Recently migrated - thoughts so far.

So I went ahead and chose A&A after finally getting tired of the unusable UKOnline connection I was on (and when I say unusable, I mean some nights I couldn't even open BBC's web site).

So far, I've been very impressed. My speeds in the evening - which is when I am home and expect to be able to use the Internet! - have been great, I haven't had any DNS issues, YouTube/iPlayer/4OD all just work (and keep working, no buffering etc) and downloading files has been a breath of fresh air, maxing my line pretty much always.

I'm not lucky enough to live in an area with a wealth of options and LLU, so this for me is the best I can expect, and so far it really has been like night & day in comparison to UKOnline - who to be fair, did admit to me they had capacity issues on IPStream at peak times and couldn't offer me anything else.

The A&A control panel is something that I have found very useful and for once is something from an ISP that isn't afraid to be filled with technical terms and graphs. There are also clear sections that monitor your usage (great, considering the usage limits of my package) so even the non-technical can see what they need to see.

While I agree A&A are not for everyone, for those of us that don't need to worry about using the Internet during the daytime (Mon-Fri) they are certainly worth a look, and based on my few weeks with them so far I can do nothing but recommend them!

I recieved my router yesterday and welcome pack and just waiting for the switchover which I hope will be today.al I am hoping for really is a good solid speed and not have to worry any longer or suffer really slow speeds which I enjoyed in the past
The roouter came preconfigured and very impressed with the plastic card with all the information anyone could need also the personalisation of the items even down to your name printed on the booklet.
I know thats sounds a tad silly but if the service is the same quality I know I wont be dissappointed.....heres hoping

Great, sounds good for you.

I'll finally be there too come next Wednesday after ages deliberating whether I could handle 2GB a month for the daytime. I decided I'll just have to d/l absolutely everything off-peak even if it's the slightest little software update and I could, just could get my daytime usage under 2GB. 100GB is more than enough for me, never mind the unlimited 2-6 am either, but as I am home in the day I am a bit worried and don't want to be in the position that I'll worry about simply browsing the web.

After so many debacles from Enta I'll be glad to change, the CS so far just from email & SMS has been great from A&A, why other companies can't offer such superb customer communications is totally beyond me as it would be simple to automate most of it.

In reply to a post by Lazza:

as I am home in the day I am a bit worried and don't want to be in the position that I'll worry about simply browsing the web.

I am at home most days too and use the net quite a lot and if it weren't for the fact I keep watching youtube vids and stuff, I could probably keep it under 2Gig. As it is I am on 4gig, but don't tend to use that much so the extra gets rolled over every month. I'd rather do that then pay the over usage fee.

In reply to a post by 12eason:

In reply to a post by Lazza:

as I am home in the day I am a bit worried and don't want to be in the position that I'll worry about simply browsing the web.

I am at home most days too and use the net quite a lot and if it weren't for the fact I keep watching youtube vids and stuff, I could probably keep it under 2Gig. As it is I am on 4gig, but don't tend to use that much so the extra gets rolled over every month. I'd rather do that then pay the over usage fee.

Ah, didn't realise they rolled over on the peak allowance - now that I like and might try myself the next month.

They do, but obviously it's not cumulative as they will only roll over upto you current monthly allowance. So if you get 4Gig a month, they'll roll over upto 4Gig. Likewise, they do also roll over over usage but only up to the monthly allowance. But if you consistently go over you allowance then it will mean you'll break that limit quickly and start getting changed.

Effectively, the system just gives you plenty of time to adjust the package to your particular usage pattern without you getting nasty penalty charges..

Yeah, sounds like it's worked out over a 2 month period in effect:

You cannot bring forward more under usage to a new month than your monthly allowance in that new month, making the maximum allowance in any month twice the tariff level. You cannot bring forward more over usage than your allowance in that new month either. This means you never start a month overdrawn.

So (if I'm reading this right), if your allowance is 4GB, you could

- use some or none of it, roll it over, and start the next month with up to an 8GB allowance
- use exactly all 4GB, and start the next month with another 4GB allowance
- use up to 8GB, and have it deducted from your next month's allowance, leaving you with between nothing (effectively PAYG) and 4GB to start the next month

That's about right. In practice you never use exactly that much so the 'overdraft' changes from month to month. You can either moderate your usage or go on a higher package for a month to rebalance it. Changing package is free and you can do it as often as you like (although it only comes into effect at the start of the month, so there's not a lot of point in changing more often than that).

Edited by TonyHoyle (Wed 22-Jul-09 12:38:25)

Well its been a month since the big day and a bit of a let down for me speeds so slow and not had the greatest of starts and my misery carries on.
Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
Your DSL connection rate: 5411 kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 962 kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP profile for your line is - 4500 kbps
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 169 kbps

Sadly I am now wondering where to go from here as BT seem to dominate and there seems nothing anyone can do about it.
I have of course been onto support and several promised calls have not materialised .

Bit of a loss to know what or where to go from here

Ouch. Will point shaun at this post to see what he can do. It's probably something simple.

I've never known A&A to not call back when they say they will.. that's very unusual.

Edited by TonyHoyle (Tue 18-Aug-09 17:49:25)

In reply to a post by badpianoplayer:

Well its been a month since the big day and a bit of a let down for me speeds so slow and not had the greatest of starts and my misery carries on.
Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
Your DSL connection rate: 5411 kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 962 kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP profile for your line is - 4500 kbps
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 169 kbps

Sadly I am now wondering where to go from here as BT seem to dominate and there seems nothing anyone can do about it.
I have of course been onto support and several promised calls have not materialised .

Bit of a loss to know what or where to go from here

I had an email back from BT 20 minutes ago and someone is investigating further now, it seems last nights upgrade did not help which is a shame.

I am out of the office tomorrow but will drop you an email regardless with an update

Shaun

Thank you Shaun all fixed and up and running since yesterday.BT have a lot to answer for but take a bow and my appreciation for getting kicking the exchange very hard
Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
Your DSL connection rate: 5411 kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 962 kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP profile for your line is - 4500 kbps
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 4208 kbps

Its been a bit of a long haul this one but you got there.many thanks

In reply to a post by badpianoplayer:

Thank you Shaun all fixed and up and running since yesterday.BT have a lot to answer for but take a bow and my appreciation for getting kicking the exchange very hard
Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
Your DSL connection rate: 5411 kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 962 kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP profile for your line is - 4500 kbps
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 4208 kbps

Its been a bit of a long haul this one but you got there.many thanks

Glad it is fixed and again sorry it took so long.