Page 1 of Broadband Provider Recommendations

I am looking to switch from my 56k connection to broadband and was wondering what`s the best service provider in terms of speed and connection.

Are BT nad Pipex any good? Which ISPs would you recommend?

I`m on Pipex - and have been for over a year now
I`ve never had any problems whatsoever - and the connection/speeds etc. are great

I`ve no problem recommending them - and at £23.44 a month I think they`re really very reasonable

I`m with Demon, and am happy with them. Friend just went to Nildram and raves about them, although another friend is already on Nildram and says the support is rubbish.

BT however, urg, don`t even consider them.

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I was on AOL dial-up from about 1998, I think, until July 2003 when I got AOL Broadband - and it is superb. £27.99 a month, no setup fee, free modem, prompt delivery of broadband kit, and good support.

My dad is on BT Broadband and has been experiencing some problems with his ADSL connection with them - now thinking of switching to AOL also.

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Pipex - been with them 20 months - one failure for two hours in that time. Even email to tell me that BT will be working on the exchange at 3 in the morning. Have a look at the excellent ADSLGuide to help you decide - you can run comparisons on speed/customer service etc and also give a monthly top ten.

Peter

I`m in the market for broadband - probably going to go with freenetname. £24 a month and we can keep our existing domain name which is registered through freenetname - much less hassle then paying a transfer fee.

Anyway, my question is, does it really matter which modem you choose? Freenetname will only support the D-link modem that they offer (whether you buy it from them or not is irrelevant)

Buying a US Robotics modem for instance would work just as well wouldn`t it? They aren`t too hard to set up? I`ve got a fair amount of computer experiene but none with broadband. I`ve set up home networks before, that`s about it really.

Finally, any recommendations for the modem? Or any warnings to get me away from freenetname? The draw of keeping domain name is huge for me, the service is part of Brightview Internet which supplies ADSL for Global Internet and a few other companies too. Global were possibly the fastest dial up service I have ever used, it was impeccable, but didn`t offer an unlimited service so we got rid of it some time ago.

Thanks in advance.

Ive been with Pipex since August 2003 - the day our area got Broadband. Have had a few problems with servers being down and being off line for as long as 3 hrs once and emails delayed once for 6 hours because of server problems and backlog of emails. I think most of these problems can also be linked to BT doing things on the line. Online support via email slow - problems sort themselves out before reply received. But someone gave me a good link to get Pipex Status which is very useful.

I`ve recommended Pipex to 3 neighbours and will continue to recommend it. When Its working (95% of time) its very very good! So would continue to recommend it for the price and setup fees etc.
A friend was with BT - for business use he`s given them a mouthfull for their crap service and support - was offered 3months free but refused and is looking to change.

Hope this helps
Niteowl
update: 6.11.03 Just spent last 4 days trying to sort out my pipex connection - Pipex said they weren`t aware of problems. Today surprise surprise I noticed their status page said some users were having problems since 3.11.03 - Fingers crossed they`ve got it sorted - been on for 2 hrs today without connection problems (yet :)

This item was edited on Thursday, 6th November 2003, 19:58

Eclipse, Nildram and Pipex are reckoned to be the leading players in terms of speed, reliability and pricing.

I`m a Nildram user and while the ADSL service is nothing short of excellent, customer support is average at best. Mind you, email support is prompt and I only needed my webmail activated. Everything else went like clockwork. 5-days from ordering online to getting my line activated with user account information.

£22.99 per month, no minimum contract.

My honest opinion, don`t even consider AOL. The issues I have with AOL are the 12-month contract, that it provides a USB only ADSL modem (AFAIK at the moment and this can`t be shared with other devices via an Ethernet router. Though I`m happy to stand corrected if this has since changed!), the price, and that it`s not reckoned to be a good DSL provider. As someone has already said, check out ADSL Guide and you`ll see for yourself! Check out the forums too and feel free to ask questions. There are good hardware reviews there as well. Everyone there is really helpful, :D

HTH

Anil
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Anil K, the original rock hard Ninja, Vampire Hunter AND Karaoke Terrorist
DVD Reviewer
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If I want your opinion I`ll give it to you.

OK, seeing as I am actually with AOL, whereas Anil is not, I feel I should reply to the above:

Quote:
the 12-month contract - may be to some, but is there any real problem with a 12-month contact?

Quote:
a USB only ADSL modem - this is true, although all new PC/laptops have at least 1 USB port, if not 2 (or more), so this again shouldn`t be a problem. I am not sure if it can or can`t be shared with an Ethernet router.

Quote:
the price - for £27.99 a month, only a smidge more than most other providers, you get the benefits of AOL membership that include numerous channels, chat rooms, good e-mail interface, built-in browser with pop-up blocker, advanced spam protection, parental controls, buddy list, Instant Messaging and more. And also, like I said before, there is no setup fee - and the modem is also free.

Quote:
and that it`s not reckoned to be a good DSL provider - I have had no problems with it. Why do you think that, Anil?

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I have narrowed it down to 2: Pipex or Nildram.

Which one should I go for?