Looking for a new ISP

When I finally get away from Toucan [and it can't come too soon!], I hope to go with a new ISP but because I live unfortunately in the pit of Hades that is Runcorn, I need a decent recommendation for a ISP as I don't want to make the same mistake that I made choosing Toucan as my ISP last year...

I'm looking for a ISP with the following specs:

- Unlimited downloads [Before my account was terminated for refusing to pay the cancellation fee which I refused to do under protest - For further details, see my thread in this section - I probably downloaded up to between 30 to 40GB a month using Bit Torrent and it may go up or down depending on what I download]
- A contract that I can cancel after 3 or 12 months.
- Speeds of up to 8 Mbps
- Decent Customer Service
- No Capping
- Decent speeds for online gaming

I was looking at going with Be Unlimited as they're supposedly in my area but I'm worried about whether I can get their service or not because I don't know if I'm too far from their exchange or not and I know some ISP's can be pretty anal about that and Eclipse seem pretty reasonable as far as price is concerned but I don't know much about them...

If anybody can offer me any suggestions or reviews of Eclipse Initernet, I'd be really grateful.

If you can't get Be, your best bet would probably be one of the Entanet resellers (e.g. ADSL24, UKFSN etc.). They have monthly contracts and generous off-peak allowances.

Check out IDnet. They have a number of packages and most of your requirements seem to be covered by them.

www.idnet.co.uk

IDNet Studio, The Spirella Building, Letchworth, Herts SG6 4ET. UK
T: 08000 267 237 | E: [email protected]

It would be wise to actually check what ADSL services you can get first before parting with any cash.

Use the link I have put below and it will tell you exactly what ADSL services you can get by just putting in your post code or phone number (i.e. it may say "Sky LLU" or "Be LLU" - that means you can use Sky or Be and they are an LLU service).

Link to ADSL services checker.

Using ISPs such as Sky or Be will give you more bang for your bucks - plus someone like Sky will give you a "deal" of their TV channels - free phone calls - and your broadband connection from

Edited by deleted (Thu 02-Aug-07 21:19:01)

If you can keep your usage down to 20-30GB a month, maybe try IDnet or Newnet.

If you can get LLU (Sky or BE preferably - as the rest are a bit pants), you may want to look in that direction.

If you answer 'no' to both of the above, look to an Entanet reseller, but remember they have a routine in place (during the 1-2 hours of maximum evening demand, designed to keep pings low, and reduce packet loss - great for gaming and VOIP, but less relevant for many other uses), so the speeds can drop a little at around 10pm (usually to around 3-4Mbps, but it's been good tonight - 4 out of 5 centrals are above 6.2Mbps available to each user).

I don't know about Toucan, but seeing as you don't reckon on them, let's call them a "frying pan".

I invite you to think of the corresponding name for Eclipse - judging by the posts about them I read on this site.

The posters before me seem to have covered all the places to look.

I definitely don't want to go with IDNet or Newnet as I use BitTorrent [when I was previously online] to download a lot of fansubs of anime and live-action shows from Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and China and a 20-30GB limit would be too small considering the amount of stuff I'd probably download which could be as high as 40 to 60GB or more [I usually back it up to DVD then delete the files afterwards to make space for more stuff]

Sky or Be definitely sound promising altho I don't know what Be's definition of unlimited downloads is and Sky's I believe is over 300GB a month which would definitely satisfy my needs and seeing as I already have a package with them in the form of their SixMix TV package, I may or may not save money.

If anyone can offer any reviews of either Be or Sky, I'd like to hear them as they're the two that I'd probably choose between the most...

I think Be's limit is fairly huge...

How huge would you say it was?

well, I do believe Be claim that no user has ever reached their limit.

Looking at your requirements I would say BE has to be your best bet. 3 month contract and the unlimited FUP by all accounts is extremely generous.

I'm with Sky max LLU. I'm very impressed so far but the downsides with Sky, particularly so far as you are concerned are:

12 month contract (although there is an initial 8 day trial period)
Not so good for gaming (pings on average 50 to 100ms)
1st line support not very good (should you need to use them)

That good, huh? I checked the link at http://www.dslzoneuk.net/checker.php? and it said that I lived 3.03 kilometres from my local exchange which is Runcorn Main and I definitely can get Be and Sky LLU and I can get up to 8Mbps speed with my line being capable of speeds of 3Mbps and above which is great considering Toucan claimed I could only get 512kbps when I started out with them and when I upgraded last year [which I will always regret from now on], I could only upgrade to a 1Mbp service, this isn't too bad...

If I did go with Sky, the price is good at

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I'd have to call them to find out what their absolute limit is first before I sign up to their service

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I doubt they will tell you. ISPs like to keep their FUPs deliberately vague.

Maybe I should go with BE even if it's going to be more expensive for their service as I was reading the comments on another forum and there were mixed reviews concerning the Sky Max package and what you and various others have said about BE have started to sway me towards getting BE.

On another note, do pings matter if you're playing games like MMORPG's and other types of online games like "Yu-Gi-Oh! Online" as the slowdown used to be pretty [censored] bad when I was with Toucan, especially on games like Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst and Ragnarok Online as well.

I don't think that checker is very accurate at predicting speeds if you use Be

The choice is yours at the end of the day. You could always try Sky & see what they are like during the first 8 days. Of course they could turn bad after this 8 day period, then you are stuck until the end of your contract (unless you buy yourself out of it).

The way I see it Sky is a gamble. So far it is a gamble that has paid off for me. If I continue to get 13Mb unshaped & virtually uncontended day or night for the rest of my contract I'll be a happy camper.

I made the decision before I signed up that should they turn unbearably bad I will just buy myself out of the contract. Worse case scenario is

Both Sky and Be have excellent reviews as fas as the actual product is concerned.

I guess the main advantage of Sky is the cost of having TV channels - free phone calls - plus your broadband connection at such a low price for the lot.

I have a friend who is addicted to "linux distros" he downloaded 1 terrabyte last month on BE. I didn't talk to him for a week after I found out.

That's certainly a lot of downloads and if he didn't get told off for downloading that much stuff, then BE's definitely for me even if it's going to cost more than Sky at the end of the day...

I don't think you would regret it, even if you don;t download the internet every month. The only thing i would suggest is that you ensure that you line and internal wiring are in the best condition and that you aren't too far from the exchange.

EDIT: re the gaming ping thing. I play guild wars as well as fps. Guild wars is playable with much higher pings obviously than a first person shooter, where split second decisions are vital. My pings to western and central europe (where the GW european servers are hosted are around the 50 mark.

Edited by deleted (Sat 04-Aug-07 13:45:47)

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I have a friend who is addicted to "linux distros" he downloaded 1 terrabyte last month on BE. I didn't talk to him for a week after I found out.

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Idiots like that are the ones that will ruin LLU services for users and force them at some point to throttle certain services or impose fixed caps.

You don't know him so I would suggest you refrain from calling him an idiot

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You don't know him so I would suggest you refrain from calling him an idiot

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Fine fair enough, what would you like me to call a person that downloads a terabyte in a month, and expects people to believe its on linux distros... hows....

Greedy, Selfish, Gluttonous, Excessive and Ignorant sound for starters instead?

Edited by deleted (Sat 04-Aug-07 20:33:18)

He doesn't expect people to believe it is linux distros thats why i put it in speech marks. He also isn't a member of this board so your flaming of someone who isn't able to defend himself just reinforces my beliefs of the type of person you are.

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He doesn't expect people to believe it is linux distros thats why i put it in speech marks. He also isn't a member of this board so your flaming of someone who isn't able to defend himself just reinforces my beliefs of the type of person you are.

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Your beliefs must be very strange if you think downloading a terabyte in a month is defendable!, but it

I'm in a household of three, and we have no problems with NewNet, as we have a 60GB/month limit. My housemate downloads American TV shows that haven't been on TV over here, while I go the slightly less illegal route of downloading fansubbed anime that hasn't been mangled by American distributors yet. This is on their

I don't disagree with how you feel about excessive downloading, it is the way you aggressively attack anyone who doesn't share your views, or in this case insulting someone you don't know and will never know. The same way you do with batdog, for instance. Opinions are like bumholes, everyone has them and everyone is entitled to one. I think you need to sit back for a little and consider how you treat people on this board. I know for a fact that you wouldn't act the same way if this was a pub. Fortunately for you, and people like you, you are safely behind a computer screen - that doesn't give you carte blanc to behave the way you do.

My friend does not have to justify his downloading habits to anyone except his ISP and since they don't seem to bothered about it, I feel that it is a moot point. As for the legality of his bandwidth use, I have no idea what he downloads, I don't want to know it is nome of my business.

Edited by deleted (Mon 06-Aug-07 18:12:33)

me? its not attacks
im sure its all in good humor

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I don't disagree with how you feel about excessive downloading, it is the way you aggressively attack anyone who doesn't share your views, or in this case insulting someone you don't know and will never know. The same way you do with batdog, for instance. Opinions are like bumholes, everyone has them and everyone is entitled to one. I think you need to sit back for a little and consider how you treat people on this board. I know for a fact that you wouldn't act the same way if this was a pub. Fortunately for you, and people like you, you are safely behind a computer screen - that doesn't give you carte blanc to behave the way you do.

My friend does not have to justify his downloading habits to anyone except his ISP and since they don't seem to bothered about it, I feel that it is a moot point. As for the legality of his bandwidth use, I have no idea what he downloads, I don't want to know it is nome of my business.

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I really think you have me judged wrongly, IF I knew the person or didn

me m8 dls 7 terrabytes a mth on be

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me m8 dls 7 terrabytes a mth on be

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Given your loose use of the English language it does not shock me you have friends like that LOL

(Hint try MY MATE DOWNLOADS 7 Terabytes (ONE 'R') a "MONTH")

Seriously though. Nice try to wind me up, im through biting to your nonsense though.

Edited by deleted (Mon 06-Aug-07 22:09:50)

if u ever want a dvd for a tv prog or flim or any sw just pm me
hes got the lot

If i knew what a "FLIM" or "SW" were i could consider it

u only gotta aks

If you are taking requests do you have the film.......

"Gone with the wind" the title reminds me of your posts.

for u theirs something about mary
reminds me of ur hairdo

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the monopoly that is BT and the ridiculous charges they force other ISPs into paying for capacity

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I think if you look into it you will find the high charges by BT are required by OfClot so that LLU operators can undercut them so as to get into the market in volume, and so set up genuine competition for the future.

Without Ofcom insisting on high BT Wholesale prices BT could (have) afford(ed) to cut the wholesale prices to stop LLU operators ever getting off the ground.

Creche time?

Creche time??

aw another 5 mins pls

I wonder what the world record for connected posts and replies in 5 minutes is .

But it really is getting boring - the two of you.

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aw another 5 mins pls

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No, sorry my brain can only translate so much of your abbreviated Dribblish to English in a 24-hour period. Anymore and I risk lowering my brain cell count to similar numbers as your own.

Thank you for your kind offer of pirated material though, I will decline though purely because a copy is only as good as the person copying it, which in your case or your friends case (im shocked you have any) will be very poor quality.

Maybe you and him could sell your kiddie warez at a local boot fair, if you are lucky you will sell enough to afford that frontal lobotomy you so desperately need.

EDIT: Almost forgot, AUTO 24 hour ignore period on. You have exceeded the 3 post limit i can bare from yourself in a daily period.

Edited by deleted (Mon 06-Aug-07 23:01:38)

To be fair, 1 terabyte does seem very excessive. Perhaps you're friend needs to get out more, and you can help him there.