Ask4

ASK4 is not a very good provider for a number of reasons:

It takes forever to set up, you have verify each one of your devices, It doesn't let you use a router (!?!?), which I find is ridiculous!

I had to by a WI-FI access point which cost me extra money and It doesn't even let me set it up.

The staff are not helpful all they do is refer you to the website set up descriptions, They don't come and fix the problem (which is not helpful!).

Overall I don't find it is very user friendly, too complicated and too time consuming to set up and organise, difficult to set up a WI-FI connection, and requires the registering process to be repeated every month (Like I have nothing better to do!)

I have no problems with speed when connect to it, but it makes no difference most of the time!

First of all, to get set up you plug the Ethernet cable into the wall, hook up your laptop/pc and open an internet browser. Your taken to the Ask4 portal, which lets you set up your Ask4 Account, decide which broadband package you want. Your also offered other add-ons, such as 4connect which allows you to connect 5 or more devices to the net via a lan-swich or router for an additional £15 (yes, your only allowed one mac address connected to the net at one time). However, if you don't feel like paying there are very easy ways to get around this (such as using your routers mac address).

I first tried the inclusive package of 4mb. I was very surprised to find that it was strong enough to browse the net, and play Xbox live/online games which no lag. I Was very impressed, although i had paid £70 for the advanced 30mb/s package. This led to my first pleasant encounter with the Ask4 tech support...

There tech support staff are extremely helpful. Used to virgin’s incompetent call-center staff, I was surprised to find minutes after the email I sent them, the problem was resolved and I was receiving my full speed. My second encounter was about NAT type (as it is set to moderate by Ask4 by default). I sent them an email at about 10pm and half an hour later I received a phone call telling me to restart all devices connected to the net and the NAT would be open. Their staff are friendly, helpful and best of all they actually know what they are doing.

The speed of the broadband package you pay for will always be up to scratch. I payed for the advanced 30mb/s package, and I usually received 34mb/s-30mb/s at peak times. Impressive, since with virgin I was paying for 50mb/s and at peak times I received only 10mb/s with mass amounts of packet-loss. For online gaming (including Xbox live) you should never have any problems.

The value for the student broadband is cheap. I recommend if you use the net mainly for gaming and downloading use the ‘advanced’ 30mb/spackage or the ‘elite’ 60mb/s. My flatmate brought the 60mb/s package, but I can't see the difference when gaming to due my 30mb/s package being lag-free for gaming anyway. If you just use the web for social networking the free broadband offered to student accommodation would suffice.

Overall, so far Ask4 have been a breath of fresh-air after the horror I have endured with Virgin. The speeds are always constantly maxed, lag free gaming and fast browsing and downloads is what I hoped for with an expensive virgin broadband package. Now I have all of that at a fraction of a price, with a company who hire competent staff. Bravo Ask4!

My experience with Ask4 has been so enjoyable. They state there connection speeds that you pay for yet always manage to exceed them. I was on 10Mb I averagely recieved around 15Mb/s. I was then upgraded to a 50Mb package and recieve around 60 - 80Mb/s.

Their sales team are very helpful, and tech support that is second to none.

Services

Ask4 is convenient, there's no contract, no setup, no BT line required. Just plug direct into an Ethernet connection. A mailbox is also offered.



Support

Support at Ask4 is good. The call-center is UK based; the staff are helpful and knowledgeable. However, this does not make up for the poor quality of the product.



Speed

During the evenings packet loss is often in excess of 20%. Using the connection for anything other than basic browsing is not really an option.



Value

?24 for a bad 2mb connection is not good value for money. However, other property developments do have faster packages available, which may have better performance.