ISPs in the UK

Urban · 18 Sep 2008 at 14:05

Hey all,

I'm looking to upgrade my net connection. I am currently paying £17 a month for a 1MB line with orange. It has a 2GB limit but as since the Wanadoo days they don't monitor it.

So I now want a faster connection (think the max in my area is 4MB) that is unlimited.
I wanting to avoid ISPs with weird usage policies like Tiscali as I play gaming online (a lot) and are hopefully bittorrent friendly.

Does anyone have any suggestions on a good UK ISP? That you know of or have used.

Regs.
Urban

Delvis · 18 Sep 2008 at 14:07

I use Demon, never had any issues with them, and I've had them for 4 years bow I believe.

Now cap limit, just it does cost money, depending on what package you wish to go for as well.

Theres loads about, but I'm sure these humble people will show you some others.

sambo_joseph · 18 Sep 2008 at 14:09

Virgin have recently brought in fibre optics which is meant to be the fastest commercial internet connection you can get, but from what I've read so far maybe Virgin might not be the best ISP. For starters i know that their policy allows them to track your internet browsing and read all your emails.

I've heard very good things about the service from o2 tho

Liquidfox · 18 Sep 2008 at 14:12

sambo_joseph said:
For starters i know that their policy allows them to track your internet browsing and read all your emails.

Somehow, i seriously doubt that's even legal.

sambo_joseph · 18 Sep 2008 at 14:14

Liquidfox said:
Somehow, i seriously doubt that's even legal.

I seriously wish that it wasn't true but it is, if you sign up to them just read their latest terms and conditions

MikeHiow · 18 Sep 2008 at 14:18

Liquidfox said:
Somehow, i seriously doubt that's even legal.

It's not quite like that, But it's entirely possible - http://www.badphorm.co.uk/

If you're looking for an ADSL ISP, I can't recommend http://www.adsl24.co.uk enough.

No traffic shaping what so ever, so you'll likely receive full speeds, all the time. I'm on the £19.99/m plan which gives you 30GB peak, and 300GB off-peak.

If you're a downloader, You can setup both uTorrent and Newsleecher to only download at night (off-peak) which scheduling.

There maybe other isp's advertising unlimited, but you can be almost certain (Unless Sky Max LLU), they'll be traffic shaping atleast your P2P/Usenet stuff.

tolien · 18 Sep 2008 at 14:19

Stick your number/postcode into Samknows, and see what options there are as far as LLU goes.

sambo_joseph said:
Virgin have recently brought in fibre optics

At least that part isn't true.

FrenchTart · 18 Sep 2008 at 14:21

sambo_joseph said:
Virgin have recently brought in fibre optics which is meant to be the fastest commercial internet connection you can get, but from what I've read so far maybe Virgin might not be the best ISP. For starters i know that their policy allows them to track your internet browsing and read all your emails.

I've heard very good things about the service from o2 tho

The fibreoptic thing mentioned in VM advertising is a bit of a marketing sham. Pay no attention to it.

Go to http://www.Samknows.com and put in your phone/postcode details. This should tell you what ISPs/LLU are available in your area.

If you can get LLU for any of them, go o2, Be or Sky (or even UKOnline). If you can only get IPStream, get an Entanet reseller or Zen or someone.

sambo_joseph · 18 Sep 2008 at 14:33

Aekeron said:
The fibreoptic thing mentioned in VM advertising is a bit of a marketing sham. Pay no attention to it.

Go to http://www.Samknows.com and put in your phone/postcode details. This should tell you what ISPs/LLU are available in your area.

If you can get LLU for any of them, go o2, Be or Sky (or even UKOnline). If you can only get IPStream, get an Entanet reseller or Zen or someone.

so what have virgin been advertising then, are they not doing fibre optic broadband....stuff?

FrenchTart · 18 Sep 2008 at 14:36

sambo_joseph said:
so what have virgin been advertising then, are they not doing fibre optic broadband....stuff?

They do use fibre in the backhaul/etc, but so do most ISPs. They're trying to advertise it as a service similar to fibre to the premises/cabinet as that's the next step in broadband development/speeds.

pennywise · 18 Sep 2008 at 14:43

sambo_joseph said:
Virgin have recently brought in fibre optics which is meant to be the fastest commercial internet connection you can get, but from what I've read so far maybe Virgin might not be the best ISP. For starters i know that their policy allows them to track your internet browsing and read all your emails.

Crikey, misinformation ahoy!

Urban · 18 Sep 2008 at 15:34

Thanks for the quick responses, wasn't expecting so many so soon.

I have heard thing about Virgin and as for running fibre, I can't see it coming to the home user without major service providers pushing it together and they are still trying to get control off BT for current services.

Urban · 18 Sep 2008 at 15:38

Well there's a something, orange are our only LLU round here. :rolleyes:

sambo_joseph · 18 Sep 2008 at 15:43

pennywise said:
Crikey, misinformation ahoy!

Yea sorry I was under the impression that virgin were the only ones doing it at the moment, my bad

MikeHiow · 18 Sep 2008 at 16:11

Aekeron said:
They do use fibre in the backhaul/etc, but so do most ISPs. They're trying to advertise it as a service similar to fibre to the premises/cabinet as that's the next step in broadband development/speeds.

Virgin, in most instances are fiber to the cabinet.

FrenchTart · 18 Sep 2008 at 16:18

MikeHiow said:
Virgin, in most instances are fiber to the cabinet.

Perhaps I should've been more clear...

pjansell · 18 Sep 2008 at 16:20

My first foray into the virtual world of the internet was with pipex about 6 years ago, what a disaster that was! Quickly changed to ntl, and never looked back since!

tbz_ck · 18 Sep 2008 at 16:21

Another vote for ADSL24. Excellent ISP.

starfighter · 18 Sep 2008 at 18:23

Virgin use Fibre for cable to the cabinet, it is a true statement but unless you live in a cable area it is irrelevant, you will be using ADSL.

tolien · 18 Sep 2008 at 19:29

starfighter said:
Virgin use Fibre for cable to the cabinet, it is a true statement

It's a grossly misleading statement - in most cases the fibre is ~1km of coax away from your modem, and well away from the cab at the end of your street...