biturbo Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 [ QUOTE ] Comadore 64 was the biz at the time [/ QUOTE ] forget that. I had a VIC 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Botang Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 I used to use BT Highway ISDN and converted to Nildram ADSL. Nildram arranged for a BT Engineer to come out to me, he didn't install any new cabling at my end at all. The installation price is cheap as well, nothing like the £200 BT want, although it is their engineer that comes out to you it is much cheaper only about £50 I think. They are the fastest ISP according to the speed tests and it is only £22.99 inc VAT per month (Still £3 per month cheaper than BT) Have just checked their site and thy are doing installation for £29.38 until 31st March Bargain! You can also supply your own modem thingy as well, stops you getting ripped off as these can be over priced from some suppliers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punjabi-A4 Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 matthews right..i recommend them...plus i think you can pick up a PCI adsl modem for around £35...or a usb one quite cheap anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richyboy Posted January 26, 2003 Report Share Posted January 26, 2003 [ QUOTE ] ..plus i think you can pick up a PCI adsl modem for around £35... [/ QUOTE ] UH?....lost me now...remember I drive a train Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punjabi-A4 Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 hehe.... PCI modem...plugs into the spare slot on the motherboard of your computer...so you can plug the wire into the back of the computer. A USB adsl modem is a seperate box which connects to the computer via a USB cable or usually a Ethernet/Network cable. Most ppl i know go for these, as they seem more pratical and plus can be had pretty cheap now too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moff S3 Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 If anyone out there are brave enough to be NTL customers like me, you may be interested to know that there 1mb broadband cable service has been reduced to £34.99 Thats pretty bloody good for a meg! It is also applicable to new customers too. I'm trying to upgrade, but typically I can't get through Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richyboy Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 Thats whats putting me off NTL...we had there T.V/phone package, they c*cked up the transfere when we moved, so told em to stuff it since then been getting a bill for 1p every month, which makes me no wonder they are so far in debt, not sure how much but there customer service is crap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 dont get me started on broadband. wish i had the option! NO Cable. NO NTL , in Telewest area.... NO telewest, in NTL area .... NO ASDL within 15 mile, exchange trigger point set at 400, now 350 and only 150 people have registered... the whole country will have gone wireless before i get broadband. almost make isdn worth it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopsta Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 Looks like i'm going to go with Plusnet (cheers for the tip baggy). Just wondered what modem to get now, I really should know more about this sort of thing.. USB, PCI or Router. I assume the Router that they supply will be pretty basic ? Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foggy Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 Whatever the router is, go for it over a modem, you don't want your machine directly on the net. Get something that will do NAT and then at least you are safe from people trying to establish a session to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorkild Posted January 28, 2003 Report Share Posted January 28, 2003 If you don't have to buy the modem or router from them, then don't! They will most likely sell you something cheap and cheerful at an outrageous price. Check out ADSLGUIDE.ORG Hardware Reviews. The Netgear combined router&modem (Netgear DG814) is what I am buying when I move in about 2 weeks. I've had the Draytek Vigor 2200USB for the last year and it works just great, but you need a usb modem on the side. Anyway, I agree with Foggy. Get a router! Otherwise you are not protected at all. Most of these routers include NAT and firewall functionality to let you sleep at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelsea Mick Posted January 28, 2003 Report Share Posted January 28, 2003 I have to aggree with the others. I use the Vigor 2200USB router at home. My "frog eye" Alcatel modem plugs directly into the back of the router and dials up automaticaly. (Always on anyway). I have 3 PC's and a laptop connected to it and have never had any problems. Fairly easy to setup, has it's own firewall that works inconjuction with Norton personal firewall which is installed on all 4 pc's. The hardest thing was running CAT5 cable all around the house Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s4dreamer Posted January 28, 2003 Report Share Posted January 28, 2003 [ QUOTE ] The hardest thing was running CAT5 cable all around the house [/ QUOTE ] Yeah, I had a similar problem. It'd be much easier to use a wireless LAN, but then you risk all and sundry tapping into your home network & DSL (unless you have a technical side to you which enables you to configure it all properly to prevent that). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggy Posted January 28, 2003 Report Share Posted January 28, 2003 [ QUOTE ] Looks like i'm going to go with Plusnet (cheers for the tip baggy). [/ QUOTE ] You're welcome mate, glad to be of assistance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisT Posted January 28, 2003 Report Share Posted January 28, 2003 I've been quite happily using a cable modem for the last 18 months, but it looks like I may have to move and in the new house get adsl. I've been looking at all the adsl adaptors on sale and I'm trying to find one which is quite literally and adsl to ethernet bridge. (basically what a cable modem does) I don't want a firewall I have a much better setup which I would prefer to keep and I only want one port so don't want to pay for a mini intergrated switch. So do you guys have any recommendations ? Cheers, Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorkild Posted January 28, 2003 Report Share Posted January 28, 2003 The other good thing about the routers as opposed to just a modem is that it means that you don't need a 'gateway-server' to which the modem is connected. Some routers don't even incorporate a switch because as you say not everyone needs 4 ethernet ports. Take a look at the hardware reviews on adslguide.org mentioned above. There are quite a few routers (don't worry about what term is used to describe a piece of hardware) that would satisfy your needs I believe. Solwise SAR-110 is a budget offer which gets a good review, and cost less than £70(!). Otherwise Netgear DG814 or Thomson Speedtouch 510v4 are from better known brands, but you are paying for extra functionality and of course brand name on these. If you don't want NAT and don't want to fiddle around opening up all ports so that there's no firewall capability, then just buy a modem and plug it into your gateway-server. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richyboy Posted January 28, 2003 Report Share Posted January 28, 2003 Bugger, I'm lost now think I'll stick with ISDN and AOL for now. Still don't really understand it ,am I stoopid? don't really download music or films off the net,as most sites you seem to have to either pay or pay to registar, unless I'm missing something should have stuck with my ZX81. Dam you technolagy! Dam you Bill Gates! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punjabi-A4 Posted January 28, 2003 Report Share Posted January 28, 2003 richy i know it can sound daunting at times but it is pretty simple. All you really would need to do is find a provider! they should sort it out for you. They'll switch the service on from their end and all you need to do is buy a modem (usb box) and plug it into your telephone socket and stick the other end in the PC. What you need to make sure is that no-one charges a huge amount to convert the ISDN line. As mentioned earlier if a company such as "nildram" don't charge anything extra than their offer of £29 installation then thats excellent. I'm sure us lot will tell you where to order the modem and how to set it up. TBH i know some ppl are really used to using AOL but their broadband is a rip-off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punjabi-A4 Posted January 28, 2003 Report Share Posted January 28, 2003 If anyone is interested Pipex (although there customer service is questionable) is doing an excellent offer!!! Pipex Offer 19.95+vat for setup plus you get a free usb modem and micro filters. and then 19.95+vat every month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopsta Posted January 30, 2003 Report Share Posted January 30, 2003 Domus.... apologies for hijacking your thread, did you ever manage to sort your AOL connection out ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopsta Posted February 5, 2003 Report Share Posted February 5, 2003 woohooo... now on adsl, at bloody last !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted February 7, 2003 Report Share Posted February 7, 2003 Hehe I know this has been hacked to death but its in the back of my mind too. Even though I HATE AOL so much I have been using their dial-up at home for the past 2 years. I have never used anything so slow, and the drain on resources from that bloody AOL 7.0 chugging away in the background. I used to use NTL while at uni and although no great shakes it was a lot faster if not as stable. My dial-up connection in spain blows them both out of the water though Anyway, I've been pondering Pipex for a while now and now that they have dropped the cost of connection from c. £150 to £20 I find it hard not to justify the change. They are offering Setup, Alcatel SpeedTouch 330 USB, 2 micro filters and all the necessary gubbins for £19.95 +VAT) I think and then £19.95 + VAT monthly from then on. Bearing in mind I pay £15 to waddle along the information superhighway with AOL makes no sense to stay with them. Am i missing something here? Is there a hole or a catch in the deal? Come on you experts - advise me please. Is that modem poo?? WIll i actually get superfast internet for that little money? ta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punjabi-A4 Posted February 7, 2003 Report Share Posted February 7, 2003 Inigo personally i think thats an excellent deal! The modems not bad at all! In terms of performance as far as i can remember Pipex were excellent at the beginning and then had a special offer where you trade in an old 56K modem for a free ADSL one...anyway everyone jumped on the bandwagon and it got pretty unpredictable. However i've learnt that they are much better now. check their rating here..still better than aol and bt. The customer service isn't the best but hopefully you won't need them! Table If i had the choice it would be between this special offer and a connection with Nildram and spend the extra 50-60 on my own modem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted February 7, 2003 Report Share Posted February 7, 2003 So there's no hidden holes here? Its not a slimmed down version of the usual Pipex service??? What was that about a router? am i going to be vulnerable running just their Alcatel Speedtouch and zone alarm (freebie?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopsta Posted February 7, 2003 Report Share Posted February 7, 2003 I would have gone with Pipex had it not been for the monthly contract that Plusnet offered. ADSL guide will give you some good tips about the ISP's and the kit they provide. From what i've seen there is no catch to the new all in box'd deal at 19.99. I went for a router purely for added functionality including port blocking/firewall but should be sorting out a software one too after i've dredged my pc this weekend. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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