Switching ISP

[nibbler]

We're currently with AOL and I for one have had enough, so I've found a package which is £10 per month cheaper and way better with sky. 2 Questions:
1. How good are sky?
2. What's the deal with switching ISPs? How long does it take?

Thanks

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Sky customer service is fine but their internet is just about OK.

For example my current connection is meant to be around 4.5MB and usually it topped out around 3.9MB.

However,it seems that unless I periodically remind Sky they quietly reduce the speed over a few months. Currently only getting around 2.6MB.

OTH,Virgin has crap customer service but decent speeds. I had their ADSL and I was getting around 10MB to 11MB consistently and I know people who have the fibre optic broadband who also get decent speeds.

[nibbler]

well currently getting 5.5mpbs from an 8mbit aol package, so long as it's over 5 I'm not fussed. Will we need to go for 2 weeks sans broadband?

[LuckyNV]

if its ADSL to ADSL then its rather seemless, you should be able to use your line right up to the transfer date, then a short period after you should be live on your new ISP.

At least that how it was for me, I had about 2hr downtime only switching from Onetel to Bethere, but this period can be upto 24hrs.

[nibbler]

Fair enough, I'll try to get my dad to go for it then.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Even though O2 and Be are the same company it seems Be would be a better choice ATM.

[nibbler]

be are £10 more per month than sky though :/

[Bagnaj97]

OTH,Virgin has crap customer service but decent speeds. I had their ADSL and I was getting around 10MB to 11MB consistently and I know people who have the fibre optic broadband who also get decent speeds.

I had Virgin ADSL and it was shockingly bad. speedtest.net saying ~60Kbps downstream and ~256 up between about 4pm and midnight. Pretty much dialup downstream speeds!

They tried saying I was downloading too much and breaking their fair use policy and was therefore being throttled. No heaving torrenting though, just a fair few steam downloads and the odd torrent. That said their throttling supposedly reduces the connection to 1meg and I was nowhere near even that!

They then said it was exchange congestion. I switched to another ISP (adsl24, an entanet reseller), who at the time weren't LLU, and speeds were great, so it wasn't congestion. It was just virgin being epically crap!

Maybe they've sorted their adsl out since then but even so you couldn't pay me to switch to Virgin!

I'm with Be atm and they've been great. Stable connection, properly unlimited (so far...) and low latency. Options in their web control panel to tweak interleaving, and SnR margins if you want to fiddle with that sort of thing. I'm much happier paying a little extra than the likes of virgin/sky/bt/talktalk.

O2 share Be's network, and are probably cheaper, especially if you have an O2 phone, but I don't think you get the same amount of control over the connection and I'm not sure if their support is the same.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I had Virgin ADSL and it was shockingly bad. speedtest.net saying ~60Kbps downstream and ~256 up between about 4pm and midnight. Pretty much dialup downstream speeds!

They tried saying I was downloading too much and breaking their fair use policy and was therefore being throttled. No heaving torrenting though, just a fair few steam downloads and the odd torrent. That said their throttling supposedly reduces the connection to 1meg and I was nowhere near even that!

They then said it was exchange congestion. I switched to another ISP (adsl24, an entanet reseller), who at the time weren't LLU, and speeds were great, so it wasn't congestion. It was just virgin being epically crap!

Maybe they've sorted their adsl out since then but even so you couldn't pay me to switch to Virgin!

I'm with Be atm and they've been great. Stable connection, properly unlimited (so far...) and low latency. Options in their web control panel to tweak interleaving, and SnR margins if you want to fiddle with that sort of thing. I'm much happier paying a little extra than the likes of virgin/sky/bt/talktalk.

O2 share Be's network, and are probably cheaper, especially if you have an O2 phone, but I don't think you get the same amount of control over the connection and I'm not sure if their support is the same.

Traitor!

I am going from my experience of the connection I had last year. I signed up to the 10MB ADSL package as my area was not served by fibre even though it was the middle of a large city.

They were the only company which would do a phone-line and ADSL package for a new connection. With O2 I would have had to get a landline activated first with BT and get a subscription. I cannot stand dealing with BT directly.

I was getting between 10MB to 11MB and never encountered throttling AFAIK.

My Steam downloads were running at between 900kb/s to 1.1mb/s so I was pretty much maxing out the connection.

Ping was also below 20 too.

O2 has restrictions on new contracts and the quality of the service seems to have gotten worse. They may share the same network as Be but certainly are not as good.

[jim]

Are you on the unlimited or limited Sky service Cat?

[neonplanet40]

Well Im on sky and I get 17MB at all times with completely no caps. I do notice that websites can take a little longer to laod during peak times but I get 17MB down AT ALL times.

Anyone getting significantly less is being traffic shaped so check your package.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Are you on the unlimited or limited Sky service Cat?

Sky unlimited. The exchange is around 1.5 miles away. Supposedly the maximum the line can handle is around 5MB to 6MB.

[nibbler]

Going to go for Be after all I think, £3 more for calls + internet, but worth it I think, even if it's 12mbit vs 20.

[geezerone]

...However,it seems that unless I periodically remind Sky they quietly reduce the speed over a few months. Currently only getting around 2.6MB.

OTH,Virgin has crap customer service but decent speeds. I had their ADSL and I was getting around 10MB to 11MB consistently and I know people who have the fibre optic broadband who also get decent speeds.

People I have spoken to at work have reported issues with limitations on speed and said the same regarding speed dropping but in his case they reduced the price of his connection (unlimited). He also reports that doing a heavy download of 1.5GB causes a reduction in speed for the rest of the day.

Be would be the better option between them and O2. Speeds/packet shaping/rate limiting are reported as very good by users that I read.

[Spud1]

Going to go for Be after all I think, £3 more for calls + internet, but worth it I think, even if it's 12mbit vs 20.

Not to say that Be are a bad choice - they are one of the best ISPs after all, but tbh i'd still go with sky. The speed you get with either of them is down to your line moreso than any of their policies, and both of them are truely unlimited. So your connection won't be any faster with Be than it would be with sky.

THe big advantage of sky broadband at the moment is sky anytime+ - which gives you TV on demand via your sky box, rather than just the pre-recorded standard anytime. This only works with sky broadband at the moment, so aside from the fact its cheaper (£7.50 a month including off peak calls..) this is a nice bonus.

Of course if you don't have sky tv then its a different question, and in that case be are worth the extra few £.

[nibbler]

Have no interest in tv, line can only handle 15mbit or so, and Be is only £3 more including line rental and unlimited landline calls including international (which we need). Plus I hate Rupert Murdoch.