What Broadband????
Discussion
I want to progress from dialup to Broadband, I have both a BT Line for calls and a Telewest line which I use for internet and faxes. I want to lose one of the lines, probably the Telewest, to save money as I can use Broadband and phone at the same time. What is a good, LOW COST, broadband supplier that can use on my BT line? Want to spend as near to £15 a month as I can. Only use it for email, surfing etc.
Chris.
Chris.
Depends if you're looking for full 512 Broadband or a lesser version? If full tehn you can't go too wrong with Metronet's pay as you go service. My last bill was just under £15 a month and that will with a bit of browsing each day and a few downloads a week 
Only downside is you have to buy your own ADSN modem/hub and pay connection.
Only downside is you have to buy your own ADSN modem/hub and pay connection.www.plus.net
Lots of options for converting to bband at a not too high charge.
And they actually answer the phone, when you ring, too.
Lots of options for converting to bband at a not too high charge.
And they actually answer the phone, when you ring, too.
Plotloss said:I have been offered 1mb for about £25 a month - would I notice much difference from usual 512k?
Getting broadband and then not completely using it is a false economy I reckon.
Get a fat a line as possible. I pay £30 a month for 2mb.
You can never be too thin, too rich or have too much bandwidth....
Why not have a look at Pipex?
I went throught the same conundrum.
I came to the conclusion that Pipex was the choice due to the good reputation ad different packages available. £15pm or £18 packages are available and it is easy to upgrade if you decide you want a fatter pipe.
It is an easy installation and I am very pleased.
On top of that they offer free activation and a free modem.
Let me know if it suits you, they offer me a free month if it's a referral.
I went throught the same conundrum.
I came to the conclusion that Pipex was the choice due to the good reputation ad different packages available. £15pm or £18 packages are available and it is easy to upgrade if you decide you want a fatter pipe.
It is an easy installation and I am very pleased.
On top of that they offer free activation and a free modem.
Let me know if it suits you, they offer me a free month if it's a referral.
www.adslguide.org/ has info on most of the companies and their offerings along with ratings for customer service and speed.
If speed's of interest to you, look at the news archive to find the latest monthly speed rating of the top providers.
If speed's of interest to you, look at the news archive to find the latest monthly speed rating of the top providers.
I'd second Metronet. I do all the surfing I need and pay about £13pcm for 512Kb/sec speed. If you use it less, you pay less, and the max is capped.
See www.metronet.co.uk/adsl/paygo
See www.metronet.co.uk/adsl/paygo
Thanks for all the replies, I'm a bit new to this so sorry for the questions.
Ok, If I go for Metronet or similar I will need to buy a Modem?? If so any advice on modems, which? ADSL???where from? How much? Can I get a Wireless Modem so I can use my laptop around the house? Laptop is 3 years old..intel p3..do I need a plug in card thingy? What happens to any other BT phone sockets on the circuit? I have one in every room! Will they still work as normal or do I need a filter on each?
Chris.
>> Edited by cjs on Tuesday 25th May 06:48
Ok, If I go for Metronet or similar I will need to buy a Modem?? If so any advice on modems, which? ADSL???where from? How much? Can I get a Wireless Modem so I can use my laptop around the house? Laptop is 3 years old..intel p3..do I need a plug in card thingy? What happens to any other BT phone sockets on the circuit? I have one in every room! Will they still work as normal or do I need a filter on each?
Chris.
>> Edited by cjs on Tuesday 25th May 06:48
wanty1974 said:
Getting broadband and then not completely using it is a false economy I reckon.
Get a fat a line as possible. I pay £30 a month for 2mb.
You can never be too thin, too rich or have too much bandwidth....
I have been offered 1mb for about £25 a month - would I notice much difference from usual 512k?
Twice as quick.
So what downloads now at 56k/sec will come down at 112k/sec or thereabouts.
Depends on what you use it for really. I regularly see 200+ on eMule and Kazaa which was nice
highwayman said:
Wanadoo (formerly Freeserve)- £17.99 per month for 2mb with free modem & filters. Modem arrived in post 3 days after ordering and line was activated within a week.
second this - been using them for a few weeks, seems good so far.
Except it's not 2MB, it's 512k transmission rate. There's a 2GB limit per month on how much you can download, but you'd have to be pretty busy to exceed 2GB. They have faster, and higher monthly download limit, options for more money.
Central Point too www.cpbb.co.uk/
I think Blueyonder should also be considered, but it all depends on who much you use it. Rule of thumb though is "Whatever you have you'll end up using all of it, so get as much as you can".
I think Blueyonder should also be considered, but it all depends on who much you use it. Rule of thumb though is "Whatever you have you'll end up using all of it, so get as much as you can".
cjs said:
Ok, If I go for Metronet or similar I will need to buy a Modem??
Yes you will - that's becasue their monthly cost is so low they don't absorb the cost. However, you'll still be ahead within a year.
To answer your next Q, any ADSL modem will do: mine is external and was about £25 from Dabs, but you can get card ones as well. You can pay more and get a router, but that's getting into networking and is beyond my personal experience. (But don't get one that says B&Q Pro-Line
) You'll also need a microfilter (looks like a socket doubler) on each phone socket (about £4 each). Otherwise you can't use the phone for calls due to the static noise.
No complaints with Pipex. Paying £23/month for 512 service. www.pipex.com
Metronet is pay as you go. Wanadoo is capped as to usage. Freeserve always was junk. I use Tiscali at £15.99, which is on all the time, no catches whatsoever, free modem, etc., and gives an advertised 150 speed, or 3 X dial-up, but I get 250. Same offering as Pipex. If you just want to surf, use Word, whatever, and not to use images, videos and the like, 150 is all you need. Also, the Tiscali website is first class, with lots of actually useful stuff. Reliabilty-wise, Tiscali is never down (I used to have NTL which was regularly down, and often for days at a time).
The charge is capped, the usage isn't:
http://metronet.co.uk/adsl/paygo
"On a PAYGo500 account, for instance, your minimum monthly cost would be £10 which would include your first 200MB of usage. Thereafter you pay just £0.0025 (Quarter of a penny) per MB till you download/upload up to 5796MB in that month, at which point the most you pay is £23.99. But if you don't download/upload 5796MB you of course pay less. It's as simple as that."
"Only your cost is capped at this point NOT your connection or usage."
http://metronet.co.uk/adsl/paygo
"On a PAYGo500 account, for instance, your minimum monthly cost would be £10 which would include your first 200MB of usage. Thereafter you pay just £0.0025 (Quarter of a penny) per MB till you download/upload up to 5796MB in that month, at which point the most you pay is £23.99. But if you don't download/upload 5796MB you of course pay less. It's as simple as that."
"Only your cost is capped at this point NOT your connection or usage."
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