Broadband Service Providers.

[Scutch]

Is every ISP in the world better than AOL at the moment?

I'm currently on an 8Mbps line and on the odd occasion when its decent I can get 500 - 600KB/s download speeds. However, usual weekday evening speeds are around 50KB/s which is not what I f*cking pay for. Serves me right really, I've been with them for over 10 years now and tried to cancel a year or so ago and they offered me a new wireless router and a cheaper deal. £24.99 Platinum Unlimited I think. Wish I'd just unpegged my sh*tty 1 man tent and pitched elsewhere. The area I'm in seems to manage 8Mbps tops, although I havent checked for a few months now, it may be faster now. I dont want capped or monitored through fair usage policies either, but I realise this is becoming the norm, nowadays.

Are Sky or BT worth the punt? Or should I try something even more unreliable than AOL?

 

[Adam]

First off all take a look here and see who you can go with, LLU etc...

http://www.top10-broadband.co.uk/

 

[Scutch]

Your local exchange:
Cleator Moor
Speed your line supports:
Up to 6.5Mb

What a crock of sh*t. Anyway, what does this mean :

* Your line should be capable of supporting download speeds up to 8Mb.
* An incompatible product may be installed on the line or you already have ADSL broadband
* Your chosen service provider will be able to help with migrations and compatibility issues
* Your line will be fully tested when you place an order
* Unbundled broadband services up to 16Mb (around 320 times faster than dial-up) are available in your area

?

 

[Scutch]

Was just looking at BT and Virgin deals.

This was from Virgin :

Your price
£18.00 per month.


Your broadband speed
After testing your phone line it looks like the broadband speed we'll be able to deliver to your home will be between 8.0Mbps and 9.0Mbps*.

 

[Adam]

Personally I would avoid both BT and Virgin as they have shocking customer service.

Looking at your exchange only Sky LLU is available so that narrows the choice down quite abit lol.

Sky over Virgin/BT any day!

 

[Michael172]

Slightly off topic. But karoo realy arent that bad. bar the 5 o clock rush where the internet will cut off constantly for about 2 hours, it aint bad, i get over 10meg during the day. Hull only though.

Used to have shitloads of problems and after emailing them constantly they sorted it out !

 

[Scutch]

Personally I would avoid both BT and Virgin as they have shocking customer service.

Looking at your exchange only Sky LLU is available so that narrows the choice down quite abit lol.

Sky over Virgin/BT any day!

You seem to know your stuff (or so it seems). So :

When I'm experiencing bad download speeds (as tested on www.speedtest.net for clarification), I contact AOL and ask why. They say they dont have a problem with the speed and it should be fine and maxed out (around 600KBs). However, I tell them its 30KBs or whatever and they cant work out why and make me do so many stupid firewall and anti virus tests that never work. I say to them that they could have capped my speeds, but when they run their diagnostics on the line, the speeds return as normal. So its definitely a problem my end, so it seems. AOL also advise me that other people in my neighbourhood may be causing the problems. I mean, huh? Why would that affect me?

Now, if that is the case, could it have anything to do with the Exchange in my area not being able to cope with the connected users and adjusting the speeds accordingly? I honestly dont know how it works but I'm assuming the Exchange has some input in the spread of downloading/uploading speed?

If this is so, then switching to a different provider will ultimately give me the same problems?

Stumped.

 

[Adam]

Unfortunately testing with sites like speedtest.net aren’t really that accurate or should I say consistent. It always depends on the server you are testing your speed against on these sites, its better to download a large file from a test site i.e from http://www.thinkbroadband.com/download/

Your current connection with AOL is on IP Stream which is a BT Wholesale product i.e their equipment in the exchange and the connection is ADSL Max which is upto 8Mbps DL and 832 kbps UL.

Now with LLU say Sky it’s their equipment in the exchange and you are on their Network and they have full control. Sky is upto 16Mbps DL which is ADSL2+ and UL is 448 Kbps.

Its always down to the ISP you are on to control the traffic / speeds etc regardless which connection type.

My mate was with BT getting around 5Mbps on ADSL Max he switched to Sky LLU and his DL increased by 1Mbps and his overall connection / download bandwidth improved i.e his speeds were more constant when downloading.

I am not 100% clear on Sky's FUP (fair usuage policy) so it may be an idea to find it on their website.

 

[Scutch]

Cheers for that mate. Good stuff.

I've been looking here : http://www.dslzoneuk.net/isp_ratings.php

And Sky is pretty well rep'd. Virgin and BT though : Yikes.

I'm interested in the o2 package, it seems decent enough. No Cap and good speeds and available in my area too. Any word on that one?

http://broadband.o2.co.uk/home/packages.jsp

 

[Adam]

Yeah DSL Zone is a good site so is samknows.com

O2 is a top package but Im sure its not available in your area??

Which package does it say you can have?? Just check its not the "outside area" package.

This is still good but is not LLU.

 

[Scutch]

Yeah DSL Zone is a good site so is samknows.com

O2 is a top package but Im sure its not available in your area??

Which package does it say you can have?? Just check its not the "outside area" package.

This is still good but is not LLU.

Yeah only Sky is in my area for LLU. Well, that and UK Online. What the hell does all this mean, in English?

 

[Adam]

LLU just means the ISP has their own equipment in the local exchange. LLU ADSL offers greater speeds. Take my Be connection I connect at 23.5Mbps DL and 1.3Kbps UL.

Its a choice then between Sky LLU or O2 IP Stream which is the same type of connection you are on now but is better priced and unlimited

 

[Scutch]

So would you recommend Sky over o2, given the LLU inclusion?

Quite like both packages, although o2 is £17 as I'm currently an o2 contract holder. Plus a mate says he can get it down to less than £10 with friends and family.

 

[Adam]

Well without knowing your exact line details it's hard to say what speed increase you will see if you go with Sky LLU. If you want you can PM your BT phone number and I can check my systems I have here at work.

I am with Be which is part of O2 and both companies are highly rated for their services. The O2 price discount you get is obviously a good plus point .

 

[Final Maxim]

if you have sky tv, youd be crazy not to have the sky broadband

you get 2mb for free i believe, or we pay £10 a month for 16mb.

i get a constant 16-17mb download speed, cant recommend sky broadband enough really

 

[Adam]

If you have Sky TV then yes you can save a packet on you BB, you can save even more if you go full LLU and switch your line rental and calls to them aswell

 

[Scutch]

Yeah good point Dan, cheers. I have the full Sky package. I remember now you recommended it months ago and I chose not to go for it, but I cant recall why. Something about the speed or something IIRC, but now it seems bang on.

Going to do a search now, just to confirm incase I missed something important out of why I didnt go down that route.

 

[Scutch]

Found out why I didnt go for Sky originally :

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?t=242022

I could only opt for Sky Connect as there was no LLU in my area. Now there is. Back of the net.

Me : Ahh, AOL, Mac code pleez innit.
AOL : Free stuff. Free stuff. Free stuff. Please dont go.
Me : Oh ok, you've twisted my leg.

DAMN!

 

[Christopher]

My Sky service has been faultless!

8mb

 

[Scutch]

Indeed Chris. In-f*cking-deed.

Going to try and cancel my AOL account later on. Wish me luckz. I'm now thinking I may have extended my contract with them sometime last year. Hope not, the f*cking robbing, sh*t speed serving c*nts.

 

[Ads_172]

I'm with Sky and whilst it's all very reliable, I average about 500kb/s D/L. Looking at my exchange, I should be able to get up to 4.5mb/s.

I am on a wireless router, however, so imagine this will reduce the speed a bit, but surely not to that extent? I've been waiting for days to download series 1 of The Wire!

 

[Final Maxim]

do a speed test

www.speedtest.net

 

[Ads_172]

Yeah I have mate, it regularly came out around the 500kb/s mark.

Do I need to know / try anything else before I call Sky for a moan?

 

[Adam]

Yeah I have mate, it regularly came out around the 500kb/s mark.

Do I need to know / try anything else before I call Sky for a moan?

Yes, download a large file from here http://www.thinkbroadband.com/download/ and monitor your speeds.

Being connected via wireless will have an affect and so will how your router is connected to your phone line. Is it in the master socket?, do you have alot of extensions running off the master socket, also the quality of your internal wirring will have a majore affect on your speeds.

 

[Adam]

Are you using torrents?? You wont max out your connection using public torrents sites so 500Kbps sounds about right.

 

[Ads_172]

I'll try the download file and see what happens mate, cheers.

Nope, with torrents it varies conderably, but I'm lucky to 100kB/s, normally running at half that.

The router is plugged into the main phone line, although the wiring is pretty old. There are extensions for phone and Sky.

 

[Final Maxim]

Yes, download a large file from here http://www.thinkbroadband.com/download/ and monitor your speeds.

Being connected via wireless will have an affect and so will how your router is connected to your phone line. Is it in the master socket?, do you have alot of extensions running off the master socket, also the quality of your internal wirring will have a majore affect on your speeds.

i wouldnt go by that site.

i just tried it, downloading 1gb and its downloading at 500kbps, tried something off filehippo and i get over 1.0mb?

 

[Scutch]

Just ordered Sky Max. AOL contract was up last month FTW.

LLU exchange too.

 

[Final Maxim]

Just ordered Sky Max. AOL contract was up last month FTW.

LLU exchange too.

they gonna come n install it all for ya? or just sending out the stuff?

 

[Scutch]

Erm just sending it out I think. Just the router. Then I need Mac code from AOL to give to Sky to switch over.

 

[Final Maxim]

all good in the hood

 

[Scutch]

I hope it's not a pain in the arse to set up the router.

 

[Final Maxim]

nah, just plug it in and theyll send a card with your SSID and a password, just throw them in, done

 

[Adam]

i wouldnt go by that site.

i just tried it, downloading 1gb and its downloading at 500kbps, tried something off filehippo and i get over 1.0mb?

This site is normally spot on. Maybe there server has an issue.

Yeah file hippo is normally pretty good and so are the Microsoft servers. Any large files from these is a good way of speed testing.

 

[Adam]

Just ordered Sky Max. AOL contract was up last month FTW.

LLU exchange too.

Glad you got it sorted mate.

You can save even more by switching your line rental and calls to Sky aswell ....

 

[Scutch]

Yeah so they said. LOL. Sticking with BT for the time being though. Thanks for all your help! Much appreciated mate.

 

[Adam]

Ha-ha im sure they did lol.

BT sucks ass lol

 

[Adam]

That thinkbroadband site is working fine for me....

 

[Final Maxim]

workin for me now too

16mb line

 

[Adam]

Sweet