Recommend me an ASDSL isp please! (details within)

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Soldato
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
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Location
London
So we've been stuck on 512k Freeserve->Wanadoo->Orange for donkeys years and as such i'm rather out of the loop when it comes to ISPs. We're moving house in just over the week and i've promised to sort out the internet.

Problem being, all the packages around seem to incur the wrath of "you can't download more than 3 emails a week!" or something daft, which never used to be the case :(

To not beat around the bush, i download up to 4.8gigs a month through IRC, but on top of that i have absolutely no idea what bandwidth i'd get through. Not even a ballpark figure! It would be myself (4.8gb a month plus heavy browsing/emails most nights), my mum (a few emails/brief browsing a few evenings) and my sister (heavy browsing, probably downloads music from p2p). So if anyone can make a guess from that, that'd be grand.

I've got a gut instinct to go with Eclipse or Nildram. Would i be right?

I'm not interested in any shiny packages or extras, all i want is some internet i can plug my router in, share through the house (wired) and be on my merry way! I guess 8mb would be nice, although not essential, and decent support for when things go wrong would be good too.

Thanks for any pointers :)
 
Been with plus.net for 2 years now, on top package. Low contention ratio, very reliable, and great customer service when you need it.

I've called them twice now, both times phone is answered (by a person, in the UK!) in under a minute.
 
Thanks. I forgot to mention that we're renting whilst we search for a house to buy, so it's likely we'll only be staying in this house for 6 months. So ideally looking for a package that doesnt trap us into a 12 month contract! Is this the norm?

Teal said:
Also check and see if you have any LLU options available :

www.samknows.com
Click to expand...


We are LLU enabled. What exactly does that mean for me?
 
A good number of ISPs won't force you to stick with a 12 month contract - but you're going to have to pay the activation fee.

LLU on the whole still pushes the whole "unlimited" idea, and it's quite often cheaper too. Depends what LLU providers you've got available though.
 
Post all the LLU providers that you have access to. (from the samknows site.)

I highly recommend the Enta providers. They are a honest wholesaler/buisness ISP posting every detail of the service on their NOC. http://noc.enta.net/

There is traffic shaping in the form of an Anti Loss Tool. This ensures there is no packet loss by bringing everyones connection down to 2Mbps in 0.5Mbps steps and then works it way up when load decreases. This only really happens at 10pm til 1-2am and on weekends (off peak). This is not used as an excuse for not adding bandwidth and can be seen by the above link. They have just installed their 4th pipe with a 5th ordered. (There has been a 400% increase in bandwidth since June so far and is set to increase at same rate.)

Enta sell to the public via various resellers UKFSN, Aquiss (who I'm with), ADSL24, Vivaciti - also resell others, Falconnet etc. They all provide great support and post regularly on the Adslguide forums (Aquiss have their own ones with few support members and owner.) along with Entanet engineers.
 
I know people will often react badly to the 'traffic shaping' phrase so just to emphasise, Entanet do not treat different protocols differently they simply reduce the profile of all lines on an overloaded central pipe gracefully down until they reduce the load enough or they hit 2Mb.

If the load remains too high even at 2Mb then normal contention and packet loss will take place so it isn't a guarantee of 2Mb minimum but this is only ever likely to happen between around 10pm and midnight during the week as that is the start of the 'off-peak' period where people suddenly turn on their download applications.
 
Thanks for the info.

Sam Knows said:
Congratulations, you are in a broadband enabled area.

The following services are available in your location:

BT Wholesale ADSL
BT Wholesale ADSL Max
BT Wholesale SDSL
Sky Broadband / Easynet LLU
Tiscali LLU
Click to expand...

and under LLU xDSL:

Be Unlimited is not yet available in your area
Bulldog is not yet available in your area
TalkTalk (CPW) broadband is available in your area, but speed remains unknown as unbundling has not yet been scheduled
Sky Broadband / Easynet is available in your area
Edge Telecom is not yet available in your area
Homechoice is not yet available in your area
Lumison is not yet available in your area
Node4 is not yet available in your area
Pipex is not yet available in your area
Tiscali is available in your area
Orange is not yet available in your area
WB Internet is not yet available in your area
Zen is not yet available in your area
Click to expand...

EDIT: 600m from the exchange. Sweet :p
 
Forget Tiscali and TalkTalk but the Easynet provided Sky service isn't entirely a bad choice if you already have a Sky TV subscription.
 
Scam said:
EDIT: 600m from the exchange. Sweet :p
Click to expand...

That is the distance as the crow flies. The cable could go all the way round the village/town you are in before getting to you.

Only one worth considering there is the Sky 16Mb if you have sky TV. I forgot to ask, is Virgin Media by cable available in your area?
 
We dont have Sky and although it's tempting, i seriously hate the company so am not interested!

From Virgin:
You can get Virgin Media services wherever you live! Your home is in a non-cable area, so that means you can choose any of our great non-cable services and we'll deliver them down your BT phoneline.
Click to expand...
:(

So for all the 'normal' ISPs, whats going to be my max speed available?
 
Just pick any of the other ISPs and use their number checker for an idea of what your line may be capable of.

Your maximum will be one of the 'up to 8Mb' products but the checker will give you a clue as to how close you'll get to the real 7Mb maximum
 
Somewhere between nothing and full rate (8Mbps sync, 7.2Mbps IP throughput) - it's impossible to say without actually getting the line up and running.
 
Hmn, so my first thoughts seem about right. I've been comparing at ADSLGuide and it seems very much a toss up between Nildram and Eclipse. What do people think? Have either of them got a particularly 'better' FUP? Or have i forgotton anyone? :)

They both seem to offer phone services.. is that just to use normally with your phone? Worth getting? :confused: *feels very behind the times..*
 
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A[L]C said:
I would recommend Aquiss
Click to expand...

I thought for some reason they were an Entanet reseller. I can't find anything out about them though, they dont appear on ADSLGuide/thinkbroadband.com anywhere :confused:

Anyone else out there using them? :)

EDIT: It appears they are a reseller. Does that mean although i wont be able to get >8mbps (non LLU remember), i should be able to get somewhere near to that anyway? The Max 30 package looks very good, and only a 1 month contract too. Whats the support like? And whats the activation fee?
 
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The speed you get is all dependent on the distance. No one can tell you what you will get.

For support, give them a call, email them or post on there forums. They impressed me when I signed up.

The activation fee is what you need to pay for a new ADSL BB connection. It is free to migrate in from any BT IPS or data stream product. You will not need to pay it if you have a MAC code.

They are an Entanet reseller.
 
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