Internet provider who to go with?

[Guest]

Have had enough of Talktalk brilliant when it works but dire when it doesn't , the helpline is useless ,but not sure who to go with ,am thinking maybe Sky if it isn't too expensive or maybe BT, would like some ideas please.

[Night Owl]

Oh Val your having real problems aren't you :(

I can only tell you about my experience and you'll probably get loads of people telling you the opposite

We have BT Infinity unlimited because we're heavy users. Used to have normal BT Broadband but we managed to get a deal that worked out about the same price. We pay the line rental for 12 months in advance so you get a discount.

Had it a couple of years. They send an engineer to install everything and he even set up the internet on my laptop and left me with instructions for the other computers. Could have probably done it myself but he offered. Its very fast and reliable.

About a month ago it started playing up so I rang them. They tested the line and said that it was probably the equipment so sent an engineer out 48 hours later. He came and changed the hub and router and even left me his mobile number so that if any problems happened within 7 days I wouldn't have to go through the help desk. Since then its been fine again

One of the reasons we stuck with BT was so we didn't have to mess around with companies blaming one another. I know they've split it up now but its still essentially the same company

[Anne in Carlisle]

For better or worse, we're with BT too. Lots of people complain but that's often the way with big companies. As I scan my email contact addresses it is clear that lots are with BT and quite a number have recently changed to them.
Fingers crossed, we've not had any major problems, although you should be aware they are in the long (very long!!) process of ditching Yahoo as their email partner.

Anne

[Guest]

Couldn't reply earlier not long got back it wont last though, so typing this fast might be a few spelling mistakes ;D
I am more or less convinced to go with BT ,as with Talktalk you have to let them book them as we pay Talktalk our phone line rental so its very frustrating waiting for them to get one out.
I just had a look on the status of my connection problem on the talktalk page and they have the audacity to have on it there is no idea when it will be fixed??
I am going to demand a months money back.

[PeteW1959]

I have been with Plusnet for about 7 years now, and they have been brilliant. In our area they are only one of two (the other being BT) that can provide up tp 20Mb; the rest only offer 11Mb. They have 24 hr 0800 phone support based in Sheffield (no language barrier, as long as you can understand a Yorkshire accent ;) ).

Plusnet are wholly owned by BT so get priority treatment for faults, but they are considerably cheaper than BT.

On the down side, they aren't the cheapest when you compare to Sky or Talk Talk, and at the end of the contract period, without any warning or reminder, they just end any discounts and put the price back to full, but they always sort it out when you phone.

[Oscar]

Another vote from me for BT. I pay a year's line rental in advance, use the 10GB Broadband package and have all-day free calls. I pay just under £20 per month, as long as I haven't called a mobile or a non-free number.

When I had to change details of the account last year, they were extremely understanding and helpful.

Gwyn

[WendyPusey]

I'm with Sky after leaving TalkTalk. Cheaper as we have SkyTV. No problems. Don't have phone package as I prefer to have mine with BT.

[Guest]

its so hard to decide ,and I really want to change soon, shall have to see what their packages entail, thanks everyone

[Linda from Murton]

Hello Val, I am with BT Infinity. Moved to them a year ago. Got my mac code from o2 and did the swap all online. Because I did it online I got a £50 voucher for Sainsbury's. Not sure if they have a similar offer on. Like Night Owl the Engineer came out and set everything up. I pay my line rental a year in advance. Just done so and saved a fortune. With BT infinity I'm on a limited package (this has not caused any problems because I don't download loads) and have free phone calls all the time. The Infinity connection and free calls costs me £23 a month.

My speed with o2 averaged 1.8 when I switched to Infinity it went up to 25 mind you it has dropped back to 17 but the speed is more than I could have hoped for. The closer your house is to the green box in the street the faster your speeds. Honest they can be up to 60.

If I can do it all online anyone can. They send you texts all the time telling you where they are up to.

Hope all goes well for you in the end. Go for it kid.

Just looked and they have the Sainsbury voucher deal for another 7 days. This is the one you do the swap online.

[Guest]

it seems I cant have infinity? so thats out , seems when I checked online with them I have a connection problem so it wouldn't work ???? shame Talktalk couldn't see that straight away , love the kid bit Linda did make me giggle.

[Linda from Murton]

Hi Val - did you check out the ordinary BT broadband. Although you cannot have Infinity you might be able to get their ordinary connection. :o

[Guest]

I did yes but got quite confused by it all , I really just want the broadband and phone I suppose I should go for the unlimited broadband one ??

[PeteW1959]

Do you really need unlimited?

Check your average usage with your current provider (should be able to access it from your account control panel); unless you are streaming a lot of video (BBC iPlayer, Youtube etc) or online gaming then I think you will be surprised just how little you use.

[Guest]

thanks Pete didn't realise you could do that:xmas_smile:

[angelina]

I am with BT and think if you start off with the lowest broadband usage package you can upgrade to a higher one but if you start with a higher package i dont think you can go back to a lower band - hope you understand that!!! i am on lowest package of upto 10gbs (or whatever they are called) and thats fine for me and pay line rental in advance and also get them to help me if i getstuck with anything. eg wires flapping about outside from the main telegraph pole - they came in less than 2 hours to sort that.!!!! i think it depends on your area what reception/broadband speed is like for other providers.

[Linda from Murton]

If you are going down this path it would be best to pay the years line rental upfront £141 that way you will save £44.40. Do it online and you will get the Sainsbury's voucher of £50. Think I had to wait about two months before the voucher came through but it did come in the end.

So now all you need is your MAC Code and off you go. Good luck.

PS If Talk talk try to fob you off when you ask for your Mac code, be firm but polite and say you want it now, not next week.

[Guest]

Thanks Angelina thats good to know, and Linda that £141 is only for the Broadband isn't it so do I then pay for the line monthly ?
I just went to talktalk to see how much usage I have and guess what ? nil zilch zero so cannot find out how much I use.

[angelina]

Val with BT you pay for
1) line rental monthly or yearly - i pay yearly so its about£141 i think
2) phone package - whether you want free calls all day or just evening and weekends - its worth negotiating with them on that about price esp if you tell them that talktalk are cheaper -they may deny it but they can reduce the price.
3) broadband usage package - how many gbs you use - personally i would start off on the bottom lowest rate of broadband usage and check it every other day to see what you are using - this is via your account online and is at the bottom of your page then if it is getting near the 7gbs usage they send you and email to warn you- i only ever went over twice - both times becos i let a friend use their mobile phone to connect to my internet and i got charged £5 extra that month for going over 10gbs.

[PeteW1959]

i am on lowest package of upto 10gbs (or whatever they are called)

It might be worth explaining some of these terms, as some people do find them confusing.

Firstly there is speed. This is quoted in megabytes per second (Mbs) and is usually up to 2Mbs (only for the remotest properties now), up to 8Mbs (ADSL) or up to 20Mbs (ADSL+) for cabled services. Fibre services such as BT Infinity are considerably faster, but still rely on a copper telephone line from the street box (the new green boxes that have been springing up all over the place) to your house. This is for areas where you have to use the BT network; some large urban areas have other networks with different speeds.

The minimum speed for watching online video is often quoted as 2Mbs, but in reality you will need at least 8Mbs. The 'upto' figure is quoted in an 'ideal' world. There are many factors that can affet the speed at your house, not least distance from the exchange and how many junction boxes it has to go through. My internet is quoted as upto 20Mbs, but I actually get around 17Mbs.

The speed has nothing to do with the monthly allowance you get. This is quantity of data you download, regardless of speed. Unlimited should be just that, but many providers do have what they call a 'fair usage policy' and restrict the speed at peak times.

1 byte is one keystroke, and 1GB is 1 000 000 000 bytes so that is 1 000 000 000 characters. 30,000 bytes (30kB) is around a 5 page Word document. Pictures and video are worked out diferrently because the files are compressed. A 2048x1536 (4 megapixel) jpg picture is 1MB (1,000,000 bytes) and 700MB (0.7GB) is about 2 hours of BBC iPlayer. 10GB will get you about 28 hours of iPlayer!

Hope this helps.

P.S. Some of this is simplified somewhat for non-techies, I know that the byte/kB/MB/GB figures are far more complicated, using 1024 as a multiplier ;)

[Guest]

Got cut off again

Wuld you believe it
Talktalk just rang to arrange a time and day for a BT bloke to call bearing in mind this has been going on for over 3 weeks and their man came friday morning and found it was a fault in the line, why has it taken so long to book an engineer?
BT quoted me as getting 3.5MB if I go with them, dont quite know the difference between mbbs and MB
Am taking the plunge and going to book with BT now, do hope its the right decision

Thanks everybody for your input will let you know how I get on