Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media ?

[D1CKY]

I am in the process of looking for a unlimited internet and phone package with free calls and wireless router.

I have been looking at the BT Homehub Option 3 20Mb Unlimited Broadband with free calls anytime to Uk numbers for £41 a month which includes the BT Line Rental.

http://www.broadband.bt.com/ppc/ind..._aff_tradedoubler_vidTDG_broadband#tab_box_03

I have been swayed toward Virgin and Sky Broadband aswell, as they seem quite good deal wise too.

But before i go for one of them.

How do people on here rate BT, Sky and Virgin for there Services ?

Bare in mind i live outside Aberdeen and Fibre Optic broadband aint up here yet.

 

[D2501]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

Don't get BT, I have it and its useless mate, I have to reset the homehub at least 2-3 times per night while using it, and its the second one I've had.
My OH has Virgin, and there's never a problem. I had Virgin last year and I never had any issues either.
My parents have Sky, and there are never any problems with that either.

I'm cancelling my BT very soon to get one of the others!

 

[Robb]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

Phone BT up a lot at work on behalf of clients and they are truly useless, Nice people though.

 

[SC03OTT]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

Got Virgin here. Never had a problem with it. It's just the 10 meg service we have, but it's fast enough for what we use it for (general surfing, downloading the odd album). If I do download anything major, I just leave it over night.

 

[mr.valver]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

VM for the past 6-7 years and it's a solid performer.

Thumbs up from me.

 

[The Ironist]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

BT is crap I'm with them. They will rape you between 5 and 12 for 30 days from time you go over 100GB and it's down to 1mb!!!

 

[D1CKY]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

I heard a few people say BT was crap but i just thought it was a few people that had been unlucky.

It may look like its going to be Virgin.

Has anyone had dealings with Sky or Talk Talk ?

 

[mark_182_54]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

virgin 10meg here and its decent

 

[DMS]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

50mbit Virgin Media broadband here and it's fantastic. Never set a foot wrong and I can always get about 6Mb/s of data down.
Their customer service is shocking though. Every time you ring them for whatever reason they're completely useless (unless it's to pay your bill or sell you more services, in which case they're awesome).

 

[Justin]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

I'm with talk talk. Not had any problems

 

[lau2908]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

virgin all the way been a customer for over 10 years an always had a superb service, internet is always fast, am on 20mb an its brill

 

[coatesy]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

dont get there 10mb its s**t

 

[Macester]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

Be/o2 pro package. end thread.

 

[guysy]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

BT unlimited here, Slow dls, Homehub always resetting = not that happy.

Will be looking for a replacement supplier soon, Keeping an eye on this thread.

Wish i had virgin fibreoptic in my area.

 

[DMS]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

My Mrs' parents have BT Unlimited too, despite my advice against.
Sure enough, their download and upload speeds are pathetic, the Homehub hangs every so often and the wireless drops out (both of which cause her little brother's Xbox Live to disconnect which REALLY winds him up).
They're currently on their second Homehub which is just as bad as the first one. I've told them to go back to Virgin Media (who they were originally with and received 6 years of faultless service from) but her mum won't because it's part of her (apparently cheap) phone bundle.

 

[dk]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

Be/o2 pro package. end thread.

apart from the wireless router being as good as a chocolate teapot in the desert, i have to be ontop of it to get my 20mb, more than 3m away and i get 3mb, useless. need to ring up and complain, common problem though apparently, its just a s**t wireless n router.

 

[conneh]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

apart from the wireless router being as good as a chocolate teapot in the desert, i have to be ontop of it to get my 20mb, more than 3m away and i get 3mb, useless. need to ring up and complain, common problem though apparently, its just a s**t wireless n router.

Buy a decent router then?

Personally i would go with IDNet, as they are 10x the provider of what has been listen so far. Close nip community with a good friendly forum, uttermost reliable internet - hasn't gone wrong in years. There are no times where it gets sluggish or slows down. You pay for what you get.

 

[NOT! gary l]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

Have been with virgin since the Telewest days but with Nagra 3 being dished out all round the country my tv 'box' no longer works.

VM broadband is the best, end of. I wanted to keep that and get rid of the TV channels and the phone, looking on the website they have the package i have which is advertised at £22.50 per month i currently pay £45 plus V.A.T for mine.

So yesterday i phoned to cancel explaining i wasn't happy and was switching to Sky the wifey then put me on hold for about 8 seconds and came back saying if i stayed she would do it for £35.50 all in. I took that option.

The only bad thing with VM is the call centres are in India it seems, i can never get anyone who speaks more than basic english and i have to spell every word out to them.

But my broadband is consistently achieveing download speeds of 10MB, even with 2 ps3's, desktop laptop and iPhone all using wifi the internet connection is always stable.

However, that doesn't help the OP lol

 

[Macester]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

yeah can't blame them for the equipment, the line i'm talking about, no stupid line managers capping you every 10 minutes. if your looking for a decent wireless b/g card, get an Alfa AWUS036H, best on the market! 1000mW monster!

 

[MRBILLYUK]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

Been with Virgin about 7 years , 20mb is spot on , usually get around 19mb so i'm happy . In all that time i've only ever had it go down a handful of times .

 

[D1CKY]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

I'm with talk talk. Not had any problems

How much is that a month ?
Is it fast enough and how long are you tied in for ?


Its sounding like its gonna be Virgin Media i think after hearing so many bad things about BT and there Homehub.
Would these Homehub issues be resolve if i replaced it with a new router ?

Buy a decent router then?

Personally i would go with IDNet, as they are 10x the provider of what has been listen so far. Close nip community with a good friendly forum, uttermost reliable internet - hasn't gone wrong in years. There are no times where it gets sluggish or slows down. You pay for what you get.

Any details mate ?

And how much they are a month and if Aberdeenshire is covered with decent speeds ?

 

[conneh]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

I wouldn't know what your area code is so i can't check.

8mb ADSL is £24.99 (they do cheaper packages) but this comes with a healthy 90gb download allowence, and unlimited uploads. Works out at £21 if you pay yearly.

24mb ADSL+2 is the same price, but you need to make check if you can have this.

http://www.idnet.net/solutions/home/adslselector.jsp

Nice things are 1 month contract, UK call centers, forum etc.

 

[The Ironist]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

I wouldn't know what your area code is so i can't check.

8mb ADSL is £24.99 (they do cheaper packages) but this comes with a healthy 90gb download allowence, and unlimited uploads. Works out at £21 if you pay yearly.

24mb ADSL+2 is the same price, but you need to make check if you can have this.

http://www.idnet.net/solutions/home/adslselector.jsp

Nice things are 1 month contract, UK call centers, forum etc.

Their download allowances are split into on peak and off peak though, so that 90GB is made up of just 30GB peak (they call 9am-midnight) and 60GB off peak (midnight-9am). Also quite expensive. I would be with o2 or sky if I could choose but neither of those cover my area

 

[conneh]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

Thats why it works Menzo. Never any slow periods etc. No port thottling or anything like that - just makes it a decent ISP.

 

[conneh]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/c...1&isp_7=1&isp_16=1&isp_86=1&isp_21=1&isp_84=1

 

[Henry]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

have a good look on moneysavingsexpert.com as well, as there's a fair amount of useful info and links on there

 

[dk]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

Buy a decent router then?

Personally i would go with IDNet, as they are 10x the provider of what has been listen so far. Close nip community with a good friendly forum, uttermost reliable internet - hasn't gone wrong in years. There are no times where it gets sluggish or slows down. You pay for what you get.

Why should I have to buy a decent router when the pro is priced as such a it includes a 'premium' router!

And I can't see how this ISP is 10x any others, my o2 is 20 meg, has no download limits whatsoever, never goes down or slows, can't see how an ISP could be any better than that, especially for the price. With quidco and 3 months free it's cost me about £15 for the year!

Oh and it's close knit community lol and you only get what you pay for!

 

[conneh]

Re: Best Internet Deals for Unlimited Internet. How good is BT, Sky and Virgin Media

The o2 Wireless III router is a Thomson Speedtouch TG585N. Which is a budget router in all fairness. So yea, you get what you paid for.