If you are able to choose between Be and o2 then you MUST have the o2/Be LLU DSLAM at your exchange and hence the "o2 Access" product (the only one with Traffic Management due to congestion due to the unlimited downloads and relatively low price), a resold BTw ADSLmax WITH traffic management will not be an option for you.
Both Be and o2's LLU networks NORMALLY deliver you the full technical c84% of modem synch speed as usable data bandwidth and we are not aware of ANY Be/o2 LLU constraints (other than modem synch speed capped at 8Mbps on the two lowest packages).
There have in the past been OCCASIONAL instances of local congestion that they have quickly (by industry standards) solved, and like all ISPs they occasionally suffer from diggers digging up cables and national network centres having a glitch - but I've been with them 2.25 years and and have had less than a handful of go slow evenings and only a few hours downtime ever even from all those causes!
Both Be and o2 have a FAIR USAGE statement that says you shouldnt use your connection so as to impact other users. With over 500,000 subscribers we've only read of the VERY occasional report of anyone SAYING they have been warned, and for instance after the first year of o2 home BB they said publicly they had NEVER done it (it's now 2.3 years old).
So the good news is that TO DATE Telefonica have bought enough backhaul to deliver on their promises for the LLU network (o2 Access is another story, but irrelevant to you as mentioned above).
That said there are now 15 different cost Be/o2 subscriptions (and 3 Access ones) - so have a further research through my features/net-cost documents, link in footer below as to which best meets your phoneline/needs/priorities/budget. Whichever you chose you are highly unlikely to regret it!
MKD
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Very happy 2yr+ o2 Home BB Standard subscriber here, ie 1 of the 2 Telefonica Europe ADSL broadband brands/services in the UK - ie o2 Home Broadband & Be (aka Be There/Be un limited)
To help you analyse which of their 18 (yes 18!) different cost subscriptions best suits YOUR needs/budget- see my (1) FEATURES & (2) NET-COST comparison docs at
http://tinyurl.com/5mzmrs (250KB of PDFs) updated 03/02/10 or later (eg net cost for 1st year ranges from £25.00 (after £backs) to £318.24 (even £685) - so chose wisely!)
Edited by MKD (Thu 04-Feb-10 22:36:54)
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