customer anyway, I'm currently on a Vodafone contract - which I will probably convert to O2 PAYG in February)
(I do like the sounds of 'Upload Plus' too, but again, I have no idea whether I would be able to get that speed or not anyway).

Thanks for any further advice you can give

(Incidentally if it is worth switching, considering that as I said I cease to be locked into BT broadband next month - the 8th - when would it be worth calling for the MAC code, and then when to give the code to the new ISP?)

[beanbandit]

BePro is £22 a month. Plus the £10 or so for the line rental from BT so about £32. You are paying about £37 for the BT line and broadband. So about £5 a month better off. Not much but every little helps.

I have just renewed my BT they said because I stayed with them they knocked £5 a month off option 3 and £1 off my line rental also to top it of I got £40 off my new connection from my first bill when I did my home move.

Both of these offers can be beaten by BT, its just a case of phoning asking for a MAC code then just hold your nerve as they start to make you offers.

I got offered line rental & Broadband for £31. or 6 months free broadband then a reduction to what i was currently paying. Its always worth phoning your provider and see what they come up with

[Output]

Both of these offers can be beaten by BT, its just a case of phoning asking for a MAC code then just hold your nerve as they start to make you offers.

I got offered line rental & Broadband for £31. or 6 months free broadband then a reduction to what i was currently paying. Its always worth phoning your provider and see what they come up with

Good to know, but as say, if it is possible to get decent speeds (see line info a couple of replies up), I would prefer to go to ADSL2+ and be faster - plus I really don't like the idea of being locked into another 18 month contract, particularly with ISP deals usually being very competitive as time goes on, there could be a great (better than what I'd be on at the time) deal that comes along that I'd be unable to take advantage of.

[Agent]

Both of these offers can be beaten by BT, its just a case of phoning asking for a MAC code then just hold your nerve as they start to make you offers.

I got offered line rental & Broadband for £31. or 6 months free broadband then a reduction to what i was currently paying. Its always worth phoning your provider and see what they come up with

Thats really interesting as I thought the two (Broadband / Rental) were separate companies and were not allowed to do deals like that?

BT is so bloody complicated

[Funkstar]

BT Retail buy their broadband from BT Wholesale just like any other ISP, they can link ADSL and line rental together. They just can't get any preferential treatment or pricing off the Wholesale arm.

(at least I think thats right. there may be other little things they can and can't do)

[peterb]

BT Retail buy their broadband from BT Wholesale just like any other ISP, they can link ADSL and line rental together. They just can't get any preferential treatment or pricing off the Wholesale arm.

(at least I think thats right. there may be other little things they can and can't do)

That's correct - and to make LLU independant, BT Outreach is the company that does the maintenance and installation. which used to be a BT Wholesale responsibility.

[Lourdes]

Thanks for the advice (and links)...

According to the Home Hub as of 2.05am:
Line speed: 6016 Kbps
Attenuation: 25.5
Noise Margin: 20

Therefore, would it definitely be worth the switch, and to which ISP (O2 or Be*) & product?
(I'm not an O2 mobile customer anyway, I'm currently on a Vodafone contract - which I will probably convert to O2 PAYG in February)
(I do like the sounds of 'Upload Plus' too, but again, I have no idea whether I would be able to get that speed or not anyway).

Thanks for any further advice you can give

(Incidentally if it is worth switching, considering that as I said I cease to be locked into BT broadband next month - the 8th - when would it be worth calling for the MAC code, and then when to give the code to the new ISP?)

Your SNR (noise margin) is really high for that attentuation, do you have some really old wiring in the house? Regardless, with ADSL2+ you'd get an extra few Mb/s and Be/O2 are unlimited.

[Lourdes]

Both of these offers can be beaten by BT, its just a case of phoning asking for a MAC code then just hold your nerve as they start to make you offers.

I got offered line rental & Broadband for £31. or 6 months free broadband then a reduction to what i was currently paying. Its always worth phoning your provider and see what they come up with

You could offer me BT's ADSL for free and I'd still pay for Be Pro.