Which Broadband provider ?

[Guest]

Hi - Firstly Thanks to all who answered my original question regarding wether
I could keep my virgin.net email address should I change Broadband provider.
Whilst many felt this was the case it was also suggested that I could change
my Virgin account to the free dial up one and thereby keep my virgin email
address which I want to retain in addition to a hotmail one I already have.
Having an Orange mobile account my intention was to switch my broadband to
them as this is provided free of charge to mobile customers.
It has been suggested however that Orange Broadband is perhaps not very good
and I am therefore re-thinking any alternatives.
I have also been advised that if I switch my phone service to Tiscali ( but
keeping the B.T line rental) this too would effectively allow me a free
broadband service with Tiscali.
Due to current circumstances I am looking at a cheaper option for a
broadband service and therefore welcome any suggestions on being able to
firstly keep my Virgin email account whilst looking at free or cheaper
alternatives with another provider.
I will investigate the option of changing to a free dial up account with
virgin to keep the email address but would welcome input on wether to perhaps
use Orange or use the Tiscali option for my Broadband. Obviously any better
or alternative solutions are most welcome.

Thanks in advance - your help is much appreciated. Eos

 

[DL]

Nothing is free, you pay in some way
The Virgin free dialup account is free, excepting you pay for the call.

 

[Guest]

GOsh I would avoid Tiscali like a shark. Their customer service is really
pathetic. Do your own research a little-if you have Sky tv then you can get
2Mb dsl for 'free'.

 

[Joan Archer]

You will have to pay regardless of who you go with, some are cheaper than
others and can have various prices depending on the speed of connection
you want and whether you want unlimited usage or a download a month limit.

Sky are offering a package at the moment in that you get
TV/Phone/Broadband for £26 a month, of course there are limits and it
depends what you want and how much you want to pay.

A while back TalkTalk (Carphone Warehouse) were also offering a deal to
get broadband, I don't know whether that is still available, you would
have to do some research to find out what your options are and what is
available in your area.

Hope this is of some use to you. <g>
Joan

 

[Nightowl]

I will investigate the option of changing to a free dial up account with
virgin to keep the email address but would welcome input on wether to perhaps
use Orange or use the Tiscali option for my Broadband. Obviously any better
or alternative solutions are most welcome.

Hello again Eos

Neither Orange or Tiscali have good reputations, and I certainly
wouldn't go to TalkTalk even if they paid *me*! Really all the "free"
offerings have serious drawbacks; I honestly wouldn't switch to one of
them unless all you really need is email.

Madasafish is said to be good and has an offer at the moment of up-to-
8Mb for £11.99 for the first six months on its basic package. After that
it's £17.99, about the same as Virgin's cheapest package, but you do get
faster speeds, a 5Gb instead of 2Gb monthly usage limit and free phone
and forum support. Sky might be a good bet if you're already a Sky
customer and if their broadband is available in your area (they were
rolling it out in stages to avoid the oversubscription problems that
TalkTalk has had!)

I'd really encourage you to do some research before changing, especially
if you're thinking of changing over your phone service too. Have a look
at the User Comments on ISPs forums on this independent site:
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/
They'll give you a good idea of what the various companies are like,
who's helpful and who's not. Another good place to read and perhaps ask
for recommendations is the newsgroup uk.telecom.broadband .

Good luck!