Best ISP for gaming?

I would like to know the best ISP for speed but low ping for gaming.
Clearly virgin media is out of the question.
And BT is my best bet at the moment.
Nothing overly complicated please, just need a sense of the best at the moment.

That depends on how much you are willing to spend and what type of Broadband you interested in,straight forward ADSL or Fibre optic .

Also depends on how much you are willing to spend ?

As for which one is best then thats difficult question as most on here will say that there broadband provider is the best so you would get a multitude of answers.

This forum is a good place to start to get some feedback but personally i would do some Google searches regarding your criteria ?

Personally i would ring a few up and talk to the sales/Marketing guys and tell them your needs and how much gigs you need and the fact it has to be stable for Gaming unlike Nellys who's on Dial up by the sounds of it�..Poor sod but it gives us a laugh on these forums .


If i didn't hate BT with a passion i would automatically select them as a starting option,i only hate them because of the hours spent on phones over the years trying to sort out silly things like noise on lines and line faults [not broadband issues] and i have virtually lost the will to live while doing so.

The most frustrating amaturish company on the face of the earth with the customer care skills of a chimpanzee which completely lets them down,call centres everywhere but the UK and if on the odd chance your lucky you may occasionally speak with someone that understands English

Saying that my Mother has BT broadband out in the sticks with the latest HUB 3 or whatever and her connection is about 1 meg max download speed and she has had very little if no trouble��..But she is 75 and i don't recall the last time she played Cod or Battlefield 4���Solitaire oh Yes

Edited by time2die (Tue 07-Jan-14 00:32:04)

I am with Entanet, you pay a little bit more than the big TV names but they have a very low latency network and I never have connectivity or lag problems. All Tech Support is based from their office in the West Midlands so if ever there is a problem you can speak to a person who acknowledges what you are saying and doesn't read from a script!

I'm with VM and haven't had any problems

Been with ,aol(early days) ,adsl24,sky llu and now bt infinity never had issues with any of them!!
Don't go anywhere near supanet!!

Edited by jorkila (Mon 06-Jan-14 21:11:00)

Im with a ISP that many consider one of , if not the worst and have a very good stable gaming line http://www.pingtest.net/result/91463912.png Have not had any latency issues in a few years now , in fact i cant remember the last time .

Also routing seems to be good on my hated ISP and it available at more exchanges than any other ADSL2+ product , Oh and did i mention its dirt cheap and has truly shocking support if you like using the phone .

In general, you can't ask what is the best as it all depends. So your priority is gaming then? Low latency/ping?

That depends almost entirely on how close you are to your exchange or BT cabinet if using ADSL/Fibre.

We don't know your current status regarding internet so we've got to guess and just say what we've got ourselves really or say stuff like you get what you pay for in terms of support etc.

So, I'm using Plusnet Fibre optic. I live close to my BT cabinet and pretty close (<1km) to my local telephone exchange so my latency/ping is good. My ping to bbc.co.uk is 7ms and it stays nice and steady. I'm currently paying £20 a month but also pay line rental to Plusnet. I do recommend them but it all depends on things like: where you live, what package you choose, can you get a good deal (they have different offers on all the time), and crucially, your location and (likely) line quality could have a large impact on whether or not you need to use their support services. Some are diabolical and the most expensive are pretty good. Plusnet are actually very good even though they're quite cheap at the moment. Their support is UK based too. They're owned by BT.

One last thing to note is contract length. Most of the good deals require you sign up for a year or 18 months. If you're having problems that can be a nightmare to deal with if their support isn't very good. There are cooling off periods so it's worth checking the small print depending on who you go with. As Time2die and others have said, the higher priced ones will usually have better, more personal support and often have 1 month rolling contract offers. I would personally steer well clear of.... Virgin, AOL, TalkTalk, Carphone Warehouse etc. Also, I wouldn't go with Be Un Limited if they've not got a fibre option sorted out and also because they're now owned by Sky.

Yeah. I'd go fibre optic too. But maybe you should consider MrNelster's experience if you've got a console and want to play online...

Welcome back Count Dracula ..Happy new year to you

Where did you go to,the top of a mountain or something with no adsl connection

In reply to a post by woweebert:

Im with a ISP that many consider one of , if not the worst and have a very good stable gaming line http://www.pingtest.net/result/91463912.png Have not had any latency issues in a few years now , in fact i cant remember the last time .

Also routing seems to be good on my hated ISP and it available at more exchanges than any other ADSL2+ product , Oh and did i mention its dirt cheap and has truly shocking support if you like using the phone .

Yeah your right Bert they are

Was watching some of your Battlefield Vids you uploaded on that [forgot the program] miserable [censored] as they are only 30 seconds long��..Lot nicer on the twitch and other program on the playstation 4 though,and its as long as you won't

In reply to a post by jorkila:

Been with ,aol(early days) ,adsl24,sky llu and now bt infinity never had issues with any of them!!
Don't go anywhere near supanet!!

Or Poundstretchers Broadband

And a happy new year to you too grandad!

Hey, thanks for the reply!
I am only 400ft from my BT cabinet, and the nearest BT exchange is 1 mile. I am quite lucky then?
Is BT a good option? They certainly seem like a great service!
Thanks!

No use asking them, they all tell you they offer the best service!

In reply to a post by Cubly:

Hey, thanks for the reply!
I am only 400ft from my BT cabinet, and the nearest BT exchange is 1 mile. I am quite lucky then?
Is BT a good option? They certainly seem like a great service!
Thanks!

you should see close to 80/20 speeds and low latency by being that close - im the same distance. problem with my copper since around the 27th dec and only just got a fault opened with a "good" isp. seems like they are just like the rest now and i'll consider a cheaper option like BT when the contract is up. BT couldnt do any worse and every time i've spoken with their call centers abroad all the staff are highly trained, polite and very very helpfull. They even understand my broad accent without having to revert to the phenetic alphabet unlike some northen monkey isps. with bt you'll get moto gp coverage for free too.

In reply to a post by bigbadpirate:

They even understand my broad accent...

I have the same problem with you broadmoor lot.

...without having to revert to the phenetic alphabet unlike some northen monkey isps.

My northern monkeys at Plusnet are really helpful.

Perhaps you are a Somali pirate? I suspect they are difficult to understand over the phone, especially if they are hiding in the engine room. "We take boat....more money!" [Cue creaking hull sound effect]

Or perhaps you are a woman? Those northern monkeys are famous for not understanding their women. Wyeaye etc etc.

just some welsh fella who speaks as fast as he thinks and no not somalian just been around EvE since way way way before it was released. not a dof either well not unless its a sat night.

heeh [censored] hppened to pirating in EvE anyway. too much isk floating about now and devs as dumb as 2 bits of wood.

zen internet took over three weeks to work out if it was the modem they supplied me that was still in warranty or maybe it was a fault on the line. now thats what i call service. [censored] monkeys, i could have trained a chimp to recognize a fault sooner. now all we need is to find a commuting worker from my city and tangy will be spinning in his chair for weeks after what i captured last night.

In reply to a post by SPOOKish:

In general, you can't ask what is the best as it all depends. So your priority is gaming then? Low latency/ping?

That depends almost entirely on how close you are to your exchange or BT cabinet if using ADSL/Fibre.

We don't know your current status regarding internet so we've got to guess and just say what we've got ourselves really or say stuff like you get what you pay for in terms of support etc.

So, I'm using Plusnet Fibre optic. I live close to my BT cabinet and pretty close (<1km) to my local telephone exchange so my latency/ping is good. My ping to bbc.co.uk is 7ms and it stays nice and steady. I'm currently paying £20 a month but also pay line rental to Plusnet. I do recommend them but it all depends on things like: where you live, what package you choose, can you get a good deal (they have different offers on all the time), and crucially, your location and (likely) line quality could have a large impact on whether or not you need to use their support services. Some are diabolical and the most expensive are pretty good. Plusnet are actually very good even though they're quite cheap at the moment. Their support is UK based too. They're owned by BT.

One last thing to note is contract length. Most of the good deals require you sign up for a year or 18 months. If you're having problems that can be a nightmare to deal with if their support isn't very good. There are cooling off periods so it's worth checking the small print depending on who you go with. As Time2die and others have said, the higher priced ones will usually have better, more personal support and often have 1 month rolling contract offers. I would personally steer well clear of.... Virgin, AOL, TalkTalk, Carphone Warehouse etc. Also, I wouldn't go with Be Un Limited if they've not got a fibre option sorted out and also because they're now owned by Sky.

Yeah. I'd go fibre optic too. But maybe you should consider MrNelster's experience if you've got a console and want to play online...

dipends on the game also, ping isnt the be all and end all. some games are very ping dependent but you can play clever if your at a disadvantage and still win.

No worries. Your line sounds similar in distance to my own in London so like the pirate says, you ought to be good for getting 90%+ of whatever top speeds are advertised. But then there are issues of contention, throttling/limiting speeds at certain hours and all that malarkey too. A good few comments made here about other factors too such as package content: BT Vision etc.

If you're interested in BT's Vision package they might be worth exploring but in general, I've personally read their broadband support isn't too good though you'd need to check this. I know their line rental support has been atrocious through past experience. I was tempted to sign up with them but chose their sister/daughter company, Plusnet instead. Check the deals and also take a look at Quidco to see if there's cashback whichever company you choose.