Posted October 15, 200816 yr Just wondered if anyone can recommend a good broadband package? I'm looking for a reasonably priced landline rental with the usual stuff (free calls at weekends, etc...), plus about 5mb Broadband. I'm not asking for much more than that, other than reliability and a decent customer service (I realise that's asking a bit much!) I've had a quick scout around the net, and Tiscali look like they do a decent package, but then my current provider's broadband package looked good too! I'd appreciate anyone's opinions and/or experiences with variious companies in order to help me make an informed decision. The reason I ask is that my current contract with a certain company ends in February, and that day can't come soon enough. I lose my internet connection fairly regularly, with no explanation or apology from the company, my broadband speed is laughable since I switched to them, and their 'customer service' is virtually non-existant. When I finally get through I find I'm being spoken at by someone in India or somewhere whose accent I can barely make out (not racist, I have the same problem with Geordies!), they are no help whatsoever, and obviously work to a set script which is basically pure bullsh*t. Needless to say, I'm anticipating problems getting a MAC code from them come the time to change, so don't be too surprised if you see news reports of a middle-aged man going on a killing spree and generally running amok in a phone company's head offices come February. Many thanks in advance :)
October 15, 200816 yr i've got virgin media broadband and never had a problem they do a few different speeds i'm on the upto 8mb one
October 15, 200816 yr Author Bad news! Finally got through to my broadband provider (after 3 hours trying) and found that my contract is actually for 18 months, which means I'll now have to postpone my killing spree till August unless I cough up £70 to free myself from contract. Just as I was beginning to look forward to running amok again, it's been a long time... Mr.Chelsea, cheers mate, I'll have a look at Virgin Media in the meantime.
October 15, 200816 yr I tried to edit after clicking "Code" by mistake, but somehow ended up making a new post. I blame G*rr*rd. Edited October 15, 200816 yr by Lofty
October 15, 200816 yr I wouldn't touch Virgin media with a bargepole, especially if you're in an ADSL only area. Apparently their cable package is pretty good, but their ADSL is dire. I should know, I was with them for 12 months - I've just left. And here's why. Apart from the usual intermittent disconnects, slow speeds, email problems and all the rest of it, Virgin Media have the longest definition of peak hours of any ISP in the UK - from 4pm - midnight, or 4pm to 1am for cable. And if you go over their meagre download allowance, they restrict your access speed during those peak hours to ... wait for it 80kb/s. That's just a little bit faster than dialup for the best part of the day. According to their FUP, anything dowloaded outside of their peak hours doesn't count towards your allowance - which is still unspecified, but is rumoured to be around 300Mb per day - but that's bollocks, because despite having downloaded sweet f.a. during peak hours for around a week, the f**kers send me the following email: Hello there,We’ve noticed recently that you’ve been using your Virgin Media Broadband connection to upload and download a lot more than we’d expect. While we’re pleased that you’re enjoying using our broadband service, when someone downloads an unusually large amount of information over a long period of time, it can slow down the internet speed for other users. So, to make sure our service is fair for everybody, we’ll need to moderate the speeds of your service as mentioned in our Acceptable Use Policy. Neither had I uploaded anything in the previous week. Virgin Media ADSL, in my experience, are a bunch of lying cheating, thieving, incompetent sh*thouse bar stewards. Richard Branson should be ashamed of himself, the furry faced c**t. And this is without Phorm, which they in common with BT etc intend to inflict upon their customer base. Have a look at the comments at DSK ZoneUK - it's no mystery that Virgin Media ADSL are rated worse than all except KAROO in the list of major UK ISPs Virgin Media Cable are effectively a separate company. However, as a result of my experiences with their ADSL side, even if I lived in a cabled-area, I'd avoid them like the plague. One other factor to consider is whether you're in an LLU (Local Loop Unbundled) area. This effectively means you're not tied to BT's IPStream network, and can look at veruy decent ISPs offering cheaper faster speeds, like Be and UKOnline, for instance.
October 15, 200816 yr I'm on Virgin media Cable and can't think of anything bad to say about it to be honest, I have moved about a bit and had a few different suppliers and am happy to get back to Virgin, I just bought a House and one of the first things I did was check the Virgin site to see if the Road was covered... I have the Cable 10mb the phone free weekends and evenings and a small tv package at the moment and its about £30 a month. Lofty is right though I have heard bad things about Virgin ADSL and if thats all that is in your area I would avoid it.
October 16, 200816 yr Lofty, are Virgin ADSL based in L*V*RP**L by any chance? :D Virgins? In L*V*RP**L???????????
October 16, 200816 yr Their complaints department is in Swansea - far too close to home for comfort ;) No seriously, the ADSL side of the business is every bit as bad as I've made out, and worse. Virgin Media Cable are something else entirely. a quick glance at the ratings on DSL ZoneUK should tell you all you need to know: Virgin Media Cable: 6.20/10 Virgin Media ADSL: 3.23/10
October 16, 200816 yr having to wait may be a blessing in disguise. adsl2 and adsl2+ is becoming more available, and in about 12 months should be widely available. dunno what it is though.... ;)
