Advice Needed

Hi there,

I have just moved down to Devon (Chulmleigh exchange) and have just had BT line activated. Me and my partner are heavy users (around 30-40 gb) and need some advice about the best package to go with.

I have been looking around and see that O2 seem to be highly rated however we will be capped at 7 meg and they do not have equipment at the local exchange neither do we have an O2 mobile contract.

So is this still a good deal at £22 odd even though a user with an O2 phone and LLU could get the same deal for £7.50?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

After browsing for a while I noticed that Virgin have an unlimited package for £15 has anyone had any experiece with this package?

Virgin Cable is usually fine, Virgin ADSL much less so.

Have a look at vivaciti Surfwise 75, but ignore the Family packages. They are Enta based and having a lot of teething problems with the new BT IPSC system they use, but Surfwise is something vivaciti have introduced because of that.

The web site isn't brilliant at the moment as it hasn't yet been properly updated for Surfwise, but as an Enta reseller they have a good reputation.

The correct forum for info about them on this product is Resellers and Other Providers.

Another option is AAISP, with a small Mon-Fri daytime allowance but big off-peak and a short unmetered overnight period.

Thank you for your reply Robertos I appreciate your help.

As we both work from home I think any package with an on peak off peak plan will be a no go for us.

The posts on Vivaciti within the forum you linked to seem to be very mixed with a number of billing issues and speed issues being highlighted.

So Im not sure I would feel confident signing up with either of those suggestions.

Warning ........... these ISPs' BB packages aren't cheap

Fast.co.uk have a 45GB package but it is expensive, but if you work from home then it could be worth it.
Their contract length is for 3 months.

Here are some reviews for Fast.

IDNet have a 60GB package (again expensive) but it's split up so that only 30GB can be used from 9am to midnight and the other 30GB off peak.

The upload speed for that package is "up to" 832 Kbps.

You can get a 1 month contract from IDNet.

Edited by Apprentice (Mon 08-Jun-09 20:59:18)

I forgot to say that O2 Access is also a dodgy item unfortunately. Goes in short spells after upgrades of good speeds and latency, then new customer sign-ups overtake the equipment supply and things can drop of badly - though it seems to be geographic each time, not everywhere.

The billing issues seem to have been sorted. How recent are the speed problems?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

The billing issues seem to have been sorted. How recent are the speed problems?

Hmmm. No they haven't and the speed problems were there last night.

In reply to a post by white43:

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

The billing issues seem to have been sorted. How recent are the speed problems?

Hmmm. No they haven't and the speed problems were there last night.

Re the billing, do you mean vivaciti have not yet managed to get it fixed, or they are denying it is wrong and needs fixing?

How many people still have speed problems? Where are they complaining, on the vivaciti in-house forum? (I admit I only check here).

Re The Billing. I received a PM saying there was going to be a refund, after they overcharge us in two weeks time. Not entirely satisfactory.

Speed problems mostly being reported at Vivaciti forums and a few people here.

Not quite right, we had noticed there was a problem with some people being charged for a block of fixed IP's when they had not requested them and some customers had been charged £19 instead of £18 (+VAT) the resolution is to be to credit the incorrect bill and re-issue a correct bill, and this will be done BEFORE the direct debits are taken, so we wont need to refund as we wont collect the incorrect amount.
There have been some people with speed issues so far we have 4 tickets open with one of those where BT have reported a fault and are sending an engineer to the exchange, one done a test on a different machine and found speed fine, so pointed to a machine problem and the other 2 are still being investigated, so if there are more, then we are not getting the reports into our ticket system.

Not quite right, we had noticed there was a problem with some people being charged for a block of fixed IP's when they had not requested them and some customers had been charged £19 instead of £18 (+VAT) the resolution is to be to credit the incorrect bill and re-issue a correct bill, and this will be done BEFORE the direct debits are taken, so we wont need to refund as we wont collect the incorrect amount.

Now, why didn't you send an email to this extent to the people affected? Why not post it on your own forum and here? If it was only a few people as you suggest - that wouldn't have taken long and would have put minds at ease. Yes, you may have PM'd me, but not with the detail as above. When are the new bills due?

As for people reporting speed issues, I think we hope this will clear up( it's congestion) and therefore don't report. I certainly haven't as I've requested a MAC as the 75gb isn't suitable, so there's no point.

But thanks for the clarification.