Should I Change from Pipex To TalkTalk

Hi,

I have been with Pipex for about ten years. Now that they have been taken over by TalkTalk is there anything to be gained by changing to TalkTalk?

The cost is about the same if you ignore the half price start up periods. We are currently BT Anytime £19 and Pipex Broadband £8. The similar package from TalkTalk is about £27 when you include the line rental. A few concerns:

1. When I tried to switch a few years ago Pipex told me I would lose my email address. Surely this woul not be a problem now that they are owned by TalkTalk?

2. Once before when we moved from BT telephone to Sky we had to prefix our outgoing calls with a extra digit. This made our caller ID useless as incoming calls obviously did not have the prefix, so we switched back to BT. Do TalkTalk calls need a prefix as Caller ID is essential?

Only reason for the possible change is that we are getting occaisional drop outs from Pipex and my router is about 6 years old. Apparently TalkTalk is now the fastest provider fro speed although I would have thought that they will now route the Pipex customers through the superfast TalkTalk system? Not sure what to do for the best, perhaps just but a new router?

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

Axel

Hi Axel,

Tiscali customers who have all now been migrated have been able to keep their mail addresses, if this holds good there is no reason why the same shouldn't apply to Pipex branded ones.

As with Tiscali branded customers there will be a time soonish I would think when Pipex customers will be migrated over to TalkTalk systems. So your choice may be whether to remain with TT or leave for another provider. You will receive a call to encourage you to change, at that point push for as much of a deal as you can, I.E. new router, 3,6 or 12 month discount. You never know what you might be able to negotiate.

Cheers

Ady

1. When I tried to switch a few years ago Pipex told me I would lose my email address. Surely this woul not be a problem now that they are owned by TalkTalk?

2. Once before when we moved from BT telephone to Sky we had to prefix our outgoing calls with a extra digit. This made our caller ID useless as incoming calls obviously did not have the prefix, so we switched back to BT. Do TalkTalk calls need a prefix as Caller ID is essential?

With most ISPs you can retain your email address by switching to a dial up account as these are free. However you need to learn from this - never use the ISPs email system as it locks you into their service

If you wish for your phone service to be taken over by a non BT provider you will not need to dial prefixes etc - that is only required if you are using a call service over existing BT network.

Note that if you use service from TT, SKY or similar that is both voice and data they are liable to take over the whole line from BT - this can be a nightmare to get "undone" - personally is wouldnt recomment it.

I have never, ever, heard of anyone claim that "TalkTalk is now the fastest provider fro speed" - they most certainly arent. Generally if you want fast speed and excellent support go to BE. If you want a low cost low usage try PlusNet.

You really need to see who has unbundled your exchange, compare costs, consider the speed your line can realistically support and make a decision based on that.

OK,

Thanks for that. To clarify TalkTalk is by far the fastest in our area according to Top10.com from the services available. BE is not available.

Axel

Many thanks for that.

Just what I need to know, I will sit tight meantime.

Axel