Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Mikey Dub
Hi guys
This is a fantastic forum - the NTL guys especially seem real supportive, sorry if this topic has already been done to death but I scrolled back 5 pages and couldnt find anything, I'm planning on going for an NTL broadband package (probably the 600 one) getting my own ADSL router as I want to use it for XBOX Live and internet access.
I'm fairly technically minded and computer literate, my main concern is billing and general slowness/loss of service, my question is, is the service good value for money - I'm not asking if its the best, just if I can expect speedy, uncapped access to the internet 90% of the time from these guys? And if not, is there anyone comparable in price thats better?
Cheers! 
Mike |
Mike
As Charlie_Bubble said, you'll need a normal router (e.g. Linksys BEFSR41, ~£35 from Amazon.co.uk), not an ADSL router.
Also, in case you were wondering, don't be conned into subscribing to the "Broadband & Console Service" to use your XBox. It is uneccessary (IMO
). The £5/month (soon to be £2 I think) simply provides a 2nd IP address, plus "XBox Live support".
It is cheaper & easier to use a router or ICS (technically it is against the AUP to use an XBox without the NTL console service....but the AUP is very badly written, plus they do not seem to enforce this particular part of it anyway, & probably can't enforce it). [See the XBox forum for
Useful Info ]
Billing.....I haven't had any problems in a long time (nearly 3 years), but some people do (see
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ad.php?t=11446 in the
Billing/Installation Forum for problems with the new system). Probably happens with most companies though.
Cap....As Charlie_Bubble said, there is a 1 GB per day download "guideline". It does not really seem to be enforced much though. Bear in mind that other ISPs are also introducing caps now, some of which are much smaller & also are enforced (e.g. Wanadoo has a 2GB per *month* cap on its budget 512k service, 15GB per month on its normal 512k service, & 30GB per month on its 1Mb service).
Speed, reliability, etc....*shrug*. Depends. Some people will tell you they have never had a problem ever, while others may have no end of problems. One issue some people have is with the transparent web proxies....oh, & also the often dodgy pop3 email servers (see the
email/proxy/webspace forum for examples)...and the newsgroup problems...
It can often take ages to get through to cusomer services or tech support (but I've seen worse...e.g. O2)
Enjoy your stay here, & enjoy your upcoming BB - whoever you get it from