Switching ISP - Newbie Questions.

Hi

I've been pointed toward this forum as the best place to answer questions regarding broadband and switching ISP; so I'm hoping you can help me as I have never switched suppliers before.

Hopefully; I've posted in the right section. Apologies if I have not and mods please move to the correct place.

I'm afraid; I'm a total dunce when it comes to the technical side of things; so please forgive me if my questions are rather basic - please keep your answers plain and clear.

My objective is to save some money; move over to unlimited broadband; so I can watch Iplayer and probably Netflix; as well as keeping the same download speed and hopefully quality of service as well as keeping my phone number. All with the minimum of technical adjustments that I would have to do. I would also like to have my broadband and calls via the same company.

Currently I'm with BT for my broadband and line rental. I am spending about £110 a quarter with them for my line rental, 10Gb download limit, plus 1571 and caller display. I also pay £1.60 for 'premium mail'. My calls are placed through Hive Telecom and cost me on average £10 a month. So my total cost is about £145 per quarter or £48 a month for a 10Gb capped service. This seems expensive to me; is it?

This is a link to my my download speed:

http://imageshack.com/a/img401/6374/3xqa.jpg

I'm afraid those numbers mean next to nothing to me.

I find that I can stream from BBC Iplayer HD without any buffering. Is there any reason why I would need faster speeds? Usually; there is only my wife and I surfing the net. So the greatest our demand is likely to be; would be me watching Iplayer HD or Netflix whilst she's browsing the net.

With my current download speed I presume that I don't need fibre?

My existing TP Link router/modem is about two years old and seems to work well. I'd rather not change it unless I have to.

If I choose to switch broadband from my current supplier (BT) to another (possibly Plusnet) whats involved and how do I go about it? Is Plusnet a wise choice?

Presumably as I pay BT for 'premium mail' I can continue to use my @btinternet.com web mail even though I have a different ISP?

Do I have to make any changes to my router (TP Link) after any switch over? I am clueless about any technical things involved. If I have to make any changes; are they relatively simple or do I have to 'get a man in' ?

I presume; that my home network (both wired and wi-fi) will remain unchanged?

I'm assuming that any change of ISP is like changing your energy supplier i.e. you use the same infrastructure? If that's the case; should I expect the same download speeds I currently get with BT? Or do BT 'throttle back' speeds for other ISP's to give themselves an edge over the competition?

Any other pro's & con's I should consider before changing?

Sorry for the long post and many thanks for any help and advice you can give.

Cheers.

Standard pricing for ADSL2+ with 10GB limit is

£13/month PLUS line rental at £15.99 but offers reduce that e.g.

£5/m for 6 month, then next 6 months at £10/m then the standard £13, line rental can be reduced by paying for 12 months in advance i.e. 12 x £11.75 which saves ~£50 over the year.

Suspect it is little bits like premium email (why?) and caller id plus surcharge for making no calls adding up.

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/bt/package/1201.html is the UNLIMITED product and that is just £16/month plus line rental.

So its stay with BT and chase to get the sorts of deals above (and extend contract) or get your MAC and go to another provider e.g.

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/plusnet/package/13... PlusNet
£2.50/m for 12 months plus line rental at £14.50 per month
Broadband is £9.99 after the 12 months

So all you need to do is phone BT ask for your MAC and ignore any sales pitch if you really want to move.

If you pay for premium email then yes you can keep your BT email

What model of TP-Link router do you use? i.e. is it one with a built in modem or a secondary router in addition to an ISP supplied one.

PlusNet use the same wholesale network, but break out to the internet via different routes but should give the same speeds, certainly the ADSL side is the same.

Hi

Thank you for your prompt reply; its very much appreciated.

When you say � ADSL2+� this is 'normal' broadband? Please forgive my ignorance!

Thanks for the link to those packages. I thought that any BT special offers where for new customers only? I believe that I am well out of contract as I have not (knowingly) renewed my contract with BT; but I have just kept using them.

Is there a customer services contact number for BT? In the past when I have tried to call them there seem to have been several numbers to choose from.

I've had premium mail for some time; I was told when I signed up for it that it gave me greater storage (I have many thousands of e-mails stored) and that I could use my @btinternet.com address if I changed ISP's. I would like to keep my current e-mail address if I move.

I hadn't realised I was paying a surcharge for not making calls via BT.

When you say I should get my 'MAC' ; what is that exactly? How do I get it?

My TP link router is wall mounted rather high for me to get to check the model number; but I believe it is this one.

Thanks again for your help.

Yes ADSL2+ is the service you are on now by the looks of things.

Deals are mainly for new customers, but if you phone you can negotiate just be aware of any contract length extensions you agree to.

Phone numbers given on our listing page.

MAC - Migration Authorisation Code - which is the current method for a new ISP to verify that you are going to migrate the service, and stops any old walter mitty migrating your service to muck you about.

Okay in which case if you change the username and password it uses for the WAN authentication it will work with PlusNet.

HINT: Storing emails at the ISP is not a good idea, as there is no comeback if they delete them by mistake. It is worth downloading and storing any crucial ones locally on the PC as well as keeping them at the ISP.

Thank you for the comprehensive reply.

I'm not too sure how to change the username and password within the router - it was installed for me. I will try to research this.

I have no idea what WAN authentication is; but I'm glad to know the router will work with Plusnet.

I'll take onboard your comments regarding storing e-mails with the ISP. I was unaware that you could store e-mails locally and with the ISP. I thought it was either one or the other; not both. I'm not sure how to do this; but I guess that's a little off topic.

Thanks again for your help.

In which case your best option might be to take the PlusNet supplied router and then you can use their support if ever stuck.

Start another thread - maybe in the BT section about emails and someone will take you through what to do.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

In which case your best option might be to take the PlusNet supplied router and then you can use their support if ever stuck.

Thanks again.

I have several devices connected to my current router and they will all need to be reconfigured if I change it.

I think I need to choose between the lesser of two evils i.e. figuring out how to change the password in the router or trying reconfigure all the devices connected to my existing router.

I think learning to change my password will be easier. Hmm; decisions!

In reply to a post by MHC:

Start another thread - maybe in the BT section about emails and someone will take you through what to do.

Thanks.

Once I've decided whether to stick with BT or move to Plusnet; I'll post in the appropriate forum regarding the e-mails.

Cheers.

Changing the username and password is usually easy and takes a couple of minutes. Then, if you went to Plusnet, it takes about 15 minutes (the first time) to make the connection.

It is worth seeing if you can negotiate a better deal with BT, as MrSaffron suggested.