BB / Wireless Help

[RSi Dave]

Ok, me and the Girlfriend have just took hold of our new house, i have today set up a BT phone line and am now getting the BB setup too.

At the moment in my Student house we have 8mb NTL cable BB however i refuse to do anything with NTL again and because we have a phone line now i would prefer to have ADSL BB.

My criteria is as follows: no more than £14.99 per month, at least 2mb and unlimted downloads.

Now I think ive found the best plan for us, its with Tiscali. £14.99 per month , 2mb unlimited.

The other plan which i was tempted by was BT which for £14.99 per month, 6mb however it has a 2GB limit per month.

Now does anyone use Tiscali BB or can anyone suggest a better alternative for my critera?

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Now onto networking, currently we go through a wired router, however ideally i dont want to use wires, we have 1 desktop computer and 1 laptop with the possible future enhancement of an N80 and an xbox360 so the best way would be to go wireless. Now ive not used it before so need some advice.

Looking at ADSL routers what speeds are best to go for?

Ive seen some with 54mbs, 108mbs and 125mbs, does wireless interfear with the BB speed much?

Out of these three routers which would be best?


D-Link 54mbs
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0400532716.1150730623@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccekaddidjlfheicflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&fm=14&sm=1&tm=0&sku=123014&category_oid=-28359

Linksys 125mbs
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0400532716.1150730623@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccekaddidjlfheicflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&fm=14&sm=1&tm=0&sku=225869&category_oid=-28359

Netgear 108mbs
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0400532716.1150730623@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccekaddidjlfheicflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&fm=14&sm=1&tm=0&sku=857357&category_oid=-28359

I know that i require two wireless cards aswell which can be sorted, however im confused about these routers. Would it make loads of difference saving some money and getting a slower one or not?

Thanks

 

[bmh.01]

Got NTL myself so not really sure on the adsl frontier.

First thing is to f**k pc world right off because it'll cost twice as much as anywhere else, whether you need anything more than the 54mbps router depends on whether you intend to do file transfers between then if so then definetly go for the pre-n 108mbps routers because large file transfers over 11g are sloooooow.

I've always liked netgear tackle, have had several other brands and I just prefer it has also been the most reliable for me too.

The other thing is whether you choose a builtin modem/router combo or whether just to get a router i'd imagine tiscali will give you a modem but it just depends whether having two boxes is a big problem compared to just having one.

Good selection of tackle here : http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/store/8/cat/Wireless

Wireless cards themselves are dirt cheap so the whole lot shouldn't come to over £120ish. Depends whether you just need pci ones or whether you need a pcmcia ones for a laptops.

 

[Norris_309]

i think tiscali works on a fair useage polilcy, check this before signing up.
Don't think they like the whole P2P file sharing & all that.

If you don't mind a download limit, i'm with Freedom2Surf & have been for a few years now, they have always been good to me.
Gotta be worth a look on their site (but you won't get unlimited BB for £14.99) a bonus is you get upto 8mb depending on your phone line (i currently get 5.5mb where i am, with a 20Gb a month limit for £19.99)

As above, i use a netgear router & separate netgear wireless access point & it's been fine.
Also used the Belkin wireless modem/router when setting up wireless networks for a few people & they seem pretty good too.

 

[RSi Dave]

id just prefer not to have a download limit just in case as i dont want to be get bummed for using too much.

Fair usage policy just states that between the Hours of 6pm and 11pm monday to sunday try not to use p2p programs. Which is fair enough, id probs do most downloading during the night if getting big files.

 

[DanielDobson]

If you're on Orange Mobile network, and paying more than £30 on your tariff you're entitled to FREE broadband, up to 8mb, although it does have a 10gig limit i think...

 

[RSi Dave]

Not on Orange, was tempted to sign up today and get the offer but to new customers its only one 18month contracts which i dont want

 

[b3nje]

have a looksie at virgin.net broadband my friend is getting 8mb unlimited for 14.99 a month i believe!

 

[RSi Dave]

how, checked there and its £24.99 for 8mb unlimited!

£14.99 gets you 1mb

 

[Bazzer1977]

how, checked there and its £24.99 for 8mb unlimited!

£14.99 gets you 1mb

My girlfriends bb-line with Virgin is 2.2mb and she pays £14.99

 

[Harry_manback]

as for networking,
i hate wireless and i cant understand why people use it.
its SOOOOOO slow. go wired ok can be a mess to install but wireless is so unsecure even if you secure it people can still get in.
i take great pleasure in disabling unsecured wireless networks from the road side so people have to spend the next 4 hours on the phone to customer support because they cant figure out how to get thier p**n to load up.

speed is everything splash out on decent gear, generally you get what you pay for!

 

[Mells]

have a looksie at virgin.net broadband my friend is getting 8mb unlimited for 14.99 a month i believe!

im with virgin and cant fault them. 8meg for 17.99 and no contract

 

[bunzee]

i'm with madasafish.com 8mb speed for £11.99 a month for the first 6 months, i think it's £14.99 after that.

only 5gb a month tho - £2.50 per extra gb after that.

 

[bunzee]

oh btw, if anyone does want to go with madasafish pm me cos i can give you a referral number and you'll get a tenner

you get a free domain name too