Ive just got a text from o2 saying that my home broadband will end on the 16/07/2010. I rang them up and was told that this is due to me exceeding the fair usage policy, when i asked why this was the first i knew about it, i was told that on 3 separate occasions they had tried to contact me on my landline, and because after the 3rd attempt there still was no answer they put my account down to be cancelled. I then asked why i hadnt received an email or physical letter and was told that that wasnt policy, So basically i had no knowledge of even exceeding the FUP. In the last 3 months ive downloaded probably 50gb through steam and the rest would be general day to day usage. I dont really see that as high usage, considering when i first joined them (Feb last year) i was downloading approx 50Gb a month for maybe 4 months before general usage. Im not overly bothered, the speeds im getting are quite crap compared to neighbours, its just the fact that they have all my contact details yet cant use anything other than a phone to tell me to calm my usage a little. So im currently looking at sky and BT, im edging towards sky as i might as well get sky TV as a package, But what i dont want is to not be able to download some bigger games through steam. So who's with sky and what are they like, Oh and i cant get LLU services.
i think the general thought is that if you cant get Sky LLU then stay away, have you checked samknows to find out if you do have any LLU services? the other thoughts are when do you download? and how much do you need? guessing more than 50gb but is it less than 100? how much are you willing to pay?
Go to: http://www.samknows.com/old/broadband/search.php Put in your postcode, then you'll get a decent information page about what internet you can get for your area.
The only LLU services we can get are Talk Talk and im not going with them, I know loads of people that are with them and the service is quite frankly shocking. Any big downloads (1Gb+) are done overnight 10pm-8am usually, because the speeds im getting at peak times make it pointless to do large downloads whilst im using the computer. My usage is nowhere near as much as it used to be i could live with 30-50Gb per month either fixed or through a FUP Pricewise i dont get called tight for nothing so i wouldnt want to pay more than £20-25 a month just for BB.
Plus.net have unlimited business broadband at £25pm, or go for Plus.net Extra (residential) and get unlimited overnight (0am --> 8am) downloads, and 60 GBpm during the day from £11.50pm (if you live in an LLU area, otherwise 3months at £11.50 then £18pm) We recommend Plus.net at work And if you don't like them, providing you've got a router that's not theirs, you can leave with 10 days notice. They're owned by BT, but are separate. I wouldn't recommend BT to you. Edit: They're also transparent about their traffic management and speed-limiting. Bear in mind, I'm with BT; my Dad refuses to switch because we've got a BT Vision box.
If you can get BE Broadband, I can recommend them. £18 a month for up to 24mbit/sec. I get around 15mbit/sec personally, and the connection has not dropped once in the 7 months I've been with them. Their tech support also doesn't treat you like a pleb when you phone in.
I'm with the Post Office BB (no LLU in this area) and they've been great, I've downloaded a fair amount off steam since Christmas and I'm getting fairly good speeds (around 6 mb/sec) which considering I was getting speeds of around 0.01mb/sec from Pipex a lot of the time previously it's a big difference. Again it's rebadged BT, but I've been more than happy with them. Unless you're on the LLU they're pretty restrictive with their D/L caps and Traffic Management (as the OP just found out, BE = O2)
I wish i could but the only way it would be any different is if i moved 30+ miles from here, I need to see my gran everyday and work dont make this possible atm, that and the fact id never find a place as nice for what im currently paying. So ive narrowed it down to adsl24 or plusnet, im leaning towards plusnet as for the same price ill get 30Gb more at peak times. They text me my MAC code which is valid until the 16th of july so im free, although the router has to be sent back, for which they've sent a padded envelope apparently.
Just another one to throw into the mix http://www.zen.co.uk/Broadband/athome.aspx I use Zen and they have recently upgraded the download limits for each of the packages
I've downloaded my whole steam folder in one month (Around 200GB) On Virgin Media and they were fine. Have you looked at them?
Orange broadband (not including LLU) Don't cap speed. Plus you will get full download speed anytime of day on torrents, where Sky and BT cap your speed from 5pm. I have never had a email or been contacted for downloading to much. Simon.
I'm with Virgin 50Mb and get literally just that... been on this service about 5 months, not had any issues!
ditto and I found out yesterday direct from one of the reps which come into my store they are now trialling 200mb
im with virgin on the 10mb but remember that they employ download limits on on-peak and off-peak times with only 9pm-9am truly unlimited. unless you get the 50mb package then its unlimited full stop. but it is a very good service i pay £20/month and get 10mb and i get 10mb same goes for my parents which also have the 10mb package.
TalkTalk aren't that bad. We've not had any really big problems that have been directly TalkTalks fault. The speeds in my area aren't great, but TalkTalk offer the fastest. The customer service is shocking, but then with any large company like that its all going to be the same, I can't imagine BT or Sky being any different. Its probably the same call centre in India they all use, . And another good point to TalkTalk is that they have promised to never release personal details of customers to anyone and that they will not be doing the 3 strikes/banning thingy that the government want to introduce, which I think is nice. But, I completely understand if you don't go with TalkTalk, , I mean, they're working with AOL.
sky are pretty ****ing good, i am on their ultimate policy, no fair useage bollocks and i do what i want when i want. But then you would have to be a retard not to use encrypted torrents.
For non LLU locations without Virgin Media, Plusnet is pretty much your only choice. God damn I hate BT and their shitty initially implementation of broadband.
