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Recommend me an ADSL ISP
SeaBass - 18/11/10 at 07:54 AM

I live in the sticks, 8Mbit ADSL (not LLU). No cable or anything else fancy. No satellite. Not Pipex, Talk Talk, Opal or Tiscali - all the same company.

I've just given up on them after 8 years. After a week of no connection and three promised call backs they can shove it - my mac address has been requested.

Ideally want a fixed IP and unlimited download limit. Also tech support who can do their job (not just say reset the router FFS!) and not cost 10p a minute to explain the same issue over and over.

I've looked at Xilo Uno?

Anyone?

Cheers

James


scudderfish - 18/11/10 at 08:07 AM

http://www.aaisp.net.uk/

As many static IP as you want. Extremely good helpdesk (UK based) that is XKCD/806 compliant


monkeyarms - 18/11/10 at 08:09 AM

I would personaly ask over at www.thinkbroadband.com where there is a dedicated "which ISP" forum, lots of experience there. You may need to specify a monthly budget too? Also on a non LLU line "unlimited" can be limiting, knowing how much bandwidth you need per month can help to find a better ISP for you.

Sorry I cant recomend anyone specific though (Im on O2 LLU).


imp paul - 18/11/10 at 09:11 AM

i was in tesco and in one of the books i had a look at for top 10 isp number two was this looks very good https://www.bethere.co.uk/web/beportal/homepage and its a good price


geoff shep - 18/11/10 at 09:12 AM

Have a look at NewNet. I used them very successfully over a couple of years. Not the cheapest, but good reliable (unbroken I think) service. It's a rolling one month contract so you can try them out and they have UK based helpful customer services who sorted out a couple of snags instantly over the phone.

Only changed away due to working away a lot and now using uk-wide bt fon.

http://www.newnet.co.uk/products/broadband/home


Gav - 18/11/10 at 09:19 AM

Im with BE for about 3 years now, outstanding connection, low pings (if you a gamer) and they dont shape traffic.


ChrisW - 18/11/10 at 09:51 AM

BE without a shadow of a doubt, as long as you know what you're doing. Coverage is limited though, so you may not be able to get it in your area.

Their tech support is outsourced to eastern Europe somewhere which made me groan the first time I rung up and heard the accent, but I was very pleasantly suprised. Their accents might not be the easiest to understand, but they know their stuff. Considering I run an ISP network for a day job and I was finding it hard to catch them out, I was very impressed.

I have heard a lot of good stuff about AAISP - aka Andrews and Arnold. Run by two proper geeks, not just a corporate machine. I met them a few years back at an industry social and they could run rings around me with their network skills in fact, hacking skills in general too I suspect. Again, a certain level of knowledge is assumed.

If you're just after a system that 'works', I've been impressed with BT, although I never thought I'd say it. My girlfriend had it at home before I moved in and I've just never got around to changing it because it has 'just worked'. Yes I could get a better speed by switching to BE and save a few quid a month, but I just can't be bothered with the hassle. Having said that, I've not had to use their tech support!

Chris


Blackbird Rush - 18/11/10 at 12:35 PM

quote:
Originally posted by scudderfish
http://www.aaisp.net.uk/

As many static IP as you want. Extremely good helpdesk (UK based) that is XKCD/806 compliant


Another vote for aaisp, we use them at the office and they also supply our lines at home, fixed IP and good tech support


britishtrident - 18/11/10 at 01:24 PM

Be and O2 (same company) are fast and reliable and give you very decent router (which unlike some ISAPs they will want back) BUT but the other services they give you such as mail and virus/spam filitering are very basic. O2 give a good discount if you have an O2 mobile. However beware I found Be tend to alter T&Cs I found they downgraded my connection speed after 18months with them.

Best all round ISP at the moment in terms of value, reliability and service is Plusnet. They provide a quite nice router and don't ask for it back if you stay more than 12months and the mail servers and mailbox options and spam filters are excellent.
Plusnet give a static IP with the "Extra" contract option or you can request it.


[Edited on 18/11/10 by britishtrident]


tegwin - 18/11/10 at 01:32 PM

quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Be and O2 (same company) are fast and reliable and give you very decent router (which unlike some ISAPs they will want back) BUT but the other services they give you such as mail and virus/spam filitering are very basic. O2 give a good discount if you have an O2 mobile. However beware I found Be tend to alter T&Cs I found they downgraded my connection speed after 18months with them.

Best all round ISP at the moment in terms of value, reliability and service is Plusnet. They provide a quite nice router and don't ask for it back if you stay more than 12months and the mail servers and mailbox options and spam filters are excellent.
Plusnet give a static IP with the "Extra" contract option or you can request it.


[Edited on 18/11/10 by britishtrident]


I am with plusnet this year and have been having no end of issues with them.... its considerably slower than it should be for a start...

My parents have been with Demon for the last 6 years.... they live out in the middle of nowhere and get a consistant reasonable speed.... I think when I was living there I only had 1 day when the service was down... Not bad, never had to call tech support because there were never any issues


SeaBass - 18/11/10 at 01:51 PM

Thanks everyone. Just what I needed as usual.

I have two router/adsl modem combos so don't need hardware. I've not heard great things about plusnet.

Front runners now seem to be BE and AAISP - although they look dear for large data volumes.

JC


britishtrident - 18/11/10 at 02:02 PM

Check the ratings on Thinkbroadband ---- the two that have come out top over the last few years are Plusnet and the much more expensive Zen. I have put a lot of people on to Plusnet over the last 5 years or so , they are about the only ISP that provides proper support and and are prepared call in BT without any fuss. I know from personal experience even Zen are very very reluctant call in BT.

Plusnet had problems in the early days but a new MD sorted that out about 6 years back and they were subsequently bought out by BT --- but are are still run as a completely separate company with a very different ethos to BT.


mookaloid - 18/11/10 at 09:37 PM

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/communication-breakdown-10000030/plusnet-to-move-customer-support-from-sa-to-sheffield-10021090/