[smudger]

After another fruitless day rebooting, switching off etc as my internet ducked and dived, I am now on the hunt for a reliable ISP.

I can (and do) get 2mb speeds max, so superduper fast is not a selling point, but reliability and good customer service (ie somone at the end of the phone, non-premium and helpful) would be good.  I'm with Plusnet at moment who keep getting good reviews and can't see why. Problem could be router (I couldn't browse yesterday, but could skype for some reason) and DNS issues (but fed up doing all the things you should do and still problems).  Anyway a lot of reviews seem to be based on cost - and I would rather pay £15/ month for a reliable service than £5/month and losing a day a week fixing things.

I have set up a business and now really need a reliable service and thinking might go the business broadband route to get more reliability (static IP address better?).  Zen Broadband came up on a quick google search (moneysaving expert) but did consider if I should look at BT to see if there is an issue with the line (at least it would be a one stop shop). Then again my brother is with BT and curses them!

Any suggestions?  I'm in Devon if it makes any difference.

[doganjo]

I can't see how your broadband can be the problem if Skype got through as it is internet based.   If you can't get on the internet you can't get on Skype. I'm not convinced it's the router either as the same applies.  Was the service intermittent?  i.e. you got on Skype but didn't check any websites at the same time rather than just getting on Skype?  In that case I would blame BT as they own the line.  I have a BT line but my broadband is with O2 - never have any problems at all. (www.toucheswood.com    )

[Smalltime]

Its the line, not the ISP (internet service provider). The lines are all run by BT who have an automatic fault recognition system. Therefore, if you overload your line (generally by trying to use it) BT will automatically register a fault on the line and cut it out, then reconnect you at a lower speed. This exacerbates the problem as next time you try and download or do something, the same thing happens until in the end you have an appalling connection (speed-wise) that most likely continues to cut out intermittently.

[lachlanandmarcus]

Do you have a clear phone line when you make/answer phone calls. Ours was terrible at our old house and internet suffered too from it. Eventually BT agreed to replace the line going from the pole to us and it did help!

[Womble]

Three suggestions:

1) Do you have a very old master socket?  We couldn't get any broadband connection at all, until we replaced ours with an NTE5 socket (see here). It was cheap as chips from Ebay, and therefore worth a go!

2) Although mod 1) got us a signal of sorts, it was still pretty poor. However, we found out that we can get a much better speed and reliability via a mobile wireless dongle whatsit from three (i.e. using the mobile network, not the BT line). The cost is £18/month with a 15gb allowance. Perhaps someone you know has got one, and would let you borrow it for a day to see if you can get it to connect from your house?

3) Move to the centre of a very large city, buy a huge flatscreen TV, and just watch re-runs of Countryfile and River Cottage to get your smallholder fix, whilst surfing TAS at super fast speeds! 

Hope that helps!

[tizaala]

Take a chainsaw to the bt poles leading to your house, cut the cables , they will replace them by the time you get out of prison.
If you have sky then get your line rental and broardband through them also, dont even consider Tiscali.

[SallyintNorth]

I have nothing good to say about Tiscali, either.

I have found BT to be a reliable provider once the service is up and running.  It has, however, in two different locations (one of them being north Devon 6 years ago), been a protracted and frustrating experience getting the service up and running.  Worth it in the end, though.

[deepinthewoods]

im with o2 and whilst their not the cheapest the support is BRILLIANT, everytime ive had a problem ive had really good help, even when the problem was with the computer not the line,  theystill helped me sort it out.
 their call center is in northern ireland so english speaking(sort of).

[smudger]

Thanks doganjo, but I was trying to browse to no avail whilst I was talking on skype. When trying to repair/find faults, windows said reboot/switch of router as only solution. Strange but true. When I rebooted (and reset) router I did lose Skype.

Smalltime - I had this problem in the past and Plusnet did look at stats and see my line was cutting out intermittently at the time and speeds had got slower and slower. But download speed at moment is fine 2.3mb (just tested it now, so got faster, but could be time of day, usually c 2mb), just kept losing the connection yesterday (other than skype).

Womble - thx, have an up to date master socket (I do remember city life avidly watching countryfile every week; now hardly have anytime to watch TV anymore...). But no, I accept won't have superfast speeds in deep dark Devon, just want something reliable and dependable.

I'm not convinced by the Thompson router (and it is a palaver to interrogate it/ change settings), so if I have to buy a new router (this is already the second one within my 12 mth contract) I might as well try a new ISP. If there is no contract tie in then there is nothing to lose is my thinking. Plusnet seem to have slightly faster speeds for my area but not of any use if can't browse (and I tried both Chrome and IE). Plusnet are actually owned by BT but that doesn't seem to help....

Kept looking at reviews for business broadband and none of them seem to have happy customers. . May look at the O2 dongle as an option.....we do get a brilliant mobile reception at home, so may work.

thx

[Brucklay]

I'm a fair distance from the exchange too and only get about 2mb - I use BT and although I wouldn't call my service fantastic at least I can call (as long as I feel patient) and get things up and running again in a few hours - it always is a fault on the line somewhere. I work from home too and all my work is internet based so a connection is critical. My solution is BT but I also have a pay as you go dongle set up so if I loose connection I can pay the basic £2 (I think) for 24hrs connection by dongle in case of emergency - the system has worked so far!!

[mcginty]

im with o2 and whilst their not the cheapest the support is BRILLIANT, everytime ive had a problem ive had really good help, even when the problem was with the computer not the line,  theystill helped me sort it out.
 their call center is in northern ireland so english speaking(sort of).

Sort of .

[doganjo]

im with o2 and whilst their not the cheapest the support is BRILLIANT, everytime ive had a problem ive had really good help, even when the problem was with the computer not the line,  theystill helped me sort it out.
 their call center is in northern ireland so english speaking(sort of).

Sort of .

My son is a manager at the Glasgow call centre, so I get a reduced rate, and fortunately have never had to call them as it's always working.

[bazzais]

My internet is 1/4 meg the same as the upload speed - I still have to pay BT for the unlimited line as I still go over bandwidth

No other company will touch us as we are too far from the exchange for them to bother trying.

Baz

[bazzais]

If your exchange isnt unbundled then your always going to be using BT equipment in the exchange and they just rent it off BT at a wholesale price - infact their are hardly any companies that actually dont rent wholesale of BT and use their own equipment in the exchange - so BT is your best choice for broadband as other companies will just call BT after you phone them with a problem.

For faster speeds and a more reliable connection use the first socket in the house where the line comes in and take out any extention phones - also take the front cover off the socket and if there is another socket in there plug your filter into that.

Baz

[lachlanandmarcus]

We use BT for everything, not necess cos they are the cheapest (we cant get fast BB anyway so less in it) but because it is satisfying to prevent the buck passing that goes on if you have a problem.

We have found this helps to ensure problems are solved fairly efficiently as you dont waste time in the different links in the chain arguing that its the other bit at fault....