In message , Andy Hall writes
On 2007-05-19 20:51:12 +0100, raden said:

In message , Andy Hall writes
On 2007-05-19 11:16:51 +0100, Eusebius said:

posting in uk.telecom.broadband and not here?
Probably wrong group. Must be one discussing ISP's.
Which is the actual issue here.-
Yes. As Above.
So is the question whether to have a BT connection or a cable
connection or a satellite connection? what are the pros and cons of
those? I have had cable before, with Cable and Wireless (cable and
hopeless at the time) so the connection does exist.
There are more subdivisions and technologies than that. I have
three "broadband" connections using different technologies.

I have been using Demon at work because they have a "companion"
system, where I get a diallup connection included, so I can access
from anywhere with a phone line.
They do seem to be stuck in a time warp, I'm paying £300/year for a
2 meg connection and they are messing me around ATM
What's the best option for a general use small business solution ?

Demon are a bit of an anomaly - they have quite a number of parts to
their service that date back to when they were about the first
commercial ISP and which others don't implement e.g. SMTP delivery of
mail.

They have become something of a nightmare with billing arrangements and
if you want a VAT invoice etc. Call centre in Mumbai I think.

Do you want an ADSL type of connection? Do you need symmetrical
bandwidth (SDSL costs quite a bit more)? Other functionality?

Are you looking for a business type of contact hours and responses or
is domestic enough?

I just need a cheap and cheerful way to read emails for CET and access
the web

nothing special

--
geoff

On 2007-05-19 22:09:10 +0100, raden said:

In message , Andy Hall writes

Do you want an ADSL type of connection? Do you need symmetrical
bandwidth (SDSL costs quite a bit more)? Other functionality?

Are you looking for a business type of contact hours and responses or
is domestic enough?

I just need a cheap and cheerful way to read emails for CET and access the web

nothing special

My DSL ISP is Eclipse at present and has been OK - i.e. no particular
complaints.

Apart from the lowest tariffs there are no data volume limits. For
my business requirements that's a necessity because I need to move very
large data files around.


One thing that I have noticed with the review sites like adslguide is
that they create a kind of positive feedback effect. In other words,
ISP gets good review because he doesn't have too many customers or has
a low price. Then a lot of people migrate and bandwidth and service
suffer.

In message , Andy Hall writes
On 2007-05-19 22:09:10 +0100, raden said:

In message , Andy Hall writes
Do you want an ADSL type of connection? Do you need symmetrical
bandwidth (SDSL costs quite a bit more)? Other functionality?
Are you looking for a business type of contact hours and responses
or is domestic enough?

I just need a cheap and cheerful way to read emails for CET and
access the web
nothing special

My DSL ISP is Eclipse at present and has been OK - i.e. no particular
complaints.

Apart from the lowest tariffs there are no data volume limits. For
my business requirements that's a necessity because I need to move very
large data files around.

£20 unlimited, 8 meg , certainly sounds better than £25 for a 2 meg
connection

Demon do seem to be dragging their heels




One thing that I have noticed with the review sites like adslguide is
that they create a kind of positive feedback effect. In other words,
ISP gets good review because he doesn't have too many customers or has
a low price. Then a lot of people migrate and bandwidth and service
suffer.





--
geoff

raden wrote:
In message , Andy Hall writes
On 2007-05-19 22:09:10 +0100, raden said:

In message , Andy Hall writes
Do you want an ADSL type of connection? Do you need symmetrical
bandwidth (SDSL costs quite a bit more)? Other functionality?
Are you looking for a business type of contact hours and responses
or is domestic enough?

I just need a cheap and cheerful way to read emails for CET and
access the web
nothing special

My DSL ISP is Eclipse at present and has been OK - i.e. no particular
complaints.

Apart from the lowest tariffs there are no data volume limits. For
my business requirements that's a necessity because I need to move
very large data files around.

£20 unlimited, 8 meg , certainly sounds better than £25 for a 2 meg
connection

Demon do seem to be dragging their heels


I migrated to another ISP for a variety of reasons - cost being one of
the least important, however, when asking for the MAC code the first
question the guy on the phone asked was, "if we can reduce your cost,
would you stay?" - by the sounds of it they were able to drop my tariff
at the time (think I was paying £30/mo. for 2MB/Unlimited)

In message , Mike Dodd
writes
raden wrote:
In message , Andy Hall writes
On 2007-05-19 22:09:10 +0100, raden said:

In message , Andy Hall writes
Do you want an ADSL type of connection? Do you need symmetrical
bandwidth (SDSL costs quite a bit more)? Other functionality?
Are you looking for a business type of contact hours and
responses or is domestic enough?

I just need a cheap and cheerful way to read emails for CET and
access the web
nothing special

My DSL ISP is Eclipse at present and has been OK - i.e. no
particular complaints.

Apart from the lowest tariffs there are no data volume limits. For
my business requirements that's a necessity because I need to move
very large data files around.
£20 unlimited, 8 meg , certainly sounds better than £25 for a 2 meg
connection
Demon do seem to be dragging their heels


I migrated to another ISP for a variety of reasons - cost being one of
the least important, however, when asking for the MAC code the first
question the guy on the phone asked was, "if we can reduce your cost,
would you stay?" - by the sounds of it they were able to drop my tariff
at the time (think I was paying £30/mo. for 2MB/Unlimited)

Well, I'm on 2 meg unlimited, but the past couple of months I've had a
major amount to download

Thus have sent me a ****ty "fair usage" email


--
geoff

raden wrote:

Are you looking for a business type of contact hours and responses or
is domestic enough?

I just need a cheap and cheerful way to read emails for CET and access
the web

Generally avoiding the mass market big ISPs would be a way to get better
support, and especially steering well clear of things like TalkTalk.

I still use plusnet, and have often recommended them for that type of
use, in that they tick most of the boxes (24/7 support not on premium
rate and the support used is usually reasonably clued up), and the
packages they produced were quite good value etc. In a way they started
out a bit like Demon of old. Having said that I usually use POP3 email
boxes bought externally (from pipex ultimately).

However they have had a number of technology stuff ups in the recent
year and also support responsiveness fell of a bit which will have put
some off. They have just revamped their package range and deleted the
PAYG one that was particularly attractive to more serious users. They
were also recently bought by BT, which may mean they can invest more or
it may mead they just get absorbed by the Borg, so I will reserve
judgement for a bit. They do still have business packages at reasonable
prices though.

The usual problem seems to be the smaller ISPs win in terms of support
and flexibility, start growing, but can't afford to invest enough in the
infrastructure and soon become attractive targets for acquisition by one
of the big boys. In the case of being bought by someone like Tiscali
that usually spells the end of any individuality they may have had as
they are just used to add numbers to the portfolio, and their staff etc
get replaced by call centres. Getting bought by BT however (so far at
least in the case of plusnet) do seem able to leave the bigger companies
acquired alone to trade on their own brand and merits.

Of the budget ISPs I have also heard a number of reasonable comments on
Madasafish...

(A difficulty you find when researching these things is that much of the
stuff written in "review" of ISPs is shaped by a particularly vocal
group of users who primarily want a way of slurping P2P video content
24/7, and hence are always bumping into the ISPs fair usage policies.
Needless to day if your needs are different it can be hard work getting
the info you need).

--
Cheers,

John.

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| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
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| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
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On Sun, 20 May 2007 12:46:47 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

raden wrote:

Are you looking for a business type of contact hours and responses or
is domestic enough?

I just need a cheap and cheerful way to read emails for CET and access
the web

I still use plusnet, and have often recommended them for that type of
use, in that they tick most of the boxes (24/7 support not on premium
rate and the support used is usually reasonably clued up), and the
packages they produced were quite good value etc. In a way they started
out a bit like Demon of old. Having said that I usually use POP3 email
boxes bought externally (from pipex ultimately).

However they have had a number of technology stuff ups in the recent
year and also support responsiveness fell of a bit which will have put
some off. They have just revamped their package range and deleted the
PAYG one that was particularly attractive to more serious users. They
were also recently bought by BT, which may mean they can invest more or
it may mead they just get absorbed by the Borg, so I will reserve
judgement for a bit. They do still have business packages at reasonable
prices though.

Up to very recently I was recommending PlusNet for low/medium users.
However after the recent security incident and the associated spam
problem I will reserve judgement as well.

M