best isp

[Demo38]

OK heres the deal ive been a member of AOL for 9 years and im looking for a change can you recommend the best ISP my line gives me around 6megs i live in the north east of Scotland so cant get the best deals that are out there.....

[locutus]

Samknows Broadband - Broadband Availability Checker that will tell you who you can get Broadband with.

A lot depends on what your priorities are. List these in order of what you want most of. price, customer service, speed, download limits

[flyingdoc]

lol it doesnt matter who you go with - any of them will be better than AOL ( and you wont have their software hijacking your computer either)

[Demo38]

Thanks think i will give bt a go

[smarties21]

I might be a little bit too late but in case this helps anyone else I'm going to recommend people looking for new ISPs check out Kitz's ISP Information. Let's you compare ISPs by price, ratings from users or bandwidth caps.

[Ihatedca's]

I can't believe i am going to say this but i work for sky as a broadband tech rep and i think they are the best i used to be with virgin and i always thought sky were the worst obviously because i always saw the worst side of things because if people are phoning me it can't be good ut they have over a million customers and they have great support as i now know because i am now a customer of them aswell lol

[Conniff]

There is 'no' such thing as the best. As the saying goes, 'one mans meat is anothers poison'.

 

Someone who has never had a problem (like me and Virgin) would be likely to recommend the one they are with, but others may have had nothing but problems with the same supplier, so really it's you pays your money and takes your choice.

 

Nothing to do with the supplier, but cable is definately the better system.

[locutus]

Nothing to do with the supplier, but cable is definately the better system.

 

I'd phrase that "cable is definately the less rubish system."

 

If you consider there are faster mobile broadbands in some countries than we get though our landlines, and some countries have 100 meg broadband for less than we can get 10 meg broadband, you then come to think that if you want good broadband... Emigrate!

[Conniff]

But that is not the fibre cables fault, that is the supplier.

 

You are correct in the other things though, I can just imagine a conversation - "sorry, when you said how much should you charge for BB and I said £2pm, I didn't realise you were talking about the UK, you had better make that £30pm".

[Ihatedca's]

Well mate i have to disagree with virgin even thinking about virgin makes me sick i was paying £37 a month for 20 meg bb that i never got and i am a gamer and the latency was over 100ms everytime which was not good for the games and then they would not fix it and then they would not let me cancel because they lied and said that i had set up another contract with them when i did not and then i had to send a letter and then they had to admit to me that they had lied so considering that sky has the best customer support, the cheapest broadband an more customers than any other provider in the uk i would have to say sky are actually the best as there is always a best of something

[flyingdoc]

there IS always a best of something but that would be qualified by saying that each persons experience is individual.

I know several people who wouldnt let sky within 50 feet of their house.

Just because one person has had a good or bad experience with a company doesnt make that company the best or worst of anything. its all a matter of opinion and experience.

I personally am with bulldog (pipex) who have consistantly lied to me and as soon as I am out of contract with them will be changing supplier.

[Ihatedca's]

there IS always a best of something but that would be qualified by saying that each persons experience is individual.

I know several people who wouldnt let sky within 50 feet of their house.

Just because one person has had a good or bad experience with a company doesnt make that company the best or worst of anything. its all a matter of opinion and experience.

I personally am with bulldog (pipex) who have consistantly lied to me and as soon as I am out of contract with them will be changing supplier.

 

Yes but sky have won awards and got so many customers that have been with them for years so that makes them the best because people have voted them the best.

[Rooster-UK]

I'm on AOL.8M connection (BT line) realising about 5.5 to 6M with NO capping.I have no AOL software on my PC, whatsoever.Using the AOL B/B connection, only.

[postggj]

just a quick question

to receive broad band,

besides land line and usb dongle,

can you get broad band through a sat dish and set top box option

stupid question i know but as i use a dongle and have no land line

 

options

[Ihatedca's]

You can indeed but it is finding it first lol it is more comony used in rural areas were they cannot receive bb due the length of there telephone line.

[flyingdoc]

there are 2 types of sat bb.

1 is where you download via satellite link but all your uploads and requests are actually sent via phone line, the other type is true 2 way satellite connection.;

 

VERY expensive to set up but very fast.

 

however it may be weather dependant - just look how difficult it is to get sky sometimes if it rains heavy.

[locutus]

Yes but sky have won awards and got so many customers that have been with them for years so that makes them the best because people have voted them the best.

Sky probably has the most customers, but this is probably more because they offer it for free to their TV package customers, not because people think they're the best. If Virgin Media had the same coverage as Sky, they would probably have as many / more customers.

postggj Some of the USB dongles are getting great speeds now. I know a new one that T-Mobile have launched is 7.2 meg download and 5 meg upload speed (even though the network cannot constantly provide these speeds!) and mobile broadband technology is currently capable of peak data rates to 42 Mbit/s on the downlink and 22 Mbit/s on the uplink via a technology called HSPA+ (currently in use in parts of Australia... guess we're gonna have to wait a while before we get it... Yet another rant against rip off britain!).

[Conniff]

Well mate i have to disagree with virgin even thinking about virgin makes me sick i was paying £37 a month for 20 meg bb that i never got and i am a gamer and the latency was over 100ms everytime which was not good for the games and then they would not fix it and then they would not let me cancel because they lied and said that i had set up another contract with them when i did not and then i had to send a letter and then they had to admit to me that they had lied so considering that sky has the best customer support' date=' the cheapest broadband an more customers than any other provider in the uk i would have to say sky are actually the best as there is always a best of something [/quote']

 

My comments were directed at the means of delivery ie fiber optic cable and not the ISP.

Virgin have won as many awards as any of them:

 

LONDON, February 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Virgin Media - scooped the most coveted award for consumer facing ISPs at the annual Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA) Awards, held in London last night.

That was last year.

 

You will probably find that just about all the providers have won awards at some time.

 

Do a search on Google and you will find a million complaints about Sky just as you will about 'all' the service providers.

As others have said, some have no problems, others have nothing but problems.

 

Aol probably have the most moans about them of all, but Rooster UK is very happy with them and having no problem - #13 - so it is as I said before, you pays your money and takes your choice.

 

Sky are nowhere near the biggest. In order of size it is BT, Virgin and AOL. If AOL was as bad as the moans make it appear they are, would they still be the third largest supplier?

Edited December 28, 2008 by Conniff

[Ihatedca's]

I agree with you about the complaints because as i said i work for them so i take complaints but there is not as many about sky as you think. We work of a ticket system so i can see exactly how many customers have had a problem now i am not going to say but i can tell you that it is a very small no.

[Vinzon]

lol it doesnt matter who you go with - any of them will be better than AOL ( and you wont have their software hijacking your computer either)

 

Exactly my thoughts!