thinking of getting broadband

[Crazy Fool]

Hi guys, I live with two other people and we want to get BB, NTL is not in the area which is a shame as we quite fancy cable TV too...

Just wondering if you guys could recommend any good companies, we are all light users so nothing to meaty 1mb would be ample if not 512. We all have wireless as the two peeps I live with have laptops with wireless and my shuttle has wireless.. Can I share the internet like that? Or should we invest in a cheap wireless router? Again any makes or models? This is all new to me. I don’t really want to be tied to a 12 month contract although 6 is fine.

Thanks in advance

[Dougal]

If you live close enough to the exchange you can get very high speeds.

Check with ADSL guide.

[Crazy Fool]

ok, which sort of companies are good to go with? there seems to be so many on the market, i don't really wanna be tied to 12 months

[0iD]

Like Dougal said, check out ADSL Guide http://www.adslguide.org/isps/summarylist.asp
Do an simple search & pic the features you want.

[Merlin4458]

pipex,plus.net, nildram, BT

[oshta]

Where with BT, solely becuase it ment we could dodge the cost of having 'midband' removed.
- But actually, they seam to be pritty good. Its dead reliable, and not excesivly priced, and we got a (wired) router too.

For your setup, you could just get (buy) a wireless router, which would just go inplace of the std router/modem and server wireless internet access to anyone within range, including your mate when they come round, (even if they have a mac)


Daniel

[specofdust]

Bt's caps are nasty, 1Gb or 15Gb, it's pathetic. Check out Zen, they're the company I'm hoping to go with shortly.

[tiggerai]

Zen, Hands down... all the time.

Bit more expensive, but you sure do pay for quality.

Min 1 month contract too so ideal for students.

[specofdust]

I agree with that. Zen are by far and away the best broadband provider in the UK, if you can get up the £50 start up and few quid a month more connection, it's worth it.

[Crazy Fool]

is it really £50 to join?

[specofdust]

£50 activation fee. But don't be put off, seriously, they provide basicly the best service in the UK. Check out adslguide.org, see if you can find a service that's better in the "compare" section. I can't.

[peterb]

Zen are excellent! Their advantage is one month contract, uncapped downloads, dedicated usenet server, (if that floats your boat) and first class customer support.

The advantage with BT is that you will get the fastest speed your line will support - but it is capped (and a 12 month minimum contract)

As with most things in life - you get what you pay for!

[specofdust]

Hmm, I missed the dedicated usenet server, what does that actually mean?

I ordered Zen yesterday, and they sent me 4 emails within 3 hours telling me various things, and then a further one today giving me my username, password, email address, website(with 1Gb space) and all the login details I could need. I phoned them yesterday to check some stuff, and they seemed excellent, all in all, they seem to be a top class company so far!

[mjhants]

Zen are top class, no bandwidth restrictions, and you can get 8 ip addresses in the base price. Also the contract is monthly so you are not tied in. However you can get faster services for less momey....