The best ISP

[anfieldman]

I'm using Orange wireless broadband at the moment and I have had quite a bit of trouble with it in the past. I am now at a stage where I have to plug my laptop in to use it rather than with the wireless connection. The helpdesk is in India and whilst I don't have a problem with that, they find it difficult to understand me and I find that they speak to quickly for me even though their English is quite good.
What is other peoples opinion of who is the best ISP and do they have a UK based helpdesk for when things go wrong?
I don't really need a package for heavy download use, just a little surfing in the evening. I am paying ?12 per month at the moment.

Your opinions are greatly appreciated.

 

[paul]

I suppose they  have their detractors but I've been with BT Internet for about 18 months. I cannot vouch for their help line as I have had no reason to use it so I would recommend BT.

 

[bubba]

I use Nildram

Good fast isp with helpful (uk based) tech support.

I also put my landline through them and get 500 free minutes to all (area code based, not 0870 etc) landlines per month for free.

 

[AndyF]

I've had tiscali for a couple of years, no probs, no silly download limits at ?14.99. Recently upgraded on a special offer for an extra quid a month to business broadband with a static IP.

With that you get normal rate tech support calls to a human being in the UK, its worth the extra ?1....

..just dont have the phone service in with it as its bad value.....

 

[dunc]

do they have a UK based helpdesk

they are a rarity these days..

As for ISPs:
I've used BT for quite some time and have had no real problems/had no need to use helpline, thankfully.
Just like anything, some people have good things to say, others bad about the same product or service.. Take all good/bad points and any other information and make your own judgement..

 

[bubba]

One other thing about Nildram... I hammer bittorrent file sharing sites quite heavily and they don't have any restrictions that i've ever hit. Some ISPs ban bittorrent traffic so something to take note of if you're into p2p.

 

[ChrisJC]

I have used Demon since 1996, no real problems. Am using HomeOffice 8000 now. I don't use any bandwidth hogging sharing, and I haven't used the helpdesk so I can't vouch for those.

Chris.

 

[Hughie]

Have used AOL for years. Never had to use their helpline, so wouldn't have a clue where it is. Less than a tenner per month.

 

[wormster]

We use Bt business broadband at home (swimbo's work pays),

on the rare occaisions I've had to use helpdesk seems to be uk baised and helpful.

 

[ttxela]

Have used AOL for years. Never had to use their helpline, so wouldn't have a clue where it is. Less than a tenner per month.

Helpline used to be free, then went to local rate I think. Last time I wanted to call the number I had didn't work any more and I fixed whatever was wrong before I discovered what the new number was...

 

[caving_fox]

I'm with UKonline.

cheapish ?10 @1Mb/s which is fine for email and surfing but not so staggering for video work.

UK call centre, local rate number, but they aren't the brightest chaps in the world. Lots of going back and forth when we had an issue - and they never ever phoned back, despite promising to repeatedly. 

Admittedly the issue wasn't their fault - local flooding knocked part of the BT exchange out, but it took them a long while to notice this - 2 weeks without internet. ....  but they did refund the time we were without.

 

[Billy Butcombe]

We have just got cable - its fab ! 

 

[ChrisB]

I've been using Plusnet for about 5 years. Good UK based help, phone or email, and real time stats on response times. They actually warn you if they're going to do maintenance!

?9.99/month for basic 1GB. They do prioritise on traffic type, so people who download lots at peak times may not be happy, but if you just want browsing and email it means there's more bandwidth for you.

Chris

 

[anfieldman]

Many thanks to you all. Something for me to chew over and maybe change my ISP after xmas.

On that subject, Merry Christmas to you all!
Have a great caving 2008.

Regards
Mark

 

[spikey]

Anyone tried Sky ?????

Currently with BT for phone / broadband, but have Sky+ and considering integrating all my eggs into one basket...............

 

[Wolfart]

With BT have had no problems as of yet ,just resigned with them oferring me ?3 off and a free gift of MP3 player or printer ,took the MP3 player,hope it arrives before xmas,cheap gift for my daughter

 

[Stu]

Something to add to the mix which may or may not have any bearing whatsoever!

Lots of providers offer fantastic speeds for their broadband. Of course we all know these are "up to" speeds. By testing your speed via any of the adsl speed guide tests, it will give you a fair idea of what is probably feasible on your line. I mention this because I've been toying with changing from Virgin (who have been very good, but not that cheap) who claim speeds of up to 8mb's - I'm just about getting 1mb's (no deception going on - they, as the others do, state speeds vary depending on distance etc). I've noticed some providers only have packages of 1mb speed; they're lots cheaper and because I can't physically get any mad speeds there seems little point in paying for a promise that can't be fulfilled. Unless someone knows of a way of speeding up the phone line!!

 

[bubba]

Very true Stu - i have an "8meg" service but rarely see more than 3.5meg actual speed. Since i've moved further away from the BT phone socket i'm gettting even less but i keep the service going because i get a solid 450kbps upload which is great for p2p and gaming.

 

[Stu]

I dream of 450!!! Though for nothing illegal?!  :ang:

 

[Dave H]

I'm with PlusNet and have no problems with them - all our problems are with the BT lines.

There is only one good line to our end of the village. Complain; they send their contractors out and you can get 2.7Mb. Someone else complains and they get the 2.7Mb line and you are back to 1.4Mb (unless its raining and then it doesn't work at all) We know exactly what is going on, because we talk to each other, but BT deny it all. We've even told them exactly where the faulty, waterlogged cable that causes all the problems is, but again they deny any problem. 

We even considered forming a community company to take over the lines in the village (and replace them with good cables), but BT wouldn't deal with us as a wholesale customer (too small), so we would have to pay consumer rates to the village and then our own rates (to cover costs) within the village. (Three ex-BT engineers live in the village and we believe they know what they are talking about) Many people baulked at the extra cost, but all was lost when BT said that the connection to the village was too poor for them to be allowed to 'unbundle' to us (OFCOM rules apparently, although we can find nothing of the sort!) (Before anyone says wireless could have been used for the unbundling, not only would it have worked out more expensive, but all of the older village buildings are made of ironstone!)

So stuck in the dark ages with 1.4Mb, although I know some of you guys are still stuck in pre-history!  :-\