ISP ratings - how did yours do?

[Taffycat]

Not that I'd want to brag or anything...(polite cough, innocent expression) but... my ISP has second place in the ISP ratings not bad eh?

 

[nivrip]

I note that it is "the G-Spot of the internet."
Wow !


Mine is only 18th, although I find it very good. Don't know where that puts it in relation to the G-Spot.

 

[Ian]

O2 comes 3rd, and I'm very pleased with them - it's fantastic value (from £7.50/month) and the customer service is excellent. My only problem with them is they block port 25 (for external POP3 mail), but that's easy to work around.

 

[TriplexDread]

Is that legal to do? Block port 25?

Surely everyone has the right to use what ever mail provider they want?

Reminds me of another arguement with MS a few years ago

 

[Ian]

Is that legal to do? Block port 25?

Surely everyone has the right to use what ever mail provider they want?

Reminds me of another arguement with MS a few years ago

Yep there's nothing illegal about it - apparently it is to stop people from sending spam, but I'm sure that's not the real reason. Or if it is, it's misguided.

You can just use port 45 to send mail on most POP3 servers and it will still work

 

[V_R]

Vivaciti for me at #5 down from #3 last time i looked. lol

http://www.dslzoneuk.net/isp_details.php?isp=101#


So far so good, been very happy, however the urge for faster speeds and a faster upload for FTP have been making me think i may try be* out. But i'm not sure.

 

[Waynos_Face]

I'm with Be*, was with BT but switched, £18 month, upto 24MB line, unlimited use, no fair use policy either, i get about 22MB on the line, as i'm quite close to the exchange.

Can download at about 3MB/s (ish) and upload at 400 - 500KB/s

Only annoying thing is once a week it will be down for two hours for maintenance and the Router they give you is crappo, went and brought me own.

 

[Ian]

So far so good, been very happy, however the urge for faster speeds and a faster upload for FTP have been making me think i may try be* out. But i'm not sure.

If you have an o2 phone, go with them as they are on the same network as bebroadband, but miles cheaper (if you already have a contract).

 

[V_R]

Yeh, unfortunatly, im with Vodafone, have bee nfor the last 10 years.

 

[murdoch]

Virgin Media come 2nd from last!

May be time to change.

 

[floppybootstomp]

I be at # 11 with Zen.

I've been with Zen since March 2003, never had a single problem with them.

They always used to be in the Top 5 but I think their pricing lets them down a little.

One main thing that put me off changing ISP was that Zen only want a one month contract, no signing up for 12 or 18 months but now I appear to be settled at my new address, I may shop around.

I was considering 02 but my mobile phone network is Virgin (Sim card only, a monthly contract).

I'll have to investigate. You happy with O2 Ian?

I do like Zen a lot, great company, fine service, but cash is cash...

 

[Ian]

I'll have to investigate. You happy with O2 Ian?

Very much so The free router is decent enough, and I only pay £7.50/month Customer server was good when I needed it, but the only draw back is it took a bit of fiddling to be able to send mail via external POP3 servers.

They do provide their own POP3 servers so you can send mail from any e-mail address through them, which is fair enough - but I just changed to port 45 instead of 25.

That's the only negative thing, about them - but as I save over £100 a year I don't really mind at all. I doubt it would even be a problem for most people if they use the @o2 or hotmail/gmail addresses.

 

[Taffycat]

One main thing that put me off changing ISP was that Zen only want a one month contract, no signing up for 12 or 18 months but now I appear to be settled at my new address, I may shop around.

I was considering 02 but my mobile phone network is Virgin (Sim card only, a monthly contract).

Just out of interest, ADSL24 is only a one-month sign-up too. For those telephone exchanges which are enabled, it provides a 24 Mbps service too. Off-peak allowance is uncapped.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Just out of interest, ADSL24 is only a one-month sign-up too. For those telephone exchanges which are enabled, it provides a 24 Mbps service too. Off-peak allowance is uncapped.

True, dat, I just had a quick look through the top ten details.

To be honest there were things about all of them that stopped me from changing, except maybe O2.

The nearest comparable service from ADSL24 to what I have atm costs £20.00, which is only a saving of a fiver a month.

Here's a comparison, pros and cons, really, I would miss my 2Gb web space and also O2 charge to setup the account (migration fee). But O2 has uncapped bandwidth......... etc etc

I currently have 4 e-mail accounts - Zen; PC Review; BBF Forums and G-Mail.

Would I have any problems using the three besides Zen (obviously) with this port 25 blocked with O2?

And another question, which I should know really, what's a static IP address? And what advantage has it?

If somebody would care to explain

 

[V_R]

I have a static ip from Vivaciti, (as do all Entanet customers) its a single external ip rather than a dynamic one that changes everytim you reboot your router.

Its never bothered me, and im not 100% sure of the advantages/disadvantages.

 

[Madxgraphics]

I'm with O2, can't fault them..Fantastic customer service4s/support..Me and the other half have our mobile contracts with O2 again can't fault them. My tow older daughters have O2 Pay & Go mobiles..Fantastic for them, top up £35 a month and they get unlimited calls and texts to other O2 numbers..Quite a good deal when all their mates are on O2

I also have an O2 Mobile Broadband USB modem..This is their only downfall..Cr*p coverage..Prefer using me Three Mobile Broadband Modem..Good coverage, good speed and dirt cheap..

 

[Ian]

Here's a comparison, pros and cons, really, I would miss my 2Gb web space and also O2 charge to setup the account (migration fee). But O2 has uncapped bandwidth......... etc etc

Sometimes o2 don't charge to join - I joined on an offer a few months ago and didn't pay any connection fee, so it might be like that again sometime

I currently have 4 e-mail accounts - Zen; PC Review; BBF Forums and G-Mail. Would I have any problems using the three besides Zen (obviously) with this port 25 blocked with O2?

As you'll be leaving Zen, that e-mail account will disappear. Your PC Review one is ok, as that can use port 45 to send. The gmail one is web based so that's ok too. It's just the BBF one you'll need to check - try setting the outgoing SMTP port to 45, and it if still works you'll be fine

If you pay for a static IP from o2 then they don't block port 25 - I didn't bother with this though.

And another question, which I should know really, what's a static IP address? And what advantage has it?

Like V_R says, it just means your IP address won't change. Unless you host game servers all the time I can't see much of an advantage. Ironically, I don't think my IP has changed in months even though I've rebooted the modem several times - so you may end up with one anyway!

 

[Taffycat]

On my current 8 MB plan, I am allowed 30 GB (cap for peak-time) and 300 GB off-peak. £19.99

If you can get the 24 Mbps, then you get 35 GB (cap for peak time) with unlimited (no cap) off-peak for the same price - £19.99

There is no port blocking either. http://adsl24.co.uk/index.php

Hee hee, not that I'm biased or anything

 

[psd99]

Static IP is only really good if you plan to access your computer remotely. So you will always know the IP address to connect to. Other than that I don't see the point.

 

[psd99]

Btw nice find mate

Out of the top 10 I have only heard of 02 and BE does anyone else feel the same?

As for mine Sky digital I am well happy with them. For a fiver a month I get broadband okay it is limited to 8GB. The speed is pretty poor only barely 1.5mb i've never seen more than 1.9mb and I am paying for UP TO 8mb. My area is pants like that.

I have thought about the free broadband they offer it is capped at 2gb. But come on if I went over in a month i'm sure they wouldn't mind. But honestly I can't knock it for a fiver a month.