Broadband - UK?

Hey Hey!

Any ideas on which broadband is good in the UK these days? I'm currently using AOL and it's been working fine for years until this year when Carphone Warehouse took over it at which it's service declined. I bought an 8Mb package and yes, I don't get the 8Mb but I should be getting around 4-5Mb atleast as when I bought it was immensely quicker to the 2Mb that I was using.

I've been doing SpeedTests for this whole month now and it's always giving me either 2.52Mb or 3.54Mb and my upload speed is just 0.3Mb. However compared to last year it was going up to 4.1Mb at the very least!

So here I am at this dilemma, which broadband is the best to switch to?
I'm currently thinking BT Total Broadband Op.3 and it's likely I might go for that or anything else besides TalkTalk or Carphone Warehouse.

Virgin I cannot get due to them needing to get a cable planted and my landlady will surely will not be allowing that.

We're switching from Orange Broadband within around 3 weeks and don't know who to switch to either, so I shall be watching this space! My dad's contemplating BT..

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[en-gb.facebook.com]

We used talktalk in our house but switched to bt and with talktalk my computer (not being especially close to the hub) often suffered from regular discos, but with bt there is a massive improvment in performance with as many as 5 computers connected.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

Sounding good already chaps :D



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/17/2009 02:35PM by Monza972.

It depends on what you want to do with it.

For things like torrenting, the 'big name' ISPs or those with "unlimited usage" are 95% completely useless as they throttle bittorrent traffic. BT have even started throttling BBC iPlayer, forcing viewers onto the lowest quality stream.

If you race or play FPSs online, then that has to be taken into consideration, but most ISPs are fine. Just make sure you can use a wired connection rather than wireless if at all possible.

You'll have to pay a bit more if you want an all round good ISP, but don't expect unlimited downloads from one. What you'll likely end up with is unlimited downloads off peak and something like 40gb per month on peak, which is far, far more than is normally needed.

If you just need a basic ISP for regularly surfing the internet and grabbing your email, then the likes of BT are normally fine.

I'm on ADSL24s Office 45 package, giving me 45gb per month allowance, longer off peak times (8pm-8am vs the normal 11pm-8am) and double the upload speed that most ADSL users get (832kb rather than the usual 448kb), and if you do go over your monthly allowance, they just bump you up to the next package rather than charging you a fortune in per gb fees.... but it's £29 per month.

There is a Home 30 package for £19, giving you 30gb allowance, but you lose the extra upload speed (unless you're in an ADSL2+ enabled area, in which case you get 1.4mb) and the off-peak times are worse.


You get what you pay for.

I won't be doing torrenting so that's not a massive problem. I mostly use the internet for being on this, watching Youtube videos or watching TV Series online and iPlayer whenever I've missed something. Online gaming I don't do much since I have no wheel and suck on keyboard

With Unlimited Downloads it's mostly a Fair Usage Policy anyway like I currently have so not a big deal either. So BT's unlimited pack is good for me. they're also saying that ADSL+ or ADSL2+ will be coming onto the lines soon enough so my line would be instantly upgraded when the time comes. I'll have to check with my parents on which BT Call option we're on and see if we can get a discounted line rental and stuff.

Thanks for the help guys

chet Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> We used talktalk in our house but switched to bt
> and with talktalk my computer (not being
> especially close to the hub) often suffered from
> regular discos, but with bt there is a massive
> improvment in performance with as many as 5
> computers connected.


Which BT Broadband Package are you on currently?

No hassles with BT here.

One with a 15Gb download limit. I think it's their option two... 15Gb limit and the hub. The limit seems okay, ive got a program which records the useage so I get an estimate of how much is being used. I think the limitless option is not much more expensive. I guess just depends how much you download. If like me your not a big downloader then its okay. I stay out the way of torrents until back at uni and really only ever download things as big as rf tracks, and the occasional mod.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

Tested the speed over at my uncle's who's on BT and woopa! it's 6mb on an 8mb connection ! So, time to get BT on the phone tomorrow and wring them out of every information I can get out of them for the connection and stuff and then it's time to get the MAC code of AOL

With standard ADSL your speed is almost entirely dependant on how close you are to your exchange. The BT tests estimate on how close you are as the crow flies, then compensates some, so it's never completely reliable.

Your ISP is a consideration too. For instance Virgin are infamous for very, very rarely getting anywhere close to the advertised speed, regardless of how strong your connection is.

I find my virgin media service 2gb via optical fibres very good. Can play half life2 deathmatch (online game) nicely with no lag, though i dont download much. But I know virgin offers quite fast speeds now for decent prices?

Monza972 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey Hey!
>
> Any ideas on which broadband is good in the UK
> these days? I'm currently using AOL and it's been
> working fine for years until this year when
> Carphone Warehouse took over it at which it's
> service declined. I bought an 8Mb package and yes,
> I don't get the 8Mb but I should be getting around
> 4-5Mb atleast as when I bought it was immensely
> quicker to the 2Mb that I was using.
>
> I've been doing SpeedTests for this whole month
> now and it's always giving me either 2.52Mb or
> 3.54Mb and my upload speed is just 0.3Mb. However
> compared to last year it was going up to 4.1Mb at
> the very least!
>
> So here I am at this dilemma, which broadband is
> the best to switch to?
> I'm currently thinking BT Total Broadband Op.3 and
> it's likely I might go for that or anything else
> besides TalkTalk or Carphone Warehouse.
>
> Virgin I cannot get due to them needing to get a
> cable planted and my landlady will surely will not
> be allowing that.


Push to get cable installed. It's a one-time thing that will serve many people. Your landlady doesn't need to front the connection charge (£99 IIRC).

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Everyone knows that million-to-one chances happen 9 times out of 10; indeed, it's a common requirement in fairy tales. If the human didn't have to overcome huge odds, what would be the point? Terry Pratchett - The Science Of Discworld

GPGSL S5 Race driver for IED.

gav Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> With standard ADSL your speed is almost entirely
> dependant on how close you are to your exchange.
> The BT tests estimate on how close you are as the
> crow flies, then compensates some, so it's never
> completely reliable.
>
> Your ISP is a consideration too. For instance
> Virgin are infamous for very, very rarely getting
> anywhere close to the advertised speed, regardless
> of how strong your connection is.

Yup that's the thing. However, doing BT's connection test on phone line it shows 2.5Mbps however, doing a speed test over on Speedtest.net it's above 2.5mbps and around 3.2 or 3.5 the very least

Virgin Media XL, 20Mb (or 50 if you can get it), the only downside is speed capping if you download over about 5 gigs per peak period. Weve had it in our student house for a year, and are just about to upgrade to 50mb, however we have had some issues with rubbish pings for a few weeks, but that seems to have settled down now.

about 3 of the 4 times ive run customer service its been a nice english person (only once to a call center somewhere in india (and this was out of uk office hours i beleive.)

So overall they are pretty good, and you wont match the download speed anywhere else for the same price (purely because its fiber optic.)

Have fun!

(P.S) If you do go for VM, let me refer you and we will both get £30 off our bill

Edit: Sorry just read you cant go for VM.. lol whoops, and although gav appears to be right (I just did a speedtest) and im *only* getting 14 meg down (out of 20), 13 meg is still a great speed.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/2009 06:58PM by Willb.