Cheapest Broadband Provider Discussion Area

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• Yeah go on then I've got something to say!! Having spent the last 7 1/2 years connected via Freeserve I am utterly disappointed with the change-over to Wanadoo. They don't want to admit it, but they have stuffed up a good proportion of their customers account details (billing).
  I received a letter in June 04 stressing that they were not able to take payment for my broadband account as I had changed my credit card, I could either ring the 0870 number of login to my account online (What a joke, the online account doesn't / hasn't worked ever) "This could be to encourage "profits" from the 0870 number. Upon ringing the number and being onhold for 15 minutes I explained that my credit card was unchanged, I questioned whether or not the had been a problem with the recent changeover. I was assured everthing was in order and that I would be billed next month as usual.
  July arrives along with a repeat of the previous months leter and also a rather abrupt e-mail telling me that I had changed my payment details and could I please supply my new details. Once again on the phone and explained the same as the previous month. Once again I was assured that the error was on my part. To say I was annoyed was an understatement. I told the customer advisor that I wanted a CBUK code so that I could migrate to another ISP but was informed that this was not possible due to the arrears. I told him that I had spent a total of 90 minutes on the telephone (0870) to find out what was happening with this and suggested compensation for my losses, he laughed.
  I suggested to him that I had no alternative but to terminate my contract and told the advisor that he had my express permission to take payment for the arrears and to close my account. It was at this point he chooses to inform me that customer payment details became damaged when they were sent over from the previous "Payment company - World Pay".
  If they had been honest from the start they would still have my business and I would have re supplied my current credit card details. I have not at this stage paid the arrears and have sent a letter of to management for claim of compensation, we will see what happens. I am now with NTL (750kbps), boy is it quick.
  [hr]I just want to add, before you sign up to a 12 month contract check how far you are from the telephone exchange as you could be limited to a maximum connection speed of 512kbps as in my case.
• Interesting article!
  But for the dedicated Moneysavers (aren't we all?), you could make a saving on the activation fee for Metronet - or any other provider who charges for activation - by signing up to Virgin.net broadband for one month.
  Virgin.net is offering free activation with only one month notice period for Ј24.99 . Then you just have the migration fee of Ј19.98 to pay to Metronet.
  So, Ј45 versus Ј69.95. (And of course the Ј45 includes 1 month of actual broadband usage)
  Or is there a catch that I am missing???
• since mid July I have been trying to get a MAC number from Pipex to migrate to Metronet as these seem one of the cheapest, Can get 1meg for pipex cost 512. However I cannot get answers from Pipex only auto responses. Any idea how to get a real person to answer?
• Doh !
  pipex offer unlimited 512k for Ј23.44 with no setup/activation/migration costs for existing customers and free equipment for new customers.
  It's also very reliable in my experience.
  Not sure why Martin missed this one. !
• Can anybody give me the heads up whether Metronet is any good ??? The price looks reasonable but I am reasonably happy with Aol Broadband for Ј20.00 p/m and although there is probably a saving to be made, I would like some further comments.......Any advice for a novice Broadband user?? Thanks
  Dazza
• I signed up last week with Metronet. (was using dial up with Wanadoo and was tempted to go with them) After reading some stuff I preferred having a router with hardware firewall for the extra protection rather than the "free" modem from Wanadoo, plus with the router I can connect other PC's to the same connecton.
  Anyway, I phoned metronet first just to make sure they would help if I had any problems setting up and they said yes they would. I bought the Netgear router and microfilters from ebuyer.co.uk. It was quite easy to set up, I had one problem but phoned netgears help line and they sorted it out and that was it. Surfing the web at the speed of sound!
  After 1 week I've had no problems at all. I quite like the fact you can log into your metronet account and checkout how many Mbs you've been using. Although there was the inital cost of the router and line activation, long term it will definatley be cheaper for us.
  I feel quite pleased with myself now ;D as I'd already signed up with Mertronet, then I saw that Martin was going to be doing an article on the cheapest broadband provider. So I'm quite happy I've made the right choice.
• I'm on one of the old unlimited contracts with Wanadoo at the moment, although that expires in a few months, and was wondering about metered usage versus unlimited.
  Anyway, I did some searching and found a utility called Net Meter (website is https://home.iprimus.com.au/miclone/ ) which apparently monitors the levels of downloads you are doing and therefore enable you to see if metered makes sense!
  Seems to work OK, though for some reason is very slow to go through set-up routine!
• I've been on metronet's Paygo dsl for well over a year and it really is excellent.
  My biggest bill has been for about Ј17 and I send and receive quite large files (10 - 20MB)
  Metronet customer service is brilliant (no premium rate numbers) any were great when my original usb modem developed acute paranoid delusions.
  There were some problems during May and June when they were upgrading equipment but I think that was more down to BT than Metronet, and they kept customers well informed throughout.
  If you use the Adsl guide comparator - https://www.adslguide.org.uk/isps/compare.asp and
  choose possible providers, you get a comparison of users votes on speed, customer service and reliability. You will notice a fall off in Metronet scores during these months. This is not the norm and I certainly was not affected at all. One result of these problems is that they have slightly reduced the cost per additional Mb from 0.25p to 0.225p - not much, but it all helps.
  They also offer a customisable firewall at their end, and since I changed my browser to Mozilla Firefox, NO popups, and only very few (3-4 a week) trojans, worms, etc. (Norton AV on automatic update, + weekly scans with Spybot and Adaware)
  I have recommended Metronet to many people and have heard no complaints.
• I am using Tiscali Broadband (heavy internet users at home) 15.99 per month, I had free modem and free set-up but their customer services is crap.
  I am thinking to ditch them when the one year contract is over.
  1. I have been told that they will be reluctant to give the MAC number for Metronet. Anybody had such experience ?
  2. Can you use Metronet with One Tel or Talk Talk ?
  Thanks to let me know ! Cheers
• I have been with metronet for about 6 months and am very, very pleased with them. Metronet always scores highly on speed on adslguid.org.uk, and my experience is that it is very quick. Their customer service is great. They answer emails quickly. They did have a problem a month or two ago, but communicated their progress to customers very well. No need to bother with the expense of a hardware firewall with metronet (unless you are protecting a business or something) as they have a firewall at their end and you can have a software firewall at your end (e.g. Zonealarm, etc) for extra protection; this is what I have done with no problems. I am a moderate internet user and I have never been billed more than Ј13.00. If I wasn't with metronet : I'd switch today.
• Oh, and I've been with Talk Talk and Ontel in the time I've been with Metronet and I can say that it definitely works together. I also emailed OFTEL and they confirmed that CPS is always compatible with ADSL.
• this is prob a really silly question and poss not the right place to post this but I am with BT at the moment and want to upgrade to Broadband-dont' mind where-just the best deal-can I still keep my btinternet email address or would I have to get a new one?
• we've been with Freeserve/AOL/Tiscali (the DEVIL's SPAWN!!!) and now with Gio for broadband 512k
  we've been with Gio Internet for over a good year, and TOUCH WOOD never had any niggling problems with them. I think we're paying 18.99 a month, but cant remember costs exactly. still, they are highly recommended, and were cheapest by far a few months back
  Matt
• My $0.02:
  a) separate your e-mail address from your connectivity provider, so if/when you change connectivity provider, you don't have to change your e-mail address. And, when connectivity provider's service fails, you can still get at your e-mail using an 0845 modem dial-up. And you can get at your e-mail from anywhere in the world (at work, on holiday, etc etc). I use www.virtualnames.co.uk - reliable, straightforward, lots of features for the price.
  And it's nice to have a personal, meaningful domain name. Some might call it a luxury, some might not.
  b) I generally recommend Eclipse for ADSL, for business use and for home use. Their Flex service looks interesting. Again they're reliable, and straightforward.
  In my line of work, cheapest is hardly *ever* good value; usually cheapest is poor from the get-go, otherwise it becomes poor quickly as financial reality kicks in. And expensive is rarely the best.
  Sorry to express a contrary opinion, but I'd really argue strongly against a 12-month contract. Things change too quickly. There are plenty of good providers offering one-month contracts. I've seen too many people gritting their teeth through the remaining 3-9 months of a poorly-performing contract ...
  Check out feedback on www.adslguide.org.uk from real users thoroughly before committing. Balance the good and the bad; allow for disgruntled users shouting loudest; look for systematic problems, and discount the wailers and ranters.
  c) don't assume you can switch ADSL providers easily. Do you really expect not to have any downtime? Don't bank on it!
  d) are you really going to trust Microsoft software to keep you and your family safe? *You* will be responsible for keeping it up to date, and checking that safety measures haven't been bypassed or compromised.
  I have heard it said that the average time to update a fresh install of Windows XP, once you've got it connected to the internet, is greater than the average time between attacks. And I have first- and second-hand experience of exactly this.
  So buy an ADSL modem/router which is a firewall. I like Draytek Vigor products (again for home and business use).
  e) then install anti-virus with a paid-for subscription, and set a diary reminder to renew it (I find McAfee tolerable); and test it with eicar.
  f) also install anti-spyware software such as SpyBot or Adaware, and again keep it up-to-date religiously
  Of course if you run Linux or a Mac then you'll have lost interest at d)
  As I said, just my $0.02. YMMV, as some say.
• Fellow savers,
  Has anyone heard of E7even? https://www.e7even.com is probably the cheapest broadband supplier I have come across, check them out againt the competitors such as Nildram and PlusNet on https://www.adslguide.org. I have been tracking e7even over the past year and thought at the time that they were a little too new for me to part with my hard earned money, so I waited about a year and then checked them out and found that they are quite good in all aspects. For the past 2 years or so, Nildram and PlusNet seem to have dominated value for money etc.
  E7even on the other hand do not take monthly instalments, but what they do ask for is either a 6 month, 12 month or 24 month committment across their 512kb and 1mb connection services. I suppose you are wondering what the costs actually are. Well, E7even now have an offer on at the moment where you can get one of the following, either;
  ADSL Modem/Router or
  Free Connection or
  3 months free
  They all work out to be roughly the same, around Ј50 ish.
  So for Ј16.66 per month (Ј200 for 12 months paid upfront), thats got to be a bargain. Furthermore, they are using Interconnects (BT Backbone) so you dont have to worry about your searches travelling half way across the world before they get to their destination.
  I have been with E7even now for the past few months and found that they have been good value for money so far. Furthermore, if you dont want to call their expensive 090 help number, just email them for free, and they will respond promptly. Needless to say, their ratio is 50:1.
  Hope this helps those who are sitting on the fence....
  Best regards,
  Azim.
• I've been with Metronet for the last 6 months and have to say, the service is second to none. I'm an average user and my bills work out at just under Ј14 a month. There were problems late June/early July when a new pipe was being installed - occasional difficulty in connecting but they keep you up to date with any technical problems. For anyone contemplating BB for the first time , this is ideal.
  8)
• Check out giointernet.co.uk. I've been using them for over a year now, paying Ј19.95 a month for unlimited 512k broadband. I've had no hassle, might be worth a look.
• Hi guy and girls ;D,
  Just thought I'd scare a few of you. !I've seen lots of people getting huge phone bills (Ј150 + per month) while on broadband. !Due to Diallers and other Malware. !This problem was even mentioned on Watchdog. !Various Detectors and killers can be used. !You could even get your phone company to barr premium rate numbers. !All of this may not help. !New diallers are coming out all the time. !Also if your pc is connected to a pone line it does not need to dial a number to switch to a premium rate line. !Therefore the barr may not stop the problem.
  Now I hate to sound like I'm advertising but the only sure way to stop these diallers calling out on your phone bill is to use a cable service such as Telewest offer. !With their broadband you are not connected to a phone line so these outbound calls can not happen. !So long as you do not reconnect your normal modem to the phone line.
  That the end of my little preachey session for now. !Hope I'll have something more upbeat to contribute in the future.
  8)
• What about Telecom Plus "go-plus fast"? That's Ј19.99 a month with free setup and !no minimum contract, so if you don't like it, you just give the standard 30 days notice and you're out!