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LLU BB provider for my needs - new to Britain

j0t

0
Hi all!

I'm new to Britain* and I'm moving to London around mid-august. I'd like some advice for choosing my BB provider. Here are some details:
1. I will be living in a new property (no BT line) in the Walworth exchange area
2. I want ADSL2+ speeds (though not necessarily on an ADSL connection)
3. I want no usage cap
4. I'd like to get consistently good speeds (by "consistently good" I mean that if the ADSL line connection speed is 13Mbps then the actual download speed should be as close as possible to that at all times)
5. I'd really like to have a low ping
6. I want a contract which is no longer than 12 months. I could be staying in London longer, so this is just in case I decide to leave after 1 year.

I'd like my new provider to fit the above point as much as possible. I know well there is no such perfect ISP, this is just a description of what my ideal BB provider should be like...

From the research I've done on ISPreview, the best solution for me should be a plain vanilla BT phone line with a Be Broadband ADSL. This would mean spending £127.99 for the connection charge, and £33.51 monthly (11.54 line rental + £21.97 Be Pro). I understand that Be's service is specifically targeted to power users, and fits all the above points. The price is a bit hefty though, especially the £127.99 connection charge.

One of the other providers that caught my attention is TalkTalk. They have a £26.48 calls+web offer, with unlimited downloads and landline calls, plus no connection charge for new lines. They have a 18-month minimum contract length, but I'd be more than willing to pay their £13.50 per remaining contract month early disconnection fee (if I terminate my contract after 1 year this would mean a total disconnection fee of £81, still cheaper than BT's connection charge). The problem with TalkTalk is that I have read so many bad reviews on them that I'm doubting their service is any good. However, I also understand that many "bad" reviews I find on your website were written by non-LLU users, so a provider getting low marks does not necessarily mean their LLU service is bad (this is exactly the case with my current BB provider - Wind of Italy - which consistently gets bad reviews but has an excellent LLU service). Is their service any good in LLU-enabled areas?

Does anyone know another provider that could fit my needs?

* = sorry for my poor English :)

EDIT: I see my exchange is going to be FTTC-enabled by the end of December 2010. Would it be best for me to subscribe to a short-term service and then switch to FTTC once it arrives in my area?
 
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Firstly, since you have no telephone line yet, it can be difficult to determine precisely what kind of service you might receive. One good trick is to find the phone number for your closest neighbour and then run it through a checker like ours. I would also add that speed is also affected by how your home wiring and telephone kit are setup, among other things; your ISP choice is only half of the equation.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/checker/

You can also put the Postcode through in a 2nd test but that will not give you any accurate idea of speed and is not the most effective method for service identification either. It might at least tell you which cable or unbundled broadband alternatives are available in your area.

But, assuming you can get them, the BE Pro package is definitely good but they don't yet do line rental so you might instead be better off choosing O2's Home Phone and top-tier unbundled broadband service. TalkTalk's Phone and Pro broadband package is also known to perform quite well in comparison to their basic option.

Regardless of what you do there will probably be a fairly sizable connection charge to pay for any new line, which is generally unavoidable. You might also have to wait a couple of weeks before the connection goes live, again that is not uncommon.
 
Firstly, since you have no telephone line yet, it can be difficult to determine precisely what kind of service you might receive. One good trick is to find the phone number for your closest neighbour and then run it through a checker like ours.
It is a new development and I don't think anybody is living in the building yet.

I would also add that speed is also affected by how your home wiring and telephone kit are setup, among other things; your ISP choice is only half of the equation.
All those factors depend on the wiring, which is the same no matter which ISP I choose, so I don't think they should be put in the equation at all.

But, assuming you can get them, the BE Pro package is definitely good but they don't yet do line rental so you might instead be better off choosing O2's Home Phone and top-tier unbundled broadband service.
The problem with O2 is that they require me to have a working BT phone line in order to switch. So I would spend £127.99 for connection and then £90 for leaving BT before the end of their 12 months minimum contract... ugh...

TalkTalk's Phone and Pro broadband package is also known to perform quite well in comparison to their basic option.
Their reviews are so dreadful... Are they THAT bad?

Regardless of what you do there will probably be a fairly sizable connection charge to pay for any new line, which is generally unavoidable. You might also have to wait a couple of weeks before the connection goes live, again that is not uncommon.
It is the same in Italy.

What about Post Office's Home Phone offer? I've read it is the same as a BT phone line, but their connection charge is slightly cheaper, plus they have no minimum tie-in period. Could it be a solution for me to get a Post Office Home Phone, then switch immediately to O2?
 
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I expect this is better than BT (I have no idea what their charges are these days), but just be aware that although the Post Office "have no minimum tie-in period", it'll cost you £15 if you cancel within six months.
In their terms and conditions - ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/public/ctf/po/HP&BB_Terms&cons_V10.pdf - I found, at the very end:
If you cancel Post Office HomePhone within six months of any new line provision, we may charge you a cancellation fee to recover our reasonable costs. That cancellation fee is set out in the Price List.
...and after eventually finding the correct "Price List" from the various ones they link to - ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/public/ctf/po/line_and_feature_rentals_v8.pdf - it says in that:
New Line Provision Cancellation Charge - HomePhone
If you cancel Post Office HomePhone within six months of any New Line Provision, we may charge you a cancellation fee of £15 to cover our reasonable costs.
 
Still much better than BT's £90 sell-my-kidney cancellation fee :)

I think I'll go with Post Office + O2 Pro ADSL. I only hope to be able to switch to FTTC when they begin offering it. If I upgrade to a new offer, do you think O2 will charge me an early cancellation fee?
 
Well, I wouldn't like to be so bold as to predict what might happen if/when FFTC becomes available, but, as a very general rule, most ISPs will...
(a) not charge you if you are upgrading to a more expensive package of their own - they'll be getting more per month out of you from then onwards, so they don't want to put you off upgrading,
(b) charge a "regrade fee" if, for some reason, you decide to downgrade to a cheaper package of theirs - for example, you're not a heavy user, you only signed up to something with a 30GB monthly allowance because that was their cheapest one at the time, they then bring out a new package offering 15GB a month at £5 less, and you decide that will be plenty for you.
(c) screw every penny that they legally can out of you if you decide to ditch them for someone else, so they won't be getting any money out of you in future.

Incidentally, I said "I expect this is better than BT (I have no idea what their charges are these days)"...
Reading the thread again, I see that you had, in fact, mentioned BT's charge earlier.
There is nothing at all wrong with your English - that's just my brain not functioning in hot weather - sorry!
 
Still much better than BT's £90 sell-my-kidney cancellation fee :)

I think I'll go with Post Office + O2 Pro ADSL. I only hope to be able to switch to FTTC when they begin offering it. If I upgrade to a new offer, do you think O2 will charge me an early cancellation fee?

There's currently a £50 cashback for O2 broadband available through Quidco - http://www.quidco.com/search?login=Search&search=broadband

If they'll let you have it, BT apparently have extended their £29.99 line connection special offer to the end of september, although their website still says it ends in June (subject to an 18 month phone contract and requires you to make 10 chargeable calls per month, or 30 per quarter depending on your billing period) see this thread :- http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1640845&page=42 . I believe they also have a £50 connection offer if you take their broadband too, however their broadband service would not meet your requirements as its traffic managed and has fair usage allowances. EDIT: sorry I see BT's offer won't be suitable due to the 18 month contract.
 
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Well, I wouldn't like to be so bold as to predict what might happen if/when FFTC becomes available, but, as a very general rule, most ISPs will...[...]
This is the same as in Italy.

Incidentally, I said "I expect this is better than BT (I have no idea what their charges are these days)"...
Reading the thread again, I see that you had, in fact, mentioned BT's charge earlier.
There is nothing at all wrong with your English - that's just my brain not functioning in hot weather - sorry!
Thank you. But don't mention heat, please :D

There's currently a £50 cashback for O2 broadband available through Quidco - http://www.quidco.com/search?login=Search&search=broadband
Quidco. Excellent site. It has offers for both O2 and Be. I'll keep it in my bookmarks.

If they'll let you have it, BT apparently have extended their £29.99 line connection special offer to the end of september, although their website still says it ends in June (subject to an 18 month phone contract and requires you to make 10 chargeable calls per month, or 30 per quarter depending on your billing period) see this thread :- http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1640845&page=42.
That's interesting, I'll be sure to double check whether the offer is still available when I subscribe.

I believe they also have a £50 connection offer if you take their broadband too, however their broadband service would not meet your requirements as its traffic managed and has fair usage allowances.
And it is a terrible ISP...

EDIT: sorry I see BT's offer won't be suitable due to the 18 month contract.
Not necessarily. It depends on how much their early leave fee is. I'll check on that.

Thank you guys, I now have a much clearer picture of what to do.
 
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