Tiscali

[Piff]

Used to be with them back in 56k dial-up days, but left after they "lost" my account for three months in a row. These days I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. They consistently rate as one of the lowest on thinkbroadband's comparisons, even when compared with AOL and BT Broadband.

This is a comparison of AOL, BT Broadband, o2, PlusNet, Tiscali and Zen. The results speak for themselves.

I'm glad to see that there are people out there who are having a good experience with them, but after having seen so many of my clients have issues and problems with them, and seeing those problems run on for long periods of time, I have no inclination to use them and I would never, ever recommend them. Even PlusNet had problems with them when they were reselling some Tiscali broadband services.

I can only get about 7mb (or what ever the speed thingy is) down our phone line
The link you posted shows similar results for AOL & Tiscali.
AOL are charging me £17.99/month for 2mb
Post Office are charging me £10.72/month for line rental (+free evening & weekend calls)
Tiscali are offering 8mb speed, line rental & the same calls package for £14.99/month.
Seems like a no-brainer to me.

 

[Piff]

If your exchange is ADSL2 capable, I would suggest O2.

You'll then get an up to 20Mb service for just £9.79 (if you have either a contract or pay-as-you-go O2 mobile), or £14.68 otherwise.

For their 8Mb service, the costs are £7.34 or £12.23.

How would I know if the exchange is ASDL2?

 

[whizzkid11]

With Virgin come the limitations... especially if your into P2P

I have 2 seperate connections with UKONLINE - and have absolutely no issues - been with them for about 8 yrs now. Top notch speed, good service and reasonable costs. Can't complain really.

I had a friend who had tiscali, but he was an evening surfer / mail checker - so couldn't really get a proper review from him.

 

[Piff]

I heard somewhere that broadband will eventually be a totally free service. I know Gordon Brown has mentioned that he wants everyone in the UK to be on the high speed service - dont know when.

So i can only presume that specialist ISPs who offer nothing else, would one day have no revenue stream if it all goes free.

On that basis i would choose a phone provider - and also because most broadband comes down the phone line.

Incidentally, I have completely free braodband with my Orange mobile contract - 500 mins for £15 +VAT a month.

Is the Orange broadband a dongle thingy on a mobile network or is it via the regular phone line?

 

[Piff]

Virgin's 50Mbps is currently the fastest in the UK and, due to the inherent limitations of twisted-pair cable (as used by xDSL services), is a speed that cannot practicably be matched by the competition. Virgin's cable service on the other hand is delivered over fibre optic and co-axial cable, enabling even higher speed services in future. I suspect this is partly why the government have recently been talking about a national fibre-optica overlay network incorporating Fibre-To-The Home (FTTH) connectivity. Gigabit speeds would then be commonplace.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread...

Cable hasn't reached this part of Suffolk yet. We can't get Sky broadband. We can't get Tiscali TV. Pidgeons do bring the post occasionally

 

[Piff]

Yep 02 are excellent. Look at the customer satisfaction poles, they get top marks.

Talk Talk are incredibally BAD - AVOID!

I was with AOL since they took over from compuserve and ditched them a few years ago. They were appalling and you have trouble removing all trace of them from your system.

I left talk talk after I moved house 3 years ago. They completly messed up the broadband moving service, then had the cheek to charge me for the service they had forgot to provide. Took months to sort out & was only finally sorted with the help of the phone ombudsman.

I've heard before that AOL is difficult to remove. My main pc is recently built and as part of the building process I tried to include some old components which backfired and I ended up removing the old components which has left some gremlins behind. I think when AOL eventually provide my MAC code & I find a new ISP that I will format the hard disc & re-install everything. This should get rid of AOL!!!
Thing is I'll probably be back after somehelp on the formatting

 

[masher_uk]

Cable hasn't reached this part of Suffolk yet.

Nice part of the world though (Adnams if I'm not mistaken!)

 

[Antharro]

I can only get about 7mb (or what ever the speed thingy is) down our phone line
The link you posted shows similar results for AOL & Tiscali.
AOL are charging me £17.99/month for 2mb
Post Office are charging me £10.72/month for line rental (+free evening & weekend calls)
Tiscali are offering 8mb speed, line rental & the same calls package for £14.99/month.
Seems like a no-brainer to me.

If it works for you, then that's great. Enjoy it. Having been involved with clients with Tiscali goes bad, I won't recommend them and I won't use them. Personally, I would rather go with an ISP that I know to be good, even if it means paying a little more. That's my position. From where I'm sitting, your post sounds a little like you're disagreeing with me. Well, that's your perogative, I won't be arguing back.

 

[BTB 500]

Because my phone line will only support 1.5 Mb (whatever the ISP), the only way to get a higher speed would be a 'cable' supplier like Virgin?

 

[Antharro]

Bill - you may want to look at ADSL2 suppliers, or BT's 21st Century Network. My line is 3-4Mb average, but I can get around 11Mb on o2.

Punch your phone number into here, hit Submit, then click BT 21CN on the left. If your exchange isn't scheduled to be upgraded soon, and if that website indicates you can get o2, have a look at the o2 availability checker here.

 

[bobby]

Tiscali have THE WORST customer service in the world! I have been with them since 2005 and never had a problem. Then last year I have had problem after problem. Am now moving to Virgin after reading good comments here & friend's feedback. Search Tiscali on google and see what you find! AVOID! (note - just my humble opinion)

 

[SilverSaloon]

yeah their customer service isnt great. as with all these cheapo suppliers, good if you have no problems but hassle if you do. i still prefer to take the risks though!

i've been with tiscali for over 4 years now and never had a problem.

 

[bobby]

yeah their customer service isnt great. as with all these cheapo suppliers, good if you have no problems but hassle if you do. i still prefer to take the risks though!

i've been with tiscali for over 4 years now and never had a problem.

I'm happy for you bro - I hope you don't have to enter the twilight world of their customer service, but if you do, you'll remember my words!!!

 

[Piff]

Nice part of the world though (Adnams if I'm not mistaken!)

Adnams

 

[Piff]

Bill - you may want to look at ADSL2 suppliers, or BT's 21st Century Network. My line is 3-4Mb average, but I can get around 11Mb on o2.

Punch your phone number into here, hit Submit, then click BT 21CN on the left. If your exchange isn't scheduled to be upgraded soon, and if that website indicates you can get o2, have a look at the o2 availability checker here.

I checked these details, our exchange has no upgrade date. On the o2 site, they say I can get Home Broadband Access at £22.03/month (non customer) If I was an o2 customer the rate would be £17.13

 

[Antharro]

I checked these details, our exchange has no upgrade date. On the o2 site, they say I can get Home Broadband Access at £22.03/month (non customer) If I was an o2 customer the rate would be £17.13

Mmm, probably not worth it at that price. The customer service is reputed to be excellent, but I wouldn't consider o2 unless I was on an o2 enabled exchange.

 

[BTB 500]

Bill - you may want to look at ADSL2 suppliers, or BT's 21st Century Network. My line is 3-4Mb average, but I can get around 11Mb on o2.

Punch your phone number into here, hit Submit, then click BT 21CN on the left. If your exchange isn't scheduled to be upgraded soon, and if that website indicates you can get o2, have a look at the o2 availability checker here.

"There is currently no 21CN migration date for your PSTN service"

But ... I have an O2 mobile, and ...

"Congratulations! O2 Home Broadband is available in your area

We've estimated that your maximum download speed is 4 meg .This is based on information BT gave us about your BT line."

How does O2 give me a faster service down the same phone line than Demon (who I'm with now)??

 

[oldcro]

BT claim I can receive up to 8megs. Actual speed is 0.5megs.

 

[andy_k]

BT claim I can receive up to 1 mb but my neighbour who is served from the same exchange, same telegraph pole can get up to 8mb - actual speed for both of us is nearer to 4mb most of the time

 

[spinaltap]

How would I know if the exchange is ASDL2?

Visit 'SamKnows' - enter your postcode, and select your local exchange. You will then discover if O2/Be is enabled there.

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php