Hi,

As per the title, anyone tried out BE Broadband, how are you finding it?

Speeds as you expected and what's the reliability like?

I am currently with Zen Internet and can't fault them, customer service is top notch and you get to speak to real techies which makes the whole process painless.

The current package I have with Zen allows me to make use of 8 fixed IP addresses, 8mbit download speeds (I average around 7mbit sustained) and about 256kb uploads however downloads are now capped at 80gb per month which I regularly go over *cough*.

I have had a look at BE's offer and like the looks of the ADSL2+ 25mbit package with 1 free fixed IP address. Initial online checks indicate I should receive something between 14mbits to 18mbits download speeds and 1.5mbit upload speeds.

But it's a new ISP and my worry is that once I switch over I will not achieve the full speed or suddenly find they are capping ports as well as the amount we can download.

Would appreciate any feedback from existing customers.

Cheers,

Fz

 

ive been with them for a few weeks now, no problems at all. I switched from sky llu as I am cancelling my sky tv and so couldnt keep the broadband as well. Upto now with BE my sync speeds are slightly higher than it was with sky, even though they use the same technology. Also the speeds are much more consistent. I sync at around 15mb and from fast servers can download at 1.4mb/sec. Uploads are also good, my upload sync rate is 1300kbps.

BE will also let you tweak your line to the max by changing settings for you if you think you can get faster.
Also in general for me web browsing seems slightly faster than when I was with sky even though people have had problems with BE's DNS servers

 

80Gb a month! What do you people download to hit that per month? If it's films, tv, music etc then I've no idea how you find the time to watch or listen to it. I guess console games are part of that.

 

they have a fup but there isnt any cap (not on the unlimited svs anyway)

I have downloaded loads in the few weeks that I have had it and not had any notification from them (I didnt from sky either but Im sure sky used to throttle me a bit)

 

I very dubiously jumped from Zen to Be* about 18 months ago and they have been brilliant. If I download a popular file I will regularly get 1.7mb/s. There have been two outages in those 18 months, each for about 2 hours. One was their DNS (which was easy to get around) and the other was just their network. Customer service is okay, I haven't used it very much but they logged the ticket and fixed my problem.

I didn't like the Speedtouch modem they supply, so I use a Netgear DG834N.

Steve

 

I live 2 miles from my exchange too. I switched last week, so far I'm getting 50% more than I was.

What is your "attenuation downstream" - mines 52, I get about 4meg down & 1 up

 

Yep got it here in Newport Pagnell, had it about a year now...

17mb down and 1.9mb up - no problems + fast and reliable isp

Highly rate them mate...

btw any news on your workplace and a Scooby meet in MK?

Andy

 

I got about a 40% increase over BT kit

 

wouldnt worry about what they say, they told me I would only get about 10mb they tend to err on the side of caution.

With your attenuation, I would expect around about 6mb, definately 5mb, its not just the speeds though, when I was with bt max a few years back (through ZEN) I synced around about 6.* mb but most of the time throughput was 4mb and lower, however with BE because its there own equipment speeds should be more consistent

 

To improve your line stats and noise attenuation try this. worked wonders for me and improved speeds.

DSL ZoneUK - Improve your speed - Extension wiring and Disconnection help

 

snap but I removed the 2 redundant wires and it improved my line stats no end.

 

My flat is new and had them connected so you may find that they are as well. 2 min job to check and do.

 

maybe the html version of the page gives more info?

DSL ZoneUK - Improve your speed - Extension wiring and Disconnection help

 

sounds like mine did before I rewired it (house less than 2 yr old). It sounds like you have a spur setup. Generally when they are building the house they just plonk the wires anywhere and then its all boxed in. Mine were running alongside mains cable which causes lots of interference on adsl signal.

You may find there is a junction box hidden somewhere and then the wires run to the extension sockets, but if you remove one, the others stop working etc

 

out of interest when you sync at 5184 what is your attenuation and SNR ?

 

Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 8.0 / 15.0

SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 27.0 / 14.5

Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 448 / 8,096

My stats and BE are going in this month, currently on BT so hoping for more speed!

 

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 17675 kbps 2273 kbps
Line Attenuation 22.0 db 10.5 db
Noise Margin 2.4 db 4.1 db

Thats my stats on BE ....... very happy

Andy

 

I bet you are

 

with those stats you will be looking at a lot more.

something like 22mb+ jammy bugger

 

id be happy with that, your download is higher than your sync speed

I reckon you have an slight issue with internal wiring as well as you should be able to sync higher than that.

 

My test just now:



I can't rate BE highly enough.

Steve

 

Boxst,

I noticed your speed test was to London.... I tried mine on Paris...

Give Paris a go and see what spped you get...

Andy