New Broadband Options - Advice Please

[DelP]

Hi Allen,

Like you I had been with EE since they were Freeserve and never had any issues with the service but recently decided it was time for a change. I switched to BT a month or so ago and it was a fairly painless experience.

It took a couple of weeks for the line to settle but now my BB speed is twice that of EE

The BT package also includes extras that EE don't offer, so overall I'm glad I made the change...and it's cheaper

I should add at this point that I am not a BT employee and this is not a paid advert

ATB,

Derek

[basys]

Hi Folks

Beware of low-end packages from Plusnet & BT,
as they've both recently introduced C-GNAT.

Substantially degraded performance on my BT service.

HTH
ATB
Paul

[DaveB]

Fortunately, I don't understand most of that

I'm not sure what would be considered as a 'low end' package. My 'package' is restricted to 10gb bandwidth. The next one up costs a fiver more and gives me 60gb. These are the 2 'copper wire' options. The alternative is fibre optic (which I'm still not sure I can get) and as a complete ignoramus on such matters, I can't see what happens on fibre optic ccts interfering with what happens on copper wire ccts except at the hub where the 2 might meet.

Even if my 'low end' Plusnet package is substantially degraded.. it is still substantially faster than it was when I was with BT. I'm not knocking BT at all and had 12 years pretty much faultless service with them at my last address. The main reason to move was cost and here.. BT are significantly more expensive for the same level of provision

Don't get too technical with responses to this as it'll still go over my head
ATB
DaveB

[Buggyman]

Just a courtesy note to say that I have finally managed to change my ISP from Freeserve/Wanadoo/Orange/EE to BT.

Once I got through the awful EE customer (non)-service operators it was simple and pain free. not only that but I now pay less than before. The BT customer service back up is good too!

Many thanks for the helpful advice - much appreciated.

ATB

Allan

[Vancouver]

Not of any interest in the UK of course, but I thought I would report a small victory I obtained today as I am pumped. Last week I received my Cable/Internet bill from my provider. They had added $11.00 with no previous announcement it was coming AND this was the second time they had done this within 4 months. Enraged I sent off an angry and sarcastic e-mail. I was surprised the following day when a reply came saying that a customer rep would be in touch to discuss the matter. They did, at 6pm on Thanksgiving just as I was carving the turkey. With greased hands I gave the poor woman short shrift and hung up. I expected to hear no more. This evening I got another call back. Guess what, as a valued customer of 8+ years, they dropped my Cable TV bill by $10 for 1 year, doubled my Internet to Broadband 100 for 1 year, knocked off the last 5 payments on my HD PVR value $60 and as a last gasp incentive whilst I was still dithering, free landline phone rental for 6 months and $15 per month thereafter (a saving from the existing company of $25) and improved long distance calling.
These small victories make life worth living, but why do we having to go blue in the face to get them.

[rohan]

A few more comments from another UK user who is changing ISP. I've been with o2 since I first got broadband at home some 4 and 1/2 years ago. Now, of course, they've sold out to Sky, and, of course, I won't accept that. I recently got my first info pack on the change (due this month) and was delighted to see that they are reducing my bill by just over a pound a month - BUT the new pricing includes £5.00 a month for NOT taking Sky Talk and £2.50 a month for NOT taking Sky TV AND the introductory discount (£1.00 a month) only lasts a year. Needless to say, I'm now in the process of moving to John Lewis broadband ...

I'd like to take their fibre service, but having to have them do some work at the house to connect to the cables that were laid in the street by Virgin a few years ago isn't really convenient at the moment. I assume that fibres are like copper wires - they are "owned" by whoever you get your service from, and that the "real" owner has different levels of contract with the various service suppliers, which affect the costs that the end users have to incur. What intrigued me about the Sky info pack was their comments on my phone service. I'm currently with BT, but if I transfer to Sky they will "unbundle" my phone by moving it lock, stock and barrel to their network. All well and good, except that if I choose to move from Sky to another ISP in the future, there are likely to be charges for disconnecting me from the Sky network and / or connecting me to the new network (even if that's a move back to BT). Since all that is actually involved is to change the connection at my local exchange cabinet from one network to another, this is yet another way of milking more money from the poor end user, just like the "ownership" of the wires or fibres.

I'm always surprised at the speeds quoted by users for their service. All the ISPs I've talked to, and the websites I've visited, say that the best download speed my current copper connection can give me is about 7 Mbps, and that is what speedtest tells me I am actually achieving when I run it. However, is that Megabits per second or Megabytes per second ? And does everyone else quote their speed in the same units - Megabits or Megabytes ?

Anyway, moving both my phone and broadband services to John Lewis will cut my costs compared to what I have to pay o2 and BT jointly, even without the discount I have for buying my iPad recently. I assume that this means that the John Lewis service is also unbundled, and that that may incur charges if I choose to move to another ISP in the future. For now, my only decision is whether to choose the limited (20Gb a month) or unlimited service ...

regs
Ro

[Tomliner]

Hi Ro, other than Virgin,the fibres to which you refer are laid and owned by BT Openreach.These fibres run from the serving exchange to the cabinets in the street(FTTC-Fibre To The Cabinet). The onward transmission is then by copper,albeit a much shorter run than would have been the case with all copper conductors.
The ISP s then pay to use these fibres.As far as the exchange equipment is concerned,unless things have changed,some ISPs have installed their own kit in there whereas others lease the circuits from BT.
The physical connections in the exchange are carried out by BT Openreach staff or possibly their contractors ,such as Kelly's. EricT
EDIT Strict procedures ensure that Openreach cannot give priority to any particular ISP (eg BT) over anyone else.

[rohan]

EricT,
thanks for that clarification. If you or anyone else happens to know, I'd be interested to find out whether Sky (or indeed John Lewis) actually have their own physical network between exchanges or if that is simply something they have acquired from BT / Openreach (whether leased or bought). To put it another way, have Sky installed any new physical networks recently ?
regs
Ro

[TSR2]

For home type services and a lot of business ones there are only two real networks, BT openreach and virgin media. (Hull is different but lets not go there). If we're talking telephone exchanges, the cables are all BT Openeeach, but what they plug into may be BT, leased from BT or the providers own. The wires are all BT openreach (for the purpose of this conversation.) John Lewis use leased services, they don't have their own kit. Sky have a mixed bag, including the o2 services and other ISPs they've aquired over the years they now own most if their equipment but its a mixed bag of kit, because they've just bought up other ISPs, the kit varies from exchange to exchange as they have no standards.

[Tomliner]

Hi Ro. I don't know specifically about JL OR Sky but I,m sure that that neither they or anyone else ,other than Virgin,own any of the cables or fibres underground.It's just too expensive to do.As to whether they own their own exchange equipment I couldn't say because the situation is probably somewhat fluid.My guess is that Sky probably do but that JL may lease their circuits,but as I say it's only a guess. EricT
EDIT I would add that Openreach's remit was to provide and maintain the 'first mile' of the network from the exchange to the customers premises,as well as making the connections .They don't own any of the exchange equipment.