sulli

I have been with NTL for over a year now, on their free 56k NTLWorld package - free 24 hrs a day every day, all I pay is £9.99 p/m for line rental from NTL.

They are now starting to charge, £5 p/month for the service i've got at the minute - which aint bad I suppose, apart from the fact that you could ignore the total lack of customer service/support when its free.

So i'm considering either getting a cable modem thru NTL - £15 p/m for 128k, or £25 p/m for 512k plus the line rental, or going elsewhere.

Anyone recommend any free ISPs or a cheap broadband connection?

P1Fanatic

£15 pm isnt cheap? The 64k NTL option is £9.99 pm inc modem rental which is what u are paying now. It probably wont be any faster downloading but means u never have to wait to dial up, never get disconnected every 2 hrs etc. Also it will give you a 40ish ping in online games like Counter-Strike.

sulli

It is cheap - NTL though are very poor if you have a problem - like having to wait on average 45 mins to get thru on phone, and when you do you speak to someone who doesn't know what they r on about, and more often than not will put the phone down if they cant deal with the problem, or emailing internet support, and getting a reply 3 months later (seriously) which sounds like its from a kid who has never even seen a PC.
I quite fancy the 512kb cable modem, I just dont want to be having to go thru that sort of stuff if there is a problem - as I will be paying a lot more.
Just want to know if there are any more options I should consider.

P1Fanatic

Blue Yonder Cable from Telewest is the same price but this (as with NTL) is location specific. AFAIK their support levels are as bad as NTL's. TBH my NTL cable is very rarely down - if it is its not down for more than a day.

Other broadband option is ADSL - just dont get it from BT. PIPEX are supposedly the best ADSL ISP from all the independent reviews Ive seen (no Im not just saying that because I work for WorldCom).