Yo. Moving into my own private digs next month (Horrah!) with three other folks, and as head-geek of the group I've been tasked with finding a decent ISP. So, I'm needin' a suggestion from y'all. Not really sure what the market's like these days, I use zen at home, but they're expensive and they're capped these days too. I download between 10GB and 80GB(Usenet, mostly) a month, normally somewhere around the middle of that. The others probably won't be making any major downloadage, but they're no doubt all heavy Youtube users, and all four of us play games online. I don't know if there are any half-decent uncapped services left out there, so failing that I'd just like a service that has decent off-peak hours I can schedule downloads for, and a reasonable cap so on normal usage during cap hours we're not going to be hitting it every month. Budget is £20 to £30 (if need be) a month. If anyone knows anything about internet packages that include the other usuals (phone, tv, etc.) feel free to say if they're any good, since I might consider one of those if the price is right and the 'net service is good. Cheers all.
For a full package, I would suggest Sky if you are in a Sky/Easynet LLU area. If you subscribe to any TV package (starting at about £17/month), you get free 2meg broadband, 8meg for £5 or 16meg for £10 I know the 16meg is unlimited, and I believe the 8meg is so too. Other than that the best ISP out there is Be Unlimited, and I can testify it's unlimited and very stable all for £17/month. I'm using Be myself as I'm not in a Sky LLU area, however once my exchange is upgraded I'll switch back. PS, for clarity, I work for BSkyB, however I'm not involved in our Broadband division, nor have I any knowledge of customer services.
Yeah Sky's internet package is via the phoneline. In order to get the cheap Sky broadband options you need Sky to have installed it's own equipment at your exchange (LLU), otherwise they offer ADSL Max (8meg) via your BT line for about£17/month. If your exchange is Sky LLU enabled you can switch your line rental to Sky, can't remember the cost though, otherwise you can get line rental from BT and Sky for your call charges (a little bit cheaper than BT)
02 (who own Be, or visa versa) get my vote, I'm on 20 meg not sure of my actual speed though for under just under £10 a month because i've O2 pay and go phone and I got my first 3 months free because I bought the router from the O2 shop (they do this to refund you the £30 or sign up online and they'll send you the router and you pay the first 3 months). On top of that i'm running a BT line for £11.50 = cool, quick no problem internet, free evening and weekend calls for £20ish a month.
Looking into Sky now, they're looking like serious candidates. Every time I enter my postcode on the Be Unlimited website it asks me for a phone number and loads of other info, and not having a phone number I can't give it to 'em. I'll ring 'em though to find out. As for Fast, they're far far too restrictive in their caps for me to use them.
I'm going to agree with Cookie Monster on o2 - for a couple of reasons - You get discount when you have a phone with them - Customer support is excellent - I had to deal with them at the start because our estate agent gave us the wrong postcode, so the connection couldn't be made. They were friendly, efficent, and let me know what to do - Price is good, and connection is fast - Uncapped connection In fact the only problem we've had is that the supplied router is a bit crappy, but aside from that it's well worth going with them.
Best ISP is zen. BE is good but they dont have dynamic IP's. o2 goes through BE's network but still a good isp none the less.
It isnt dynamic though. BE network have sticky dynamic ip's. I've been with Be and o2, had the 'dynamic' package and IP never changed once. People i know who dont care about it say they have had same IP for months on end, no matter how many times they reset their router.
Personally I'd be inclined to view static IP as more a plus than a negative.. No-one's suggested Virgin Media yet?
<< hide's before it all kicks off, though my parents still have Virgin from when I lived at home and we never had any problems.
Why do you need a properly dynamic IP though? To me a static is a bonus really. I nth Be* as well, I've been with them for 3 years now and never had a problem tbh.
For a start it's false advertising. Some people want dynamic for security reasons. It's highly unsafe having one ip all the time at a home PC. Actually i wasnt even given a dynamic IP. I tried using a different router when i was with BE and o2 and when i chose 'automatically assign ip dynamically or something like that it said, the service you are connected to hasnt assigned you a dynamic ip. Please ring your ISP or refer to any infomation they have given you about a static. I put in the IP i knew i was stuck with a bam, it worked... But seriously, o2 is a GREAT provider asuming your not bothered about the stuff talked about above. EDIT: btw with o2 AND be i DID select a dynamic ip, and wasnt given one.
No it's not. The IP is dynamically assigned by a DHCP server and therefore fulfils all the criteria of being a dynamic IP. Just because you think it should change more often doesn't mean it's somehow not a dynamic IP. Having a dynamic IP as a means to improve your security is a load of nonsense, usually spouted by people who have no real concept of online security. I've had a static IP with Be* for 3 years and a static IP with Nildram for many years before that and have never had that cause me an issue from a security point of view. Sounds more like you misconfigured the router you tried to use rather than not having a dynamic IP. You would know if you weren't on a dynamic IP because O2 or Be* would have sent you a letter with your IP details.
If your new digs are still in Aberdeen, Be will be installing their kit in ALL Aberdeen exchanges by 30th June. See Samknows for more info. (Yet another happy Be customer - I've had up to 1/2TB per month without complaint from them at speeds approaching 18 of the 20Mb I'm paying for! )
Why is it ALL the online forums i have been to, i have yet to find one person who has reset their router and their IP has changed when with Be or O2, therefore it may as well be static and is just a stupid tecknicality. And if you think i have no real concept of online security your sadly mistaken. And i never said it would improve your security. I'm a web programmer mate, also dealing with lots of web security ralated stuff. I've worked for ASDA, Tesco, Barclays, Zen and Paypal. BELIEVE ME, having a static IP leaves you more open to attacks. Especially if someone wants to find you. Plus if you download torrents, your f****d now as MBAA are getting into private trackers and logging all the IP's connected to the tracker manually as they did with public trackers. Maybe what you use the internet for doesnt affect you. And my friend, i didnt misconfigure the router, looking more into it i found out that o2 want to use their router which is PRE CONFIGURED, and your side and theirs. Then i found out some time later that someone generated a program to let you find the username and pass so you could use another router. I wasnt given a dynamic IP, but a static one. I tried serval different routers, was told each time that it could pull an IP address from the DHCP server and that there were errors blah blah blah, so i put the o2 router back in, found out the IP, plugged my other router back in, put the IP, into the static IP option and it connected. I wasnt given a dynamic, it was a static. Which is why they want you to use their router. They will tell you it's because they don't want to dish out usernames and passwords and it is easier if all customers use the same router etc which maybe true but most of us know customer services when you want something from tech dept. you always get some numpty who has no clue what he's on about. Then you speak to someone else and he tells you a different story. Just like the defence secutary did in the USA when he said in a press conference that to search someones home, the police/government just had to suspect the person based on nothing and then if they found anything they would say if it was alright or not, when the 4th amendment actually said you must have probable cause to search someones house which means having a witness or some evidence. A guy in the crow explained this is what the law says. The official openly denied thats what it said. He was relying on ignorance of the american people. Having a dynamic IP means that your IP should reset everytime you reset your router or at least if you leave it off over night. But i have yet to meet a person who has told me they have a different IP with o2 or be. Which means it is static. End of. When you see a sign out side a cafe saying they have chips and fish, you go in and find out they have chips and 'just about anything else but fish', dont you agree with the people who walk out? Because they went in for chips and fish. You ask someone and they say well by the time you leave we MAY have some fish in. I wanted an ip i could change once in a while and i havnt got it.
Calm down, there's no need for flames. Even though you've slagged Be* and O2 off, Sky aren't giving you a particularly dynamic IP. What about them?
