[Merged] Whats the best BB option

[skymouse]

Help!
I have to move house in the next few months to an area that doesnt have NTL or Telewest! SO i have to give up my very reliable 1.5mbit broadband.
Most DSL connections i have experienced havent even come close to the ease and experience of cable.
I will be moving to shropshire/shrewsbury area - postcode unknown as yet.
Does anyone have any experience of good DSL providers in that area or any gems of knowledge to assist?
Are NTL or TW planning to expand into these areas?
Thanks

[Derek]

I've had both ADSL and cable and find the Broadband much more reliable. So much so that its soon going to be the only Ntl service I have.

As for ADSL providers I've heard good things about Pipex and a few others.

http://www.adslguide.org.uk

normally has good info on the different providers available.

[nostra]

i have eclipse and find them very good and reliable
and also have 4/5 friends on freedom2surf who say they are very good also

Tried NTL cable, and BT ADSL, and found cable to be the smoother experience. You still have to dial up to use ADSL, although it does dial up faster than a 56k modem. With cable, you turn on your PC, your 'net connection is just there waiting for you.

[skymouse]

thats the thing. got so used to always on - no limit download.... :-(

[DeadKenny]

NTL was a nightmare for me, as many of you well know.

ADSL with PlusNet has been a dream. At long last, 2Mbps, perfect always on connection, no download limits (and no execs moaning about bandwidth hoggers, or any impending capping ). That's not to mention the extras like 250mb web space with PHP/MySQL, static IP, a reliable mail server, etc

P.S. You don't have to dial with ADSL. That's a myth. The only reason people think that is because USB modems when they authenticate use Window's dialler software to do it. ADSL routers and standalone modems are "always on" just the same as cable modems. They do authenticate with username/password, but then cable modems authenticate by MAC address just you don't have to configure anything. Besides if you switched your cable modem on every time you access the net, which would be equivalent to that USB modem powering on, the cable modem would take far longer to connect and it would be in danger of not locking onto the signal (I didn't dare switch my NTL modem off for fear of it never reconnecting again).

[Hom3r]

Debate time

What is the best option

1) BB via a cable provider (NTL etc.)

2) BB via a telephone line (ASDL)

I think that a cable provider would be far better because they have a fibre backbone to 'green boxes' in each area, and phone line is primeally copper which is more prone to interference

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by david.ewles

Debate time

What is the best option

1) BB via a cable provider (NTL etc.)

2) BB via a telephone line (ASDL)

I think that a cable provider would be far better because they have a fibre backbone to 'green boxes' in each area, and phone line is primeally copper which is more prone to interference

sorry but isnt this rather negated by the fact that not everyone can get cable , and not everyone can get adsl , personally i would go for cable , its all i have ever had and am happy with it

[ian@huth]

A combination of the two would be better, VDSL.

[etccarmageddon]

if you want good upload rates ie. 256k and arent willing to pay for NTL's top product then ADSL is probably the better option as it's a cheaper way of getting a high upload speed.

[Ignition]

No thanks, too many hows whys and wherefores for my liking, in theory cable wins in some ways, DSL in others, in practise it can be very different for so many reasons.

Are you just talking about ADSL or can we include fibre in the loop technologies, RSLAMs, Stingers, VDSL and the like as well?

BTW you don't have fibre to your green box you have fibre to a node which could be serving hundreds of customers and several green boxes on street corners, and actually badly maintained cable networks can show far worse noise than the inherently noise cancelling twisted pair that carries DSL.

Bet my DSL has a better signal to noise ratio than your cable, although that's comparing apples and oranges the numbers say I win. Signal loss / attenuation is the main issue in DSL due to the lack of in loop amplification and long loop lengths, that and crosstalk, not so much noise.

[Ignition]

Originally Posted by DeadKenny

ADSL with PlusNet .... (and no execs moaning about bandwidth hoggers, or any impending capping ).

Someone hasn't been paying attention to their ISP's own forums I see

http://www.plus.net/support/faq/broa...age_faq.shtml?

Although it's a fair bit more flexible and far more open than pretty much any other scheme I've seen.

Just thought I'd mention it though as all the stuff about PN and capping appears to have passed you by, it's on its' way!

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by Ignition

Someone hasn't been paying attention to their ISP's own forums I see

http://www.plus.net/support/faq/broa...age_faq.shtml?

Although it's a fair bit more flexible and far more open than pretty much any other scheme I've seen.

Just thought I'd mention it though as all the stuff about PN and capping appears to have passed you by, it's on its' way!

An excellent article that every user with views on capping should read. I wonder how many of the objectors to capping would be prepared to pay the £250 to £300 per month that is suggested.

[Matth]

Excellent read!
http://usertools.plus.net/status/archive/1101830040.htm

In order to frame the discussion further, industry average for
Broadband utilisation is circa 7GB per month per customer, across all
speeds, ISPs and account types.

Now that's an interesting figure, and it sets a good perspective on the 1Gb/2Gb "dialup replacement" broadbands, and NTL's 1Mbit/5Gb - we can call it a "below average" service.

Since it will be the bottom of three tiers, you'd expect it to be 'below average'! Also, for people with higher usage who still only want to pay for a 'below average' service, there will be the option of 300K/30GB.