The Dogmother Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Do you have a good internet provider, or can you report problems with a particular company? Phil is with Onetel for phone and internet - he's had loads of problems and his business is suffering because he has had so much downtime. When he eventually gets through on the helpline, it's the usual placatory rubbish. The line is OK because his phone works fine; so the problem must be with their servers. He is going to switch, but it would be useful to know what other people think. I'm with Orange (they used to be Freeserve, then Wanadoo), and it's always been fine *touches wood quickly* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 BT. Seems OK. Claims to provide up to 8 meg. Can only get 5.4 though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 freedom 2 surf have been fab with been with thema few years now f2s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 We are with Virgin- used to be Telewest. £19.99/month, with national phonecalls, line rental & internet thrown in . Never had any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 We are with Virgin- used to be Telewest. £19.99/month, with national phonecalls, line rental & internet thrown in . Never had any problems. Same here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omletina Kyckling Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 AVOID TISCALI AT ALL COSTS! I was with them and they were fine, if a bit slow when it worked but when it goes wrong you are up a certain creek without a paddle!! The call centres are in India and they will waste about five days telling you it's your equipment which is at fault (even blaming the television being close to the pc for faults!) PLUS you are 'phoning a premium rate number all the time. They cut me off twice in the last year at the exchange for some bizarre reason (the final time they told me it was because I told them I was moving house, like I'd do that when I wasn't....) Anyway, I changed to O2 broadband last month and so far superb - it's faster than I was on Tiscali (even though we are out in the country so miles from the exchange and reasonably slow) - if you are an O2 mobile phone customer, you can get the broadband for £7.50 a month (if not it's £17.50) The set up with the wireless modem was a doddle and the call centres are freephone and all in the UK. So I can heartily recommend O2! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Virgin has been fine for me, I just have broadband on my BT line. No problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tessa the Duchess Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 I'm with Orange Me too, no problems so far. I can't speak for their broadband service, as I am on dial-up. Orange are cancelling their dial-up service in Dec and we are being forced to have broadband which I have resisted up until now because they didn't have techie support for Mac OSX which I use, they have just started techie support so I will wait and see how broadband works out. I have also heard BAD things about Tiscali. The Watchdog programme recently did a thing about which was the best broadband provider, you should be able to find it on their website might be helpful. Tessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 That's an interesting comment, Phil, being an illustrator uses OSX too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 I'm with Orange Me too, no problems so far. I can't speak for their broadband service, as I am on dial-up. Orange are cancelling their dial-up service in Dec and we are being forced to have broadband What on earth will happen to me if all providers stop their dial-up service - we can't get Broadband here I use Tesco.net, & find it very good, but as I said,I am on dial-up. Avoid TalkTalk Clare - a right bunch of numptys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tessa the Duchess Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Cinnamon wrote What on earth will happen to me if all providers stop their dial-up service - we can't get Broadband here When I read this comment I quickly looked to see where you were located, expecting The Isle of Skye or somewhere really remote Henley on Thames surely not or is it because your house is too far from a telephone exchange I suspect there will always be a couple of ISP's who provide dial-up, many people really have no use for broadband and don't want to be locked into contracts, I myself don't want it, I don't download stuff and I quite like it when pics and things take an age to download, I don't like this fast world, very unrelaxing. Tessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Henley on Thames surely not or is it because your house is too far from a telephone exchange That is exactly the problem Tessa.We are in a very small village about 3 miles out of Henley,& it seems there is no hope for us Fancy a house swap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Fancy a house swap? Ooh ooh, who else thinks house swap holidays with eglu owners is a good idea?!!! Who could look after our girlies better than other chicken mummies and daddies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfrock Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Avoid plusnet - they were fab until they expanded or bought someone out or something - can't remember the reason. Any upshot is we went from having superb service to money being taken out of our bank account when it shouldn't being cut off as well. (long story, too complicated, but just AVOID! If you google them you will probably see lots of comments about the decline in their service) We are now with Tiscali, as are my parents and I must admit we haven't had any problems - but I am going to do a bit of research given the above comments. Friends have had problems with TalkTalk - taking their money month after month but never setting them up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Cinnamon, We live in a 'village'of 8 houses. When we bought the house May last year, we assumed that there would be a phone line and internet. There were brand new phone sockets in every room. Bad news. No phone line! When BT finally installed one, they said we couldn't have internet as we would be sharing a line with next door. I kicked off and told them to rip the whole lot out. We needed broadband and would go somewhere else. They agreed to install broadband, then presented us wilth a bill for £36,000, then a letter saying that was a mistake. They re-billed us for £76,000. Needless to say, we paid £19.99 in TOTAL. Have fantastic broadband here and it is a tiny village! Off the beaten track. Next door use Sky Broadband, through their satellite dish. Is that an option for you? P.s Claret - BT is wonderful! - I use a mac too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 Thi sis all good feedback - I'm goign to make sure that Phil sees it... he's back to going down to my house to log on at the moment - they got the line working again and it went down again this morning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissinuk Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Avoid plusnet - they were fab until they expanded or bought someone out or something - can't remember the reason. Any upshot is we went from having superb service to money being taken out of our bank account when it shouldn't being cut off as well.(long story, too complicated, but just AVOID! If you google them you will probably see lots of comments about the decline in their service) Well I was just about to give the exact opposite advice! I've been with them for years now and have to say I've only had 2 or 3 days without any service. I only pay around 10 pound a month and have a fantastice service running at about 6Mbs. If you google pretty much any ISP you will find mixed reviews - for example Sky who offer broadband for £5 a month - great for some people completely hopeless for others. One good thing about Plusnet is that you can usually get straight through to the helpdesk if you ever need to contact them (with geographical numbers as well as 0845). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoid Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 AVOID TISCALI AT ALL COSTS!I was with them and they were fine, if a bit slow when it worked but when it goes wrong you are up a certain creek without a paddle!! The call centres are in India and they will waste about five days telling you it's your equipment which is at fault (even blaming the television being close to the pc for faults!) PLUS you are 'phoning a premium rate number all the time. Shame, I've been with Tiscali for years and only had one problem, phoned them up and spoke to someone that spoke really good english (sounded like she was from the uk) and they fixed the problem in under 2 mins! I've now got their TV and broadband package, all for £11.99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Me too Fred - I'm quite happy with tiscali, never had any problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omletina Kyckling Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 Hi, I had no problems for the first two years I was with Tiscali, then I moved just over a year ago and they have been a nightmare since. I found that they were fine unless you have a problem, then if it's not instantly fixable, you have had it. In 13 months I was without broadband for two because they kept disconnecting my service at the exchange and claiming it was either BT's fault or mine. When this happened the third time, I read some reviews on the internet and found there were hundreds of people with the same experience so decided enough was enough, I'd lost any confidence I'd had in them so changed to O2. Funny thing is, once I said I was leaving they offered me 4 months for free, and to make me a premier customer so that when I got a problem I would be able to call somebody in the UK rather than their India call centres. I think a lot depends on where you are and where your ISP has their exchange as to what service you get as many of them use different exchanges within an area. Perhaps I was near the Tiscali exchange up north but not here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperman Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 Try this site. http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/?kt=181&gclid=COj9xdK6zo8CFQ81QgodW3fX9w The best one to me looks like Be* I am with Virgin Media ,ex NTL the service isn't bad, the customer service however is astoundingly bad! I would have gone to Sky broadband but I bawk at having to pay £125 to get reconnected. Kev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 9, 2007 Author Share Posted November 9, 2007 Looks like the general concensus is that they are all like the little girl who 'when she was good was very, very good. And when she was bad she was horrid'! They're OK until you have a problem, then they go t*ts up and can't support you. Phil has been through the same questions again and again with Onetel and has given up phoning the support people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 I am with AOL and they appear to be fine so far, never had any problems, the people on the telephone answer quickly and are knowledgable. I have dial up as I am a low (telephone) user so on a different type of phone line supplied by BT which does not support Broadband. Pity really as AOL broadband starts at £9.99 per month, and I have to pay £12.99 for the dial up (but with the extra costs I would incur with BT for the faster phone line it would be more expensive in the long run to have broadband). Ho hum, tis all swings and roundabouts I think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
