Fed up with O2 Access...

Looking to change ISP cos my current provider (O2 Access) keeps dropping and goes very slow most of the time.

I was previously with Sky Broadband (Non-LLU) and that was much the same... So my question is:

Will i have the same connection whatever ISP i go with as i am not on an LLU Exchange?

The way i understand it, the ISPs will basically be renting the line off BT and so will it be same no matter which ISP i go with?

Should i give up and go with BT?

I use the line for some gaming, surfing and the occasional P2P download.

So if anyone can suggest a stable, mid speed connection with no P2P restrictions on off peak times then i would be sold!

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/WWASHB <-- My Exchange

Thanks for reading

if you don't mind a limited peak usage Mon-Fri. 9.00am -6.00pm, then look at http://aaisp.net.uk/

Off-peak with them is 6.00pm -9.am plus weekends with a 100gb allowance, peak usage to buy units according to need, its a very simple system actually.

Speeds are consistent and good, I was also on o2 Access as were others who migrated to them most happily.

Bonus is that it is a monthly contract.

AAISP

Thanks for the reply. That actually looks pretty good....

Any more opinions?

It really is P2P usage that stuffs most resold BT products , i know they also over sell , but its definitely P2P that drags resold BT networks to the gutter .

So the way i see it , if you want a good connection you have to be prepared to compromise on something , but do stay away from 12 month contracts and ISP that advertise as unlimited on a resold BT product .

So if it does not work out for you , its MAC and move at the end of the month , till you do find your best compromise . IMHO

AAISP have a good reputation and 1 month contract , so you not got anything to lose by giving them a try .

UKonline... Premier LLU

In reply to a post by mistynow:

if you don't mind a limited peak usage Mon-Fri. 9.00am -6.00pm, then look at http://aaisp.net.uk/

Off-peak with them is 6.00pm -9.am plus weekends with a 100gb allowance, peak usage to buy units according to need, its a very simple system actually.

Speeds are consistent and good, I was also on o2 Access as were others who migrated to them most happily.

Bonus is that it is a monthly contract.

????
I agree it's a simple system, but far more flexible, and indeed more powerful, than you say.

If you click the How it works link below the units estimator on the main pricing page you will see there is also a night-time period at 1000GB per unit! That showed on the original estimator but got removed for simplicity's sake. I think it was simpler with it, but there you go.

It also isn't very clear on the website, but that calculator is just an aid to deciding how many units to sign up for. How you use the units after joining is entirely up to the you.

So taking the very simple case of 2 units on 20CN things like the following are possible:-

Peak 1GB, off-peak 100GB as you say;
Peak 1GB, off-peak 90GB, night-time 100GB;
Peak 0.8GB, off-peak 110GB, night-time 100GB;
Peak 0.8GB, off-peak 80GB, night-time 400GB;
Peak 1.2GB, off-peak 70GB, night-time 100GB.

And so on and so on....

Bear in mind that you can also carry forward over and under usage of units in 0.1unit amounts up to (I think) your contracted number of units.

Bob's broadband basic info/help site:
www.robertos.me.uk
ISP history: Demon dialup >> Freeserve dialup >> BT Broadband >> Prodigynet >> Newnet >> O2 Standard.
Purple Cloud for domain, email and web space.

Thanks

You can explain the system so much better than I do even though I use it.

the following may be of interest as well
http://aaisp.blogspot.com/2010/02/info-free-domain-w...

AAISP

Edited by mistynow (Mon 08-Feb-10 20:57:35)

The calculator was my idea . Before that people were just walking away from the units concept as they couldn't work out what to sign up for.

Though I wish they explained it a bit better, like I just did. Maybe in a FAQ.

Bob's broadband basic info/help site:
www.robertos.me.uk
ISP history: Demon dialup >> Freeserve dialup >> BT Broadband >> Prodigynet >> Newnet >> O2 Standard.
Purple Cloud for domain, email and web space.

What if you go over your alloted units?

You start using next month's. see the section below the estimator on this page.

In effect you can carry forward a full month's contracted units, either over or under.

Various scenarios all assuming you have contracted for 2 units:-

In month 1 you use 1.4 units. In month 2 you have 2.6 units available. However you can also eat into the month 3 units so have a total possibility of 4.6 units in month 2.

Let's say however in month 2 you only use 0.5 units of the possible 2.6. Of the remaining 2.1 units, you can only carry forward 2.0 into month 3. So the maximum of contracted plus carry-forward is double the contracted. That gives you 4 units in month 3, but similarly you can eat into month 4 so have 6 units available.

The other way round, if in month 1 you used 2.6 units you have eaten into month 2's, so in month 2 you only have 1.4 of contracted, plus the possibility of eating into month 3 as above.

However! That last case means in month 2 you can actually use 3.4 units with no problem. But if you use 3.7 units, then you are trying to carry forward (into month 3) an overusage of 2.3 units. You can't do that as you only contracted for 2 units, so the 0.3 has to be covered by a purchase of another unit at £5.99. Leaving you with 0.7 available in month 3.

Or of course, as I understand it, you could have upgraded in month 2 to get 3GB from the start of month 3 onwards at the standard price and have the 0.7 units available that way.

Plus of course you can eat into month 4 to increase the 0.7.

Do you like my mud-bath?

Edit - Note the rates change at the start of April. Second edit - The new rates.

Bob's broadband basic info/help site:
www.robertos.me.uk
ISP history: Demon dialup >> Freeserve dialup >> BT Broadband >> Prodigynet >> Newnet >> O2 Standard.
Purple Cloud for domain, email and web space.

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 09-Feb-10 12:47:35)