Internet in London. Broadband or fibre optics? What provider

Hi there,
I need your precious help. In a few days I will be without internet. I live in a house share in London. What would you suggest me to get?. Are fibre optics too much for only one person/one room? Unfortunately there is no telephone line. I heard somebody saying that if you register with BT you can use it wherever you go. So even if I change house?
Obviously the winner would be the best compromise between quality and price.
Thanks

Fibre optics are usually fibre to the cabinet and then traditional phone line to the home. Cable from Virgin Media is still usually coax too - and may need to see permission from a landlord for cable. Telephones are a slightly different matter.

Whether its overkill - depends on how much you value and need the Internet.

If a light user then consider 4G and a decent allowance on your mobile phone.

What do you wish to do? If it's just you, most services are probably adequate, TalkTalk being one of the cheapest.

Normal use. Nothing heavy. I do spend several hours a day online going through websites, streaming etc.

What speeds does this estimate you will get?

https://www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/adsl.htm?s...

You can use the post code checker or address checker if you do not have a line

Also do you want excellent customer service, or aren't you too bothered? (Price rises substantially)

Edited by ukhardy07 (Mon 25-Apr-16 19:53:07)

Depending on what and how much you stream, that can be huge.

Featured Products

Downstream Line Rate(Mbps)

Upstream Line Rate(Mbps)

Downstream Range(Mbps)

Availability Date

WBC ADSL 2+ Up to 7 -- 4.5 to 11.5 Available
ADSL Max Up to 5.5 -- 4 to 8 Available
WBC Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available
Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available
Other Offerings
Copper Multicast -- -- -- Available

Does not look like fibre is available, in this case just ADSL 2+

One of the cheapest options, with a decent dual band router, customer service isn't great:
https://sales.talktalk.co.uk/product/broadband/v-sim...

Another fairly cheap option, router not so good but customer service slightly better:
http://www.sky.com/shop/broadband-talk/

There's also BT, but more expensive and my personal experience is that they are not worth the premium... Worst support of every ISP I have used TBH.

I would opt for TalkTalk, it's cheap and decent router. That said, all of them aren't great, as the line is fairly long and no fibre options, so the speeds are restricted regardless of who you choose.

That said the estimated speeds are fine to stream, just nothing out of this world.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Mon 25-Apr-16 21:45:16)

In reply to a post by britpoprule:

I heard somebody saying that if you register with BT you can use it wherever you go. So even if I change house?

Most ISPs will allow one free house move within contract. It might involve restarting the minimum term.

Some others charge for house move, and it can be expensive.

If you are likely to move within 12 months, look at ones with monthly contracts, such as Aquiss, Puls8broadband, uno, vivaciti, but check out their charges if you do move or cease.

The people talking about using BT anywhere might be meaning the wide BT free wifi availability.

Edited by RobertoS (Mon 25-Apr-16 22:23:03)