O2 vs BE

Compound · 7 May 2010 at 08:13

I get the impression that these two are about the best broadband providers about at the minute.

IS there much between them or is there something i should know that would swing my decision?

Edit:- Looks like O2 is offering 3 months free at the minute and that could be the deal maker

Any idea what the routers are like that they supply?

Locky · 7 May 2010 at 08:35

Both routers are ok, o2 Don't offer fastpath and the support isn't as good, but they are cheaper for the same service.

Compound · 7 May 2010 at 08:45

Thanks for that, what is fastpath btw?

Daegan · 7 May 2010 at 09:19

A setting that can lower ping times by disabling interleaving, a type of error correction.

byteagig · 7 May 2010 at 10:43

i just joined BE and got the first two months free. i havnt used their router much yet, im too lazy to go around re-doing wireless settings for everything lol. i just plugged it in to see what its like for a few minutes. it seems ok and it looks nice.
im still using my aincient bt voyager 2110.

marmalade · 7 May 2010 at 12:19

Check out how much bungback you would get joining via www.quidco.com .
o2 are great £7.50 plus £10 on mobile every 3 months. Now with fixed line rental
http://www.o2.co.uk/broadband/homephone/

mothermachine · 7 May 2010 at 12:49

i've been with BE for years now. best customer service i've ever used. whenever i've had a problem i've been up and running again in minutes. they really are worth it. o2 on the other hand are **** poor when it comes to customer service.

the products might be virtually identical but i'd always rather pay a tiny sliver more for proper support.

Caged · 7 May 2010 at 15:51

O2s broadband support has always been faultless whenever I've needed it. I migrated from Be because I couldn't justify paying double for essentially the same service.

Locky · 7 May 2010 at 18:38

Caged said:
O2s broadband support has always been faultless whenever I've needed it. I migrated from Be because I couldn't justify paying double for essentially the same service.

This is true, but they are limited in what they do, IE fastpath etc, but Bethere use different software on the DSLAM.

Daegan · 7 May 2010 at 19:31

Locky said:
This is true, but they are limited in what they do, IE fastpath etc

No idea about fastpath, but I'm on a 3db profile on O2. Just takes a phone call rather than being able to do it through an account page.

AbsenceJam · 7 May 2010 at 19:34

Locky said:
This is true, but they are limited in what they do, IE fastpath etc, but Bethere use different software on the DSLAM.

It's the same software and DSLAMs.

Locky · 7 May 2010 at 20:17

AbsenceJam said:
It's the same software and DSLAMs.

No it's not, been reported time again that BE use different firmware.

Peg · 7 May 2010 at 20:59

Locky said:
No it's not, been reported time again that BE use different firmware.

I am an O2 customer but connected to BE. What firmware applies to me?

Daegan · 7 May 2010 at 21:22

Peg said:
I am an O2 customer but connected to BE. What firmware applies to me?

It's the same network and you'd be going through the same DSLAM whether you were a customer of BE or of O2.

errata · 8 May 2010 at 12:33

Caged said:
O2s broadband support has always been faultless whenever I've needed it. I migrated from Be because I couldn't justify paying double for essentially the same service.

if you try to leave Be for a cheaper service they will reduce your fee

LordSplodge · 8 May 2010 at 12:47

I'm about to move from Virgin Media (*spits*) to BE. I chose BE because everybody I know is on LLU BE and rates it very well. I also chose BE for the up to 2.5mb upload.

Caged · 8 May 2010 at 12:48

errata said:
if you try to leave Be for a cheaper service they will reduce your fee

This was at the end of 2007, they were more than happy for me to move to O2.

iMacMart · 8 May 2010 at 20:18

Been with Be for 4 years and in the last year only pay £12 for my service, can't fault them at all really.......

dave_beast · 8 May 2010 at 21:00

Been with Be* for 4 years, best ISP around, on a 6db profile with DMT setting the SNR to 4.5 on the down speed.

14mb on a 43.5db line

AbsenceJam · 9 May 2010 at 09:34

Locky said:
No it's not, been reported time again that BE use different firmware.

Same equipment for both sets of customers, thus same firmware.