LLU Help Please (thinking of changing ISPs)

[Buckster]

my dad seems to be having problems (he thinks anyway - doesn't seem to be his line) with Plusnet

in the day he gets 2.5mbits down which is the best he can get really (hes a long way from the exchange) - but most evenings it seems to drop to 0.25mbits - which is not good.

Plusnet seem to be doing load balancing etc at the moment -but he hasn't had an improvement yet - and hes struggling with their support (which say things like check your modem etc)

so hes thinking of changing ISP

Samknows etc - seem to imply LLU is available, and other checkers reckon he should be able to get 6.5mbits down via LLU/ADSL2.

some questions though please

(1) on Samknows there are about 5 LLU providers listed for his line (Orange, Sky, etc) - but say if you go on the ADSL24 ISP homepage (not listed on the LLU page of Samknows) it says their service is avaiable for his line - does that mean via one of the listed LLUs - ie ADSL24 just providing the service via one of the other LLU companies ?

(2) considering hes quite a way from the exchange, any negatives to change over to LLU - ie could he end up with a very up and down service ? or is ADSL2+ more tolerant to being further away from teh exchange

(3) if he moves over to LLU, and doesn't like it (say if the service is not as good as expected) can he move back to non-LLU/ ADSL1 easily ? Some places I've read say its easier - others that its not easy at all.

thanks for any help, as I'm struggling to help him - I've been on Virgin Cable for 10years+ now - and you just pay for the speed you want - easy (if not cheap)

cheers, Buckster

 

[tolien]

does that mean via one of the listed LLUs - ie ADSL24 just providing the service via one of the other LLU companies ?

Yes. Probably Be.

(2) considering hes quite a way from the exchange, any negatives to change over to LLU - ie could he end up with a very up and down service ? or is ADSL2+ more tolerant to being further away from teh exchange

He's going to be moved to ADSL2+ anyway (because BT Wholesale will stop using only ADSL). At worst, he'll gain nothing.

(3) if he moves over to LLU, and doesn't like it (say if the service is not as good as expected) can he move back to non-LLU/ ADSL1 easily ? Some places I've read say its easier - others that its not easy at all.

That rather depends which provider he moves to. If he moves the voice service it's more (or less, depending on your perspective) awkward because it has to be returned to BT (directly or otherwise) before ordering an ADSL service. Otherwise it's no more difficult than moving to between ISPs on the one LLU provider.

If you're looking for an ISP, read the sticky, then read it again.

 

[Buckster]

tolien - that helps a lot - thankyou very much

hes not looking to move his voice service - just his internet connection.

will do some more research on LLU providers - thanks again, Buckster

 

[tolien]

In some cases he won't have a choice though, for example with TalkTalk. The majority (O2/Be, Sky/Easynet/UKOnline, Zen et al) use SMPF so the voice service stays with BT.