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is talktalk business broadband any better?

is talktalk business broadband any better? edit: which isp on budget?

Hi there,

This is my first post after reading lots of interested threads and I was wondering whether I could get some information.

Here is my problem:

I am due to move out for the first time and am looking for an ISP. As a self employed subtitled, I totally rely on the internet and download films for work all the time. I don't necessarily need a super fast connection as the films are between 400 and 700 mobs big, but I certainly need a reliable connection 24/7.

As I work from home, I will also use the internet privately. I have recently acquired a talk talk youview box and will stream on-demand shows.

As this is my first time away from home and I dont know what exactly to expect from water and electricity bills etc. I really want to keep costs low and only get what I need, hence no sky channels but freebies to start out with. However, I do like that talk talk offers TV packages and I was wondering whether I could or should take their internet, as hopefully I would be able to add their TV function lateron if required.

I am very concerned about their reputation though, especially since I rely on working internet so much. I am wondering, however, if their business broadband would be more reliable or at least their customer service be better? Does anyone know?

Also, would I still be able to add a TV package despite being a business customer?

I am very worried about going with them but the alternative I thought would be plus net, although I haven't read good things about them here either?

Thank you for your help!
 
Last edited:
we have now found nowtv, which seems to give us exactly what we want as an add on!
so I think with this in mind we would be foolish to go to talk talk but also it would end up more expensive than plus net.

However, with some people not being too happy about plus net, are they really that bad? How come they've got all these awards?



Hi there,

This is my first post after reading lots of interested threads and I was wondering whether I could get some information.

Here is my problem:

I am due to move out for the first time and am looking for an ISP. As a self employed subtitled, I totally rely on the internet and download films for work all the time. I don't necessarily need a super fast connection as the films are between 400 and 700 mobs big, but I certainly need a reliable connection 24/7.

As I work from home, I will also use the internet privately. I have recently acquired a talk talk youview box and will stream on-demand shows.

As this is my first time away from home and I dont know what exactly to expect from water and electricity bills etc. I really want to keep costs low and only get what I need, hence no sky channels but freebies to start out with. However, I do like that talk talk offers TV packages and I was wondering whether I could or should take their internet, as hopefully I would be able to add their TV function lateron if required.

I am very concerned about their reputation though, especially since I rely on working internet so much. I am wondering, however, if their business broadband would be more reliable or at least their customer service be better? Does anyone know?

Also, would I still be able to add a TV package despite being a business customer?

I am very worried about going with them but the alternative I thought would be plus net, although I haven't read good things about them here either?

Thank you for your help!
 
As a self employed subtitled, I totally rely on the internet and download films for work all the time. I don't necessarily need a super fast connection as the films are between 400 and 700 mobs big, but I certainly need a reliable connection 24/7.

As I work from home, I will also use the internet privately.

I would suggest:

For business - forget Talk Talk. Look at Zen, AAISP and Aquiss.

For resilience - have two lines - the above will be the business line, and from the above you want a business package with an SLA.

For the home one pick who you like - Talk Talk if you want. From all reports, yes, their customer service is atrocious.

Having two phone lines is not, however, a high availability solution because there are too many common points of failure. AAISP for instance do a package which involves supplying you with two lines, but this is still not really that resilient *by itself* because if an HGV or the wind takes down the phone lines coming to your house, you'll have nothing.

Ideally one of them would be on the cable or another network which is entirely separate.

As an alternative, check out 3G and 4G coverage and opt for a router with failover although it's not a disaster - if your primary and secondary go down (both lines fail) - to plug the dongle into the computer via USB until it's fixed. AAISP do that bit, too, thus rectifying the single point of failure issue above.

Though as regards your residential TV they don't do that. If you take a YouView type box from an ISP you often get additional bundled services specific to that ISP which is why I mention two separate lines above with the residential one having the potential to be from Talk Talk if that's what you want. Not a bundled all in solution like AAISP and more work for you to set up and configure but still gets you a redundant setup and your TV, and leaves your choice of business ISP open.
 
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Thanks for your reply.

I have a 3g phone which has got an internet sharing function. I am due an upgrade soon so might get one with 4g. I guess that would be an emergency solution, if my internet fails.

As for the main internet, I am now beginning to think maybe I should got with sky. They had the fewest complaints etc. But I have now read an article on cable.co.uk where the compared BT with sky and while both their real speeds were lower than the estimated 16 and 15 mbs, BT was around 10 while sky was a shocking 5.7! The reason I thought sky might be for me was that people seemed to get super fast speeds?





I would suggest:

For business - forget Talk Talk. Look at Zen, AAISP and Aquiss.

For resilience - have two lines - the above will be the business line, and from the above you want a business package with an SLA.

For the home one pick who you like - Talk Talk if you want. From all reports, yes, their customer service is atrocious.

Having two phone lines is not, however, a high availability solution because there are too many common points of failure. AAISP for instance do a package which involves supplying you with two lines, but this is still not really that resilient *by itself* because if an HGV or the wind takes down the phone lines coming to your house, you'll have nothing.

Ideally one of them would be on the cable or another network which is entirely separate.

As an alternative, check out 3G and 4G coverage and opt for a router with failover although it's not a disaster - if your primary and secondary go down (both lines fail) - to plug the dongle into the computer via USB until it's fixed. AAISP do that bit, too, thus rectifying the single point of failure issue above.

Though as regards your residential TV they don't do that. If you take a YouView type box from an ISP you often get additional bundled services specific to that ISP which is why I mention two separate lines above with the residential one having the potential to be from Talk Talk if that's what you want. Not a bundled all in solution like AAISP and more work for you to set up and configure but still gets you a redundant setup and your TV, and leaves your choice of business ISP open.
 
You have several things competing here:

1. Availability
2. Price
3. Speed

Your initial post suggests the order above is what's most important to you. Is this right?

Bear in mind that broadband supplied over phone lines does not come with any kind of Service Level Agreement for residential packages. If the above is correct and you need a faulty line fixed quickly, you need a business package with an SLA.

Otherwise, if the line fails, no matter who you go with the fault then gets passed onto BT who will get around to fixing it when they get around to fixing it. What would be the effect of having no line at all for say, 10 days?

If that's important then for your main or business line you need an ISP who does business packages with SLAs.

Sky have no business offerings, but might be fine for your residential connection assuming two lines.

If just one line then 3G or 4G can provide a working alternative if the line breaks but you'll still want it fixed quickly. This automatically rules out Sky.

I should just check at this point - you do know that if you're considering ADSL based broadband the speeds quoted as "up to" don't mean that you can ever actually get anything like that speed - for instance here we can get "up to 16Meg" but the fastest the line will go is 2Meg. Doesn't matter which ISP, none of them will be faster than that.

To find out how fast the line(s) at your property will go, you need to look up the number or the address on:

https://www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/main.html

If you post the results back on here after taking out your phone number/postcode/full address for your own security then people can see what's available to you and advise accordingly.
 
The test shows download line 7.5 and a range of 6.5 to 8.
I am worried that two lines plus a mobile with internet really will exceed my budget.

For a business deal, do you have to have a ltd or similar? I am a sole trader.

And yes, the order of availability, cost and speed is correct.




You have several things competing here:

1. Availability
2. Price
3. Speed

Your initial post suggests the order above is what's most important to you. Is this right?

Bear in mind that broadband supplied over phone lines does not come with any kind of Service Level Agreement for residential packages. If the above is correct and you need a faulty line fixed quickly, you need a business package with an SLA.

Otherwise, if the line fails, no matter who you go with the fault then gets passed onto BT who will get around to fixing it when they get around to fixing it. What would be the effect of having no line at all for say, 10 days?

If that's important then for your main or business line you need an ISP who does business packages with SLAs.

Sky have no business offerings, but might be fine for your residential connection assuming two lines.

If just one line then 3G or 4G can provide a working alternative if the line breaks but you'll still want it fixed quickly. This automatically rules out Sky.

I should just check at this point - you do know that if you're considering ADSL based broadband the speeds quoted as "up to" don't mean that you can ever actually get anything like that speed - for instance here we can get "up to 16Meg" but the fastest the line will go is 2Meg. Doesn't matter which ISP, none of them will be faster than that.

To find out how fast the line(s) at your property will go, you need to look up the number or the address on:

https://www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/main.html

If you post the results back on here after taking out your phone number/postcode/full address for your own security then people can see what's available to you and advise accordingly.
 
You don't have to be a Limited company.

If going for a single line then the quality of the ISP and the SLA become more important.

Speed should be about 7 Meg downstream and 1 Meg upstream so given this is quite slow, ideally you want an ISP that can deliver most or all of that most or all of the time.

Zen:
http://www.zen.co.uk/business/broadband/business-broadband.aspx

Note the prioritisation features in the packages at the bottom of the page.

Aquiss:
http://www.aquiss.net/broadband-business.php

Both of these have the Enhanced Care option available @ 12/mo extra, e.g.

http://www.zen.co.uk/business/broadband/business-broadband/enhanced-care.aspx

Then add line rental.

Not meant to be some kind of exhaustive list of business grade ISPs, others may make different suggestions however both are well rated.
 
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Talktalk business adsl2 gives more consistent actual speeds than talktalk home and the support is good and UK based with the target of end of next working day for problem fixes. That can easily slip as whilst an engineer does seem to get there in that time it can take another 48 hours for the next engineer if a fix is not achieved. As you would expect it does not come with TV though, does the TV box need anything special other than standard broadband?
 
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