38 replies to this topic

[DeanAdamFry]

Hey lads I want your opinion on this as I'm going to be getting my own flat soon and wanted to get the best internet provider since BT is complete and utter shit.

 

I live in the south near Brighton so what do you guys think? I'm thinking either Virgin or Sky but not 100% sure, searching on Google didn't do crap for me so I'm hoping you guys can help me.

 

Thank you in advance

[Wookybear]

Holy shit Virgin, there is no competition.

 

Virgin uses cable. I have had it for 10 years with only a handful of days with downtime, they don't cap or throttle me and I actually get a higher speed than advertised.

 

Im assuming Sky uses the classic down your phone line trick that advertises as "up to X speed" (assuming you live next door to the exchange).

 

Now Im not sure on cost comparison since I have no desire to change so that may be a point worth checking up on but I am a huge fan of virgin.

 

EDIT: Another point is that there is a small chance that Virgin might not actually be connected to your new place, they have great coverage but its not 100%.

Edited by Wookybear, 24 August 2015 - 10:59 pm.

[cuvelier]

I use Sky myself. They're on of the few ISP's with truly unlimited download caps. None of this 'fair usage' lark. I've not had any issues with Sky my 'sen. I recommend familiarising yourself with proxy services if you go for a larger ISP. 

[Eridan]

There are basically only 2 'providers' in the country Virgin and BT Openreach. Everyone else is just reseller of BT openreach in the 'fake competition' model used in energy markets. Quality of service is mostly based on the hardware (tho things like usage caps need to be researched). Conventional wisdom is get Virgin if you have it in your area.

 

E.

[mixe]

sky have there own gear in the exchanges now as bt gear is shit

 

bt are also shit for customer service and price

 

bt  tried to fuck me over for a bill of over £400 pound when thay price matched talk talk  quote I had but didn't tell me of download limits

 

ignored all my correspondents and tried to go heavy on me best part is bill was tied to a ltd company I sold 12 yr ago and even tho I told them multiple time that the company was sold thay still tred chasing me in vain as thay never make notes on the system as there all incompetent Indians

[Darkademic]

Do not get Virgin if you live in a densely populated student area. We had it, and it was the worst ISP experience I've ever had. This was 4 years ago so it's possible they've sorted themselves out.

 

http://community.vir.../745025#M367410

 

http://www.pingtest....lt/47592798.png - 27/09/2011 09:50 - 180ms / 198ms / 14%
http://www.pingtest....lt/47563884.png - 26/09/2011 20:17 - 347ms / 686ms / 16%
http://www.pingtest....lt/47541845.png - 26/09/2011 13:48 - 695ms / 1228ms / 56%
http://www.pingtest....lt/47433275.png - 24/09/2011 15:16 - 394ms / 725ms / 13%
http://www.pingtest....lt/47325089.png - 22/09/2011 18:08 - 1410ms / 2685ms / 10%
http://www.pingtest....lt/47323435.png - 22/09/2011 17:38 - 642ms / 1149ms / 12%
http://www.pingtest....lt/47322695.png - 22/09/2011 17:25 - 663ms / 1104ms / 16%
http://www.pingtest....lt/47322369.png - 22/09/2011 17:18 - 197ms / 241ms / 37%
http://www.pingtest....lt/47321072.png - 22/09/2011 16:52 - 472ms / 763ms / 15%
http://www.pingtest....lt/47318179.png - 22/09/2011 15:52 - 832ms / 1482ms / 42%
http://www.pingtest....lt/47314128.png - 22/09/2011 14:26 - 153ms / 207ms / 32%
http://www.pingtest....lt/47268300.png - 21/09/2011 17:01 - 961ms / 1749ms / 41%
http://www.pingtest....lt/47261681.png - 21/09/2011 14:59 - 135ms / 174ms / 6%
http://www.pingtest....lt/47256599.png - 21/09/2011 13:06 - 446ms / 793ms / 20%
http://www.pingtest....lt/47255027.png - 21/09/2011 12:25 - 344ms / 643ms / 9%
http://www.pingtest....lt/47231363.png - 20/09/2011 22:45 - 123ms / 193ms / 2%
http://www.pingtest....lt/47210249.png - 20/09/2011 15:51 - 92ms / 104ms / 0%
http://www.pingtest....lt/47207742.png - 20/09/2011 15:02 - 852ms / 1655ms / 29%

 

I've used BT for a couple of years and it's been perfect BUT only after replacing their HomeHub router. It was terrible while using that.

[Poison]

I currently have SKY which is really just BT re-branded.

 

Best I ever had was Virgin running at about twice the speed of any other provider. As soon as I can get it where I live now I will sign up again.

[DeanAdamFry]

Yeah unfortunately I just checked virgin and they don't have it near my area

 

Looks like I might have to go with Sky unless there are any others.

 

EDIT: Uswitch and all that say virgin is in my area, I guess I will have to call them directly.

Edited by DeanAdamFry, 25 August 2015 - 11:55 am.

[Eridan]

You can use this http://www.superfast...where-and-when/ to check if BT openreach have fibre to cabinet (72 mbps) as opposed to shitty ADSL (the up to 12 meg stuff) in your area. I'm on the cheaper 36 mbps service through talk talk and its fine for me.

 

E.

[DeanAdamFry]

You can use this http://www.superfast...where-and-when/ to check if BT openreach have fibre to cabinet (72 mbps) as opposed to shitty ADSL (the up to 12 meg stuff) in your area. I'm on the cheaper 36 mbps service through talk talk and its fine for me.

 

E.

 

Yes it does so does that mean Sky and that will be at those speeds as well?

[Darkademic]

Re: my last post, the reason it was so bad is that fibre optics are shared by an entire area, so if there's oversubscription and/or very heavy usage by a lot of people, you'll have a terrible time. In less populated areas .. suburbs etc.. fibre optic is far superior. We switched to an ADSL provider after Virgin and it was so, so much better (Virgin was basically unusable).

 

The main problem I've found is the router/modem they send you, which can make things really bad - especially if more than 2 heavy users are connecting to the same device. The connection itself will be basically the same across providers, subject to the above.

[Eridan]

Yes it does so does that mean Sky and that will be at those speeds as well?

That means all non Virgin suppliers should be able to offer you a 36 or 72 mbps service. Like Mixe said Sky do have some equipment in some places but I've no idea how prevelant that is. 

Also I second Dark's comments about a decent router. I got an old Virgin ADSL one from back when virgin still did adsl replaced and it fixed a lot of problems.

[VoidInsanity]

Virgin if you can get it. They used to be a little problematic around 3ish years ago but since they started giving everyone free speed upgrades downtime has been non existent, Prior to this they were notorious for being undependable and then diverting your complaints to a heavy accented stroke victim somewhere in the outskirts of India. Second option would be Zen Internet, avoid TalkTalk / BT  as they are pretty shite.

[Tratpan]

I've been with Virgin broadband for +10years, formally NTL. Currently they’ve somehow boosted me to 50mb broadband only, total cost per month £33.29.

Cons:
• Cable connection, I hear Virgin is going to copy BT by sharing people’s wifi hubs signals.
• There's fair use policy which throttle your speed if you exceed your dl/ul limit per day
• They’re throttling the speed of certain data i.e bittorrent p2p
• Because they're constantly upgrading their connections, you'll get disconnections(just had 1 today). If you report that you been offline for X amount of time, you may get a discount on your next bill. Longest I've been offline was 1 week.
• I'd a few games that experienced connections problems with virgin dns

 

 

I’m currently in the process of switching to TalkTalk “simply broadband” by Sep 2nd, £21.70 for an 18 month contract.
Pros from what I’d gathered:
• No speed restrictions or dl/up limit
• Estimated speed 4-10mb which is what I’m currently getting from virgin anyways even though I can get 50mb on speed tests.
Cons so far
•Information about current deals for new customers may conflict with their default welcome letters.
•Will take 2 weeks to process your data so even though you get emails welcoming to their site, you can’t access your TalkTalk account too soon.

[mixe]

as far as I am aware they only use there own equipment in the exchanges if you have problems with connection stability 

 

on a side note I have to try and sort a internet connection out in Spain soon and by the sounds of it wired connections are a expensive luxury 0o 

[Monkeypooh]

fiber if u can get it ...if not then get the best 12 month deal u can ...at the end of it switch provider and churn them fuckers every 12 months ...Loyalty is a concept the insurance and banking industry is just starting to get but the cutting edge of technology ie internet providers have not got a clue ....also have a idea of what speed u actually want to use and need ...no point in going for a higher speed which u wont get and don't need ....i switched from bt to sky 40mg unlimited dl speed 23£ bt and 10£ a month sky with activation fee will work out at 12.50£ a month ....and in 12 months i will switch again ...https://www.youtube....h?v=H7T1v3DxgKg