Alternatives to O2 & Sky?

JamesU2005 · 13 Oct 2008 at 08:50

Thinking of leaving AOL and just wanted to know if there were any good alternatives to O2 and Sky? These two seem to be the leaders in terms of happy customers?

Looked at Virgin Media but do they have that phorm thingy on their service?

Really looking for as fast as possible at a decent price.

steveo · 13 Oct 2008 at 09:11

i went back to bt after 5 years and i couldnt be happya

was with zen,freedom2surf then tried o2 for a month and was ****ed of with there customer service and the connection they gave me, bt could be worth a look

FrenchTart · 13 Oct 2008 at 09:49

steveo said:
i went back to bt after 5 years and i couldnt be happya was with zen,freedom2surf then tried o2 for a month and was ****ed of with there customer service and the connection they gave me, bt could be worth a look

Ignore this info - it's awful.

Do you have o2/Sky LLU available? If not, steer clear of their IPStream services as they aren't quite as good as Entanet resellers and/or Zen,etc.

Don't go near BT, or f2s (if they are even still about).

*edited for clarity

steveo · 13 Oct 2008 at 10:08

Aekeron said:
Ignore this info - it's awful.

Do you have o2/Sky LLU available? If not, steer clear of their IPStream services as they aren't quite as good as Entanet resellers and/or Zen,etc.

Don't go near BT or f2s (if they are even still about).

nice way to be ignorant you fool, i gave my thoughts on the matter there is no need to just dismiss them for been "awful", and of course bt are still around if they werent O2 and all the others wouldnt either as bt rent the lines out unless its the LLU service in which case O2/other have managed to get there own which is good for them, now dont be such an ignorant idiot next time and be considerate.

FrenchTart · 13 Oct 2008 at 10:15

steveo said:
nice way to be ignorant you fool, i gave my thoughts on the matter there is no need to just dismiss them for been "awful", and of course bt are still around if they werent O2 and all the others wouldnt either as bt rent the lines out unless its the LLU service in which case O2/other have managed to get there own which is good for them, now dont be such an ignorant idiot next time and be considerate.

I'm talking about F2S, not BT. Of course BT are still around.

Your advice was bad. I merely pointed that out.

z0mbi3 · 13 Oct 2008 at 10:24

Aekeron said:
Your advice was bad. I merely pointed that out.

Seconded. steveo while you've had bad experience with O2's CS and connection, generally speaking everyone else doesn't.

For many people the suggestion of moving back to BT is as laughable as you find the service from the other providers. Grass is always greened on the other side, two sides to every story etc etc.

Actually come to think of it, aside from renting lines from BT have you considered that you might be the common problem?

*

*That's meant in jest.

The Deuce · 13 Oct 2008 at 10:32

steveo said:
i went back to bt after 5 years and i couldnt be happya was with zen,freedom2surf then tried o2 for a month and was ****ed of with there customer service and the connection they gave me, bt could be worth a look

IMO BT are PATHETIC with a capital P, not even worth consideration if you wish to do any sort of downloading. They should be renamed to CAP CITY

I'm with Be* and couldnt wish for a better service A+

Tunney · 13 Oct 2008 at 10:47

I'm a very happy Be* customer too. Great customer service and fantastic speeds. The only download is the rubbish router that they provide.

Deleted member 77746 · 13 Oct 2008 at 10:55

o2/sky/be that is the only ISPS I ever recommend now.

AtaRo · 13 Oct 2008 at 11:03

optitech-uk said:
o2/sky/be that is the only ISPS I ever recommend now.

+1 .came from Bulldog/Pipex/BT and im very glad i switch to Be also got the chance to try SKy as its much cheaper as we already got Sky but in the end got Be cause of the higher upload speed compared to Sky.

JamesU2005 · 13 Oct 2008 at 11:06

AtaRo said:
+1 .came from Bulldog/Pipex/BT and im very glad i switch to Be also got the chance to try SKy as its much cheaper as we already got Sky but in the end got Be cause of the higher upload speed compared to Sky.

Whats the difference between the two in terms of upload speed?

FrenchTart · 13 Oct 2008 at 11:07

On Sky you're limited to 1mbit upload. Be/o2 give you 1.3/1.4mbit by default, with the option of 2.5mbit with Upload Plus/AnnexM.

Look on here for the o2 friends and family discount that some o2 staff are handing out. £7.50 for o2's fastest connection is damn nice

(I'm lucky enough to have quite a decent phone line so I get 22.5mbit for £7.50/month)

JamesU2005 · 13 Oct 2008 at 11:17

Aekeron said:
On Sky you're limited to 1mbit upload. Be/o2 give you 1.3/1.4mbit by default, with the option of 2.5mbit with Upload Plus/AnnexM.

Look on here for the o2 friends and family discount that some o2 staff are handing out. £7.50 for o2's fastest connection is damn nice

(I'm lucky enough to have quite a decent phone line so I get 22.5mbit for £7.50/month)

£7.50!! That's crazy low. How would one go about getting it for this price?

FrenchTart · 13 Oct 2008 at 11:19

JamesU2005 said:
£7.50!! That's crazy low. How would one go about getting it for this price?

Check out the massive "Moving from Be to o2" thread in this forum. It'll be lower down the page or on page 2 at the latest.

Near the last few pages several active forum members that are also o2 staff can be found - email them with your details and they can sort you out

Deleted member 77746 · 13 Oct 2008 at 11:27

o2 is a 1 year/12 month contract and Be only requires 3 months notice so not that bad really. Be is excellent best one in my opinion alough you do pay for the privledge of been able to end it early @ £18.00 a month for Be Unlimited package.

FrenchTart · 13 Oct 2008 at 11:37

I was previously with Be and I do like their support forums and the new ability to play with your connection settings via the member control panel.

I just couldn't justify the increase in price when you factor in the FF discount though.

Deleted member 77746 · 13 Oct 2008 at 11:42

Aekeron said:
I was previously with Be and I do like their support forums and the new ability to play with your connection settings via the member control panel.

I just couldn't justify the increase in price when you factor in the FF discount though.

With me it's the abillity to end contract early-ish. I hate long contracts.

FrenchTart · 13 Oct 2008 at 11:48

optitech-uk said:
With me it's the abillity to end contract early-ish. I hate long contracts.

I agree for the most part. I wouldn't have jumped into a year contract with anyone else, but as o2 are an 'arm' of Be (well, the other way round) and my two years with Be were good, I gave them the benefit of the doubt

For anyone without personal experience though, the 3 month contract of Be is definitely a very important factor.

Deleted member 77746 · 13 Oct 2008 at 11:52

Aekeron said:
I agree for the most part. I wouldn't have jumped into a year contract with anyone else, but as o2 are an 'arm' of Be (well, the other way round) and my two years with Be were good, I gave them the benefit of the doubt

For anyone without personal experience though, the 3 month contract of Be is definitely a very important factor.

Offtopic but I like how o2 now have the ability for 1 month roll on contracts with their simplicity package. If you were to opt for a simplicity package with o2 and their broadband people would save a fortune over a year as the year is contracted for the broadband.

FrenchTart · 13 Oct 2008 at 12:48

optitech-uk said:
Offtopic but I like how o2 now have the ability for 1 month roll on contracts with their simplicity package. If you were to opt for a simplicity package with o2 and their broadband people would save a fortune over a year as the year is contracted for the broadband.

I think you can get away with using any old mobile number. Unless I'm getting mixed up with the F&F deal...