What ISP To Go With - Fair Usage Policy :(

jellybeard999

jellybeard999

jellybeard999

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I am with Tiscali 2mb atm, and though i wouldnt have a problem if i didnt game, i do, and regularly get pings of 200+ due to downloading a 50mb patch or something :rolleyes: apparantly, im using too much bandwidth, of course im using more than the average user, considering they use email / web and probs take 50mb a month or something :o

Anyway - im switching now, since the year is up, and im sick to the back teeth with em

Im looking at AOL Platinum (8mb) atm for £30 a month (plus £2.99 phone calls evening and weekend package) and wonder if theres a fair usage policy or similar .. ie could i download 10gb during peak times, and never be penalised ?

If not, can anyone suggest a service that i could do, at the same price or less :)

Any recommendations ? Thanks
 
jellybeard999 wrote:

Im looking at AOL Platinum (8mb).....and wonder if theres a fair usage policy or similar
Click to expand...

No, there isn't (it seems), it appears to be completely unlimited, and there is no FUP (on that product anyway). But don't use their software, as it can really cause problems, have also heard quite a few people have terrible problems with their Support (or lack of it).

A good place to read comments about AOL (and most other ISPs) is in the Forums on ADSLguide :)
 
Yup AOL's great, i switched to them from Tiscali beginning of June when they started their traffic shaping, 100% Unlimited, no FUP at all, im only on the 1mb Silver but ive downloaded an absolute **** load since ive been on em, and its still going strong, always get my full speeds whatever time of the the day i download, and as above you don't need the software as im not using it. :)

Just follow Draegers guide in here to set your connection up, ahh but you wont need the software anyway as the 8mb Platimum you get a router. :)
 
I'm also on AOL (Platinum), have been for years now (was dial-up and ISDN before so I do mean years :p) and despite their crappy reputation (which for support is at least 50% deserved imo) the network itself is rock solid, fast downloads, great pings and super rare downtime. As already mentioned there is no need to use the software :)
 
im on aol 2MB and i download a lot, never had a problem its totally unlimited and the speeds are perfect. Customer service is too great but apart from that cant argue with it. Dont install the software and you have a decent ISP IMO.
 
Yeah i steered clear of AOL, as at the time i thought you had to use the software, and also everyone slated them, but thats only because for some reason its cool to slate AOL, and the main ppl who slate them, have never used them anyway, but ive never had any probs at all with them as said. :)
 
Most of the reasons to avoid them slowly dissapeared a couple of years ago, the bad press continues based on intertia.

If you need an unlimited conntection that really is unlimited then they are about the only place left that I'd reccomend unless you are prepared to pay for a business class connection.

Probably the only issue that is worth knowing before going to AOL is that they do try and avoid connecting people at speeds that might give problems so if your number checker result is green for the speed you want then np, if it is amber they will not usually put you on that speed.
 
The number checker for mine was amber for 1mb, but i knew i could get 1mb as i was already on Tiscali's 1mb service, when i migrated over i was put onto 512k instead of the 1mb which i requested though, but all i did was phone them up, and they put through a regrade to 1mb, and it went through fine. :)
 
Yep, you can get over the problem, but be prepared for varying degrees of arguement depending upon who you speak to and if you've previously been on the higher speed with another provider.
 
I have platinum and I can honestly say i experience a lot of downtime (not routers tried many), I will frequently just loose connection for like 10 seconds, meaning webpages hang, downloads stop or I get kicked off servers, also the upload speed is not great.
 
AOL have just been bought by the carphone warehouse, who in turn run talktalk. Be careful with AOL is all id say, as if they do what they did with talktalk expect problems.
 
The biggest problem with AOL is their support. The Indian call centres really are 80% hopeless. (Though an improvement over the Tiscali system of telling you to call back later....)

The decent AOL support is in Ireland (they have just closed the Scottish centre). But you can only hit the Irish support if things are really busy and you hit an overflow from India.

As I IT support engineer I get to deal with far too many ISPs... and some of the rubbish that I have been told to do by AOL Support is scary!! :eek:


(But many of the bigger companies dump their support on the cheapest possible option... which is rarely good. So just hope things don't go wrong... )
 
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