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Thread: Getting BE Unlimited cheaper? / BT Broadband

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    Getting BE Unlimited cheaper? / BT Broadband

    Hi,

    So I'll start with the question about Be Unlimited. We have be unlimited (obviously a 24mb connection) for £17.50 a month, however I've just done a speed test, which I have just read aren't that reliable, and got a speed of around 9mb. Even if the speed tests aren't too reliable, I doubt it's that far out, right? Back when we moved here in June I did a test (in the evening) and got 19mb so it's apparently gone down a lot, however I'll do another few tests at different times over the next few days to see what comes up. If it does turn out that we aren't getting more than 9mb (when we were told we could theoretically get up to 22mb), does anyone know if they'll lower the price for you? I just seem to remember reading a thread on here probably about 8 months ago now, where somebody had complained to Be and threatened to move isps and they dropped the price. Has anyone done this recently?

    Secondly, how are BT? I'm assuming not as good as Be by a long stretch, but I did get a call from BT yesterday offering me an 8mb connection for £7.69/month which is a tenner cheaper than we pay now, with 20mb coming soon and no slowing down of the line during peek times. Is there any truth to what he was saying or is it all just marketing? We currently get no connection drops and enjoy a nice stable line, so are willing to pay the extra if BT throttle you. £10/month saving just sounds quite nice, especially since he said they include 250 mins of mobile broadband per month...

    Cheers for any advice.

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    Re: Getting BE Unlimited cheaper? / BT Broadband

    you could go with O2 its the same network but its not as expensive. You "only" get 1.3Mb/s upload though
    □ΞVΞ□

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    Re: Getting BE Unlimited cheaper? / BT Broadband

    I left Be last month - only on Be value but they were going to drop it to £10 per month if I stayed. Which reminds me I really must return their router before I get a £40 charge!

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    Re: Getting BE Unlimited cheaper? / BT Broadband

    The 24Mb is the theoretical max - not many, if any, homers actually get it. It is for that reason that BT are rolling out the "Up to 20 Mb" product. It is actually the same technology (ADSL 2+) but is marketed as 20Mb!!

    Same with the 8Mb product - hence "Up to 8Mb" in the ads.

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    Re: Getting BE Unlimited cheaper? / BT Broadband

    You need to do more diagnostics. Check out the log on your Bebox and see what speed you're synching at and if it's changed over time. You may be able to improve things with a different connection profile (speed vs stability).

    I have Be Pro, but only actually sync at 13Mb or so. I get a bit over 10Mb throughput maximum. This is also affected a little by the Annex M (faster upload) I've got enabled.

    Be Value is always an option, but you'll probably go from 9Mb to under 7Mb. If I remember correctly Be Value is ADSL MAX as opposed to ADSL2+ of Unlimited and Pro. It's not actually possible to get the full 8Mb on MAX.

    PK

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    Re: Getting BE Unlimited cheaper? / BT Broadband

    Have you checked for the catch? ie. how long does that price last - what is the download limit (it won't be unlimited) and your upload speed will more than halve

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    Re: Getting BE Unlimited cheaper? / BT Broadband

    I think BT are offering the £7.69/month only for the first 3 months then its somthing like £15, averaging £13/month first year. Which is 50p cheaper than the be value Im on at the moment.

    I've had BT pestering me recently too and funilly enough my BE connection hasn't been as reliable since they started....
    Last edited by Cole200; 01-12-2009 at 04:10 PM. Reason: spelling

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    Re: Getting BE Unlimited cheaper? / BT Broadband

    Quote Originally Posted by Syllopsium View Post
    You need to do more diagnostics. Check out the log on your Bebox and see what speed you're synching at and if it's changed over time. You may be able to improve things with a different connection profile (speed vs stability).

    I have Be Pro, but only actually sync at 13Mb or so. I get a bit over 10Mb throughput maximum. This is also affected a little by the Annex M (faster upload) I've got enabled.

    Be Value is always an option, but you'll probably go from 9Mb to under 7Mb. If I remember correctly Be Value is ADSL MAX as opposed to ADSL2+ of Unlimited and Pro. It's not actually possible to get the full 8Mb on MAX.

    PK
    I actually have no idea how to check the log of the bebox/know what speed I'm syncing at or how to change connection profiles...sorry, could you elaborate? Would that tell me what speed I've been getting since the router was first used or what, because as I said at first I think it said 19mb at first, but I can't be 100% sure so it would be good to check.

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    Re: Getting BE Unlimited cheaper? / BT Broadband

    Quote Originally Posted by Syllopsium View Post
    Be Value is always an option, but you'll probably go from 9Mb to under 7Mb. If I remember correctly Be Value is ADSL MAX as opposed to ADSL2+ of Unlimited and Pro. It's not actually possible to get the full 8Mb on MAX.

    PK
    Just to clarify - I'm not suggesting the OP goes with be Value, just that in response to if anyone else has had any retention offers I thought I'd reply. I'm sure if you threaten to leave they'll knock the price down.

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    Re: Getting BE Unlimited cheaper? / BT Broadband

    What about BT then, nobody has said anything about the quality of their service...do they compare to BE? I mean I may not get the same speeds, but do they throttle at peak time? Are there many disconnections?

    Cheers

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    Re: Getting BE Unlimited cheaper? / BT Broadband

    your decline in speed may (or may not?!) be related to an increase in subscriptions to the be service in your area/exchange.

    You really could do with doing some regular speedtesting, to see what your true speed is. Don't forget, that whilst Be don't throttle or traffic shape, the natural peak and and off-peak times still apply.

    My speed was initially around 18/19 meg, it's since settled at around 13/14 meg, with an upload of 1.1 Mbps.

    What I would say, if the only reason you're looking to move ISP is to save a few quid, I'd seriously consider if it's worth it. I've heard endless tales of woe (some, my own) with ISPs, if you find a good'un it seems a little silly(?) to move.

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    Re: Getting BE Unlimited cheaper? / BT Broadband

    If you can only get 9mbps then ask them to switch you to the 8mb service - with O2 I'm only paying £7.34 a month for it (have an O2 mobile which I top up £10 every three months). Loosing only 1mbps is worth gaining a tenner a month IMHO, especially since O2 is Be* anyway.

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    Re: Getting BE Unlimited cheaper? / BT Broadband

    Find out who's LLU on your exchange, then drop Be a support ticket - I did saying I had to look at costs due to new baby and Sky were offering a cheaper similar package. Price cut offered straight away - from £17.50 to £12.00

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    Re: Getting BE Unlimited cheaper? / BT Broadband

    Quote Originally Posted by chadders View Post
    Find out who's LLU on your exchange, then drop Be a support ticket - I did saying I had to look at costs due to new baby and Sky were offering a cheaper similar package. Price cut offered straight away - from £17.50 to £12.00
    Cool thanks - I don't get why we only get 9mb, we are 500m from the exchange, isn't that quite a short distance?

    So if I tell them I'm an O2 customer and can get their premium service for 9.79 a month, and I'd like my MAC code, do you think they'd offer me something? I don't want them to actually say "ok, here it is" and then I've got no broadband!

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    Re: Getting BE Unlimited cheaper? / BT Broadband

    500m in a straight line or underground cabling?

    I'm under 400m from my exchange, but according to my line attenuation the underground cable length is around 1400m

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    Re: Getting BE Unlimited cheaper? / BT Broadband

    Quote Originally Posted by LuckyNV View Post
    500m in a straight line or underground cabling?

    I'm under 400m from my exchange, but according to my line attenuation the underground cable length is around 1400m
    Oh erm.... I have no idea, how can I check?

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