Broadband, TV,Phone-Whos best?

[Guest wino]

Hi there, I currently have Sky Tv, BT Phone line & Orange broadband.

I'm looking to have all in one package to try and cut costs.

 

Any recommendations?

[patrickq1]

same here i wish to consolidate all my systems into one package bt broadband/post office phone/cpw mobile/sky tv

so i have been looking for weeks and to much advertising but not enough substance to understand what it all costs and seeing on here the horror stories it makes you wonder

patrickq1

[Guest wino]

Thats the problem i've got. When you ring to ask details the price goes up with all the optional extras like Do you want to be able to actually switch your television on? Do you want your phone to actually ring out loud? All optional extras!!

[patrickq1]

in other words how much money can we screw from this poor punter and not supply a service that is suitable

[Guest wino]

Hi there, I currently have Sky Tv, BT Phone line & Orange broadband.

I'm looking to have all in one package to try and cut costs.

 

Any recommendations?

 

 

 

Just thought I'd ask again as I'm none the wiser as to a good provider.

Have any of you got the three in one package?

[IdaInFife]

Sky have started their own line rental.

 

£10 per month line rental

£5 for unlimited 01/02 calls or free for evening and weekend

free 2 meg BB or or £5 for 8meg or £10 for 16meg.

 

and obviously whatever package you are on.

 

Never personally had any problems except in the last year the server went down for 2 hours one day!!!

 

 

Idax

[chesham]

If you're willing to switch, Virgin seem to be quite good with their 3 for £30 deal - so you get internet, TV and phone line for £30. Not sure about out of bundle costs, but a few people have said they are good - especially as TV and internet are not affected by the bad weather!!

 

Orange also now do home phone and internet for £24 a month, including the VOIP phone line, which is free 24/7 to landlines, orange mobiles and international destinations.

 

Sky do See, Speak and Surf for £26, but then you have to add on your line rental to BT so it is actually £37 a month, but probably still cheaper than what you've got now!!

[lemma1968]

DO NOT touch Virgin. Their customer service is the worst by quite a long way and if you have a problem they will pursue you to the end of the earth when they have done something wrong and you try and cancel.

 

Experience has shown they are not on a level with you and will do and/or say anything to get a contract then not honour it properly.

[Guest wino]

Thanks everyone. A few people I know who have switched to Virgin have complaints aand would not recommend them. It was Virgin I was thinking of switching to. I'll just have to keep looking at the different options availiable.

[callumsgran]

Just my 2p worth

I had no problems with Virgin and would still be with them if i had not moved to a cable-less area

 

My advice would be to not have all sevices from one provider eg recently i struggled to pay my line rental bill to bt to get it put back on then a week later i couldnt make calls because sky cut me off (my calls were through them) for not paying that bill on time so still couldnt use my phone!

 

Keep your line rental and calls with the same company

[Guest wino]

Thanks Callumsgran, all advice appreciated.

[Conniff]

It's all down to the service people have received. If you are with someone and have never had a problem then you will be biased and recommend them.

 

I have been with Virgin (Telewest before it became Virgin) for 7 years and have never had a single problem, so that would make me want to recommend them.

 

The best part of having cable is that you are not restricted by the length of the telephone wire, the further you are from the exchange, the slower your broadband and the greater chance of dropping the connection, but you will still be charged for the service you have taken ie; If you sign up to 8mb but your distance from the exchange means that the most you will ever receive is 2mb, you will still have to pay the 8mb price. Even though the fault lies with the supplying company and the nature of copper wires.

 

This doesn't happen with cable.

 

Every single post about customer services for all companies says they are rubbish, you never hear about all the good things that customer services do, no one ever posts about that.

 

Be aware though, if you download more than 3gb between 1600 and midnight,, Virgin will restrict your speed on that night to about half speed for 4 hours and then you will be back up to full speed again. There is no download restriction with Virgin and you will not be restricted outside those busy times.

[patrickq1]

when you are in north wales we are the last to get cable or should i say we will probably never see cable in n wales,,,,stagecoach would get here quicker i have been with bt for over 7 years before that i was with freeserve but i am now questioning bt over the 8 meg i have paid for this service for over 3 years now and very rarely get more than 3 meg and that is checking every 2 weeks for over 2 years,i have just this week wrote to bt and i am demanding a rebate for failure to supply the 8 mega and i am asking for 50% rebate considering they are and keep telling everyone 8 megs this may be true in the london area but out here in the sticks its a waste of money do i want half my money back have also sent my notice to ofcom that i feel i am being cheated so will wait and see what happens

patrickq1

[Conniff]

Fully agree with you Patrick. When you ask for BB they check your line, they know what you are capable of receiving and should tell you that the maximum you can reach is 3mb and sell to you accordingly.

The 'up to' has no real relevence with adsl as they know exactly the fastest speed you can reach so shouldn't sell you anything greater.

Keep us informed of how it goes please Patrick, I think there are a lot of people who will be interested in how you get on.

 

P.S. It's no different in cities or London, the further you are from the exchange the slower your BB.

[MilkTrayMan]

...Do you want to be able to actually switch your television on?...

If I had some batteries, I could use my remote control...

I know somebody whose benefits payments were delayed, their DD to Virgin bounced, Penalty Charges were debited from their current account (...more than the cost of the DD btw! ), Virgin re-presented, MORE Penalty Charges were debited from their now O/D current account......+ they were cut off @ 2pm on Xmas Day from their Virgin TV/Broadband/Landline package!!!

 

Personally, I have Freeview/Orange PAYG/Orange Broadband.

If I didn't have a works contract mobile as well, I would probably get an Orange Mobile contract, where I got 'FREE' Broadband chucked in for not much more than what I actually pay for the stand alone Orange broadband now!

[Conniff]

If you look through this site you will see exactly the same thing under the Orange heading. They are all much as much so really you takes you chance with any of them.

 

Just one thing about 'Free' broadband, I read a review of the so called free broadbands and the summary was - "There are cheaper broadbands".

 

AS we all know, nothing is free.

[Beaker_smiles]

I was looking at swapping to Tiscali from TalkTalk so I could bundle in the TV as well. From looking around Tiscali give a better than average customer service experience to most customers, but as others have said everybodies experience with their ISP is relative (I have only had one problem with TalkTalk, and have found them first class otherwise, but they have a terrible customer service record).

 

The only reason I have opted to stick with TalkTalk is because it is too much hassle to switch over, as I would need to return my TalkTalk line back to BT and swap my ISP to Tiscali, before Tiscali could pick up my phone line in six months. I though this whole process was supposed to be easy.

[Guest Old_andrew2018]

Thanks everyone. A few people I know who have switched to Virgin have complaints aand would not recommend them. It was Virgin I was thinking of switching to. I'll just have to keep looking at the different options availiable.

i must disagree virgin media from my point od view have excellant customer service