Tesco Broadband Any Good

Hi All,

I have seen Tesco are offering a pretty good deal at the moment but not sure how reliable they are. I know they use Cable & Wireless on the back end but not sure what they're like.

I'm currently using AAISP and BT for my phone and bband but just looking into saving some money.

My exchange is North Cadbury

That link shows the exchange as not C & W enabled. So it would be ADSL just like you have now. I doubt if Tesco would be wise on a bog standard BT service.

AAISP is excellent, but very expensive. I expect you know your download usage pretty accurately though, so how much do you use? What do you use the net for?

On average I use about 30GB a month

Have a look at the Post Office. 100GB FUP from 1 June. I'd trust that more than the Tesco one. Based on nothing but gut feel and the lack of complaints about the PO, which has been available for years. You can keep the phone with BT on that if you want. Tesco you can't.

I'm trying to look to save some pennies and that looks a possibility. Who do they use on the backend, BT I assume.

Only issue is that they dont do a AnyTime call package only evening/weekends.

I see the FUP is 100GB but weird they advertise it as 5GB package

Just found a anytime plan...

In reply to a post by jchannon:

I see the FUP is 100GB but weird they advertise it as 5GB package

You missed the Unlimited package. That's the 100GB one.

The broadband is "White Label" BT Wholesale. Like Orange now is and Vodafone used to be. The PO is just a sales front. But I hadn't realised the price.

You could try vivaciti Family 30 which is cheaper and a monthly contract. Similar also available from Aquiss, ADSL24 and xilo/uno, I'll leave you to research those. Best to use their checkers, as the more attractive packages aren't available to you, with there being no LLU or even ADSL2+ at your exchange.

As I said, you can keep your phone with BT if you wish, with all of these.

A pity you could not get by on 20GB.
http://www.directsavetelecom.co.uk/broadband-deal.html

Other things you need to know

Broadband Deal

Line rental required, only £12.85 per month (12% cheaper than BT)

24 Month Minimum Period

£2.49 monthly price is based on our low cost network areas.

Our out of area network price is £9.95 and if we are unable to connect your broadband to our lower cost network we will contact you before proceeding.

At the expiry of the Minimum Period your contract will be renewed on an ongoing 28 day rolling agreement.

If you decide to terminate this service before the expiry of the Minimum Period you will incur an early termination charge of £5 for each remaining month until the expiry of the Minimum Period, together with a £35 wireless router charge.

You may also incur the following charges: (a) if you leave our service and do not use a Migration Authorisation Code (MAC) you will be charged a £35 cease charge; (b) if you fail to give us 28 days notice prior to the expiry of the Minimum Period you will be charged an admin fee of £19.50; and (c) if you leave after the expiry of the Minimum Period and do not return the wireless router you may incur a wireless router fee of £35.

Prices effective 23rd April 2012

Wonder if the TT network is used for the cheap deal?

I was looking for that "out of area" bit but didn't see it !! Grrr.

What I read, and what you have there, looks as though it is based on Plusnet, like John Lewis.

Edited by RobertoS (Mon 14-May-12 16:34:36)

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

I was looking for that "out of area" bit but didn't see it !! Grrr.

What I read, and what you have there, looks as though it is based on Plusnet, like John Lewis.

I've just had a closer look at their website and came across:-

If you require additional Gb allowance you can upgrade to Family or Pro or purchase additional usage at £5 per 5Gb.

so you are possibly correct regarding Plusnet as the £5 for 5GB is what PN charge their customers while maaf charge £2 for 1GB extra usage

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

..... What I read, and what you have there, looks as though it is based on Plusnet.....

I believe that they use several providers. I know that DST were definitely using TT (Originally Tiscali) in this area as a neighbour was using them.

Could be . But that exchange has to be a BT Wholesale seller of some kind, as it has no LLU and not even WBC.

I cannot base any judgment on Tesco apart from it looks cheap!

However, HOW can they advertise UNLIMITED with a 100GB FUP?

Surely under trading standards that should be clearly illegal? (I mean this in reference to ALL who do this!)

Maybe unlimited needs redefining in the dictionary.

Unlimited - in a thesaurus means limited (except Sky and maybe one or two others).

Which probably explains why B.T. with their genuinely unlimited service are the most popular ISP. You get what you pay for, with the notable exception of customer service.

In reply to a post by m0aur:

Which probably explains why B.T. with their genuinely unlimited service are the most popular ISP. You get what you pay for, with the notable exception of customer service.

Not strictly true - only Sky is truly unlimited as they do not throttle p2p if that floats your boat. BT does. Talk Talk are effectively unlimited too in their plus or whatever it is called nowadays package.

In reply to a post by markdvdman:

In reply to a post by m0aur:

Which probably explains why B.T. with their genuinely unlimited service are the most popular ISP. You get what you pay for, with the notable exception of customer service.

Not strictly true - only Sky is truly unlimited as they do not throttle p2p if that floats your boat. BT does. Talk Talk are effectively unlimited too in their plus or whatever it is called nowadays package.

All of which are a slower speed than anything else on any exchange, which in itself limits what you can download compared with just about any ISP..
An example:- http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/2636/speedbr.jpg
They look very limited to me!

In reply to a post by m0aur:

In reply to a post by markdvdman:

In reply to a post by m0aur:

Which probably explains why B.T. with their genuinely unlimited service are the most popular ISP. You get what you pay for, with the notable exception of customer service.

Not strictly true - only Sky is truly unlimited as they do not throttle p2p if that floats your boat. BT does. Talk Talk are effectively unlimited too in their plus or whatever it is called nowadays package.

All of which are a slower speed than anything else on any exchange, which in itself limits what you can download compared with just about any ISP..
An example:- http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/2636/speedbr.jpg
They look very limited to me!

That depends on your area. I get sky 12meg down and 1.1Meg up in Merthyr, but I could improve it with a faceplate and maybe get DLM turned off but I can live with it!

Plus Net are a NIGHTMARE in the days as they admitted to me that online footy streaming using p2p may be problematic! So if you are that footy junky, sky or talk talk IF your exchange is LLU enabled for those of course

Would you believe my exchange is TT unbundled, but look at the speeds after everyone piled in for a cheapo service. According to the uSwitch test site, just one Plusnet user on my exchange, and at the other side of the village - 13Mb round the clock

Edited by deleted (Sat 19-May-12 14:23:11)

So with just one other user in the village it tells you that Plusnet is best, based on a location sample of two?

How big is the area that uswitch consider your area?

2,500 properties and a massive amount of industry. Just one factory here with god knows how many phone lines.
http://www.3i.com/portfolio/companies/cannon-avent.html

If you believe uSwitch you'll believe anything!

In reply to a post by m0aur:

Would you believe my exchange is TT unbundled, but look at the speeds after everyone piled in for a cheapo service. According to the uSwitch test site, just one Plusnet user on my exchange, and at the other side of the village - 13Mb round the clock

I get no issues with contention around the clock in Merthyr! Many users apparently. Sky did tell me you can download movies/music 24/7 for all we care etc. I do not I just browse, use netflix, lovefilm, and footy streaming as well as my bro downloading xbox or ps3 demos but it is not poor ever.

You will NOT get that with plus net and I was once on plusnet. I left them as I could not stream footy at all due to their heavy p2p throttling at times the footy is on!

I am not having a go at plus net mind you! It did not suit me but it will suit others. Horses for courses

Well I suppose you are correct that it is horses for courses. With regard to streaming football, I have often had two or three Sky HD streams running at once from vipbox.tv, which I also use for F1 and docs etc. Never been slowed to a point that I notice. Just torrents can be slowed, but so far I have them whizzing along.

Well with regard to speed tests, they tally with all other speed-test sites. Other than that, I would not be fool enough to follow a site that only points me to where they gain commission!

In reply to a post by m0aur:

Well I suppose you are correct that it is horses for courses. With regard to streaming football, I have often had two or three Sky HD streams running at once from vipbox.tv, which I also use for F1 and docs etc. Never been slowed to a point that I notice. Just torrents can be slowed, but so far I have them whizzing along.

Sky streams are not p2p! Try using p2p football streams and I guarantee they will be rubbish on plusnet!

In reply to a post by markdvdman:

In reply to a post by m0aur:

Well I suppose you are correct that it is horses for courses. With regard to streaming football, I have often had two or three Sky HD streams running at once from vipbox.tv, which I also use for F1 and docs etc. Never been slowed to a point that I notice. Just torrents can be slowed, but so far I have them whizzing along.

Sky streams are not p2p! Try using p2p football streams and I guarantee they will be rubbish on plusnet!

I think looking at it plusnet now offer so much that is free of restrictions. If that is the case fine, but it is not great value compared to sky if in LLU enabled areas.

I am talking about Sly streams via vipbox.tv and justin.tv. They are never a problem for me, and never have been for any other White label product till now, though the P.O. seem to be tightening up now.

In which case they are misleading customers, as they should really only compare your line to other lines in the area that have a similar line length.

In short they are abusing statistics in an attempt to make a sale

Which TV operator is using P2P for its TV service?

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

In which case they are misleading customers, as they should really only compare your line to other lines in the area that have a similar line length.

In short they are abusing statistics in an attempt to make a sale

Not at all. If you pop your specs on, you will see that uSwitch speed ratings for each ISP are the AVERAGE of all tests, but I am not interested in forum nit-picking. My point was, that my speed is a constant 13Mb with no slowdown and better than the cheapos piled high on my exchange. You will see I am the other end of the village from the Eagle exchange in Angel lane.
http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/6417/eagledb.jpg
If you are talking speed vs. line length, take a look at some of the piled high speeds right next to the exchange.
http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/5516/speedk.jpg
We all know there are many variables that produce varying speeds in an installation. I was merely contesting the statement that I could not possibly watch P2P sport without slowdown.

Edited by deleted (Sat 19-May-12 20:32:45)

Those speed results mean absolutely nothing. The projected speeds for my area are rubbish as most properties have ancient internal cabling and most users wouldn't know how to maximise their connections.

In reply to a post by Deadbeat:

Those speed results mean absolutely nothing. The projected speeds for my area are rubbish as most properties have ancient internal cabling and most users wouldn't know how to maximise their connections.

I know that very well. My point was, that I can happily watch P2P sport without slowdown on Plusnet, which is quite the opposite of what a forum know-all was insisting.

In reply to a post by m0aur:

I know that very well. My point was, that I can happily watch P2P sport without slowdown on Plusnet.....

So why post all that nonsense from uSwitch et al?

Working here just the same this evening!"
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/5261/footballzb.jpg
Try it if you have Plusnet.
http://www.vipbox.tv/watch/51746/1/bayern-munich-vs-...

In reply to a post by Deadbeat:

In reply to a post by m0aur:

I know that very well. My point was, that I can happily watch P2P sport without slowdown on Plusnet.....

So why post all that nonsense from uSwitch et al?

To prove the speed I was getting stupid. Why do you post nonsense such as et al? what is wrong with plain English?

In reply to a post by m0aur:

In reply to a post by Deadbeat:

In reply to a post by m0aur:

I know that very well. My point was, that I can happily watch P2P sport without slowdown on Plusnet.....

So why post all that nonsense from uSwitch et al?

To prove the speed I was getting stupid. Why do you post nonsense such as et al? what is wrong with plain English?

It proves absolutely nothing.
However, by hurling insults, you have proved the lack of any sanity in your arguments. You have also proved your dearth of any knowledge of the subject.

In reply to a post by Deadbeat:

In reply to a post by m0aur:

In reply to a post by Deadbeat:

... nested quotes trimmed ...

So why post all that nonsense from uSwitch et al?

To prove the speed I was getting stupid. Why do you post nonsense such as et al? what is wrong with plain English?

It proves absolutely nothing.
However, by hurling insults, you have proved the lack of any sanity in your arguments. You have also proved your dearth of any knowledge of the subject.

And as far as I am concerned, you have proved yourself a total [censored].

That's your prerogative.