Choosing between Be and plusnet

Right, basically my bb usage pattern has changed a bit in the last couple of months and for the 2nd successive month i find myself having to reign everything in to avoid exceding my usage cap. Im currently on newnets 20GB service but have requested my mac as i only see the situation getting worse and dont particualrly want to be paying for the 40gb 1, no matter how good they are, and to their credit, theyre very good.

anyway ive essentially narrowed the field down to the above 2, more specifically plusnet pro ( i can easily switch the majority of the usage to the free period and like the idea of prioritised gaming traffic) which is where id essentially settled but my head keeps getting turned by Be.

Was just wondering what ppls opinions were, theres not all that much to choose between them on every comparison site ive looked at, cost wise there aint that much in it since id want email.

On a side note speed considerations should be disregarded, I queried my speed a couple of months back and was assured by newnet that since i had a god awful line i wasnt going to do better than i currently am, ive stuck my line stats below just in case mind.

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 1952 kbps 448 kbps
Line Attenuation 50.0 db 29.5 db
Noise Margin 8.8 db 20.0 db

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php

Type your details into here and find out of Be are on your exchange. If they are then I don't know, Be is not available in my area but then its an option you know is available.

It displays it at the side under LLU status.

Newnet haven't got a 40GB package.

They do have Home SO which is 20GB 7am-2am and unlimited 2am-7am, but �30 per month so I doubt if you would want that.

With that line you should look at O2 not Be. Far cheaper until the end of the month and includes email and 100-day money-back guarantee. Assuming you can get them, as another has already asked. (Just in case you don't know, O2 own Be and use their network. Just they package it differently).

Re the line, have you looked at this site. I have the same attenuation, (on a very good line though), and sync at around 7000kbps. Even on a bad line you should be getting a lot more than you are.

Have you checked everything goes through a filter. Sky box? (And if you have one of those how about Sky LLU if you can get it?).

How good is your router? And your filters? Have you got a cheap telephone extension cable?

But the line can wait. Get the ISP chosen.

Edited by RobertoS (Fri 28-Mar-08 10:04:19)

http://www2.farina1.com/adsl/

Reckon no better out of ADSL, but depending on why the target margin appears to be 9dB, you might manage sync speeds in the 4 to 5Mbps region. Allowing for margin ADSL2+ might give you a 3Mbps sync. All depends on why you aren't quite getting the sync speed you could get under ADSL, i.e. excessive noise, star configuration phone wiring in home etc

Cheers for that link, my downstream speed just shot up!

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 4960 kbps 448 kbps
Line Attenuation 50.0 db 29.5 db
Noise Margin 8.9 db 20.0 db

Had one of the old ring wires connected.
anyway, my exchange is enabled for BE so im none the wiser, more research required i think..

That's great!!!!

I still suggest you look at O2 instead of Be - the 100-day money back guarantee seems to be ending this month, but the �5 discount for ever is open till the end of April now.

If you keep the 4960, (4544 or above), for a few days, your Profile will rise to 4Mb and your download speed will jump dramatically when that happens. No need to re-sync. You won't get a download speed increase until then though - the wonders of BT.

If you keep a constant sync for 10 days the system should drop your Target SNRM, which seems to be 9dB, to 6dB and re-sync you automatically. That should give you another 500kbps or more and 4 or 5 days later your profile will rise to 4.5Mb or even 5Mb - see this table. If you find the re-sync happens when it is dark, best to re-sync again in broad daylight as evening/night syncs can be as much as 1Mbps lower than daytime ones, so it could in fact be lower than what you are getting now.

If you migrate to O2 or Be then none of that matters as the SNRM will be set by them and they don't have the profiling system. But in the meantime you may as well do as I suggest.

Edited by RobertoS (Fri 28-Mar-08 14:07:29)

cheers for all the help, ive actually stumbled across another of your posts which points the op at the line capacity checker, been through that but im not sure what to make of it and in turn whether it should have an impact on my choice

[IMG]http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/698/linecapaa6.th.jpg[/IMG]

not sure i quite get the difference, i would have done at one time but i havnt really kept up with the technolgy in the last couple of years

if anything im leaning back towards plusnet atm, just seems to be the easier option, no 12 month contract and not o2 are big plusses,(not their biggest fan) and my mobile contract isnt up for 10 months so i cant get any discount

Edited by Hutchy18 (Fri 28-Mar-08 19:00:59)

I didn't bother pointing you to that estimator, which is one of the best around, because even with the improvement we now have on your line LLU isn't going to give you much speed, so as you say it isn't really a factor.

What it does give you is higher bandwidth with no throttling at all, and if you get a low sync on IPStream you have the 5-day wait for speed to get back to where it should be - which you are in now. With LLU your sync minus overheads is what you get, there and then - which is what the two ADSL2+ figures are in the estimator. Sync and expected maximum download speed.

Plusnet is IPSTream. HAve you read this page.

Don't know if I gave you any comparisons before.

You are misreading the O2 site. There is a very cheap package for O2 mobile users, and a �5pm discount for non-O2 mobile customers. So the 8Mb package which would be the one for you is �12.50 "unlimited".

Tis your choice though:). Be have been on my exchange for well over a year and I'm still with NN. But I can live with 3GB and wouldn't gain speed either. Though this profiling gets on my wick. Just had a thunderstorm and lost 1Mbps for the next 5 days. Only got it back this morning from a previous one!

I really should read stuff closer, the o2 discount applies to pre pay phones, my mum has a pre pay phone which she tops up sufficiently to meet the requirements. 7.50 for unlimited broadband, i dont care how much i dont like em, thats just too good to turn down!

All done, cheers for the help, much obliged!

Edited by Hutchy18 (Fri 28-Mar-08 20:40:51)

A top bit of work there RobertoS,,, a well played game,, indeed you have saved the op alot of money and put them on to the best ISP for there needs...
again well played !