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Internet service providers


Lucinda

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Hi everyone, I need some help here.

On Thursday I am going to my house in Nottingham for the first time. At the moment I think there is no Internet, no telephone and no TV. The previous people had NTL (so now it would be Virgin Media) but I think they have taken the telephone, TV and router with them.

Everyone I know who has dabbled in nTL/Virgin Media has had a nightmare time with them. We're not worried about TV because we will use Freeview but we need Internet that is fast and can be installed quickly with no download limit as there will be 5 of us using it a lot. I have a wireless router that we can use so we don't need to get one of them. Not hugely worried about getting a telephone.

Does anyone know a good ISP, with or without telephone included? My mum and my sister have had no problems with Tiscali, but the reviews I've read online and reports from other people say their customer service is awful. AOL seems to cap people's speeds at peak times which isn't good when 5 of us will be trying to use it. Virgin Media will probably take all year to set things up which is useless. I'd appreciate any help people can give me on this.

'Forget happiness I'm fine, I'll forget everything in time'

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When you say it needs to fast because five of you will be using it a lot... is this because you're using wireless and multiple computers, or just one computer? If it's wireless you'll obviously want a good speedy connection and want to look for an ISP with a free router (if possible!)

I use AOL which is quite handy as everyone gets a free screename, but you get the clunky software with it. You can get away without it with a router, depends whether that's the set-up you want.

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I've got a good wireless router. We will be using it each with a laptop wireless, so we will need quite high speed so we don't slow each other down.

Having the router makes it a bit easier as we don't have to rely on whoever will give us a 'free' router, as you generally end up paying for it somehow like through a long contract or higher costs.

'Forget happiness I'm fine, I'll forget everything in time'

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Only just seen this - just back from a short trip away...

There are normally two different types of wireless router - those that are simply that, or those that have an inbuilt ADSL/DSL modem... If you've got the former and your area is setup for 'cable TV', I'd suggest looking further into the NTL/Virgin Media offerings - they'll provide a cable-modem that you plug into the internet port of your router (you'll need to connect a PC directly to the router with an ethernet cable to configure it - so make sure one of your laptops has an onboard ethernet adapter - many do) and hey presto you're on. If the latter, any of the general ADSL/DSL providers would probably do.

To be honest, the customer service from pretty much all the possible providers can be poor. Though you might be one of the lucky ones like me that doesn't have any problems..!

I've been with NTL/Virgin now for years and haven't had any issues with their internet service (their TV service, NOT so great at times). There are different packages available, and nothing I've been on up to now had a download limit (bolinbenny - you might want to check if there's a 'free' upgrade to a recent contract to remove your current download limits - unless of course you're pirating several movies a day! ;)).

I was originally on the 8mb/s contract but have now switched to their 20mb/s offering, which actually is around that quick in my experience. But then, remember I'm currently in Leeds, and might not have that many others online around me! ;)

The contention rate with cable (i.e. the actual bandwidth you'll experience with your contract through the shared wiring - be aware the speed quoted is a 'maximum' not what you'll usually get all the time) is generally better, and with ADSL it also matters how far you are physically from the local exchange as to the quality/speed of your real connection...

I'd suggest trying Virgin Media at first - allowing plenty of notice for the install. Then, if you have problems try one of the others mentioned here...

My installation happened 3 days after I booked it, and has worked fine since. Though I *could* be one of the lucky ones in this...!

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virgin media haven't been around for 7 years. you must of been using the old ntl or telewest service like me. i had no problem with telewest at all

I've been with telewest/Virgin for 4-5yrs now and any problems I Have had have been quickly resolved. I had contemplated taking the Sky package which was around £10? or something ridiculously low although when I investigated I found out I would need a BT line installed which would cost £150 so I just stayed where I was. Not to mention the fact the massive speed they were offering for broadband wasnt available in my area so I didnt think it was worth all the hassle of switching.

Even when I had moved in to my property the flat previously had telewest/virgin so it didnt take long to reconnect.

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I'm with AOL which is fine as long but the technical support is generally nonexistent and it took ages for them to finally admit they throttled download speeds during peak times. Also don't bother with the bloated aol software as its just irritating.

Theres a good forum here which has some useful posts

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=77

Download the Adam and Joe & Jon Richardson podcasts now!

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I'm with AOL which is fine as long but the technical support is generally nonexistent and it took ages for them to finally admit they throttled download speeds during peak times. Also don't bother with the bloated aol software as its just irritating.

You forgot to mention dont try and cancel your AOL account also as its almost impossible....

[ame]

[/ame]

:D

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Thanks for everyone's help and views. I think we're going to see if we can get Virgin Media to get their acts together as we live in a cable area and get broadband and maybe also phone from them. I'll see how it goes and hopefully we'll have it installed before term starts. The previous students used Virgin Media so it shouldn't be too hard to get it set up again hopefully.

'Forget happiness I'm fine, I'll forget everything in time'

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Urghh ISPs are a nightmare. The first 5 reviews for Virgin Media on moneysupermarket are titled: "Avoid at all costs!", "Totally useless avoid like the plague", "POOR", "The service from hell" and "Richard-You should be ashamed!" http://www.moneysupermarket.com/c/broadband/internet/providers/virgin-media-168/broadband-xl-249/

Most ISPs seem to be crap though, you just can't seem to win. We even have a nice impersonal letter congratulating us on moving in to a Virgin Media area as students. "Come on students join the cable revolution!". The first line of the letter reads: "Congratulations on choosing Nottingham as you're University city!" -- they can't even get simple grammar right.

Anyway I guess we'll have to take a gamble on it working because the previous people had it and the cable modem is still there.

'Forget happiness I'm fine, I'll forget everything in time'

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