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ndo vs vispa

Hey guys, I'm tyrin to pick my first broadband provider,we've only just had our exchange activated by BT!! :)
Does anyone have any opinions on VISPA or NDO? I'm obviously lookin for a starter package of some discription (one that would allow the future option of connecting to XBOX LIVE would be a plus,though i know thats only really to do with the modem,but i'd rather get now than have to fork out later!). The rewiews i have read on both theses IP's are good/great. I'm after a 512kpbs connection as that will be plenty for what i need.
I have a freind on Tiscali,but have read real horror storys about them :eek: , I'm also not keen on the 'major names' having gig limits. As for similar moneys other IP's have none.
I have studied both VISPA and NDO web sites to the best of my limited ability,but wouldn't mind some honest opinions from people that do or have used them. Many thanks
 
I currently use NDO, and can't fault them. £24.99/month, with no activation fee (as long as you stay with them for a year). I've never used Vispa, but based on the comments I have read on this site I would definitely consider them.

I'd also suggest looking at PlusNet, as I was with them for about a year, and they were equally good.

If you want to play online Xbox, you should get a router rather than a modem. This allows you to create your own little network, and you would plug both your PC and your console into it. Many also come with a firewall, meaning you have better protection from some online nasties.

Andy
 
Thanx Akbray, Yeah..i've heard of this router thing..so that'd be the way to go i think too. Have just been readin reviews on here for NDO...they sound really good. And from what i gather...no hefty £69 activation fees!!! Which is nice. And if the service is as good as reports...12mnths is not a problem.
 
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As I said b4 - I'd happily recommend them based on my experience. I don't know about their customer support though - I've never had to use them.

I'd say get the router separately - not from the ISP. They are often either overpriced or not of the best quality. There are people on this site who will no doubt make their own recommendations on which to buy and where to buy it (I use an old one which is no longer sold).

If you get a 4-port router (rather than a 1-port router), you will be able to have both Xbox and PC connected at the same time.
 
I can recommend Vispa both in terms of support and performance.

I've not used the supplied router as purchased one seperately but as I understand it, they come fully configured for the Vispa service. The only thing you need to do is enter your user-id and password.
 
I think the fact Andy has recommended you check out Vispa and he uses NDO speaks volumes...

Plusnet I would personally avoid due to consistant reports of billing problems (particularly should you wish to leave them) - supposedly sorted a long while back (when I was subject to them) but it does seem to keep happening so perhaps their billing system is suspect? They also have limits AFAIK.

Anyway, onto Vispa (since that's who I'm an ADSL customer of btw). Vispa supply origo routers so would be able to offer you support on that (and offer you one at a discount rate with their router simpology pack). Like Pete, I can't fault them in terms of support or performance - and I hear good things about the future of their network (some big network improvements in the pipeline as it were).

XBox wise, my brother plays on his online all the time (whilst others are using the 'net for surfing etc. btw) and he doesn't complain about it. You don't necessarily need to go for a 4 port router btw though, you can get a single port one and buy a switch from somewhere for around £10 (not sure on the price difference but perhaps something to consider).
 
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Thanx guys,
As im still on dail up,can i get away wth buying the router seperatly (thanks for the link)? it would then make NDO tha best deal..with no activation or setup,and the cheaper router?! Whereas Vispa with the £70 activation fee and a free modem i wouldn't need. Oh the choice is too tough!!
 
£70 activation fee? I think you're referring to the £58-75 standard BT line activation charge... if the ISP are footing this what money do they have left to invest in their network?
 
Damien said:
I think the fact Andy has recommended you check out Vispa and he uses NDO speaks volumes...

That's twisting my words a bit - I also recommended NDO - I've never used Vispa, but the comments on ISPr tend to be positive, that's all I said, so please don't infer otherwise.

In fact I looked at Vispa myself when I joined NDO, but rejected them because of the activation fee.

Damien said:
Plusnet I would personally avoid due to consistant reports of billing problems (particularly should you wish to leave them) - supposedly sorted a long while back (when I was subject to them) but it does seem to keep happening so perhaps their billing system is suspect? They also have limits AFAIK.

No limits (if you go with the £22/month offer - but there are cheaper ones that are capped) - and no problems leaving them, as of about 3 months ago - for that matter, no financial problems at all - my money was taken in the correct amounts and at the correct times, payments stopped at the right time as well.. I haven't heard of widespread problems of any kind recently.

They did have a lot of problems a few years ago (something they have publicly acknowledged and apologized for), but for the time I was with them (for a year or so, up until 3 months ago), they were spot on - the same goes for the 4 or 5 other people I know who use them with no issues.

damian said:
£70 activation fee? I think you're referring to the £58-75 standard BT line activation charge... if the ISP are footing this what money do they have left to invest in their network?

Some ISP's charge for it up front (ie Vispa & PlusNet, which is why I left them - I moved house and couldn't afford it) - others charge a higher monthly rate (PlusNet was £22/month with the charge, NDO is £25 without, but I believe that goes down after the first year) - NDO only charges it if you leave in the first 12 months..

up to £70 activation, plus the cost of connection equipment can be a big hit all at once.
 
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Simpology Starter Pack (Router) : Includes everything you need to get yourself up and running with broadband. The pack includes everything one would need to get online including BT Line Activation, Single Port Broadband Router, Line Filter and Software.

12mnth contract (£24.99p/m) (£99.99 activation fee)(FREE router)

This is how it reads on Vispa.
Though to be fair,from what i can see Ndo would charge near £70 for a router (if bought off them) but free setup and activation, where as Vispa charge for the activation but throw in the router.
So its kinda evens really.
 
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Aweegin said:
12mnth contract (£24.99p/m) (£99.99 activation fee)(FREE router)

If those are the prices Vispa are charging, the router is far from free. BT charges the ISP £50 for activation. With VAT that comes to almost £59, so you are effectively paying about £41 for the router. Sometimes an ISP with slightly increase their activation fee for a short-term contract (PlusNet charged me £70).

Which one is cheaper depends on whether you do stay for a year with NDO (you have no choice with Vispa if it's a 12-month contract). If you stay the year, then NDO is £30 cheaper - if you leave it is almost £30 more expensive as you'll have the activation fee to pay.
 
Thanx Andy, you see what i'm getting at. I have no problem with the 12 month contract,after all i've read about both,they seem very reliable. (i was origionally sceptical..having been a one time Gio Internet dail up costomer..arrghh!!)
As you are with NDO,do you know..if i bought a seperate modem/router could i still join NDO,or would i be better off just buying the one they offer (£68) and doing the deal that way? In your opinion. Baring in mind i'm still on Dail up and am a bit at a loss on broadband modem/connection issues..to say the least.
Though i would like to thank all you peope for being so helpfull,appreciate it guys/galls.
 
The only advantage to buying the router from the ISP you intend to use is that they may be able to offer better support for it, simply for the fact they will be reasonably familiar with it.

In the past it has been known for ISPs the refuse to support hardware they didn't supply, though I haven't heard of anyone doing that for some time.

If you are completely non technical, that is the argument for you to get the whole package from a single source - the ISP.

If you choose to buy your own kit, yes you can join NDO (as far as I am aware, no ISP forces their users to buy their kit). I use a 4 year old router bought from my old employers - nothing to do with NDO. It has worked fine on Freeserve (no I don't recommend them), PlusNet and NDO.

NDO website said:
NDO will try to assist where you have purchased your own hardware but due to the many different products available in the market place, that assistance may be limited.

Their router comes with a 12 month replacement guarantee, so I'd suggest going with it for the sake of simplicity - the only proviso is that is should have a firewall built in - I don't know whether the one you are looking at has.

You may remember the Blaster virus - it was a little different to most because it didn't need someone to double-click an email attachment before it could do anything - it simply hunted for web users and infected their machines without their knowledge - a firewall would (hopefully!) stop that from happening.
 
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I don't know about the firewal issue either,but that's easily checked. I was going to buy a new anti virus,firewall..complete package anyways when i got broadband,I'm runnin a 2002 antivirus at the mo (though updated) i see new kits have pop up stoppers and firewalls included,which means i could just run it all from 1 program instead of 3 (at least) seperates. I'm also thinking getting the complete package from the provider could just be the simplest option..in terms of support and my lack of mechanical (on a compoota anyway!!) knowledge.
 
There are 2 types of firewall - hardware and software - hardware would be one on a router, software would be a piece of software on your computer.

Overall, I'd recommend the hardware one, as they tend to be more effective, but even with a software one you should be ok - the main thing is just make sure you definitely have one of them - it is essential in my opinion.

Getting a complete integrated package of AV and firewall is a good idea, as it has been known for unrelated one to cause problems with each other.

The downside to having the firewall on your PC is that it can affect online play (whenever I wanted to play Half-Life online I had to switch off my sw firewall as it caused a 1 second delay between me pressing a button and it being translated into the game).

My view is that you can't be too secure - so make sure you have both AV and firewall, and make sure you set the AV to update every day, since there won't be any additional cost on broadband.

If you have windows XP, the latest version of ie has a pop-up stopper (downloaded with the latest service pack). Alternatively, the google-bar has one. So does Firefox (an alternative browser).
 
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Im with NDO and would recommend them. Their support is spot on - you can tell from visiting their users forum this really - www.ndousers.com

I'd buy my hardware from ebuyer, broadbandbuyer or dabs.com and then go with NDO on the £24.99 a month (no activation fee) jobby; good value for money and leaves you free to get any heardware you choose depending on your budget and requirements.

The NDO routers all have builtin firewalls BTW - but they are pretty limited and rely more on NAt to offfer protection that state-ful packet inspection that you would get with a proper hardware firewall - such as a Cisco Pix; but for home use its ideal.

I would avoid software firewalls unless you have a decent processor as they can put a bit of a grind down on the operating system and make things go realllly sloooooowwwllllyyyy....!

The only other thing between NDO and Vispa but not sure if it will ahve a huge impact - probably adds a few MS to pings - Vispa terminate thier ADSL traffic in Manchester then carry it down to London to connect to the LINX exchange at telehouse. NDO terminate their ADSL in Telehouse at the LINX so as your data travels less distance you tend to get shorter hop counts and slightly lower pings (based on comparing traceroutes between Vispa and NDO users at ADSLGuide).

Whichever you choose I'm sure will be fine.
 
Ah, i follow most of that. I dont really (hardly ever) play games on my pc (though after playin battlefield 1942 round my mates the other day,that may change!!)..thats why i got an xbox. Would anyone be generous enough to recommend a modem/router (i believe a router to be a modem but with more inputs..in lamens terms?)that i could connect both pc+xbox (the xbox needing ethernet connection) at the same time,with a built in firewall,please? I really don't know one from another. I emailed ndo,they said they supply a Binatone adsl2000 that would do the job for @£68,i'm thinking this may be simpler as they know it and could back it up with good support should any problems arise.Though from what you guys have said,that shouldn't be an issue :) .
As for NDO vs Vispa..i have emailed both asking questions and can't fault either for quick replies. But i've had people who are actually using NDO recommend them,and that speaks volumes (being self employed,i hold respect for word of mouth advertising!).

Just outta curiosity,what is all this about pings? I'm imagining some sorta sonar type thing. :shrug:
 
Correction to above message...
The Binatone 2000 ndo supply for @£68 also includes 2 filters and delivery.
 
ping is a command you can used in the MS-DOS box (or command line) which measures the response times from a particular server, measured in milli-seconds (MS).

Obviously, the fewer MS it takes to recieve a reply, the quicker the response. It's particularly important for online gamers as a slow response (ping) can affect how well the game plays - if the response is too slow it can be impossible to play as the games go very jerky..

For an example, click on start - run, and type in cmd into the box.

Then type in 'ping ispreview.co.uk' and hit enter - you will get 4 ping readings.
 
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