Domus Posted January 20, 2003 Report Share Posted January 20, 2003 Help needed. Tried for over three hours today to use AOL's "easy-install pack" Four (lengthy) phone calls later I am back on the old 56K thingy. Any one had similar experiences good or bad with this system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted January 20, 2003 Report Share Posted January 20, 2003 When I had my broadband installed (BT) I had to wait half a day or something for work to be done at their end.. maybe the same?? Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelsea Mick Posted January 20, 2003 Report Share Posted January 20, 2003 Don't know much about AOL's "easy install pack" but I am persuming it is the same as BT's. As in "frog-eye" alcatel USB modem supplied with 2 inline filters. If so should be really easy to install. Got mine (BT) up and running within 10 minutes of BT telling me the line was active.[/smug mode off ] What sort of problems are you having? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickers Posted January 20, 2003 Report Share Posted January 20, 2003 go for blue yonder I haven't had any problems, I got 1 meg line and its really very good! Tech support really good / very helpful, not that I have really had to use them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbaz Posted January 20, 2003 Report Share Posted January 20, 2003 got 512 blueyonder is 1meg worth the extra dosh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickers Posted January 20, 2003 Report Share Posted January 20, 2003 [ QUOTE ] got 512 blueyonder is 1meg worth the extra dosh? [/ QUOTE ] Not really, thinking of downgrading! Its very fast, but very few servers are quick enough for you to tell the difference. Certinly using peer 2 peer makes no odds what so ever, but there isnt a whole lot of difference surfing the web, pages load instantly, but they did with 512k! The only benefit is occationally when you do download things from a fast server that isn't overloaded with traffic you can get some pretty fast download speeds. But thats pretty rare so to conclude no not really worth the extra, unless you're loaded maybe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbaz Posted January 20, 2003 Report Share Posted January 20, 2003 cheers just what i wanted to know - seeing one or two seconds of 269kbps on some sites with 512 so will stay put for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopsta Posted January 21, 2003 Report Share Posted January 21, 2003 Looks like I'll be able to get ADSL broadband in my new house, there is no cable available. Just wondered what ISP's you guys people recommend. Was thinking about sticking with BTopenworld, but looking at http://www.adslguide.org it doesnt appear to be the best. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggy Posted January 21, 2003 Report Share Posted January 21, 2003 Graham, I've said this before on here. I'm with PlusNet, and have been for about 6 months. They set it up quickly (less than 2 weeks). Haven't had any problems with service (only one occasion where I couldn't get on in those 6 months). But most importantly it's pretty fast and cheap (23 quid a month). You also get a lot of web space (250Mb) compared to others. There is a cheaper package (20 quid) but you don't get so much for yer money. Apparently their customer support isn't great but I wouldn't know 'cos I haven't had to phone 'em yet! I'm sure some of the others are fine, but I would reccomend PlusNet. They have special offers at the moment too (half price connection I think). Here, try this link: http://www.plus.net/info2/residential/res_broadband_adslhome_selfinstall.html Hope this helps Baggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punjabi-A4 Posted January 21, 2003 Report Share Posted January 21, 2003 Try Nildram...they are very well rated http://www.getadsl.co.uk/forthehome.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexc Posted January 21, 2003 Report Share Posted January 21, 2003 [ QUOTE ] got 512 blueyonder is 1meg worth the extra dosh? [/ QUOTE ] I've got the 512 too, not really worth the upgrade in my opinion unless you're constantly connecting to a V.fast server. Not had any major problems with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopsta Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 Anyone else recommend a broadband ISP thats not on cable, need to make my decision by Monday so that I can get line put in ASAP. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 I've used BT Openworld for the past 2 years and have had no problems with them. Just remember that you are entering into a 1 year contract so make sure you don't move within the year - I did and it was a nightmare to sort out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggy Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 Not wanting to go on and on about PlusNet ....but they offer a monthly contract. You pay a little more for connection but can cancel with a months notice. So, if you think you might wanna change ISP or move house or something within a year, something like this would probably be a good idea. I reckon I should be getting commision here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snez22 Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 demon is good. i'm with them. no special offers though. 60 for connection. 25 a month. you buy the modem. great support though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s4dreamer Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 I'm with BT Openworld and haven't had any problems - other than the occasional traffic jam on the Information Highway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richyboy Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 Ok...can someone explain to me why I should go Broadband please, I know faster downloads, any other reason? Im on £15.99 per month AOL, I like the fixed price, Got isdn line from B.T, so currently pay for 2 lines (ISDN is free). Seems to me you have to pay about £200 to B.T for the installation, but you save on the 2 phone lines. Is there a good deal out there to save me money ? I pay for 2 B.T lines and AOL.£15.99....sorry I sound so dim, I guess all you I.T geeks are p*ssing yourselves with laughter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bushy Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 [ QUOTE ] got 512 blueyonder is 1meg worth the extra dosh? [/ QUOTE ] i have the 1meg connection and think it i worth it i curently share the connection on my network, so sometimes have the kids surfing on their machines so glad of the speed i get emailed alot of large files (drawings from autoCAD) so need the speed also now running my own mail server so the speed helps just my 2p's worth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s4dreamer Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 [ QUOTE ] Ok...can someone explain to me why I should go Broadband please [/ QUOTE ] Good question Richy! You spotted the main reason for going to broadband - faster downloads - typically 7-8x faster than ISDN. The other major reason is that you are not charged for how long you are online - as you would be with ISDN or normal dialup connections. Other marginal benefits are that the connection to the Internet is "always on". That is, there's no waiting for dialup and hoping for a connection. Hit the button and the connection is there within 1/10sec normally (so fast, you don't even notice it). The upload speed to the Internet is slower than the download speed. Typically, for a BT broadband connection, upload speeds will be around 128Kbits/sec (about twice the speed of single ISDN). Finally, you can make telephone calls at the same time as the Internet is being used - over the same piece of wire (that's the remarkable thing about this technology). I just checked the BT Openworld website and their offer at the moment is free installation and a reduced price for the modem you need to attach to your computer (£50). Thereafter you pay £29.99 a month for a minimum term of 12 months. If you think the £29.99 is expensive, consider that you do not pay any more than this - no matter how much you use the Internet. Compare that to the cost of your ISDN usage. One other point worth noting is that on top of that £29.99 a month, you still need to pay BT for the "normal" telephone line rental and usage. The £29.99 is basically your cost for connecting to the BT Openworld ISP (Internet Service Provider). I'm sure there are companies providing broardband for less than this, but BT's charges give you a good baseline from which to compare. Trev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopsta Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 Have to remember that if you already have ISDN then BT will charge and arm and a leg to change it back to a normal line before you have ADSL put in. Thats where i think the £200 figure that richy comes from. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s4dreamer Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 Good point Graham, I forgot about that because the company paid for mine. It's only a problem if you've got "Home Highway" though isn't it ? If you have a separate ISDN line coming into the house, they will just use the normal phone line pair for DSL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jem2768 Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 May I humbly suggest Pipex as a broadband supplier... Been with them since May last year, and despite initial problems when they did a free modem offer and the system got overloaded, since around end of July they have been faultless with great performance and no outages that I remember. I believe it's about 23.50 per month and that gets you 50MB web space and a few mailboxes plus their websell package if you fancy opening an online store.... And just to mention another great use for broadband... downloading movies! As long as you promise yourself to buy them when they are released of course! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richyboy Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 [ QUOTE ] Have to remember that if you already have ISDN then BT will charge and arm and a leg to change it back to a normal line before you have ADSL put in. Thats where i think the £200 figure that richy comes from. Graham [/ QUOTE ] The stoopid bit is that when I got the ISDN installed, B.T were 'doin a deal' £80 fitted, that was 2 phone lines and 1 Isdn line, and monthly rental of 2 lines, ISDN in effect free but they want more to take-it away, dont pay for the ISDN other than the rental cos just do AOL £15.99 fixed amount, but thanks all for the advice, NTL just come round said they will do B/Band for £15 a month....anyone got this? any thoughts, I know there's different speeds of connections, but other than that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s4dreamer Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 The only real issue I know of with broadband over cable is that if a lot of people in your local area have it, and use it at the same time, your bandwidth can drop significantly 'cos there's a limited bandwidth back to the central office from the street-corner box. Broadband over the telephone line doesn't really suffer from that problem (well, at least BT broadband doesn't. Still, £15/mth is a very good price and you won't need to pay BT some extortionate amount to have your ISDN swapped over to DSL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richyboy Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 I knew I should have paid more attention a skool in computer studies, still the ZX81 and Comadore 64 was the biz at the time.....have I just shown my age! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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