New place and back to ADSL... question is which one?

[Zadock]

Afternoon all,

As the subject says, I am moving into a new flat (I also have a new job!) in Pembroke and I've had a little look at what is available to me at my new address via Sam Knows. I've had fibre optic from VM for the last 20months in Cardiff that I have been happy with but the area I am moving to is somewhat less connected than Cardiff!

By the looks of things what is available to me is either BT, Plus Net and Orange (with a barge pole I will not touch) on ADSL Max with a top rate of 7.5MBps (not too bad) but I also notice that the exchange is unbundled for talk talk (LLU) and they are offering speeds of up to 24Mbps. Dare I say this, I am considering Talk Talk because the unlimited package with a phoneline is only £29. Does anyone have any experience with Talk Talk on LLU?

I think whatever I do its taking a plunge really though BT are probably the most reliable of the bunch?

Any thoughts or comments welcome.

[circuitmonkey]

Yes, my girlfriends parents are using TalkTalk LLU and are getting 4.5Mbs
I've tried on numerous occasions to get help from TalkTalk when the connection was dropping out regularly, but it's like repeatedly hitting your head against a brick wall.
I (note me, with no help or even response from TalkTalk) ended up replacing all the ADSL hardware and removing the extensions sockets form the circuit and the connection is stable, but still slow.
When I have to work from there I just use a 3G dongle.

Save yourself a headache, avoid TalkTalk!

[spiral out]

what about idnet or zen? I'm on sky llu so have no idea what the prices are like or if they still provide good service but they were considered the best at one time.

the cheap option is plusnet if you do your downloading at night and can handle the traffic shaping, i was with them before sky became available and my inlaws are with now and have no problems really.

[capt_cornflake]

what about idnet or zen? I'm on sky llu so have no idea what the prices are like or if they still provide good service but they were considered the best at one time.

I'm with IDNet currently and what little experience I have had of their service is top notch.
You're not going to get the best price, and generally a fixed data allowance, but then they are upfront about it, rather than claiming unlimited and then slapping OTT traffic shaping and FUPs.

I've been wary of LLU since I made the mistake of going with Bulldog 8-ish years ago. Migrating the line away from them was an absolute nightmare. It could work if you make sure to go with someone with a good track record with customer service though.

[Zadock]

what about idnet or zen? I'm on sky llu so have no idea what the prices are like or if they still provide good service but they were considered the best at one time.

the cheap option is plusnet if you do your downloading at night and can handle the traffic shaping, i was with them before sky became available and my inlaws are with now and have no problems really.

Only LLU that appears to be available is Talk Talk by the looks, its the Pembroke Dock exchange. Its looking like my best bet is going to be BT for a proper unlimited service.

[bledd]

I was on Virgin/NTL for 8 years in Cardiff, like yourself. Moved back to Pembrokeshire and signed up with BT Adsl. I can't really fault it, superb uptime, great speeds. They throttle torrents at peak times (~5pm to ~11pm), but that's understandable.

I recommend BT with a Billion 7800N router

[Zadock]

I was on Virgin/NTL for 8 years in Cardiff, like yourself. Moved back to Pembrokeshire and signed up with BT Adsl. I can't really fault it, superb uptime, great speeds. They throttle torrents at peak times (~5pm to ~11pm), but that's understandable.

I recommend BT with a Billion 7800N router

Thanks for that bledd, thats reassuring, I am not a torrenter so I don't think that will effect me too much. My uesage is just a lot of skype and online gaming really, 2 or 3 nights a week I'll have a conference call with 3-4 mates and we play a game. I also tend to make digital purchases and watch a fair amount of on demand video.

According to Sam Knows I am only 75m (as the crow flies) from the exchange as well so I'm hoping for a pretty solid connection.

[bledd]

Yup, I'm about 80m from my exchange, I get 20-21mbit, from the theoretical max of 24 on ADSL2+

Pings and uptime are the most important things for me, always have a solid ping for gaming, any time of the day

Just sucks that you have to pay line rental :/

[pp05]

BT/Talktalk do not have particularly great customer service.

Plusnet are alright. You do get through eventually. If you're looking for bundled deal they are offering discount on line rental if paid upfront.

[Zak33]

sign up to Zen.. monthly contract.. until you get a nice stable connection. Then you could jump ship to a contract with someone cheaper.. but I bet you stick with them.

www.zen.co.uk