Shovels Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 I'm currently with Eclipse. They used to be very good (apart from their accounts department) Now they're just taking the pi$$! My download speed is often 300-400 kb/s, compared to the 4000-6000 I used to get from them. I've tested with different kit, master socket, filters, so I know it's not internally slow - however it could be between me and the exchange, but reading other's reviews on them I don't think it is. Does anyone have any recommendations? I've been looking at people like fast, IDNet, Zen, etc. I don't mind paying £30-£40 a month as I use it for my business, so it pays for itself. I also don't want to be tied into theri kit, or anything like that. P.S. I'm in the south west, so cable isn't an option and 8mb is the limit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiten55 Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 im with Be. really good service, never had a problem, upto 24mb with adsl2 for around £20 pm. they even text you a few days before they are going to take their monthly payment from your account. 24/7 tech support too. been with them for 18 months now i think. never had a unexpected loss of service iirc. and no contract let me know if your interested and i'll recomend you, we both get a free month that way i think web site: http://www.bethere.co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl0s Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 I'm with Be too. I only get 10mbps though because i'm 2.2km from the exchange. I have a customer with them who gets 23mbps and another who gets 17.. If you are getting above something like 14mbps, and you have the Pro package with them (£22/month incl vat) you can ask to be switched to Annex-M, which gives you ~2.3mbps upstream speed over the usual 1.3mbps. I'm a bit gutted because I don't get more than 1.4mbps upstream Oh, you said 8mb is the limit. Does that mean your local exchange hasn't been unbundled? Have a look on http://www.samknows.co.uk to see for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny g Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 I'm with Virgin and regularly maintain 15Mbit/sec on downloads, sustained over a couple of hours. Been with them since they were Blueyonder and would not change Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl0s Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 I'm with Virgin and regularly maintain 15Mbit/sec on downloads, sustained over a couple of hours. Been with them since they were Blueyonder and would not change He says no cable in his area though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steviekid Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 My download speed is often 300-400 kb/s, I'd love to get download speeds like that!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny g Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 He says no cable in his area though. I missed that ... damn the blurry eyed sunday morning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shovels Posted March 2, 2008 Author Share Posted March 2, 2008 cheers guys, "I'd love to get download speeds like that!!" - Are you thinking kB/s? (When downloading it's around 30-50 kB/s) I used to have BT at an office I was renting and regularly got 700-800 kB/s which I was chuffed to bits with, but they are fairly expensive, charge for every little extra and also supply a router which resets itself daily. Plus if you connect more than 5 devices it has a hissy fit and reboots. I checked on the SamKnows site and it says I can get: BT Wholesale ADSL BT Wholesale ADSL Max BT Wholesale SDSL AOL LLU TalkTalk (CPW) LLU Sky Broadband / Easynet LLU I checked on the Zen site and it said I could get their service, but on the SamKnows site it says it's not enabled. strange? When I check on the bethere site (did this last night) it says that Be is not available in the area Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 I use Zen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konrad Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 UkOnline supposed to be good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiten55 Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 cheers guys, "I'd love to get download speeds like that!!" - Are you thinking kB/s? (When downloading it's around 30-50 kB/s) I used to have BT at an office I was renting and regularly got 700-800 kB/s which I was chuffed to bits with, but they are fairly expensive, charge for every little extra and also supply a router which resets itself daily. Plus if you connect more than 5 devices it has a hissy fit and reboots. I checked on the SamKnows site and it says I can get: BT Wholesale ADSL BT Wholesale ADSL Max BT Wholesale SDSL AOL LLU TalkTalk (CPW) LLU Sky Broadband / Easynet LLU I checked on the Zen site and it said I could get their service, but on the SamKnows site it says it's not enabled. strange? When I check on the bethere site (did this last night) it says that Be is not available in the area be are adding more exchanges on almost a weekly basis, if you can, hold tight, they may turn up soon. alternatively give them a call and ask Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seb Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 I'm with Be as well, very impressed even though I only get around 12mb, but superb as an overall package. I'm interested to see if this new Virgin fibre optic broadband is much cop as they reckon that it's faster than everything else, even though max speed is 20mb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerous brain Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 I can't get LLu so Be is no good for me mores the pity. I will reccomend you don't bother with tiscali or you'll see your current download speed halved at peak times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shovels Posted March 2, 2008 Author Share Posted March 2, 2008 I can't get LLu so Be is no good for me mores the pity. I will reccomend you don't bother with tiscali or you'll see your current download speed halved at peak times I think this is the problem with Eclipse - They were bought out about a year ago by Kingston (part of tiscali i think). I also found this which made me laugh... http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk/blog/2007/02/16/eclipse-is-best ..."best consumer broadband"... lol, my a$$!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BASHTHEBISHOP Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Eclipse Broadband Evolution 1 is aimed at people who do some surfing and emailing. Though it's an up-to 8Mb service, you pay less so may not always get the top speed, but for a bit of surfing and mailing that shouldn't be a problem. Unlimited downloads mean you don't have to worry about how much you use the net - you just pay your set monthly fee. And as a bonus you get a free modem when you sign up for a 12-month contract. Why do they put 8mb & then say you wont get it as you paid less??? I am sure advertising isnt like that for other products:search: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shovels Posted March 2, 2008 Author Share Posted March 2, 2008 Why do they put 8mb & then say you wont get it as you paid less??? I am sure advertising isnt like that for other products:search: I think it's to do with a que system they have, when requests are made by the user they get dealt with at the fastest possible speed, however if someone requests some data who's paid more they effectively jump the que, so the people who pay less then have to wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BASHTHEBISHOP Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 I think it's to do with a que system they have, when requests are made by the user they get dealt with at the fastest possible speed, however if someone requests some data who's paid more they effectively jump the que, so the people who pay less then have to wait. Ah ok. Shame they dont operate a similar policy at the petrol pumps...we put more fuel in than most so should not have to queue. lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 I know little about computers, but I CAN say Zen have been the epitome of reliability, and a dream to be with. It's no surprise they do so well in the PC magazine tests. Not the cheapest, but I wholeheartedly recommend them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 I know little about computers, but I CAN say Zen have been the epitome of reliability, and a dream to be with. It's no surprise they do so well in the PC magazine tests. Not the cheapest, but I wholeheartedly recommend them. I use to be a Zen partner and couldnt agree more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerous brain Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 I am seeing on the adsl forums the same thing coming up about all ISP's that have been bought out by tiscali pipex being one. Its all well and good saying you can have 8mb but most of the time not. What gets me is when I have to sit and watch a picture load line by line. I am on near on dial up speed at sociable hours. In my book that ceases to be broadband. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyW Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 O2 broadband, they have bought over Be. It's "unlimited", cheap and fast, if you've got an O2 phone it's even cheaper. http://broadband.o2.co.uk/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Zen are very good indeed, I've heard excellent feedback from people using them in the SW. Shame you can't get cable, the ex-NTL Virgin XL package is extremely fast. 20MB connection for £34 a month, download speeds are now more dependant on the site rather than the connection, example below at around 2MB/s (torrent download, graph shows about 40 minutes usage). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shovels Posted March 2, 2008 Author Share Posted March 2, 2008 Zen are very good indeed, I've heard excellent feedback from people using them in the SW. Shame you can't get cable, the ex-NTL Virgin XL package is extremely fast. 20MB connection for £34 a month, download speeds are now more dependant on the site rather than the connection, example below at around 2MB/s (torrent download, graph shows about 40 minutes usage). It is a shame - I'm in Exmouth = No cable, Exeter = Cable & only 12 miles down the road Zen keeps coming up trumps, so I think that might well be the route I take - I don't mind paying that 'bit' extra if it means a good connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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