does BE = 02?

Hi all,

Ive been using onetel for broadband for a few years now but since talktalk bought out onetel they have been phoning to try and make us switch over to thier talktalk service (which i dont want to do looking at peoples feedback on talktalk) by offering us a "Better Deal" for being a loyal customer.

So as it seems they are trying to transition all their onetel customers to ther talktalk service i started looking around to see what other ISP had to offer.

After looking samknows for ( my exchange ) it shows that BE* is looking to unbundle around this time.

After looking around a bit i found that 02 own BE so once BE* set up in my exchange will this means that 02 will also offer me broadband.

If so would there be any diffrance in my connection, as if they both use the same equitment surely the only diffrance between me going with 02 and BE* is the price and addons, is this correct?

From what i have seen 02 have a good rep and decent pricing so i may go with them.

Also, on a side note. if i were to find out my line info would you be able to predict what speeds i could maybe get as im on a fixed 2mb line currently with ontel.

thanks for your time,
-ed

There are a few differences; Be can go up to 24Mb whereas O2 is a bit lower but depending on your line stats you might not be able to get near 24Mb anyway. O2 comes with a 12 month contract (or pay a �50 exit fee) but some Be options you need only give 3 months notice. If you need or want a static IP O2 charge �5 a month for it whereas it is free on Be Unlimited. Probably a few more differences but they are the main ones as far as I can see.

Regards,
Steve

Edited by sjr (Tue 01-Apr-08 11:44:33)

02 offers a 50 day money back guarantee, (so no need to worry about being tied to 12 months for the first 50 days) whereas Be don't, and offer free connection too and discount for 02 customers.

MDK has written a very indepth PDF on the differences which is well worth looking at:



http://cid-99aa6cf1226facfe.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/o2%20Broadband%20-v-%20Be%20There%20Broadband/v0.9%20ADSL%20Be%20o2%20Comparison.pdf

Edited by deleted (Tue 01-Apr-08 11:52:48)

ive had a look and my router and found my stats but im not too sure how to read them:

UPSTEAM :

relative capacity occupation: 32%
noise margin upstream: 29.0 db
output power downstream: 8.5 dbm
attenuation upstream: 15.0 db
carrier load: number of bits per symbol(tone)
tone 0- 31: 00 00 00 02 34 44 55 55 56 55 55 54 44 43 22 00
tone 32- 63: 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 22 33 44 55 55 66 66 66 66
tone 64- 95: 05 66 66 65 56 66 66 65 66 66 66 66 66 66 65 55
tone 96-127: 65 55 55 55 55 54 45 65 55 55 55 55 55 43 55 55
tone 128-159: 54 43 44 43 24 34 44 34 44 44 24 33 44 44 44 32
tone 160-191: 30 44 43 03 43 43 43 33 43 32 02 23 23 32 23 33
tone 192-223: 00 00 02 22 22 02 22 20 00 00 00 00 02 22 00 00
tone 224-255: 00 00 20 00 02 22 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00


DOWNSTREAM:

relative capacity occupation: 27%
noise margin downstream: 25.0 db
output power upstream: 12.0 dbm
attenuation downstream: 37.0 db
carrier load: number of bits per symbol(tone)
tone 0- 31: 00 00 00 02 34 44 55 55 56 55 55 54 44 43 22 00
tone 32- 63: 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 22 33 44 55 55 66 66 66 66
tone 64- 95: 05 66 66 65 56 66 66 65 66 66 66 66 66 66 65 55
tone 96-127: 65 55 55 55 55 54 45 65 55 55 55 55 55 43 55 55
tone 128-159: 54 43 44 43 24 34 44 34 44 44 24 33 44 44 44 32
tone 160-191: 30 44 43 03 43 43 43 33 43 32 02 23 23 32 23 33
tone 192-223: 00 00 02 22 22 02 22 20 00 00 00 00 02 22 00 00
tone 224-255: 00 00 20 00 02 22 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00


Can you tell anything from these stats?

Also thanks for the PDF links, some good info in there.

The free conection and 50 day MBG seems pull me towards 02, aswell as all the packages are unlimited.

the way i seem to see it is that my actual connection would be almost identical if i went with either becuase they would be both using BE* equitment at my exchange (is that correct?). so it would be more down to the marketing on what i would receive if that makes any sense (like capped bandwidth or speed).

cheers,
-ed

Edited by edmarriner (Tue 01-Apr-08 13:09:47)

With 37db downstream attenuation you would probably get a maximum of about 11-12Mb so there would be no point in paying more for a 24Mb product.

Regards,
Steve

Well thats higher than i was expecting
It seems to look then as the 8mb 02 option suits me best.

Lastly it says i need a BT phone line, which i dont think i do. Well it was but a year or so ago we started paying our line rental to talktalk (slightly cheaper rental + calls) so for us to be able to use 02 does it mean i will have to switch back to paying BT for my line rental?

thanks all,
-ed

If TalkTalk have fully unbundled your line I think you would have to go back to BT. I'm not 100% sure on that so I expect others who are will jump in.

Regards,
Steve

It's very unlikely you are on an LLU'ed line, so you should be able to just migrate the broadband wherever you like so long as it isn't to a full LLU supplier, which O2/Be are not.

If you post your up and down sync speeds we should be able to confirm you are not on LLU. Another way is to run the BT speed test at www.speedtester.bt.com which at this time of day will probably tell you it is busy. If it transfers you to a test that says you have downloaded a 1.7Mb file ... then that's no use, it does that when it's busy as well.

We need one that gives you sync, profile and download speed. The point is that this test only runs on a "BT" line.

Read the comparison that Kyomii has posted a link to. An important difference to you may be the email/webspace - Be charge �2 per month which is ridiculous.

i'll give the speedtester a shot tomorow then becuase like you said, im only downloading a 1.7meg files.

How would i go about finding my up and down sync speeds?

Also the web and email will not matter to me too much as i dont think ill be using it as i host my websites currently on another server i pay for and use Gmail for email.

Thanks,
-ed

If you are using a modem/router it should tell you in the GUI. If a pure modem then if you have the little windows connection screen box in the system tray at the bottom right, hover the cursor over it. (You can set it to appear in the Windows Control panel. Probably see the sync speed from there as well, I forget, by right-clicking the connection and looking for status I think).

Another way is to get the stats, look here or here.

Night!