Shared house, total newbie to uk broadbands

Hi there to all forum followers,

I'm new here and in desperate need to get a good broadband inside my house but the more I ask around the more confused i get . First of all, I dare mention the fact that my location is in Canterbury (If it makes any difference, similar to the mobile networks).
I've read a lot of the topics here and still am confused as hell. I need something like the title says, for a shared house, and would really like to have decent speed (b/n 4-8 mb REAL that doesn't have any peak times or be capped) because all 4 of us are students so we speak over VoIP services all day, download p2p from sites movies from our families and others (nothing illegal by all means) and finally every single one of us stays with youtube or other internet streaming site opened in the browser 24h/day.
Most important thing is not to have any download limit because i had some experiences in my 1st year with download limits and if you get to that point, you will stay the rest of the month with speeds under 100kb/s ). So that's a no-no. Besides that, if it makes any difference, all of us own laptops and we need something compatible with both macbooks and pc (just said there to clear out the fact that we won't connect through a direct link).
My budget would be somewhere around 20-25£/m and a contract would be best at 9 months (heard that virgin may do that but i'm having second thoughts because i've seen many complaints for the lousy services they offer), if not 9, 12 months is ok.
Also i have to mention the fact that i am already in the house so if i would appreciate it if you could also tell me how long will it take before the connection goes active (i saw that be and o2 take up to 2 weeks :| and that would be a nightmare from the stone age).
Thank you all in advance and will check the forum soon

Edited by deleted (Mon 22-Aug-11 19:28:12)

Two weeks will be usual for any provider you go to...Virgin or otherwise.

If you can get the Virgin Media 50Meg or 100Meg service then that is your best bet. Yes there are complaints, but for all providers there can be issues.

To be honest £20 to £25 for unlimited with no peak time or caps - and I assume you don't want traffic management is hard to find.

Speeds will vary considerably across Canterbury, so exact location is very important.

As the Irishman said, 'I wouldn't start from here'...

Have you checked your phone line on the speed checker?
http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProduc...

That will determine if you will be able to achieve your aspirations.

You are asking an awful lot for what you are prepared to pay.

O2 have traffic management and are not good for p2p

BE will take 5 - 7 days on average - often quicker if the phone line isn't yet active

BE do 3 month contracts for a bit extra with a connection fee

No download limits, no traffic management and although there an FUP it has never been invoked for usage - only a DDos attack

It sounds as though you don't have a landline phone. If you do, put the number into this checker and post the link to the result. If you don't have a phone, use the post code instead.

That will tell us what is available to you.

BE is congested is it not?

Not for me it isn't

In reply to a post by nredwood:

Not for me it isn't

Must just be everyone else with imaginary charts that show it then.......
http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/beunlimited/f/40287...

Or you are just wrong as usual

Certainly not mine
http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/which_isp/t/4035657...

Please now tell me in what way I am wrong

Your best bet is Sky Unlimited broadband. Might as well get Sky Talk coz then your'll get the first 6 months broadband at half price (£5) as you'll need a line anyway.

Even with a 12 month contract I would expect Sky to be cheaper than Be*, although It's up to you to check that.

I would avoid O2's new traffic managed packages if you can, they are also more expensive now and don't compare well to Sky's pricing.

There is no Virgin Media in Canterbury.

[EDIT]

My mistake!

It's half price line rental for 6 months and £2.50 discount on Broadband for the first 4 months.

Damn Sky are confusing with their pricing. At least you don't have to have Sky TV any more to have Sky broadband.

http://www.sky.com/shop/broadband-talk/#join

Edited by deleted (Mon 22-Aug-11 19:16:20)