Why NTL Broadband?

[mentalis]

I have recently changed to NTL becuase, at the time, I was unemployed and they were offering unlimited dialup and talk for £25 pm. (Although the sales person never said anything about this being a 12month offer - hey ho)

I am thinking about Broadband, and was wondering what the benefits are of NTL Broadband over ADSL? (Apart from the fact that BT has 512k whereas NTL is 600k)

Thanks

Nigel Ellis

[Neil]

to the site Nigel.

It's hard to compare ntl cable to ADSL per se, because there are many DSL providers out there, with a range of prices & levels of customer service.

The best thing you can do, is head over to www.adslguide.org.uk & click on the compare link, where you can compare the big ISPs for reliabilty, customer service etc.

FYI-I just did a test comparing Bulldog/Pipex/Zen/Nildram, & ntl came out pretty much bottom/on a par with Bulldog DSL.

Results here: http://www.adslguide.org/isps/compar...action=Compare

Enjoy the site.

[Tricky]

My comment would be "What are you going to use it for and if it's large downloads watch the CAP"

[Tezcatlipoca]

Couple of other things:

NTL broadband apparently has a better (lower) contention ratio than ADSL broadband generally has.

http://www.ntl.com/locales/gb/en/hom...and/what/same/

Having many users online at the same time will affect download speeds. Whereas ntl:home Broadband Internet guarantees only 20 users can ever use the same portion of the fibre-optic cable at the same time (called a 20:1 contention ratio). ADSL contention ratios can reach 50:1, making maximum data speeds more unlikely.

NTL cable broadband is worse than ADSL for upload speed, though (comparing services with a similar price & download speed).

The NTL 600k service only has an upload of 128kbits/sec, whereas 512k ADSL services have an upload of 256kbit/sec.

To get a 256k upload with NTL, you need to have the (more expensive) 1meg service.

Of course, the importance of the upload speed depends on what you would use the connection for. 128k upload may be fine, it may not.

(e.g. I originally upgraded from the NTL 600k service to the 1meg service not for the extra download speed, but for the extra upload - because it's better for online gaming such as XBox Live.)

[td444]

You can have 1mbit NTL for £25 a month if you ask nicely - I got a discount as I took up that same Anytime 24/7 talk package and they took it off that.

And to be frank, its really to do with what NTL area your in. Coventry seems generally good for broadband (with a due upgrade tonight...or so they say) but I cannot say about your area. Better making a new thread asking near by people for their opinions.

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by td444

You can have 1mbit NTL for £25 a month if you ask nicely - I got a discount as I took up that same Anytime 24/7 talk package and they took it off that.

And to be frank, its really to do with what NTL area your in. Coventry seems generally good for broadband (with a due upgrade tonight...or so they say) but I cannot say about your area. Better making a new thread asking near by people for their opinions.

so did i , but is was only for 6 months , watch your bill

[Chris W]

NTL broadband because the technical support staff are wonderful :pp

[Neil]

Originally Posted by monkeybreath

NTL broadband because the technical support staff are wonderful :pp

[ntl customer]

Originally Posted by Tricky

My comment would be "What are you going to use it for and if it's large downloads watch the CAP"

If you are going to use the ntlworld email email, surf the web and read stuff from newgroups, then watch out for the dodgy servers. They frequently fall over and if you search this forum then you will probably notice that it is pretty common. Also note that the ntl have a forced proxy unlike most other DSL and cable providers.

A benefit of ADSL is that you have a choice of who you go with. With most of them the contract length is about a month, three months or six months, compared to the year that you have to be with ntl. Some of them have a year like ntl. So if you're not happy with the level of service and nothing is being done, then you can up and leave if the minimum contract is 1 or 3 months.

There maybe some leaving fee (as per Pipex) or an activation fee upon joining.

You cannot do this on ntl (OK you can have AOL but who in their right mind would want them? :pp ) as you are tied down to a 12 month contract when you initially sign up and even when your 12 months is up, there is no other competition on cable.

[Edit] (Neil)- Quotes fixed.

[td444]

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

so did i , but is was only for 6 months , watch your bill

Really? When I was talking to the sales rep, they said for as long as I kept the contract. That and some other friends who have had NTL for longer than me are getting 150K broadband for £7.99 for over a year now.

Either way, its a bundled deal not a special offer. On the contract paper it mentioned nothing of a special offer, and I asked myself.

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by td444

Really? When I was talking to the sales rep, they said for as long as I kept the contract. That and some other friends who have had NTL for longer than me are getting 150K broadband for £7.99 for over a year now.

Either way, its a bundled deal not a special offer. On the contract paper it mentioned nothing of a special offer, and I asked myself.

good luck to you then , i only mentioned the ' watch your bill ' out of my own goodness , ahhhhhhhhh sod it , keep watching your bill , you never know , ntl have a way of playing tricks on you

[Bifta]

Originally Posted by mentalis

I have recently changed to NTL becuase, at the time, I was unemployed and they were offering unlimited dialup and talk for £25 pm. (Although the sales person never said anything about this being a 12month offer - hey ho)

I am thinking about Broadband, and was wondering what the benefits are of NTL Broadband over ADSL? (Apart from the fact that BT has 512k whereas NTL is 600k)

Thanks

Nigel Ellis

If you do choose to go for ADSL for some reason, avoid Pipex, avoid them like you've never avoided anything or anyone in your life. I'd recommend Zen (who guarantee no contention on their network) or Nildram (ADSL guide top rated customer service)

[td444]

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

good luck to you then , i only mentioned the ' watch your bill ' out of my own goodness , ahhhhhhhhh sod it , keep watching your bill , you never know , ntl have a way of playing tricks on you

Thanks for the warning. I spoke to one of my friends who have 150K broadband at £7.99 earlier...he's had it like that for over 9 months.

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by Bifta

If you do choose to go for ADSL for some reason, avoid Pipex, avoid them like you've never avoided anything or anyone in your life. I'd recommend Zen (who guarantee no contention on their network) or Nildram (ADSL guide top rated customer service)

Zen, no contention? You mean they are giving you a leased line service as cheap as other peoples contended service?

Originally Posted by Tezcatlipoca

NTL broadband apparently has a better (lower) contention ratio than ADSL broadband generally has.

The way that contention works on ADSL is different to cable so whether it is better is debateable.

[td444]

Originally Posted by Bifta

If you do choose to go for ADSL for some reason, avoid Pipex, avoid them like you've never avoided anything or anyone in your life. I'd recommend Zen (who guarantee no contention on their network) or Nildram (ADSL guide top rated customer service)

Nildram are a top ISP from a network level - Best gaming and most reliable service id ever used.

Customer services is going down the toilet lately, and they have the cheek to charge you for a block of 8 IP's and other silly things- Something Zen provide for free.

Only reason I left Nildram is due to moving to NTL for phone + dtv, which wasnt my choice!