Pro's and con's of internet suppliers

[stockslave]

After a discussion with a fellow forum user regarding the pro's and con's of different internet suppliers, I thought I would throw it open to debate.

I use BT Broadband and haven't had too much hassle at all. The only downside that I can see is their phone lines in the event of a problem go straight to India and although I'm quite good with different British dialects, I'm not tuned in to Indian ones which can be a bit frustrating.

[Deleted]

Ours in wireless BB but BT must be involved somewhere as they seem to get the blame when there's a problem!
Usually it is quicker than the old dialup but very frustrating when the signal 'dips' and upsets the loading of a page, trying to watch/listen to youtube is not worth the hassle .... bit expensive for the service at nearly £20 a month too.

[davep]

We use BT broadband as well, but there are times when it has a serious go slow.
While on moans... Why does windows decide to do an update so often, especially when you are busy, second only to the rediculous time Norton wastes on scans, wife's computer on AVG does it very quickly.

[4wd]

I would turn the scanning off, it still runs behind the scenes and would alert you to any mischief going on.
Maybe start it manually once a month or so.
I have Microsoft Security Essentials and when I let it scan it's incredibly quick.
Has an annoying way of updating first thing in the morning when you were going to have a quick look at weather pages or something.
The updating really swallows bandwidth making pageloads take twice as long or more, only takes 2 or 3 minutes though.

[quadbod]

I use Freedom 2 Surf and have done for three and a half years - never had a problem, always had excellent customer service (usual office hours, normal phone rates, english.... nuff said)

BUT................

They recently got taken over by Tiscali. Now, so far so good.... I think.
A couple of months back I got up to find there was no b/band. Couldn't find a contact number so called in at a friends and looked it up on his internet. Simple. They now have an 0871 no. Is this included in my free BT minutes? I don't think so. Anyway, I call in...... I am put on hold..... for a long while..... eventually, I am told (by an automated system) that there is a problem and how to reboot the modem - switch off and wait for 30 mins, try it and if... yes if that doesn't cure it ring back.
So, what can you do?
Obviously I end up calling back..... another long wait..... eventually I speak to someone who asks if I tried to reboot etc, I say 'yes', he says try again and call back if it doesn't work. I protest so then he says...... 'I will try something this end' and HEY PRESTO..... It works again.

Now I think, suspicious bugger that I am, they switched everybody off and sit back and wait until people ring in on a higher rate number in order that they can earn a few quid.....

What do you think? Am I just too cynical?

(Or should I start up a b/band supply service and operate this scam myself....?)

[grawley]

I'm on tiscali & have been for a few years, they have recently been taken over by talktalk, find it quite amusing when we get a call from talktalk trying to persuade us to change, let them rabbit on then tell them we're with tiscali so basically already with talktalk, they don't argue just say cheerio & go. Had trouble to start with as the broadband kept failing, after a few weeks of this & several emails & phone calls eventually got hold of someone who knew what they were talking about & decide it wasn't tiscali but the inability of our phone line to take more than 1gb or what ever it is, altered to that & have since had no problems. W are rather remote & quite distance from the road & this caused the problem.

[mal]

We were with Sky at home and the new Mrs Mal has Sky at hers and they are Brilliant. Folk on BT moan about calling India nd dying on hold for hours. Sky you ring an 0800 number talk to an irish woman who always sounds cute. They ix whatever it is that's wrong (not that it happens often) and that's the end of it.

I use an o2 dongle here and it's great, can take my laptop into the tractor and do whateveri need to then check my email before starting the day. These wireless dongles are fantastic, 9.99 for the dongle, hen £15 month which is cheaper than wireless home BB and you can use it anywhere. Cyrrently ot the laptop set up on the bonnet of my mates car while downloading a manual for it to try and sort out a misfire. Narest house is about 3 miles. Loads of signal, cant go wrong

Depends on the signal though

[itsbeennicked]

The only BB provider I personally recommend at the moment is PlusNet. They have UK call centres still (or South Africa) and have knowledgeable staff that you can actually have a conversation with!

[Deleted]

Jul 26, 2010 13:02:39 GMT @itsbeennicked said:

The only BB provider I personally recommend at the moment is PlusNet. They have UK call centres still (or South Africa) and have knowledgeable staff that you can actually have a conversation with!

I agree!