Recommendations for Tadley (THTAD) please

Hi I'm looking to change from Pipex to something more friendly - I have finally given up with them and their useless service.
Does anyone have any suggestions for a reliable service? We are currently on an all in one phone and broadband package but would consider anything really.
We use the phone and internet for work so speed and reliability is really important.
Our exchange is Tadley (THTAD)
As usual budget is as low as poss for a decent rate!

Thanks

Seb

That's difficult on that exchange . Are you on a BT-Wholesale based service or have you been moved to a Tiscali service by Pipex?

How much do you pay now and what's the most you are willing to pay within reason?

When you say you use the internet for work does that mean a lot of downloading? If so, have you any idea how much? Presumably a lot of whatever you do is in the daytime Mon-Fri? What about own-time downloading?

Are there a lot of outgoing international calls?

Hi,
We have been moved to a Tiscali service

we pay around £40 inc calls and would pay about the same, maybe slightly more. We were thinking of going over to VOIP calls as we do already have a number we don't use for some reason.

We do a fair amount of downloading during the day (large design files) but have no idea how much - is there any way of checking? We also watch some TV online and play games too.

We have the occasional overseas call - hence the thought of switching to VOIP.

It doesn't look like we have a lot of choice do we?

Cheers

I'm sure something can be found, but it would be a good idea to get some idea of download usage if possible as that helps to narrow the field.

If you only have one computer on the net then it's easy. Download tbbMeter from this site. Linky.

If you have more than one it isn't great as it counts traffic across your network card so includes LAN usage between the computers. Though if there isn't much between them the install it on both. The web site lets you see the combined and separate usage.

A long-winded way that I used once was to check my router every night and write down the usage. Then added it up (roughly!).

There are a few (advantageous to the customer) price and contract changes popping up at the moment. Well to be honest two in the last two days. So as you aren't desperate by the sound of it, just utterly fed up, let's try to get it as close as we can to what you need.

Is the phone Tiscali LLU as well, or just WLR? (Wholesale Line Rental where it is still BT Wholesale even though not BT Retail).

Thanks for the link - i will put it on both computers and monitor usage as you suggest.

I believe the phone is Tiscali LLU as well - sorry not not much help!

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Hi I'm looking to change from Pipex to something more friendly - I have finally given up with them and their useless service.
Does anyone have any suggestions for a reliable service? We are currently on an all in one phone and broadband package but would consider anything really.
We use the phone and internet for work so speed and reliability is really important.
Our exchange is Tadley (THTAD)
As usual budget is as low as poss for a decent rate!

Thanks

Seb

You may want to consider Opal Business Broadband.

They run over TalkTalk LLU but have unlimited usage, no traffic management or shaping, and priority over the network so you traffic takes priority over TalkTalk customers'

You need to take the phone service from them too, but you get unlimited ADSL 2+ upto 24 meg for £10 a month + vat and the business phone line at £10 a month + vat.

They don't credit check and you don't need to be a "registered" business so that gives flexibility to the information you can give during signup

They have UK based support, too.

hope this helps, good luck!

Ok, so finally i have some stats! We have downloaded around 2.5GB in the last week, which i would say is pretty average.

Does this help or hinder with the choices?

Thanks

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Ok, so finally i have some stats! We have downloaded around 2.5GB in the last week, which i would say is pretty average.

Does this help or hinder with the choices?

Helps a lot .

That Opal Telecom suggested by izools looks attractive and could be good. It is the only one that that you can get ADSL2+ (up to 24Mbps) from on your exchange that I wouldn't reject out of hand for your type of usage. Having said that I have no idea at all what Opal are like.

The usefulness of ADSL2+ also depends on your line length from the exchange. It may not benefit you much. The stats from your router would be useful, see Kitz for help if you need help to find them.

For another cheap phone/bundle package that might suit have a look at Plusnet Pro assuming they will bundle that with their phone service. It used to be difficult to avoid their packages on their web site, but now I can only find anything about the phone side by searching the site, apart from in the T & Cs or the Business side.

The reason I suggest Pro, and am wary of the Business Broadband packages is the heavy throttling applied on all except Pro. Whether the 15GB allowance is adequate is marginal. Inclusive VOIP minutes I think.

You could also look at IDNet who do phone as well as broadband and have a high reputation particularly for the quality of their support. The broadband Home Max should be ideal as long as the upload speed is OK.

(Which is a thing to check with all my suggestions if you are used to 832kbps upload).

Others to look at could be Xilonet and vivaciti. I suggest phoning either of these to discuss your needs may be better than just relying on their web sites.

Edit - I meant to include a sample comparison. Xilo and vivaciti are resellers so don't qualify for the rating pages.

Edited by RobertoS (Thu 17-Sep-09 12:08:51)