ISP In Leeds

Hi there,

I'm moving into a new block of flats in the south east of Leeds near the river.

I've been looking at numerous websites and basically would like to go with either Be There or Sky. Would go with Virgin Media but their new hub is absolutely SHOCKING and also I think I would have to petition to get the cabling installed on my floor.

HOWEVER I find a problem in that although I am almost 100% positive that both Be and Sky serve my area by using postcodes of business along the same street as my block - whenever I use my actual postcode all sites except PlusNet and BT themselves say they do not offer broadband in my area.

Anyone got an ideas of how to find out whether this is simply a mistake with the companies databases...for example if I type my postcode into google maps, even the almighty Google doesn't have an exact pinpoint for my location.

Should I just get my BT line activated then use my phone number to sign up to an ISP as they say this is the more accurate method? I would rather avoid BT altogether though if possible.

Thanks!

For BE, try putting the postcode in here

http://windows.mouselike.org/be/?DoAction=Checker

Wow. That is just perfect! Lol!

So yeah, they are in the exchange but it is at capacity, which is a crying shame.

I guess I will have to see whether Sky can offer me something...unless you have a better suggestion?

Many thanks for the link by the way!

What exchange is it? If it didn't say, in fact anyway, try this checker and drill down to the actual address. It will give you some speed estimates as well.

Then give us a link to the exchange so we can see what else is available that might be OK.

The link you gave me shows the exchange is the main Leeds one:

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/MYLS

BUT on the map when you try and use the search it brings up a street that is a good 500 meters away from the actual address.

I've found this problem to occur with a lot of the mapping software. In fact, the only software to get the address point correct so far is Street Map - so I cannot be sure that this website is actually giving the right exchange.

Out of every website I have tried the only one that says they can actually provide the service I want (and who actually have the correct address on their system) is PlusNet, but I have heard they are awful.

If you zoom in on the map and use hybrid, you can see the exchange is in the right position.

Oh, sorry. I know the exchange is in the correct position, it's just my postcode that isn't.

And I happen to be right on the edge of two different exchanges which is why I am not sure that the Leeds exchange is indeed the right one!

Plusnet can be OK, just far from being the best. On the other hand they are cheap on that exchange, and far from being really bad.

Re "the only one that says they can actually provide the service I want", we can help more if we know what that is. Heavy downloading or not, main use gaming or never? And so on.

If one thing is bundled phone and broadband, that can often be a nuisance rather than a benefit. The two prime examples are TalkTalk LLU and Sky LLU with Line Rental. (Sky Calls is fine). The big nuisance with those two is your line no longer classifies as a BT line for other ISPs so changing ISP means moving the phone line to another supplier, usually needing to be completed before you can even order another broadband. So you can have several days or even a couple of weeks without broadband.

Even some of the BT line suppliers don't let you keep the line with them if you migrate the broadband, but in that case you usually have a short period where you have phone with one and broadband with another, and no significant downtime.

In any case, phone savings are often small. Are you aware that a BT installation at the moment can be as low as £30? Requires an 18-month contract though. On the other hand, subject to the usage needs, there may be a few other good possibilities as well as the ones you have considered.

Have you checked the postcode and address that Royal Mail have? http://postcode.royalmail.com/

@RobertoS

In terms of service I need, PlusNet will at least say they can give me broadband speeds that will be acceptable. Sky says I am out of their area meaning I would have to get sky connect which costs a small fortune...which I'm still half convinced is because of my postcode. Usage-wise primarily will download and play Xbox live - but I'm used to leaving my PC on overnight to download so peak time download speeds not so much of an issue. Throttling and shaping is though. Low pings would also be a requirement but beginning to realise I don't really have many options being about 1.6-2km away from the nearest exchange.

@BatBoy

I have checked my postcode with Royal Mail and also sent them an enquiry since their postcode and the one from my estate agent do not match. Either way, the newness of the block is obviously an issues as ISPs don't appear to upgrade their databases all that often - which I can kind of understand as Royal Mail charge joke amounts for the information in the first place.