what broadband provider apart from Virgin?

[Matt@]

we've been with Virgin for over 20 yrs paying for their TV and BB package. Living on a newish estate we have underground cable coming into the property. The broadband speed is consistently good with little downtime so just about perfect for a BB provider. However, Virgin prices go up and up and up and lots of times I've looked to change to another provider especially as the kids dont need the fancy TV channels any more.

can anyone recommend any other provider for BB and TV which doesnt cost nearly £70 a month. BUT the BB needs to be really good and consistent!

Am I right in saying that other providers can use the underground cable that comes to the house or is it exclusive to Virgin? ie Telewest did install it in the first place many years ago and Telewest became Virgin.

thanks

 

[Racers]

Its virgin cable, anybody else will use the phone line, ring them up and threaten to leave they usually reduce your bill.

Pete

 

[skipdiver]

I'm in the same boat as you. I only have BB with Virgin and it seems to go up every time i get a bill. However, they are the only cable providers in my area and the quickest BB by miles. Think your first option is to ring them and talk about a new less fancy package and a price drop. If they think you are going to leave they will come up with a better deal.

 

[Woodmonkey]

BT keep ringing me trying to sell me superfast broadband but I've been told by a mate who works for virgin that bt will be slower, they're cable network is not as good as virgins apparently. I've been thinking of switching too as ours has been creeping up and up, when i called the other day they were most unhelpful, they really didn't seem to care if I switched or not.

 

[Racers]

I don't know how they can call it superfast its pants compared to Virgin.
I get 164 meg download speed on Virgin.


Pete

 

[nev]

As far as I'm aware you'll need a new telephone line put in. Looking at changing my mums Virgin BB that was the only option.
When I called them telling them I (mum) was considering leaving they dropped from from nearly 50 quid a month to 20 for the same service (no TV).
Have a look at Uswitch it will give you current offers from the major suppliers.

 

[sunnybob]

I don't know how they can call it superfast its pants compared to Virgin.
I get 164 meg download speed on Virgin.


Pete

But how much do you all need? Are you all just on a "faster must be better" spiral?
In my backwoods area, I have to rely on a microwave transmitter on the roof into the nearest village, which then only has a 50 meg connection to the outside world and I pay for TEN mbps.
My wife can watch any internet or cable programs on the main tv, while I'm on you tube on the laptop in the next room. When we have visitors, I've seen no less than three mobiles connected at the same time to the internet.
what the hell needs 164meg? Thats a refresh rate way faster than the eye can see or the brain can understand. Even HDtv only needs 5mb.

 

[Matt@]

thanks for comments. I think I'm stuck with them if the only other way of getting BB is through a phoneline unless someone can reassure me it will be just as quick. VM dont even reduce the cost if you get rid of the landline. We went with SKY a few yrs back for the telly and the TV was awful ie kept going down when the weather was bad.

With regard to Sunnybob comment re. speed I havnt a clue lol. If some one can convince me another provider will supply what I need then I'll consider it but need BB that copes with my Sons constant gaming.

 

[Racers]

Its a CSMA/CD system so the percentage usage is very low, a high bandwidth helps a lot.
I get a much faster connection at work.



Pete

 

[Deejay]

Morning Matt

Have you got a land line?

If so, I'd go for a package including phone calls, BB and TV.

Try

https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/?gcli ... dkQAvD_BwE

or

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/

for comparisons.

If you don't have a landline, you can get your BB via a mobile network and have a separate TV service

Confused? You will be

Cheers

Dave

 

[Matt@]

Morning Matt

Have you got a land line?

If so, I'd go for a package including phone calls, BB and TV.

Try

https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/?gcli ... dkQAvD_BwE

or

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/

for comparisons.

If you don't have a landline, you can get your BB via a mobile network and have a separate TV service

Confused? You will be

Cheers

Dave

you know what? I assume I have a landline the house was built in mid 80s and has a multitude of older phone sockets but theres no phone cables coming to the house from poles outside.So we must have landline coming in beneath ground? Does this mean if for example if I went with BT I would get a better BB signal because the cable isnt outside?

 

[sunnybob]

video gaming is the most memory hungry thing there is.
If he's still at school. limit him to an hour a night. If he's working, he can pay for the damn thing himself.

You can search out the games he plays, and look them up to see what speed they need to work fully. I'll bet it aint 160, let alone that eye watering 742.


When I do a ping test, I get around 11md download, and maybe 2 mb upload. Again, that does EVERYTHING except gaming. time for him to learn economics 101.

 

[El Barto]

I find the whole super-super-fast thing a bit of a myth if I'm on honest. For work I require a fast internet connection, I'm uploading and downloading large amounts of media every day. When I lived in London I was with Virgin and was getting roughly 100mbps. Pretty cool. But then I moved to the countryside and now get between 20 - 30mbps with BT. It hasn't effected me in the slightest. Downloading movies via torrents is slower, but not frustratingly so. Streaming sports and TV all at HD is fine. However, I can see the appeal of faster speeds when you have lots of gaming going on and multiple internet users in the house.

In terms of reliability, BT has been by far more reliable for me than Virgin ever was.

EDIT: I still hate BT and all the rest of these companies.

 

[Deejay]

Morning Matt

Have you got a land line?

If so, I'd go for a package including phone calls, BB and TV.

Try

https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/?gcli ... dkQAvD_BwE

or

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/

for comparisons.

If you don't have a landline, you can get your BB via a mobile network and have a separate TV service

Confused? You will be

Cheers

Dave

you know what? I assume I have a landline the house was built in mid 80s and has a multitude of older phone sockets but theres no phone cables coming to the house from poles outside.So we must have landline coming in beneath ground? Does this mean if for example if I went with BT I would get a better BB signal because the cable isnt outside?

Hello Matt

A house built then will almost certainly have been provided with an underground cable for phone service.

Virgin, and the companies they bought out, will most likely have fitted 'shotgun' cable connected to their street cabinet. One 'barrel' used to be coax for the TV and the other one was twisted pair for the phone. I think they now connect a signal over the coax which will handle both TV and internet stuff. I don't think Virgin are obliged to let other providers use their twisted pair, so the 'BT' pair (which now belongs to Openreach) would have to be used.

BT have a dsl checker using postcodes for non BT customers ...

http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/ADSLChecker.address

Otherwise, talk to openreach ...

https://www.homeandbusiness.openreach.c ... t-in-touch

If you move your broadband to the twisted pair, whichever provider you choose, you'll probably see a drop in speed. As has been said above, this may not be lifechanging.

Cheers

Dave

 

[thetyreman]

zen internet are the best I've used, and BT the worst, virgin may lower the price if you talk to them or write them a letter.

 

[pip1954]

Hi i think bt could not give monkeys how you feel about there services had several run ins with them then rang to ask when my cotract was up they told me I then said I will be leaving bt when it is up an was told yer OK ,I was paying bt nearly £48.00 a month I am now with John Lewis same service broad band, calls we now pay £22.50 including line rental . And that is the full price from them. when I rang bt when I was with them to ask about reducing the cost they say OK we can do that for you but what they don't tell you it is only a discount for a few months then it will go back up to full price,an they make there bills as complicated as possible.
Personally I think bt is just money there is no customer service .
Phil

 

[Robbo3]

BT have a dsl checker using postcodes for non BT customers ...

http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/ADSLChecker.address
Dave

That link doesn't work (for me)
- https://www.dslchecker.bt.com/

 

[Bob Graham]

From Martin lewis's site. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/ ... n-january-

How prices are changing?

Here's how prices are increasing from 7 January for those not on introductory or promotional deals:

Standard broadband – will increase by £2/mth.
Fibre broadband – will increase by £2.50/mth.
BT Sport via BT TV – will remain at £3.50/mth.
BT Sport via app – will increase by £2/mth.
BT Sport via Sky TV (for those with BT broadband) – will increase by £2.50/mth.
BT Sport via Sky TV (for those without BT broadband) – will increase by £3/mth.
BT Sport HD bolt on – will increase by £1.50/mth.
BT is also hiking the cost of calls and call features from 7 January:

Unlimited anytime landline calls package – rising from £8.99/mth to £9.50/mth.
Unlimited evening and weekend calls package – rising from £3.80/mth to £4/mth.
Landline call costs – calls to other landlines (including 0870 and 0845 numbers) will increase from 12p/min to 13p/min. The call set-up fee is rising from 21p/call to 22p/call.
Mobile call costs – calls to mobiles will increase from 16p/min to 17p/min. If you have anytime calls they'll increase from 8p/min to 8.5p/min.
One calling feature – will rise from £4.50/mth to £5/mth.
Two to Four calling features – will rise from £8.75/mth to £9.25/mth.
Five or more calling features – will rise from £11.75/mth to £12.25/mth.
1571 – will increase from £2.50/mth to £3/mth.
Paper bill charge – will increase from £2/mth to £2.50/mth.

 

[Deejay]

BT have a dsl checker using postcodes for non BT customers ...

http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/ADSLChecker.address
Dave

That link doesn't work (for me)
- https://www.dslchecker.bt.com/

Me neither. How strange. Try accessing it from here ...

http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/ADSLC ... ress?AEA=Y

via the 'proceed' button.

Cheers

Dave