Low cost, low usage ISP recommendations please

I'm currently on a Virgin.net 1MB ADSL bundle package with free phone calls. I've been very unhappy with the service - the speeds at peak times are slower than dialup! (The price is good, though, at 9.99/month). I don't need high download speeds - a reliable 1 MB connection would suit me fine.

Anyway, I have just received my MAC code (hooray) and am looking for a new ISP that can provide reliability at the modest speeds I need.
I'd be happy with downloads limited to 2 GB per month.
I don't want to pay more than �15 per month, preferably less.
I'm currently considering Madasafish (though I've heard that their quality may have reduced since they were taken over), Plusnet, and NewNet. I'm on the 01844 telephone exchange in South Oxon.

Can anyone suggest which of the above ISPs might be able to provide reliability in my area? Or suggest any other ISPs I should be considering?

Thanks for your help.

It is as cheap or cheaper to go for an "up to 8Mb" service as a fixed rate one these days.

If you can post your line stats we can get some idea of the quality and length of your line, which is the main determinant of reliability together with your choice of ISP. If you don't know how to get your stats look here or here.

Newnet is an excellent choice, Home Lite that I am on at �12.95pm on monthly contract, or the annual contract saves you�12 over the year. Your other sensible options are Sky LLU, (not Sky Connect), if you have Sky TV, O2 if you have an O2 mobile, or Be. I wouldn't rcecommend Plusnet or Madasafish as alternatives to Newnet, though both are far better than the likes of Tiscali.

Talk Talk gets bad reports, but on low usage may be fine. My brother and several of his friends have it.

To check if you can get Sky LLU, O2/Be and Talk Talk put your phone number in here.

Useful comparisons. Try other selections if you want. (O2 owns Be and uses the Be system but sells different packages).

I got the following info from my router - I presume this is what you need to know to determine line quality:

___________________Downstream Upstream
SNR Margin :_________40.0_______30.0 db
Line Attenuation : _____29.5_______17.5 db
Data Rate :__________1152_______288 kbps

Can someone interpret these results for me?

Also, I just ran the thinkbroadband speed test - results are at http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results/id/12024163243555714239.html

That is a very good line and quite close to the exchange.

On and "up to 8Mb" service you should get a sync, (connection speed), of the full 8128kbps, or if you are unlucky it may be 7616kbps. That would give you what is called an IP Profile of 7.15Mb or 6.5Mb depending.

The IP Profile is the fastest BT will pump data down your line on most "up to 8Mb" services, for some reason best known to them. 87% of that is your theoretical maximum data rate, as there are about 13% TCP/IP overheads.

I've looked at the Be/O2 and Sky/UKOnline packages again. Unless you have or want Sky TV or an O2 mobile I don't think they really fit what you are asking for. On their services your line should support up to more than 16.5Mbps with actual download speeds well over 14Mbps possibly approaching 15Mbps.

I would settle for Newnet Lite. Very good ISP, consistent high speeds, (mine vary between 4Mbps during the day to over 5Mbps evenings and night, and my theoretical maximum on a 6Mb profile is 5220kbps). And easy to get out of if you ever want to. (There is an online MAC request form, and they reckon to email it within 10 minutes).

Annual contract saves a bit of money, but no refunds if you leave in the middle. So I have a monthly contract even though I think nothing will go wrong.

Thanks very much for the information. It is good to know that my line seems good, and just goes to strengthen by dissatisfaction with Virgin - they certainly cannot blame my line for the low speeds they frequently provide!

It seems that the Sky and O2 services are not available via my exchange, so I'm glad you are not recommending them to me! I've now emailed NewNet, and expect to be signing up with them very very soon.

Thanks again.

Good luck . Let us know how you get on.

Sent an email via the "Contact Sales" link on the NewNet web site last Thursday - no reply. Sent another this morning - no reply. Phoned their sales number in the end and got through to the bloke who handles most sales emails, and he couldn't explain how the two emails had been overlooked. He got someone to phone me back within 20 minutes or so, to answer my questions (about likely speed, and what happens about going over-budget on download volumes). Answers were satisfactory, even it it was less than satisfactory that I had to chase them.

Bit the bullet, and have signed up onto one of their monthly contract packages, so I look forward to the improvements over Virgin making me forget all about their unresponsive sales email department! If it is not up to expectations, at least I can get out after a month.

Oops! I'd better come clean here!

Whereas I was berating NewNet's lack of response to my emails, it turns out that this was my fault. NewNet had replied very promptly, but their replies were being caught by Googlemail's spam filter. So I totally withdraw any negative sentiment that I expressed in my previous post, and am looking forward to going live on their service!

I've been with Newnet for 6 weeks now and find them to be very good

Not sure if you are aware, but if you leave within a year you need to pay the �11 migration fee which they waive when you migrate in.

That's actually a recognised problem, but unfortunately there's not much they can do about it, since obviously Googlemail won't reveal what they base their spam scores on, so NewNet can only guess why it's happening. I forget, is there a whitelist you can add NewNet to?