Topic: ISP

[Simon]

O2 is BeTheres parent company, they both are unlimited, subject to a fair use policy.

Oh, I didn't know that, Sandra.  Out of curiosity, I did try to see if I could get it, and it's apparently still not available in my area.

[Sandra]

They are expanding all the time from what I hear Simon, so keep checking you never know 

They enabled my area about 14 months ago after initially only being available around the London area.

[Baz]

I think the fair use policy is there just in case, as according to the Be forums, no one has been warned about heavy usage even with one guy claiming to download around 750 gig per month on a regular basis
 

    blimey 750GB per month............is he still there or did they 'review' his contract.

[Lona]

I always thought 02 was owned by BT.

[Sandra]

No he hasnt even had a warning or been throttled as far as I know.

BT used to own O2 when they were Cellnet but I think at the same time or shortly after they changed to O2 they were sold off to a Swedish firm.

[JK]

I will have to make my mind up soon on another  ISP. The other evening I was getting 218k download.
I have spoken to pipex about getting my mac code and the guy there said why was I thinking of leaving?. Told him since tiscali took over my download speeds have dropped. He said he had spoken to a customer who left tiscali to join pipex, now they want to leave pipex.
It appears that most of the upto 8M services have download limits.
I have no idea of how much bandwidth I use and have just installed netmeter to check.

[Simon]

Have a look here, JK.  There's a free month offer on at the moment, and you will get the maximum speed your line will allow (subject to any internal hardware / wiring issues), with no contention.

[JK]

Thank you Simon.
All the packages on ADSL max have download limits and I am not sure yet of what to go for. I could go for one that has a small limit and pay extra if I go over, or go for a large one which I may not use all. With Pipex I am paying £23.44 a month for 1M. They did offer to change me over to a upto 8M service with 30G limit for £9.99 a month. But I can see little point if I am put onto a Tiscali server that would have high contention and bandwidth restrictions.
On the 16th I put Netmeter on my PC and put 5G in the limit box. Today it shows 1.577G(down and up) used. I have not downloaded much this month.

[Simon]

I can say, from experience, that there is no contention or throttling on IDNet, but obviously, your ultimate speed also depends on other factors, such as your distance from the exchange, your internal wiring and hardware, etc.  Uploads don't count either, so on the 30Gb, £24.99 per month package, you would get the full 30Gb allowance of downloads, then it's £1 per Gb thereafter.

[Rik]

It's perhaps worth noting, JK, that you can move between packages at any time without charge, with one exception - and that's a downgrade from Home SuperMax.

[JK]

Thanks Rik.
Can you have a free month on the Home Max and revert to the Home Lite? Or is the free offer for the package you want to start out on.
On other ISP packages you can change at anytime but you then start a new 12 month contract.
Is the one month contract at all times?
If appears to be the best deal around at the moment and 0800 UK based.
Will have to use my MAC code soon before pipex bill me again.

[Simon]

Whatever package you start on, you will get the free month, JK, and you can switch packages any time for no charge, the only exception, as Rik said, is if you downgrade from SuperMax.  It's a one month contract at all times.

[JK]

Thank you Simon.
I will have to pay Pipex(Tiscali) on the 02/03 again so I better start as soon as possible. How long does it take to change and can you offer any advice on adsl max?

[Simon]

You will have to pay Piscali again anyway, as there is a 30 day cancellation period, which they will insist on.  You need to get moving with the MAC request (phone them in the morning!!), as you only have till the 29th to get the free month with IDNet, and Pipex will probably take their time issuing it, but by law, they have to issue it within 5 working days.  You should just make it, providing you get the MAC by Friday, and sign up with IDNet on the same day.  If Pipex haven't issued it by Friday, get on to them again, and threaten them with Ofcom if you have to.

Once you have the MAC, fill in the registration form on IDNet.com, and they will take it from there.  It usually takes around 3-5 working days, depending on how quickly BT get their act together, and also depending on whether you have been LLU'd by Pipex / Tiscali, but IDNet will inform you of the migration date in good time.  On the day of migration, all you should need to do is change the login details on your router or modem, and you'll be on IDNet.  You can actually set up and use your IDNet emails before the migration, as soon as you have the registration confirmation and login details from them.  If you are already on a MAX service with Pipex, it should be a straightforward switch, and you should immediately notice an improvement in speed.  If you are on a fixed rate with Pipex, there is a 10 day training period, where the BT software works out the maximum stable speed your line is capable of.  You may experience slowish speeds or occasional disconnections during the first few days of the training period, then it should settle down.

Hope that helps!

[JK]

Hi Simon I am with pipex and cannot see any 30 day thing. I have the MAC now. Perhaps you could tell me if pipex will charge me.
When I contacted them for the MAC they said when asked that they would refund me, if billed and I changed.
They, pipex did send me around the houses to get the MAC number. Had to call lots of high rate numbers to get it. That  is after
they told me it would take 5 days to obtain it.