BE?

Sic

Sic

Sic

Soldato
Joined
9 Nov 2004
Posts
15,365
Location
SO16
I'm not a particularly techy guy, so when it comes to an ISP, I tend to pick the ones with pretty offers. Until now this has turned out well, but this time I chose virgin - apparently I should be grateful for my 250ms latency to UK CSS servers, and downstream of about 40kbps. I've only been connected with them for just over a week, so I'm still within my cancellation period (i reported being dissatisfied about 4 days ago!!)

I've been reading about BE, and I was wondering if anyone can recommend them, or a similar alternative - I love the idea of 24Mbps down, 1.3Mbps up, but I'm a pretty big gamer so having a reliable connection is important. Can I trust these guys, or is Branson going to be buying them soon?

Thanks
 
How far away are you from your exchange? ADSL2 is quite heavily reliant on distance so the closer the better. You have to be REALLY close to get the full 24MB.
I can't remember exactly how far I am from mine, I think like 400meters or something and I sync at 17MB/s down and 1.3MB up with BE. speedtest.net gives me results of 13MB down and 1.1MB up. Definitely not something to complain about.

If you call them, they can actually give you an estimate of what you can expect to connect at. From what I've read, they'll actually underestimate a bit.

Edit: As for reliability, I've received a few notices about work being done to my exchange and to expect problems with my connection but have never actually had any problems. I've had my connection disconnect once but the modem rebooted and it worked fine after about 3 minutes.

...and I don't think Virgin will be buying Be as it's already owned by O2.
 
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tomanders91 said:
Yeah i need to get a BT line, but that doesnt really matter as i dont care about my current VM one as i hate it so much its crap.
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oh, don't even get me started on VM - they have a preset helpdesk email, and I'm damned if I'm paying a pound a minute to talk to one of their drones who'll inevitably not even help me. their customer service so far has been disgusting, and once I've d/c'd from them, I'll be reporting them to OfCom for their terrible service
 
I presume you've checked that BE are at your Exchange already?

Just checking as they do not have anything like full coverage of the UK at the moment.

Use www.samknows.com if you are not sure.
 
I can do nothing but sing BE's praise lol

Have been with them for about 5 months now.

And some home my router is connected at 24500mb up lol and 1380mb down

would love to know where it got the extra 500mb from.

Real life speed is around 21mb and 1.3mb up which is ace.

I cannot fault their helpdesk either, log a ticket, you get a reply pretty sharply and whats better their willing to listen to you. You get a text when they have responded and a text when their billing you.
 
they are in my area and everything i dont know where exactly, but i think its pretty close, but as long as i get above 10mb im not really bothered.
 
checked on BE's website, and I can get their service in my area - ever tried cancelling a virgin service? not easy.
 
tomanders91 said:
they are in my area and everything i dont know where exactly, but i think its pretty close, but as long as i get above 10mb im not really bothered.
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Use the link I posted - www.samknows.com you can find out the straight line distance to your Exchange there.

If it is important to you that you get over 10Mb then call BE before you order and they will be able to give you an estimate of the likely speed.
 
Hey up,

If you have had the virgin contract for quite some time, you wont be able to get shot of it until the 12 month period is up.

I was cursing because i was told i could get virgin in the flat i moved into, but then virgin them selves said i cant even though a neighbour has it lol.

Glad i didnt now from what i have been hearing.

BE. love it. best isp i have been with since the free dial up days lol
 
Teal said:
Use the link I posted - www.samknows.com you can find out the straight line distance to your Exchange there.

If it is important to you that you get over 10Mb then call BE before you order and they will be able to give you an estimate of the likely speed.
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Where abouts on the site do i find the distance?
 
Use the availability checker and be sure to put in your post code.

On the next screen select 'locality'

The actual cable length will be longer than the straight line distance but it at least gives you a clue.
 
Datamonkey said:
Hey up,

If you have had the virgin contract for quite some time, you wont be able to get shot of it until the 12 month period is up.

I was cursing because i was told i could get virgin in the flat i moved into, but then virgin them selves said i cant even though a neighbour has it lol.

Glad i didnt now from what i have been hearing.

BE. love it. best isp i have been with since the free dial up days lol
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i've been connected since last friday, but I logged a fault the monday after I signed up, and if I'm not mistaken, there's a statutory 14-day cooling off period with any agreement signed, so if they make a fuss, I'll get the solicitors involved - it won't be the first time I've had to - damn ISPs!!
 
Sic said:
i've been connected since last friday, but I logged a fault the monday after I signed up, and if I'm not mistaken, there's a statutory 14-day cooling off period with any agreement signed, so if they make a fuss, I'll get the solicitors involved - it won't be the first time I've had to - damn ISPs!!
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There is no general 14 day cooling off provision, there are specific provisions for agreements written under the consumer credit act and for insurance products for example but nothing that automatically gives you 14 days for an ISP contract.

There is the Distance Selling Regulations though and although they only give 7 days and in the case of Services the period ends when the service begins, there is a loop hole that means if they didn't tell you about your rights under those regulations then you could still use them.

You'll need to consult the T&Cs though to make sure they didn't include any mention of those rights in there.

So no easy exit there but you can always fall back on 'non-performance' if they have not delivered what was argreed.
 
tomanders91 said:
2.3 km apprently
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Hmm... I would call BE and get a speed estimate but the lack of a current BT line may mean that it is a pretty rough estimate based only on the post code..

If the straight line distance is that long then the odds are the actual line length is at least 3Km if not longer so 10Mb may be difficult.
 
Teal said:
There is no general 14 day cooling off provision, there are specific provisions for agreements written under the consumer credit act and for insurance products for example but nothing that automatically gives you 14 days for an ISP contract.

There is the Distance Selling Regulations though and although they only give 7 days and in the case of Services the period ends when the service begins, there is a loop hole that means if they didn't tell you about your rights under those regulations then you could still use them.

You'll need to consult the T&Cs though to make sure they didn't include any mention of those rights in there.

So no easy exit there but you can always fall back on 'non-performance' if they have not delivered what was argreed.
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yeah, even though it's been like 9 days now, I logged a fault after 3, and they're definitely not providing the service I paid for, so I should hopefully be ok - I'm just glad I got in touch with their customer support team last week otherwise I reckon I'd be out of luck
 
interesting - from the virgin media client area:

If you wish to cancel your Vigin Media Broadband service, you'll need to give us 30 days notice of your cancellation. Whilst we don't tie you into a 12 month contract (unlike most broadband providers), we do reserve the right to apply a £50 cancellation charge if you joined on or after the 7th June 2005 and you wish to cancel your service within 12 months of activation. This charge is necessary due to the cost of activating your broadband service.
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seems like their persistent phrasing of everything being a 12-month contract is rubbish - you're subject to a severance fee if you cancel before 12 months, but there, they specifically state that there's no contract!!
 
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