Considering Migration from Bulldog - Options?

I'm another long-time unbundled Tiscali/Pipex/Bulldog (Cable & Wireless) customer: as far as I know my phoneline stayed with Cable & Wireless throughout all the migrations that Pipex did (my IP address has remained part of a Cable & Wireless netblock.)

I'm paying around £60/month (including the phone line), for my business 8Mbps/512 ADSL service (Bulldog used to call this "Pro@ctive"). I like that I only pay one bill, and I especially like that very little of my money ends up with BT. But, it looks like I could do better both for downstream and upstream throughput for my money. I'd also like to be using a service that is being actively looked after, rather than stagnant (it would be nice to have IPv6 and VOIP, for example.)

I don't mind paying a premium to get good, reliable service, nor for the amount of data I download and upload. I also like that I get Caller-ID, call forwarding for just the price of the calls, etc. No extra charges for anything and everything, unlike when I was with BT for phone service.

What are my options for switching? Up until now, what has put me off is the process of RTD which seems to always involve interruption of phone service and loss of broadband service. The latter for a number of days, from what I've read here. And, BT's minimum 1 year on RTD seems to conflict with using a different LLU provider - is there really no way to go straight from one to another?

See my post here for RTD info:
http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/bulldog/t/3753199-r...

Whilst you need to stay with BT for voice services, you can have anyone for broadband. Only Bulldog/Tiscali and TalkTalk do the "full unbundle" of both voice and data.

I RTD'd back to BT and went to BE, who are owned by O2, and since then the O2 products have lower pricing on the same network. Watch out for "O2 Access" and "sky connect" which use the BT wholesale network for areas they've not unbundled and are frankly awful.

If you have the stats from your existing modem/router for your 8meg connection, you could plug them into MrSaffron's line estimator here http://www2.farina1.com/adsl/ which will give you an idea as to what you could get. Depending on the quality of the phone wiring at your place you may get more with some repair works.

--
James - be* pro - Draytek 2820Vn 18.8meg/2.3meg @ 3db Speedtest.net / TBB

jrg_uk, I am in the same situation as you, although I used to be on "PrimeTime2000".

I rang up Bulldog/Tiscali after the Tisacali takeover, and they put me on a lower, competitive tariff for the same service service without fuss. I am now paying £19.50 per month for 8Mb broadand, including the phone line. However, they seemed unable to make any changes to or upgrade the service. They seemed to say that if I wanted a more modern package, I would need to migrate to a Tiscali service (which of course I have no desire to do).

I guess, if you are happy with the service and just want to reduce your charges, I would try and give them a call.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

I RTD'd back to BT and went to BE, who are owned by O2, and since then the O2 products have lower pricing on the same network.

Did the same thing myself as soon as it was confirmed that Tiscali were taking over. As my sig shows I am also with Be* and oddly enough get a higher speed than I did with Bulldog. With BD I had to set the snr to give around 9.2Mb to keep the line stable, with Be* I get 12.6/13.6Mb and only get the very odd resync. In fact my last resync was over 15 days ago. (current sync 12688/1403 Kb).

Of course BT messed up the RTD, so no surprise there.

Be* Unlimited
Far too many computers, 1 Ducati M900, 1 Wife, 2 Maine Coons and too many horses
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