Long-term Nildram user considering LLU

Hi guys, after years of quality service followed by years of adequate service followed by almost a year of overpriced patchy service it's finally time to bite the bullet and jump ship.

I joined Nildram when they were a small independent provider and was pleased with the consistent uptime and fast pings for Jolt servers (I used to play a lot of Wolfenstein: ET) but over time I stopped playing twitch games and didn't care too much about lag on my line any more. Really if I'm honest I should've jumped the moment Pipex swallowed them up but I've never got round to it and now I'm stuck with the tangled web that is CPW/Tiscali/Pipex/Nildram.

I've been looking around for a decent alternative for a long time and I think I've found my ideal package with Xilo. My exchange (Stirling) is C&W unbundled so I want to go with the Pro 16 H option which I understand to be C&W LLU with a 50:1 contention ratio. Given my exchange's options would anyone like to suggest an alternative?

My requirements are:

Fixed IP
No traffic shaping
Usage of 100Gb per month, unlikely to be more (but would like option!)
UK based person-to-person support
budget of around £20 PM
Decent contention ratio (not essential but a nice-to-have)

I understand there's a £40 charge for going LLU which Xilo pass on to customers owing to their 30-day contract policy. I don't see that as entirely unreasonable but my expectation is that I will stay with whatever provider I choose for years on end so is there any option to reduce this cost for those of us willing to show a commitment beyond 30 days?

If not, then I suppose I can comfort myself in knowing if I made a mistake and Xilo weren't right for me then I could always move on but I heard that moving back to a non-LLU provider in the past has been a nightmare. Has this situation changed recently?

Is there any way of telling how busy C&W are on my particular exchange? Living where I do I think I'm probably quite fortunate in that respect so a lower contention ratio might not make much of a difference. I don't really understand how they work to be honest!

If I decide to move, do I request a MAC from Nildram before contacting Xilo or do I contact them first?

Sorry this is so long!

Hi,

Moving back to a non-LLU ISP from a SMPF (shared LLU) product is as easy as moving to one of our products. Simply give the MAC to your new provider and the process is very much the same.

If you want to drop me your postcode, or exchange name, I can have a look at the live C&W capacity for you to get an idea of how 'busy' it might be but in reality, like most LLU providers, congestion at the exchange is not something that is seen as often as like with BT, for example.

You'd need your MAC from Nildram first... then when signing up, you'll be asked for that as part of the process

Let me know if I can help further.

Matt

-
xilodsl.net
t: 0800 848 8468
Official Maidenhead & Milton Keynes Speedtest.net Host
CPW LLU Pre-registration | Our current offers

Basically contention ratio is a non-existent concept these days.

BT Wholesale abandoned it when ADSL Max was introduced and the underlying contention on all their products is much higher. I believe some ISPs budget to supply 20-30kbps per customer if they all hit the download button at the same time.

What wholesalers like C & W provide I don't know, but in the end the main contention is generally within the ISPs' server systems.

The MAC process.

Getting back from partial LLU (Xilo/C & W) where the supplier leaves your phone line with whoever you pay rental to at the moment is no different to moving to it. The problems arise with Full LLU like TalkTalk and now Sky where the phone line is taken off BT Wholesale or whoever.

What is LLU?

Bob's broadband help site:
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In reply to a post by xilonet:

If you want to drop me your postcode, or exchange name, I can have a look at the live C&W capacity for you to get an idea of how 'busy' it might be

Cheers for the response! I think I already did - my exchange is in fact called Stirling

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Basically contention ratio is a non-existent concept these days.

Getting back from partial LLU (Xilo/C & W) where the supplier leaves your phone line with whoever you pay rental to at the moment is no different to moving to it. The problems arise with Full LLU like TalkTalk and now Sky where the phone line is taken off BT Wholesale or whoever.

Brill - thanks for the clear-up on contention ratio, I never really concerned myself much with it anyway so it's good to see I don't need to now either.

Also, your explanation of LLU is very much appreciated, I didn't realise there was a distinction between partial and total so that's reassuring too.

Cheers!

Sorry about that.

Having had a look and there is plenty of spare capacity on that exchange

Matt

-
xilodsl.net
t: 0800 848 8468
Official Maidenhead & Milton Keynes Speedtest.net Host
CPW LLU Pre-registration | Our current offers

In reply to a post by xilonet:

You'd need your MAC from Nildram first... then when signing up, you'll be asked for that as part of the process

Actually, here's another question. If I get a MAC from Nildram now does that automatically set a date when they'll disconnect me or is that handled when I actually provide the MAC to the new ISP?

Ta!

On migration, your 'disconnect' date from them is the date of your migration to us. They should not do anything before the connection is migrated.

It's always a good idea to drop them a line once you have migrated to us, or any other provider to say that it is complete and ensure they update their records. BT don't always inform the loosing ISP.

Matt

-
xilodsl.net
t: 0800 848 8468
Official Maidenhead & Milton Keynes Speedtest.net Host
CPW LLU Pre-registration | Our current offers

Oh no I've just realised something else! I don't think my current router (from memory it's a Draytek Vigor 2500V) is ADSL2 compatible Do Xilo offer any deals on routers if I need to upgrade? Having to buy a new router on top of the migration charge will probably knock me back a few months

Failing that, can anyone else recommend a decent router that would be compatible? Preferably a wireless one 'cos I might as well replace my wireless access point at the same time. FYI I no longer need the VOiP functionality the 2500V provided.

Ta again!

We don't have any deals on routers i'm afraid.

Only shows that as an ADSL1 router. You can use that, but it just won't sync in ADSL2+ mode. You can then just upgrade to a different router when you want

Matt

-
xilodsl.net
t: 0800 848 8468
Official Maidenhead & Milton Keynes Speedtest.net Host
CPW LLU Pre-registration | Our current offers