Best broadband deal???

[Bigtallfatbloke]

BT are pissing me off with their so called 'service calls' just insulting my intelligence and trying to get me to sign up for another year etc while at the same time my speed is slowing down all the time, the connection keeps crashing and ...well you get the picture, so I wondered what company offers the best deal?

I know 'best' is subjective but I want it to be fast, more stable and cheaper...but above all I want an outfit who wont call on any excuse to sell me something.

 

[marinyork]

Be

 

[Lardyboy]

From the experience of friends, I wouldn't choose any broadband provider who relied on a BT phone line.

Cable is faster, more stable and in most cases will price match. I've been with ntl for 5 years and never had a major issue in all that time. I've never had to call up their call centres once.

But as with most things, others will probably have horror stories to tell.

 

[mondobongo]

A while ago would have said the same but just recently we have seen our cable speed become patchy at peak times of the day. Will be looking to move later in the year currently being swayed by O2.

BTFB if its purely price then cable will probably be cheapest over the year Customer Care may not be the greatest though. Another thread recently mentioned a couple of smaller firms but not competitively priced good service though choice is yours.

 

[gambatte]

I've had zero problems with Talktalks 'free for life' deal.

However I have heard the usual horror stories - especially when dealing with customer services. The other negative being, if you want to change you find you've been physically changed in the local exchange - its no longer a BT line theres TT hardware in there, which makes changing more difficult than changing a tick box on a computer database.

 

[Brock]

Thinkbroadband.com (formerly adslguide.org) is a useful comparison resource when choosing a provider. Often seems to be the smaller outfits which offer the best service.

 

[Maz]

I've had zero problems with Talktalks 'free for life'

On the whole, my TalkTalk service has been pretty good. I've had a couple of occasions when my internet was not working but customer services got it sorted.

 

[girofan]

Hey, BTFB, you should have had my problems with Brit. Telecom!
To cut a saga short, I have had to go to the Otelo ombudsman with my numerous grievences, who have found in my favour and ordered BT to sort my problems + compensation. BT had 28 days to reply to Otelo and have not done so. Ignoring the Otelo instruction! Otelo are about to throw the book at them on my behalf!!

 

[dodgy]

If 'Be' is available in you area, then go with them. I was with ZeN for about 6 years and had fairly high expectations when I moved to 'Be'. I've not been disappointed, very good and for a lot less cash, too.

Dave.

 

[4F]

From the experience of friends, I wouldn't choose any broadband provider who relied on a BT phone line.

Cable is faster, more stable and in most cases will price match. I've been with ntl for 5 years and never had a major issue in all that time. I've never had to call up their call centres once.

But as with most things, others will probably have horror stories to tell.

Of course that is fine if you live in a larger town / city which has cable.
I very much doubt they will ever come out as far as the village I live in

 

[Alcdrew]

O2/BE are the ones to use at the moment. Very recommended by everyone that uses them. Including me

 

[numbnuts]

I’m with NTL (Virgin media) been with them for 11+ years I would give them 9/10, but if things go wrong and you have to phone their call centre you get the complete run-a-round, I was without phone and internet for 10 days after a fault, but they did refund me £20 off my next bill to compensate for the delay

 

[gambatte]

On the whole, my TalkTalk service has been pretty good. I've had a couple of occasions when my internet was not working but customer services got it sorted.

As I said mines been fine.

'Cos of this my parents migrated to TT. They had over 6 months of hassle (both with the phone, the broadband and the problems inherent with an offshore call centre), which ended with TT paying a £100+ fee for them to go back to a BT line.

 

[thePig]

There is no such thing as a good broadband provider in the UK - there are just some that are less bad. They all do bad service.

One of the key things that impacts how good your connection is, is the quality of your local copper, and the amount of people sharing the same telephone exchange as you.

I would suggest you ask your neighbours who they use and what their performance is like to get an idea of what you might also experience.

 

[cyclemichael]

Just cruising around for the best broadband deal like a few of you guys in this thread. Are BT any good? TalkTalk? Virgin Media? There seems to be no definitive answers at the moment, although EVERYONE bangs on about how good O2 broadband is. Anyway - have been checking out Top 10 Broadband http://www.top10-broadband.co.uk which seems like a good place to start. Can anyone throw me a bone? Anyone I MUST avoid? See you in the gravel.... CycleMichael.