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Waka":l6pn5qlv said:
, although I do like the metronet and the Zen because they offer e-mail services as standards.

Another question spring to mind, what do you all think of the best speed to go for?



.

BT provide 5 or 10 free email accounts with their connection

Don't worry too much about the speed. 1MBPS or higher will be enough and suppliers seem to regualraly upgrade for free to stay competetitve.
I used 512K for years before BT upgraded to 2MBPS, I don't notice any difference except when downloading video clips - which I don't really do very often.
 
Video clips Tony??
Is that woodworking videos or something else?? :lol:
(Like music videos, before someone says anything :wink: )
NaughtyPhilly :D
 
All
Thanks for the info, i have spent a long tome going through various providers websites, sent out a qustionnaire to a number of them for further information and had some interesting responses.

My choice is to go with Zen, I hope i won't regret this, I'' let you all know the outcome.
 
Roger":oapg1c93 said:
if you can stump up for the difference in price then go for this as well rather than just the modem

Roger I went for the DG843. Just been speaking to the man at Zen and placed the order, I have to say out of all the providers I have e-mailed/spoken too today this guy has been the most helpful.

That means he gets my business.

Thaks all again for helping me understand the world of the magic box.
 
A bit 'after the event', but for any other 'ponderers', I'm with Pipex, and rate them pretty highly. They're a bit like the Ronseal ads - not much to say about them, because they just 'do what it says on the tin'. Reliable, good support, mid range on price.
 
Charley":2h5ea36i said:
We're with AOL, mum likes it and as mum and dad pay the bill I can't complain.

As a company AOL are awful and as Gill mentions their software takes over your computer. However I can't fault the connection or the speed. I don't actually have the AOL software on on my computers thanks to the LAN.

If I could choose which provider to go with, pipex would be top of the list...

Resurrecting this one, just curious why you think AOL as a company are awful for broadband Charley?
 
Hi guys just joined and only just been able to read all your comments out there about BT. Well I was a BT Telephone engineer for over 35 years befor I retired and I would just like to say one thing and it is they have been in the communication game for a very long time and yes they do have problems from time to time but they also have the know how on how to put things right although some times it might take ages but they get there in the end. Better the devil you know than those you don't o and bye the way they have just recently won a very big M.O.D contract
 
Hi Jimmy

Welcome to the forum.

jimmy":370hn87k said:
Hi guys just joined and only just been able to read all your comments out there about BT. Well I was a BT Telephone engineer for over 35 years befor I retired and I would just like to say one thing and it is they have been in the communication game for a very long time and yes they do have problems from time to time but they also have the know how on how to put things right although some times it might take ages but they get there in the end.

You might like to have a look at this adsl site and select message boards on the left. It'll show you what people think about all of the ISP's.

www.adslguide.org

jimmy":370hn87k said:
Better the devil you know than those you don't o and bye the way they have just recently won a very big M.O.D contract

Business is where they make the money and, iirc, isn't that dealt with by a separate company?

Cheers
Neil
 
Glad I retired when I did. (5years now) Its far less agro playing with bits of wood ( when head ferret is not around) than climbing poles and trying to fix phones. It was always my fault that the weather was bad and lines came down, ( Anglesey is in the middle of the Irish Sea ) at least thats is what it felt like sometimes. Out in all weathers like the postmen power people and so on. :)
 
The huge amounts of faults that all the ISPs customers are currently seeing are BECAUSE of BT. Had they made their 1mb and 2mb products rate adaptive, then broadband for end users like all of us would be much improved.

VERY broadly speaking, the further you are from your local BT exchange the more noise you get on your line. The more noise, the more 'trouble' the higher broadband frequency has to get to you, so intermittenent drops in connection, no connection at all etc. If your product is rate adaptive (like BTs 500 products, 512 broadband), then you buy 1mb, but if you are long way from exchange, the product can rate adapt itself to less than 1mb, you get slightly slower speed, but you GET broadband as the product has down rated itself to your noise margin to let you get service.

As I say, VERY roughly speaking....

Lets face it, other than cable or LLU (local loop unbundle) companies, pretty much everyone just resells BTs IP stream or datastream products and your broadband HAS to come down metalic pairs that are either owned by, rented from or originally laid down, by BT.

If you have a problem with your broadband, its generally not your ISPs fault, its the network provider that provides that broadband service thats at fault or its the spyware, firewall etc. thats on your PC. It can be your ISPs client software as well (quick nod to AOL there) but even in the AOL case, their software tells you its been disconnected, you probably get the same disconnection from any other ISP, its just they dont have their own client software shouting at you thats its been disconnected, it disconnects while youre reading a web page, then reconnects, by the time you are ready to move on, its reconnected again and you never new. perception difference there.

Sadly, resellers (ISPs) dont have 'much' of a choice at the moment, its BT, small cable coverage or nothing. The future is changing though, Local Loop Unbundling will change all this, as ISPs can run their own networks and have their own equipment in BTs exchanges. More choice for the consumer, always a good thing.

</rant>

:)
 
I agree with BigL, but also look at the ISPs back connection to the net. Pipex area tier one provider (the highest type of connection) as are BT but NTL I believe are tier two or three and use caching to make up for the short fall.

http://www.adslguide.org.uk/ gives you the best idea. I've only been a Pipex customer for 15 years but would say they are excellent. BT wholesale is great, but have had problems with retail.
 
BT Wholesale are great!?

Have to disagree :)

They are not yet really fully ready to provide wholesale services ro resellers, systems and processes are not robust enough, but they are working through that I guess.

Everyone wants to be a tier one :)

In generally, once you have your broadband and it works, its pretty much there for good, until BT try and respeed you and double your speed, either for retail customers or for other ISP customers, planning rules incorrectly set and non rate adaptive products means you might be resped to a speed that you cant actually get with any stability.

But my connections been up here for weeks now with out any problems...
 
Okay - I've read this post with interest because we can get broadband from next week - Hurrah. We live in the back of beyond with no cable options - so BT is our only line provider.

Having looked at Waka's (sorry Whaka's) requirements, I think that they seem similar to my own and had a look at the forums etc recommended but I'm afraid that my eyes glazed over immediately.

I have to say that I am tempted to go with BT for all the reasons that BigLouie outlined and also because of ease and continuity.

What I still really don't understand is the whole router thing. Ideally it would be great if we can use a wireless connection for my wife's laptop as well as a normal link for my desktop. I already have ZoneAlarm Firewall installed along with Symantec antivirus software (but not XP2 yet). Probably looking for a 1MB speed at least as a start point.

Can someone give me a brief heads up on the router stuff and also a view on my thoughts/ choices. I really am not techy mainly through lack of interest in the details but want to make sure that I am being sold or am choosing the most appropriate set up.

Thanks

T
 
Tim

If you can bear to wait a little I can come over and set you up (and look at your workshop at the same time :lol: )

I still rate Zen. We have had/currently have four providers for satellite or broadband.

BT - the first - reliability iffy. Customer support iffy...always busy..understaffed? They change things without telling you.

MetroNet - OK but not used it that much

Avonline satellite Broadband - OK'ish but now we've dropped it as we have Zen and very pleased with them.

I'm noit sure if I've got your normal email address but I can send you through one of their newsletters...give you a flavour of their quality

Roger

Roger
 
Tim":21ikmw5u said:
Having looked at Waka's (sorry Whaka's) requirements,

Now see your not up to speed, not more than 5 minutes ago I reverted (with Charlies help) of reverting back to Waka.

Got to go along with what Roger says regarding Zen.

Like yourself it was all new to me, so I started by contacting all the providers that were recommended, some i never got a response from , some didn't really asnswer the questions I posed and Zen was the only one that satisfied the criteria i set down.

They were preparred to discuss all the options when it came to Router/Modem and did not push the expensive versions that they sell, they even sent some extra filters that I needed for free. I know these are not expensive but its the thought that counts.

When I had plugged everything in (didn't really know what I was doing) i gave their helpline a cal and the nice chap at the end took me through the set up and after about 10 mins I was rocking and rolling with both internet and e-mail.

It would certainly be my reccommendation.

The real Waka
 
Waka":3hh75wol said:
Now see your not up to speed, not more than 5 minutes ago I reverted (with Charlies help) of reverting back to Waka.

That's quite a lot of reverting!

I will give Zen a call and see where we get to.

Roger - thanks for your offer - I may well take you up on it but depends on what you mean by 'a little time'. My wife is pushing for this so that she can work more from home, which I am all in favour of. As an aside, she should have been in Tavistock Sq yesterday for a conference but decided not to go at the last minute because of too much work. Feeling very lucky today.

Thanks for all your help guys.

Cheers

Tim
 
Tim,
The wireless router thing is a doddle. You need a gadget called a "router with adsl modem" to plug into the phone line - it also needs to be plugged into a power line - and you need a wireless adapter for each PC. The laptop may already have one built in, depending how old it is.

For a desktop machine I recommend a USB wireless adapter that can be plugged into any USB port- no external power needed. You can get ones that fix inside the case but then if the signal is weak you have limited options for repositioning the PC compared to the gadget on the end of a USB connection wire.

That is it. BT do a suitable box for the phone line (they call it a "Wireless ADSL Router" - it is the BT Voyager 2100 - see here http://www.webuser.co.uk/products/BT_Vo ... 5-213.html ) at about £85 from PC World etc. the other things run about £25 or so. Setup with the BT box is extremely simple, takes about 30 seconds. You may see lots of similar boxes by Belkin - they can have issues with some broadband supppliers that prevent them working. Mine was replaced FOC by Belkin with a superior model to the one I bought for this reason. So I can't really recommend them to a broadband novice who might not recognise there is a problem with the router

Signal strength can be an issue depending on walls, metal in the house etc
 
Tim

You'll need some time to get your order in and your line provisioned. This ius all sorted out by the supplier you choose (or should be :twisted: ).

Typically it's around 4-5 days after your exchange is enabled but you need to have your order in their queue well beforehand.

When is your exchange supposed to be bb enabled?

Roger
 
Chris

Sorry to be pedantic but if Tim orders exactly what you say 'router with adsl modem' then he won't be able to communicate wirelessly! He needs a wireless router with ADSL modem.

The other thing to bear in mind is that the router guys are constantly rushing out new products...often ahead of the QA curve...and so one man's LinkSys/D-Link/Belkin/Netgear/whatever manufacturer that he swears by could turn witha different model/rev spec to be another man's pile of poo. It all depends where they are on the development cycle vis a vis whether it works as it says on the tin or needs rebooting every few hours :twisted:
 
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