I have just completed a year's contract with Orange Home Broadband (7Mbps ADSL), originally in Westminster and then moved mid-way through to Aberdeen. Actual download speed achieved has been a maximum of 3.5Mbps.
Summary - Good
Overall, I did manage to get access to the internet for a lot of the time I was with Orange. The tariff was reasonable at the time of signing up.
Summary - Bad Points
At no point would I rate the quality of the connection as excellent. The house move was a disaster. There have been technical problems that I have had to research and fix myself. Tech Support / Customer service have been courteous and friendly, but there are severe competence issues.
Chronological Log of contact with Orange:
Oct 11: Set up broadband after a mis-selling debacle with BT. Set up goes efficiently and broadband works OK.
Apr 12: I find out I'm moving to Aberdeen with my job in a month. Contact Orange to notify them and arrange home move. Told to call back again one week before move. The dicking-about period begins.
Jun 12: After dozens of phone calls, an engineer appointment is arranged at a very inconvenient time, leaving me without internet for another fortnight. "The next one we can book is in 2 weeks" - could have been arranged when I called in April/May. Engineer fails to show at first appointment. Another 2 weeks, more phone calls, and finally the line is set up. Orange award 2 months free by way of compensation (only after a severe dressing-down over the phone).
Jul 12: After more phone calls (all costing money) and still no internet, Orange finally BEGIN their house-move process.
Aug 12: Internet is extremely tempramental and unreliable - worse than the days of a 56k Modem line. Tech support tell me to switch router off and on again. I google the problem and adjust router settings to fix it myself. Reliability problems solved but bandwidth remains poor (Skype video calls remain impossible).
Oct 12: Contract finally finished, Orange retention team did offer 2 months free as an incentive to stay, which I declined. The MAC Code has taken over a week and is yet to arrive by post, but has been read out to me over the phone. Have now ordered a switch over to Xilo, saving £2/mth and [potentially] quadrupling bandwidth. Should have visited this website (ISPreview) a year ago. I hold MoneySuperMarket.com responsible for the poor recommendation.
Time With Provider:
Package Name: