Topic: Lona's getting Broadband

[Lona]

Phone call yesterday from BT saying I can have Broadband starting 1st December.  If I take it from BT they are offering "Free Connection", "First Month Free" and then £27 a month.  Is that a good deal, I wouldn't know.

[DJ]

I use Force9 lona and can't fault their service.

They are currently doing a "free activation" and free hardware offer at £24.99 a month. Actually they just increased the monthly price a bit to include the activation charge.  Does BT give you the modem?, if not the free month might not be such a good deal  

I pay £21.99 but had to pay an activation charge. Best bit is the 250mb webspace.  If you don't need the webspace there may be better offers around.

You can see more info HERE

No doubt Simon et all will be here soon to recommend Pipex so they get their free month!   (I would have gone with Pipex but needed the webspace!)

You might be good looking at ISPreview - but I see you already have posted a link on another thread  

Good luck !

DJ

PS - Now I have broadband, even though the increased monthly charge - I wouldn't go back to normal dial up

EDIT: Just had a quick look on ISPreview, Force9 and Plusnet are the same company just a different branding. So use plusnet as a comparison against other products.

PPS! - If you do want to go with Force9, let me know cos I'll give you a referal link. (doh - I'm getting like Simon  )

[Sandra]

Glad to hear you are getting it Lona  
Personally I wouldnt touch BT or any of their variants for any internet connection.
I think there are better and cheaper ISPs around.
Check for the free activation and free modem deals that may be available nearer the time.
If you want a lot of webspace then Tonys recommendation Plusnet seems quite good as that comes with 250mbs I think and is cheper than BTs offering.
Most only come with 50mbs,which is probably ok for most people.
As you know Simon,Bat 69 and myself are all with Pipex which has proved to be very reliable over the last 15 to 18 months that I have had it although their webservers have been a bit "iffy" for the last couple of months.
Keep checking on ISPR over the next couple of months before committing yourself for any bad comments  :doggie:

[Adept]

Lona. I'm pleased fo you  

I know BT is the "safe option" for many people, but there really are better deals out there.

I'd recommend you have a look at ADSLGuide to get all the information you need about the other providers available.

[DJ]

Whilst updating my post Sandra & Adept jumped in!

Yeah, I think if you keep checking ADSLGuide and ISPr over the coming months and see what the best deals closer the time are, it'll be the best bet to get a service that suits you.

Another thing to consider - which ISP are you using now and do you need to keep the email address you have at the moment.  If you do there are ways of doing it whilst connected to other ISP's but sometimes it can be a pain  

Any further questions just ask! - Being a past broadband campainger for my area, no question is too stupid - I've heard them all from local residents  

DJ

[Lona]

I stupidly didn't think to ask the BT guy if the modem was free.  He inferred everything was free except the monthly fee.
It would appear that Pipex and Plusnet are about the best all round deals. Plusnet ofcourse throw in a free modem but are £1 month dearer than pipex and a £99 cancellation fee. I have a couple of months to make up my mind. Thanks for all your ideas.

[Clive]

Take whatever you can get Lona!!  Grab it with both hands and don't let go.  I'm with BT and that's why I haven't been online this past 24 hours.  Nuff said?  

[WhiteDevil]

Ive got NTL BB and i personally cannot fault them. Modem was free, set-up was free, one month at a higher connection rate (600K instead of 128K) free... Its £24.99 a month, and i can get download speeds from 60Kb/s - 140KB/s.

I have run Web Servers and Mail Servers on this connection, played Half Life, and hosted MP Sessions on FS2002, and ive never had a crash. What more can i say, they're doing good for me  8)

[DJ]

I wish I could get NTL, sadly they're not not my area - yet

DJ  

[Michelle]

I'm the same DJ    

I would like to stick with NTL but if they don't get their act together then i'll have to look around.  

[TR]

:'(

For Postcode IP16 XXX

We are sorry but the checker indicates that Broadband is not currently available in your area. The size of your exchange indicates that Broadband ADSL may not be viable.

We are introducing alternative technical and commercial solutions for areas where the demand for Broadband ADSL does not balance with the cost of upgrading the exchange. For example, Broadband satellite and wireless services are in trial and a number of joint public and private sector funding initiatives are being introduced across the UK.

Thank you for your interest

[daveeb]

ntl dont always know their a*$e from their elbow so you could well be in their cachment area without their postcode software knowing it.  have to say apart from a couple of minor outages i've had no trouble with ntl.  and i have to agree with clive & sandra regarding BT i avoid them like the plague.  

[Simon]

Nice Christmas Pressie, Lona!  As DJ predicted, I can only recommend Pipex, because I have not used anyone else, but I have found them very reliable, and would not wish to change.  I would advise you to wait until nearer the time, as there will no doubt be many 'special offers' up for grabs as Christmas approaches.

[Lona]

Nice Christmas Pressie, Lona!  As DJ predicted, I can only recommend Pipex, because I have not used anyone else, but I have found them very reliable, and would not wish to change.  I would advise you to wait until nearer the time, as there will no doubt be many 'special offers' up for grabs as Christmas approaches.

Good thinking, Simon . At least I got the answer to my question and will stay well clear of BT