Which Broadband deal/provider?
Discussion
We have a provider via our work who is discontinuing service becasue we have been told that if we wish to continue to work from home we must get and pay for BB ourselves, it is for work for them to also earn money but fair enough.
We have been given a migration access code to get continuity of service and we are told that we must opt for a service that is suitable with all the systems where we work. I assume most are.
I'll look into that last part later
But for now, who has the best deals and service currently.
All advice much appreciated
We have been given a migration access code to get continuity of service and we are told that we must opt for a service that is suitable with all the systems where we work. I assume most are.
I'll look into that last part later
But for now, who has the best deals and service currently.
All advice much appreciated
My recommendation based on the last 2 years:
If you're in a cable area get Virgin, I phoned up and ended up getting 20mb for the price of 4mb for a year, and because its fiber optic you actually get 20mb.#
If not, I'm on O2 at the moment, paying for 8mb and connecting at 10mb, costs me 7.50 as I have an O2 phone, but if you dont its only 12.50.
Both of those have no strict usage policies or maximum usage caps and i've always had a good service which suits me nicely as I'm of the downloading persuasion (all legal of course
)
If you're in a cable area get Virgin, I phoned up and ended up getting 20mb for the price of 4mb for a year, and because its fiber optic you actually get 20mb.#
If not, I'm on O2 at the moment, paying for 8mb and connecting at 10mb, costs me 7.50 as I have an O2 phone, but if you dont its only 12.50.
Both of those have no strict usage policies or maximum usage caps and i've always had a good service which suits me nicely as I'm of the downloading persuasion (all legal of course
)I was told that Be* had better contention ratios than O2 - and the services were seperate. This was when it was launched, and Be* told existing customers that to respond to fears of reduction in quality of service. Whether it's true or not, I don't know.
Be* are good, and you can have a static IP if you want. The wireless router they give you is (or was) pretty crap, but you can switch it for your own if you want. There were a few holes in the inbuilt security too, so I had to Telnet (vintage!) into the box to change the settings.
Be* are good, and you can have a static IP if you want. The wireless router they give you is (or was) pretty crap, but you can switch it for your own if you want. There were a few holes in the inbuilt security too, so I had to Telnet (vintage!) into the box to change the settings.
Thanks guys.
Spoke to BT who didn't understand what VPN was
They said we have to have a business account and connection costing from £23 upto £50 a month.
I spoke with O2 who were very good and can support our needs, sadly they cannot connect us directly and have to use BT but the BT exchange we are on locally will only support 0.5mbps download speed!
I'm not sure i wish to spend that kind of money on such a poor connection.
What is this wireless broadband all about, could we have that instead for faster downloads?
May not be VPN compatible though??
Spoke to BT who didn't understand what VPN was
They said we have to have a business account and connection costing from £23 upto £50 a month.
I spoke with O2 who were very good and can support our needs, sadly they cannot connect us directly and have to use BT but the BT exchange we are on locally will only support 0.5mbps download speed!
I'm not sure i wish to spend that kind of money on such a poor connection.
What is this wireless broadband all about, could we have that instead for faster downloads?
May not be VPN compatible though??
Kentish said:
Thanks guys.
Spoke to BT who didn't understand what VPN was
They said we have to have a business account and connection costing from £23 upto £50 a month.
I spoke with O2 who were very good and can support our needs, sadly they cannot connect us directly and have to use BT but the BT exchange we are on locally will only support 0.5mbps download speed!
I'm not sure i wish to spend that kind of money on such a poor connection.
What is this wireless broadband all about, could we have that instead for faster downloads?
May not be VPN compatible though??
Look at Vodaphone mobile broaband. I believe you'll go a lot faster than 0.5 meg for around the same price.Spoke to BT who didn't understand what VPN was
They said we have to have a business account and connection costing from £23 upto £50 a month.
I spoke with O2 who were very good and can support our needs, sadly they cannot connect us directly and have to use BT but the BT exchange we are on locally will only support 0.5mbps download speed!
I'm not sure i wish to spend that kind of money on such a poor connection.
What is this wireless broadband all about, could we have that instead for faster downloads?
May not be VPN compatible though??
Edited by Goochie on Wednesday 7th January 12:47
I'm a bit confused as to what you're asking for.
If you've got a MAC code then I assume you've already got a connection at home as the MAC code is for each phone line.
You must therefore know what speed you're connecting at already, and thus any of the normal providers using the same BT exchange & equipment will be able to deliver you the same download/upload speed.
If your local exchange hasn't been unbundled (i.e. 3rd parties have fitted their own equipment in the exchange), then the speeds you will get will be limited to the max the line can handle no matter who provides it.
Another good broadband resource is http://www.samknows.com/broadband/ where you can do an exchange search and it will tell you lots of lovely techy info about your local exchange and what products it supports.
If you've got a MAC code then I assume you've already got a connection at home as the MAC code is for each phone line.
You must therefore know what speed you're connecting at already, and thus any of the normal providers using the same BT exchange & equipment will be able to deliver you the same download/upload speed.
If your local exchange hasn't been unbundled (i.e. 3rd parties have fitted their own equipment in the exchange), then the speeds you will get will be limited to the max the line can handle no matter who provides it.
Another good broadband resource is http://www.samknows.com/broadband/ where you can do an exchange search and it will tell you lots of lovely techy info about your local exchange and what products it supports.
Plotloss said:
You dont have to have a business account.
A VPN will work over any DSL connection as long as you have a Fixed IP
I'd recommend Eclipse, they've been good over the last 4 years.
You don't even need a fixed IP if you deploy any half-decent VPN. Even better, get your work to put in an SSLVPN instead. So much easier/better to deploy/manage.A VPN will work over any DSL connection as long as you have a Fixed IP
I'd recommend Eclipse, they've been good over the last 4 years.
GregE240 said:
Plotloss said:
You dont have to have a business account.
A VPN will work over any DSL connection as long as you have a Fixed IP
I'd recommend Eclipse, they've been good over the last 4 years.
Eh? Mine isn't.A VPN will work over any DSL connection as long as you have a Fixed IP
I'd recommend Eclipse, they've been good over the last 4 years.
I don't mess arround with ADSL as theres so mcuh variation in what speed you get. Everyone pays the same, some people get the full 8mb, my neighbours get 1-2mb yet our house will only do 512k..
Solution - Cable. Virgin is reliable and great value for money with the bundle packs, and you are guaranteed a speed (I have often seen mine go faster). Also comes with a neat ethernet modem, no messing arround with USB modems and ADSL usernames and passwords to dial in.
Solution - Cable. Virgin is reliable and great value for money with the bundle packs, and you are guaranteed a speed (I have often seen mine go faster). Also comes with a neat ethernet modem, no messing arround with USB modems and ADSL usernames and passwords to dial in.
Just to clarify for Kentish,
You can either get your internet via Cable, Phone line or wirelessly over the mobile phone network.
For the phone line, which 90% of the country use for internet, you have to pay BT no matter what, as they own all the copper. Some companies will pay BT on your behalf by 'taking over' your line, e.g. talktalk and sky do this for you. You may think this is lovely because everything comes in 1 bill, but its not as lovely as it first seems. If you ever want to move away from one of these companies, BT can, and will, charge you (up to 150) for 'reconnection', meanwhile they aren't actually doing anything.
If you can only get 0.5mb with O2, its very unlikely that you will be able to get more than 0.5mb with any ADSL provider. There are quite a few different ADSL variants now, you can see which are enabled on your exchange. BT are doing a countrywide three step upgrade for all exchanges. The first one enabled ADSL on the exchange, up to 2mb, the next update took them to 8mb and the next enables 24mb (all theoretical if your pc is actually sitting on top of the exchange).
You can check yours here:
http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/
The DSL Max is the 8mb and the WBC is the 24mb.
Cable is the best option if you're in a cabled area, its unaffected by distance, Virgin are pretty good and have good customer service, I never had a problem with them, and the cherry on top is that you never have to speak to BT, which is amazing for your blood pressure.
Mobile broadband is good, but I wouldn't recommend it for downloading purely because of the cost, it costs about 15/month to for a 3gb cap. You also can not do much real time (playing games is the biggest problem, along with any ssh/telnet work gets frustrating) work because of the jitter (the way packets come in bursts and then you get none for a few seconds and then you get lots and then its steady and then *bang* *dead*) associated with mobile connections. The main problem with this is coverage though, unless you can get HSDPA coverage, you should definitely look elsewhere. You can check here http://www.three.co.uk/Mobile_Broadband/Coverage_a...
I recommend cable, but if virgin are not in your area or wont install to your house, i recommend calling Be and asking what their max speed is for your house, if its 0.5mb, i recommend calling O2 back and going with them.
My 2p.
You can either get your internet via Cable, Phone line or wirelessly over the mobile phone network.
For the phone line, which 90% of the country use for internet, you have to pay BT no matter what, as they own all the copper. Some companies will pay BT on your behalf by 'taking over' your line, e.g. talktalk and sky do this for you. You may think this is lovely because everything comes in 1 bill, but its not as lovely as it first seems. If you ever want to move away from one of these companies, BT can, and will, charge you (up to 150) for 'reconnection', meanwhile they aren't actually doing anything.
If you can only get 0.5mb with O2, its very unlikely that you will be able to get more than 0.5mb with any ADSL provider. There are quite a few different ADSL variants now, you can see which are enabled on your exchange. BT are doing a countrywide three step upgrade for all exchanges. The first one enabled ADSL on the exchange, up to 2mb, the next update took them to 8mb and the next enables 24mb (all theoretical if your pc is actually sitting on top of the exchange).
You can check yours here:
http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/
The DSL Max is the 8mb and the WBC is the 24mb.
Cable is the best option if you're in a cabled area, its unaffected by distance, Virgin are pretty good and have good customer service, I never had a problem with them, and the cherry on top is that you never have to speak to BT, which is amazing for your blood pressure.
Mobile broadband is good, but I wouldn't recommend it for downloading purely because of the cost, it costs about 15/month to for a 3gb cap. You also can not do much real time (playing games is the biggest problem, along with any ssh/telnet work gets frustrating) work because of the jitter (the way packets come in bursts and then you get none for a few seconds and then you get lots and then its steady and then *bang* *dead*) associated with mobile connections. The main problem with this is coverage though, unless you can get HSDPA coverage, you should definitely look elsewhere. You can check here http://www.three.co.uk/Mobile_Broadband/Coverage_a...
I recommend cable, but if virgin are not in your area or wont install to your house, i recommend calling Be and asking what their max speed is for your house, if its 0.5mb, i recommend calling O2 back and going with them.
My 2p.
Salgar said:
Just to clarify for Kentish,
You can either get your internet via Cable, Phone line or wirelessly over the mobile phone network.
For the phone line, which 90% of the country use for internet, you have to pay BT no matter what, as they own all the copper. Some companies will pay BT on your behalf by 'taking over' your line, e.g. talktalk and sky do this for you. You may think this is lovely because everything comes in 1 bill, but its not as lovely as it first seems. If you ever want to move away from one of these companies, BT can, and will, charge you (up to 150) for 'reconnection', meanwhile they aren't actually doing anything.
If you can only get 0.5mb with O2, its very unlikely that you will be able to get more than 0.5mb with any ADSL provider. There are quite a few different ADSL variants now, you can see which are enabled on your exchange. BT are doing a countrywide three step upgrade for all exchanges. The first one enabled ADSL on the exchange, up to 2mb, the next update took them to 8mb and the next enables 24mb (all theoretical if your pc is actually sitting on top of the exchange).
You can check yours here:
http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/
The DSL Max is the 8mb and the WBC is the 24mb.
Cable is the best option if you're in a cabled area, its unaffected by distance, Virgin are pretty good and have good customer service, I never had a problem with them, and the cherry on top is that you never have to speak to BT, which is amazing for your blood pressure.
Mobile broadband is good, but I wouldn't recommend it for downloading purely because of the cost, it costs about 15/month to for a 3gb cap. You also can not do much real time (playing games is the biggest problem, along with any ssh/telnet work gets frustrating) work because of the jitter (the way packets come in bursts and then you get none for a few seconds and then you get lots and then its steady and then *bang* *dead*) associated with mobile connections. The main problem with this is coverage though, unless you can get HSDPA coverage, you should definitely look elsewhere. You can check here http://www.three.co.uk/Mobile_Broadband/Coverage_a...
I recommend cable, but if virgin are not in your area or wont install to your house, i recommend calling Be and asking what their max speed is for your house, if its 0.5mb, i recommend calling O2 back and going with them.
My 2p.
Thanks Salgar, I got a bit lost on some of the other advice/failed to see how it would help (some of it) before ypur very helpful post here.You can either get your internet via Cable, Phone line or wirelessly over the mobile phone network.
For the phone line, which 90% of the country use for internet, you have to pay BT no matter what, as they own all the copper. Some companies will pay BT on your behalf by 'taking over' your line, e.g. talktalk and sky do this for you. You may think this is lovely because everything comes in 1 bill, but its not as lovely as it first seems. If you ever want to move away from one of these companies, BT can, and will, charge you (up to 150) for 'reconnection', meanwhile they aren't actually doing anything.
If you can only get 0.5mb with O2, its very unlikely that you will be able to get more than 0.5mb with any ADSL provider. There are quite a few different ADSL variants now, you can see which are enabled on your exchange. BT are doing a countrywide three step upgrade for all exchanges. The first one enabled ADSL on the exchange, up to 2mb, the next update took them to 8mb and the next enables 24mb (all theoretical if your pc is actually sitting on top of the exchange).
You can check yours here:
http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/
The DSL Max is the 8mb and the WBC is the 24mb.
Cable is the best option if you're in a cabled area, its unaffected by distance, Virgin are pretty good and have good customer service, I never had a problem with them, and the cherry on top is that you never have to speak to BT, which is amazing for your blood pressure.
Mobile broadband is good, but I wouldn't recommend it for downloading purely because of the cost, it costs about 15/month to for a 3gb cap. You also can not do much real time (playing games is the biggest problem, along with any ssh/telnet work gets frustrating) work because of the jitter (the way packets come in bursts and then you get none for a few seconds and then you get lots and then its steady and then *bang* *dead*) associated with mobile connections. The main problem with this is coverage though, unless you can get HSDPA coverage, you should definitely look elsewhere. You can check here http://www.three.co.uk/Mobile_Broadband/Coverage_a...
I recommend cable, but if virgin are not in your area or wont install to your house, i recommend calling Be and asking what their max speed is for your house, if its 0.5mb, i recommend calling O2 back and going with them.
My 2p.
Thanks,
K
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff