Dream Weaver

Tim - defo worth it. I tried dialup again last week. COuldn't believe how slow it was.

Mark, Tim already has a BT line, so will already be paying the line rental for voice calls anyway. Great thing about ADSL is that it doesn't clog the phone up whilst using it.

I am with Pipex at £23.44 a month incl VAT and it has been wonderful.

Couldn't live without it now.

[Edited by Dream Weaver - 11/8/2002 9:50:29 AM]

dsmith

ADSL (Broadband) is an "Always-On" service unlike normal Dial-Up. This brings several oppurtunities and a few risks. As the line is up for longer (usually all the time the PC is on) it becomes evre more important to protect yourself from the sh*te on the Internet. What you need basically depends on how many PCs you have that you want to access the ADSL line.

Single PC: The bare minimum you needs is an ADSL Modem. depending on the ADSL packages this may be provided. Cheapest are USB. You can use them easilywith one PC. YOu should ensure you have some "Personal Firewall" software on the PC to restrict access primarily *from* the Internet.

Multiple PCs: You get a small hardware router/firewall which shares the ADSL line between the PCs which form a small Network (Network cards needed in PCs - wireless or wired). The Hardware box takes care of shariug the ADSL line and protecting you from the Internet. Some also have the required network hardware to link your PCs (switch or wireless access point).

There are of course a myriad of possibilities in between.

Deano

Have a look at www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk - lots of varieties of bits there + some good info.

[Edited by dsmith - 11/8/2002 10:11:07 AM]

Tim Taylor

I'm planning to go onto BT Broadband (no cable near me) Now they charge £27 per month for broadband and unlimited surf time for the money. I am currently with V21.co.uk and they advertise broadband for £19.99 per month. Can I use V21 and only pay £19.99 or do I have to pay money to BT for having Broadband. I know it will cost me an seperate £80 for modem and micro filters and £30 connection (special offer)I am just wondering if I will pay more than £20 for broadband per month.

Cheers

Tim

suba

all depends if you gonna be using the internet a lot and heavy bandwidth.

you can get adsl from £20. BT is expensive. go for something like www.plus.net or www.nildram.co.uk. have a look at www.adslguide.org.uk.

for your hardware, check out www.boardbandbuyer.co.uk and www.seg.co.uk. www.dabs.com got some really cheap adsl hardware as well.

i suggest you get a adsl router which is a all-in-line hardware - the adsl modem, router and 4-port switch. then you can share your internet broadband.

btw, you still need a BT fone line to have adsl.

Tim Taylor

Cheers suba

I do have a BT line already so no problems there. So I can go to Nildram and pay £20 without any extra costs charged by BT (apart from connection)

Now explain why I need a router and stuff...I'm confused and an IT muppet!!!

Cheers

mark_h

You have to pay BT for line rental on top of the ADSL charge, so don't forget to add the £7-10 per month (depending on whether you have BT Together)

Mossman

Just getting it fitted next week via Karoo - Kingston Comms Internet provider - for those of you who don't know, Hull is the only place inthe country not to have BT!!!!

Mossman

PS Dream, pls email me any good site recommendations ;-) !

Shark

Do NOT use Tiscali.

I'll cut a long story short, but it went down one night and I was still fighting with them 6 weeks later

David

Amanda-Jane

I'm with Telewest Blueyonder and until recently I never had any problems but this week has been a complete nightmare.

It started on Monday night and by Tuesday it had died completely. Turns out that the gas board had an "accident" and even still today I am still without broadband! They are outside in the pouring rain and assure me it will be fixed today. It better be cos I am just in the right mood for them today

Seriously though, it is a shame you can't get cable as my package is excellent and as it was not their fault this week I am still a happy customer

Amanda

Dream Weaver

Tim

There is a new broadband provider on the scene that is doing ADSL at £12.99 a month apparently.

Cant remember their name, but they are listed in this months .net magazine.

suba

£12.99/month for broadband? didnt they go bankrupt?

the cheapest broadband know is via cable with NTL for a 128k line.

Tim Taylor

Cheers Guys

I thought BT would charge for the line rental so my £19.99 is now £29.99 per month

DW - is your costs including the BT line rental?

Need to look into this a bit more. I don't use the net that much but get pi**ed off with slow connections and unreliable connections.

Cheers

Tim

Dream Weaver

Tim - no line rental is extra, but we pay that anyway for the phone so no biggy. Have a look in .net for the cheap ones. I will try and find it out later.

suba

DW, can you dig out the info on the cheapo adsl? me on dial-up and it's £13.99/month!!!

scooby nutter

Has anyone tried Freeserve Broadband??
I'm happy with my current Freeserve Anytime account ,but i just want to speed things up a bit,this 56k modem is so slow
I think there Broadband is £27:99 a month all in.

I have a Bt phoneline.

And also how fast is this Broadband,never used it so was wondering how fast it is at downloading say 10mb of data??

Thanks

Duncan

James Neill

iTrader: (1)

I almost went for these guys (£18.99/month)

http://www.fairadsl.co.uk/index.htm

but I already had the hardware and would have had to pay 6 months in advance plus connection for some reason.

So in the end have gone with Freeserve

http://www.freeserve.com/time/broadbandaccess/

as it is easy to move across from Anytime. I also had Freeserve Broadband for near on two years when I lived in London and bar a couple of days it was faultless - so I'm going back.

Dream Weaver

suba/Tim

Here they are:

Freedial.biz - Freedial

Bit of s strange business model, as the cost of £12.99 to the consumer is actually LESS than they pay to BT for the wholesale ADSL.

They reckon they will make their money on the higher charged dial services or something.

suba

got my butt out of the house and read the .NET mags in the corner shop as well on freedial.biz.

just dunno how they gonna make money!!!

Tim Taylor

Have just ben reading the Sky website and if you are a SKY subscriber then you can get BT Broadband for the same £27 per month all in but you get your modem and 2 filters free saving £80.

P1Fanatic

Are you really called Tim Taylor? Quality name if so - my favourite comedian - Tim Allen as Tim "the toolman" Taylor.

Tim Taylor

Yes I am, are you really called P1Fanatic?

Tim Taylor

...and no I'm not going to tell you my middle name and it is not Brooke or Tool Man

Rab

It costs an ISP about £18 a month to rent an ADSL line from BT. Take this away from the total ISP charge and you are left with their cut. All these companies offering ADSL for £20 are making £2 a month profit and in my opinion will either have to up their charges soon or go bust. Look to go with one that charges around £25 a month.