Adam Easy Wishes Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 I know this has probably been done to death on here, but technology is ever-changing as they say, so want up-to-date advice.Just moved into a new flat, BT line going in on Thursday.I understand that with a lot of the cheapest broadband deals, Aberdeen (or certainly areas of - which includes where I live) is not able to get them for whatever reason. O2 mention 'unbundling' but I have no idea what that means.Aaaanyway, I basically want broadband for the cheapest price possible but willing to pay a bit more if it means a) a more reliable connection or b) not dealing with a shitty company. I'm a pretty light user, only really use it for browsing but do buy music from iTunes and occasionally acquire TV shows and watch things on iPlayer or 4OD.Any advice?SUMMARY: Moved into new flat, require advice on cheap broadband. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teabags Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 IM away to get my flat re-connected I think. So would also appreciate this same information.I, however, wouldn't be quite as light. I'd be downloading lots of stuff and also playing on xbox live fucking heaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulscoconutass Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 I've got Sky Broadband... 2GB d/l, but can pay more for 8GB... the line's pretty stable although the routers are touch and go. 1st router was fine, hardly ever dropped out. 2nd router is pretty gash and takes a 2 minute break every hour. They're sagem ones, although netgear also provide Sky broadband with routers.(Have this because it's dirt cheap with Sky TV and the free skytalk) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Stu Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 O2 mention 'unbundling' but I have no idea what that means.Local Loop Unbundling. It means they run their own fibre network to their own handover kit in the exchange. Basically, the BT landline is BT's only involvement. The other way ISPs provide broadband is by buying the capacity from BT Wholesale.Hope that helps. I'm with plus.net myself who are cheap but bleh. I had Zen before them and they were amazing but expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooms Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 i too have sky broadband, but i have sky tv so it made sense!the line itself is fine but agree about the routers. first router i got sent (netgear) just plain didn't work. second one works fine but not in the normal telephone socket, had to pop off the cover and plug it directly into the "test" socket. - don't ask me why!thankfully i can't really see this as it is behind my tv but it WAS a bit of a hassle getting it set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorge Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Had Zen at my last flat in town, currently on BT down here and never had a problem with either, though if you're inclined to sell your soul to Murdoch, the Sky package does look really good. There's three folk in my office who can't speak highly enough of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 I've got sky, best ISP I've ever had. No problems at all and everything is mega fast. Even gets close to the speed they advertise!I use it for torrents, gaming, streaming video. It's all good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Easy Wishes Posted July 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Thanks for all the advice - this might be a ridiculous question, but can you get Sky broadband without a Sky TV package? I've checked the website and it's not clear.Chris - which broadband 'package' do you have? There are three - 5, 10 and 15 / month... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Thanks for all the advice - this might be a ridiculous question, but can you get Sky broadband without a Sky TV package? I've checked the website and it's not clear.Chris - which broadband 'package' do you have? There are three - 5, 10 and 15 / month...I've got TV and Talk as well but I think I've got the middle package, up to 10mb. For talk, TV (with 4 mixes) and broadband I pay about 24 a month. Which is what I used to pay just for the shit broadband I had before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Easy Wishes Posted July 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 I've got TV and Talk as well but I think I've got the middle package, up to 10mb. For talk, TV (with 4 mixes) and broadband I pay about 24 a month. Which is what I used to pay just for the shit broadband I had before.That's pretty good...do you have to pay BT line rental on top of that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 That's pretty good...do you have to pay BT line rental on top of that?Yeah, I keep meaning to change it over to Sky as well as they're cheaper but never got round to it. Won't bother now as I'm about to sell the flat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paranoid Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Yeah, I'm with Sky too and they are the best ISP I've had.Side note - avoid Demon, just phoned them about our hosting at work, and they are a bunch of clueless dicks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Easy Wishes Posted July 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 Thanks for all the advice - decided to go with Sky. Order placed. :] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Stax Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 I've got sky, best ISP I've ever had. No problems at all and everything is mega fast. Even gets close to the speed they advertise!I use it for torrents, gaming, streaming video. It's all good.Agreed. Getting as fast as they promote and can deliver, pretty darn fast. 15 p/m. Heavy user though. They have packages as low as 5 I believe and that's up to 2meg.Last time I looked that is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaki Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 Thanks for all the advice - decided to go with Sky. Order placed. :]How much are you paying? Is it with TV package as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Easy Wishes Posted July 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 How much are you paying? Is it with TV package as well?Promotional free Sky + box, standard TV package (inclusive of 'news' option for Sky Sports News), Sky broadband 'everyday' (upt to 10Mb d/l speed, 10Gb usage / month).One-off connection fee = 30Monthly fee = 27.50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaki Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 Promotional free Sky + box, standard TV package (inclusive of 'news' option for Sky Sports News), Sky broadband 'everyday' (upt to 10Mb d/l speed, 10Gb usage / month).One-off connection fee = 30Monthly fee = 27.50Thanks, how much will your line rental be on top of that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJimF Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 iirc the sky line rental is a fiver a month, also if you don't have a phone line, pay BT to get one installed and Sky will refund you the cost Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Easy Wishes Posted July 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2009 Thanks, how much will your line rental be on top of that?I'll be paying BT 11 a month line rental. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulscoconutass Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 BBC NEWS | Technology | Broadband rates 'not up to speed'Good table half way down the page that compares ISP speeds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gladstone Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 iirc the sky line rental is a fiver a month, also if you don't have a phone line, pay BT to get one installed and Sky will refund you the costIs that true?I've just moved into a new house, with no line, and looking into different options.Sky Broadband is looking pretty good, and I've despised BT for about 8 years, so getting line rental from Sky at half the price is looking good, plus the added bonus of them paying for the installation of the phone line sounds amazing!On a similar note, I looked at BT's website yesterday, and the connection charge is about 120 for a new line, which I was kind of expecting through past dealings with BT, but my wife was speaking to a couple of BT engineers that happened to be doing a bit of work on our road yesterday, and because of our location (middle of nowhere), they seemed to think it could cost up to 1000 to get a phone line (due to it being underground cabling or something), despite the fact there's a house directly across the road, because they have to go under a road or something. Just wondering if anyone has any experience of this?The BT website makes absolutely no suggestion that the connection would ever be more than the 120 odd. I'm guessing Sky won't refund us 1000, but we might get our 120 back...We'll obviously need to give BT a call to see what they say. I'm really hoping that it isn't the 1000......And on that note - anyone got experience of mobile broadband? I.e. the broadband where you plug a wee stick into the USB port. May have to go for this in the meantime if it's going to cost 1000 for a phone line. We get a solid vodafone signal, and I had a leaflet with my last bill about getting a decent deal on mobile broadband. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJimF Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 BT are offering free line installation until the 30th sept but you are tied to a 18month contract for them.The Sky deal seems to be they will set everything up if you order sky talk then order the broadband after the line has been installed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hobo Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Has anyone considered dumping their mobile phone and just getting the cheapest broadband/landline? like the good old days? I'm considering it, connected through my v630i and o2 at the moment dropped connections Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kernel Loaf Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Yeah, I'm with Sky too and they are the best ISP I've had.Side note - avoid Demon, just phoned them about our hosting at work, and they are a bunch of clueless dicks.Really? I have Demon at home and have had no problems whatsoever. Maybe their business broadband is different though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Stu Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Another thing everyone should bear in mind is that, whatever line speed ISPs provide, they also throttle all kinds of traffic and some are more honest about it than others. I'm with plus.net who have a comprehensive timetable for downstream speeds on the various ports used. With the package I'm on I can't get more than 2mbps on any port despite my line supporting up to 6mbps according to them.Which is okay by me as I don't have much use for super-fast internet and it's fairly cheap. This is probably typical across the cheap ISPs though, as they all pay BTW prices as their bottom line**unless they have their own LLU enabled kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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