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I'm In The UK; What ISP Should I Use?

by cgallagher93
11 replies
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Hey everyone,

I'm currently living in the UK and over the past 4 days, my internet connection has been down.

It came right in the middle of a product launch which was pretty inconvenient but that's just the way things go and I suppose you gotta take the good with the bad.

However, the customer service provided by BT was awful.

If anyone else is living in England, I would love your advice and reviews on any internet service providers.

Thanks,

Connor
#connection #internet #provider #service
  • Profile picture of the author Mike Wright
    For a general comparison of the alternatives look at
    http://www.broadband-finder.co.uk/

    If you have one of the ADSL (phoneline) broadband providers which
    basically sell rebranded BT capacity ...then its a very mixed bag.
    Even using BT itself, you will be lucky to get consistently 4Mbs out
    of the infamous "upto 8Mbs" packages.

    Mobile broadband providers (cell phone networks) are usually costly
    and dependent on coverage etc.,etc.

    Personally, I am on Cable Broadband with Virgin Media and generally
    get around 9Mbs out of the "upto 10Mbs" package. In my own experience,
    the service and support is pretty good and quick.

    Finally, have you checcked out that the kit (modem/adapters/hub)
    and connection is actually working at your end. There is loads of advice
    on the net about doing that ... maybe use a nearby friend's PC on the
    same ISP to check ????
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    • Profile picture of the author cgallagher93
      Thanks for your reply.

      My broadband is now back online and I spoke to Virgin yesterday.

      Provided their service is good, I'm thinking of moving.

      Do you find the so-called "Up to 10mb" makes much difference?
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      • Profile picture of the author Mike Wright
        I was with NTL cable before Virgin took it over along with Blueyonder.
        It was hell with NTL, but since Virgin has been running it all, their
        service and support has been getting better and better along with
        the service and support in my experience

        The best package deals are available to brand new customers. I
        would advise taking out the V+ box deal with the TV package of
        your choice of the deals available.

        If you get the Virginmedia phone deal .... all service, sales and
        support is available free via dialing 150 on your Virgin line


        As stated, I do normally get 9Mbs download speeds from the
        "up to 10 Mbs" Virginmedia broadband. If you wish to stream
        or download movies etc., 24/7 .... then you may wish to go
        for the VM 20Mbs or 50Mbs broadband deals which are not
        capped in peak periods.

        Works for me
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  • Profile picture of the author ImakeCharts
    Just don't get AOL, it was 2 years of pure hell!

    The best deal is with Sky. 2MB I think for £5 a month, but free if you are already a Sky Tv customer - which is why I went with them.
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    • Profile picture of the author cgallagher93
      Thanks for the replies guys.

      Will be sure to check out both Sky and Virgin
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  • Profile picture of the author Rudolf Bodocsi
    Hi,

    From 3 you can buy top-up internet connection. It's good idea to have one backup internet connection if something happens with ADSL connection. In this moment I have BT Broadband + 3 top-up internet modem.

    Actually you speed of broadband is dependency how far you are from BT telephone exchange.


    Rudolf
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  • Profile picture of the author Phnx
    If you are on ADSL then Zen is the way to go (www.zen.co.uk). A bit pricier than other ISPs but you'll have less downtime and better customer service. They consistantly win awards, and many business people use them. I was with them for a few years after going thru Freeserve, Tiscali, Bulldog etc, and I never had one issue with them. If I went back to ADSL then those guys are who I'd choose.

    If you can get cable then Virgin is the only real choice. I've had very few probs with them and they've got some good deals on at the moment. I'm on the "up to 10mb" but rarely see that, except in the middle of the night. They've also started traffic shaping which sucks.

    Have a read of the forums at www.thinkbroadband.com and you'll get the pros and cons of various ISPs.
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  • Profile picture of the author DannyGillen
    Banned
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Wright
      Unless you pay for a premium broadband service with any ISP,
      whether cable or adsl, you will get throttled/capped/bandwidth managed
      if you download/stream tons of social/media stuff all day or in peak periods ... or do loads of online gaming.

      It should also be noted that home local WIFI networks mostly give
      a significant reduction in broadband speed than does a direct wired
      network. In particular, USB WIFI adaptors seem to suffer from heat
      and overheating problems causing all kinds of problems including
      further speed reduction. I have had 3 or 4 usb adapters which have
      worked OK for browsing ...but then after about 5 mins into a long
      download the speed has quickly downgraded to around 100Kbs before
      dying altogether. And yes, this was while I was getting 9Mbs on
      a wired connection on the same network. Same thing happened on my
      son's PC last week in his room on Wifi. He swore blind it was "throttling".
      I bought another USB wifi adapter ...told him to try it ... problem solved.

      Most major ISPs can remotely monitor user's bandwidth consumption
      and diagnose the signal levels etc they are delivering to your modem/
      router. If they are OK, their guys may be less than impressed by users
      with faulty systems.

      So if you have a problematic wifi home network and on adsl 10 miless
      from the nearest exchange ...then maybe time to upgrade your
      modem/router and wifi adapters to the latest N/MIMO/RangeMax
      spec with quality branded kit.

      Just a thought folks
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  • Profile picture of the author Diana Lane
    I'm with Virgin, and before that with Blueyonder before they were taken over by Virgin, and before that with Cableinet - way back in the mists of time - before they became known as Blueyonder. The same outfit for ten years, just with a different name - not a lot's changed in terms of service and what you get for the money. No complaints here - I've never felt the need to look around for better.
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