O2 "Access" Package vs Anything from BT

Since it looks like I may have managed to escape BT I've been looking at my options. I'm a fairly heavy user, but not too bothered about top speed as I am DL limits.

In my area Be* is not available, and neither is O2 generally, but they do offer their pricier "Access" package in my area. Also available are Virgin, AOL (bleh!), Talktalk and Tiscalli.

I'd be willing to pay the extra cost of the O2 package to be with a company that is reputed to have good customer service.

Would the O2 Access package be a good choice do you think?

No. It gets heavily oversubscribed and Virgin is if anything, worse. Who exactly has LLU presence at your exchange?

In reply to a post by Deadbeat:

No. It gets heavily oversubscribed and Virgin is if anything, worse. Who exactly has LLU presence at your exchange?

How do I determine this?

What do you call a heavy user, and does that include P2P?

O2 Access tends to be gain customers too fast for capacity provision to keep up, so performance can be dire - although I think there were upgrades due recently. I have been away a few weeks, and haven't yet had chance to look round at the complaints levels - but have been wondering how things are currently

I suggest you post a similar question in the O2 forum here and include your exchange name. The problems seem to arise geopgraphically.

If you don't do a lot of P2P and you mean TalkTalk LLU then that is the one from your list I would consider, though personally I would not like to be on full LLU. Partial as I am now is fine thanks! A small additional payment gets you up to 8oGB per month.

Others to look at, though pricey for heavy users are IDNet and Zen. Possibly AAISP - tiny daytime allowance, but good off-peak and a small unmetered overnight period. Again, slightly tailorable.

Link to useful comparison.

Bob: Demon dialup >> Freeserve dialup >> BT Broadband >> Prodigynet >> Newnet >> O2 Standard.
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In reply to a post by JellyFish:

In reply to a post by Deadbeat:

No. It gets heavily oversubscribed and Virgin is if anything, worse. Who exactly has LLU presence at your exchange?

How do I determine this?

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php

When I say heavy I mean a lot of video streaming, some DLing but no P2P. I reckon 30-40gb per month allocation should do it for me.

I was with Talktalk before but their Indian Call Centres put me off. In fact that's why I joined BT. Little did I know they were even worse! Also since Talktalk only does Phone+Broadband packages, I don't think that will work. I'm still locked in a contract on my landline.

Here's my exchange:

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/ESARB

Hmmm, it says Be* and O2 are implementing but it keeps getting put back.... interesting.

Do you have Sky TV?

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

Do you have Sky TV?

No TV at all, that's why I stream so much video

I'd prefer not to get one to be honest - I like having control over what I watch. And I like not having to pay the TV Licence.

Unlucky, in the absence of Be/O2 LLU, Sky BB would have been your best bet.
UKOnline is best for you, it also uses the Sky LLU network but a bit more expensive.