recommend me an ISP

[LozB]

my reqs are:

unlimited usage / no limit of downloads
2mb speed minimum
pricing around £20-25
any free kit would be nice but not essential.

so far only ISP that fits the above req ive found is UKonline.

thoughts please.

[TelexStar]

Tiscali do a 2mb, unlimited service for £17.99

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/products/broadband/2mb-unlimited.html?code=ZZ-NL-11MR

My provider is NTL so I don't know what their service history is like.

[gabes]

I heard UKOnline block some ports and don't tell you about it when you signup. Just a rumour though.

Don't go with Plusnet they've put everybody onto a sustainable usage policy whereby you have

30 gig downloads max in peak time (4 p.m - midnight)
100 gig of downloads max in off peak (midnight to 4 p.m)

After which point you get a nasty e-mail and some serious throttling action!

Shame though cos up until this point I thought 21.99 for 2 meg "unlimited" was quite good.

[Sakey]

Telewest....

[TelexStar]

Originally posted by gabes
Don't go with Plusnet they've put everybody onto a sustainable usage policy whereby you have

30 gig downloads max in peak time (4 p.m - midnight)
100 gig of downloads max in off peak (midnight to 4 p.m)

After which point you get a nasty e-mail and some serious throttling action!

Shame though cos up until this point I thought 21.99 for 2 meg "unlimited" was quite good.

Is this per day?

How, in all that is green and good, do you download 30gb in eight hours?

[no friends]

Originally posted by TelexStar
Tiscali do a 2mb, unlimited service for £17.99

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/products/broadband/2mb-unlimited.html?code=ZZ-NL-11MR

My provider is NTL so I don't know what their service history is like.


DO NOT GO WITH TISCALI

unless you enjoy pings of 150+ all the time!

I'm speaking from expierience here, their connection is 2meg unlimited but it is choked... max downloads at busiest is around 60kb/s

i can get 200kb/s from the mpuk ftp, but thats early morning stuff!!!

[gabes]

sorry for not specifying, thats a monthly usage limit.

[QBlank]

Zen and Burtsfire do real Unlimited (0 restrictions) 2mb packages, slightly more around £28.99 p/m. They are also both on monthly rolling contracts, Zen is highly rated on adslguide.org and Burstfire gets excellent word of mouth in the gaming community :)

Edit: Bloody typos!

[Baz]

telewest if you can get it.

[gabes]

I've heard nothing bad about Zen, in fact when people start bitching about the ineptitude of PlusNet thats who they saying they are switching to.

[Gunsmith]

telewest

there is a pattern here

[LozB]

thanks for advice so far.

ive found out that my local exchange is limited to 2mb and i may not even get that. may be 1mb.

im looking at zen.

unlimited usage is best for me, even with btboredband 60mb usage limit is too pricey..


wasnt there rumours of MPUK providing ADSL ISP????

[KingDaveRa]

Another tick on the card for Zen here.

Zen are a business-grade ISP who just so happen to also supply home users. They have a damn good network, and its always fast, and stable.

Recommended. Definately worth the extra.

[King-Kodiak]

I'm ISP hunting too, so I'm looking at this thread with anticipation

[Boffykins]

MPUK ADSL is almost ready. Wizzo is actually able to take signups now. Best thing to do is email sales@multiplay.co.uk and he'll take it from there.

[Wizzo]

We are indeed ready to take select signups for our ADSL service. It's not open free-for-all mass release yet, but good people willing to help give feedback and help us improve things. That said, it's been live for months now without issue... we're just waiting on the automation systems before we go mass market.

For pricing:

- static IP as standard
- no proxies
- no bandwidth limits
- no traffic shaping
- endpoint direct in MPUK online racks
- @multiplaydsl.co.uk email address
- no frills, just raw gaming power!
- minimum contract only 1 month!

- free to migrate from another ISP (with MAC code)
- new activation cost £52.87

- Home Services (50:1 contention)
- 512k £22.99 a month
- 1024k £25.99 a month
- 2048k £25.99 a month

- Office Services (20:1 contention)
- 512k £27.99 a month
- 1024k £39.99 a month
- 2048k £49.99 a month


Email adslbeta@multiplay.co.uk with the following information if you want to get online with us:

- The phone number for the BT line you wish to use ADSL on.
- Your MAC code from your existing provider if you are migrating
- The address to which the line is installed (as it appears on your bt bill)
- Your own details, or just your Multiplay website username

[King-Kodiak]

Email sent

[Nivek]

Just an add of pimping, i have been on mpuk adsl at home, no problems what so ever, and if there where i would know how to get help, phone, irc, email

oh and the pings are pritty dam good, if only i could get faster than 512 god dam living in the rural sticks

[Red Plague]

Email sent.

My god trying to get a MAC code out of BT Yahoo is worse than trying to get good advice from coldie.

[Neon]

Well, im on 1mb NTL cable at the moment and have been for a while. They are an ok isp. Not fantastic by any means, quite a few problems however they work most of the time, although thier total lack of caring about thier customers could get to someone in the end, i think.

Might be tempted by MPUK adsl, but dont think we can really afford it at the moment.

[LozB]

sent email.

wizzo.

whats the length of minimal sign up to the service?

[Wizzo]

1 month is the minium :). Updated my post to reflec that. Note that it's a 1 month notice period on cancellation (as with all these sort of things), so the only way you could keep it to 1 month would be to cancel the day you were activated.

[LozB]

thanks for the answer, it was the only bit i couldnt see in the post. how long wait for activation?

[Dan]

MPUK DSL is quality, was on it at my old house, only 512k but had no problems at all on it (unlike my previous ISP!). Will be going with them for my new house when the phone line is sorted out :)

[gabes]

I will definitely be considering a move to MPUK, I pay 21.99 a month for 2 meg currently but 4 pounds more a month to be with a service I trust seems worth it.

Wizzo if i download around 40 gig a month will I get shouted at?

[King-Kodiak]

There is no limit on bandwidth

What is "traffic shaping"?

I hope wizzo see's my email soon, not just because I wanna get the ball rolling ASAP, but there are potential issues with my line (thanks to previous tennant & Tiscali)

[Xilly]

Originally posted by {BA} Red Plague
Email sent.

My god trying to get a MAC code out of BT Yahoo is worse than trying to get good advice from coldie.

Really? I moved over from BT Yahoo to plusnet fairly recently (regretting it now mind) and it was as simple as calling up and selecting the "im calling about a mac code" option on the menu!

[gabes]

Xilly, their customer sevice, SUP and lack of information about new restrictions is driving me crazy, that and the unexplained 250 ping I get some nights. Slayering in pcws is doing nothing for my already low reputation as a cs player :)

[Xilly]

Originally posted by King-Kodiak
There is no limit on bandwidth

What is "traffic shaping"?

I hope wizzo see's my email soon, not just because I wanna get the ball rolling ASAP, but there are potential issues with my line (thanks to previous tennant & Tiscali)

Traffic shaping is defining priority of packets and or throttling that type of bandwith.

It's going on at plusnet at the moment ( im with them unfortunately) and a lot of their customers are raising hell about it.

Basically it detects what kind of bandwith is being used, ie p2p / usenet / gaming / smtp (mail) / http and gives priority to certain types of bandwith, and even throttles the hell out of other types of bandwith within certain hours.

Plusnet throttle their "premier" customers less than their standard customers, so obviously another attempt to make more money.

[Xilly]

Originally posted by gabes
Xilly, their customer sevice, SUP and lack of information about new restrictions is driving me crazy, that and the unexplained 250 ping I get some nights. Slayering in pcws is doing nothing for my already low reputation as a cs player :)

Oh I agree, I wasn't attempting to defend their service, which I also found shoddy, I was just saying that when I rang their customer service there was an option on there pre talk menu to talk to someone about getting your MAC code. Then it was just a case of telling the guy who you spek to why, saying you're sure and getting your mac code. Which incidentally was an absolute pain, MAC codes are fairly long, and I spoke to a chap in an Indian call centre who had trouble getting me to understand just what letters / numbers he was actually saying.

[LozB]

question..

i have a MAC address from my parents house adsl with BT which i use and im not the account owner, can i use that to migrate to MPUK? or do i need one for my new gaff to be in my name.

i know how funny BT can be these days.

trying to worm my way out of the connection cost of £50ish

[Wizzo]

Originally posted by gabes
I will definitely be considering a move to MPUK, I pay 21.99 a month for 2 meg currently but 4 pounds more a month to be with a service I trust seems worth it.

Wizzo if i download around 40 gig a month will I get shouted at?

No. This is a gaming broadband service with no caps, proxies or shaping. Broadband by gamers.. for gamers </corny> :)

[Wizzo]

Originally posted by LozB
question..

i have a MAC address from my parents house adsl with BT which i use and im not the account owner, can i use that to migrate to MPUK? or do i need one for my new gaff to be in my name.

i know how funny BT can be these days.

trying to worm my way out of the connection cost of £50ish

If your new house is a new connection from BT or a phone line without ADSL on it then that is a new activation. The MAC code from your parents house can be used to migrate the ADSL service on their line only.

[Xilly]

I'll definitely be interested in this in a while, just currently im about two months into a 12 month plusnet contract, so I'd have all sorts of charges to pay if I swapped over now, deffered activation and what not.

[LozB]

Originally posted by Wizzo
If your new house is a new connection from BT or a phone line without ADSL on it then that is a new activation. The MAC code from your parents house can be used to migrate the ADSL service on their line only.


i thought so... so i guess its a £50 for connection. i guess u wont settle for a few pints @ i26 ;)

[Wizzo]

Originally posted by LozB
i thought so... so i guess its a £50 for connection. i guess u wont settle for a few pints @ i26 ;)

hehe alas this is literally just us passing on the cost from BT for new activations. Won't say no to a few pints though :P

[gabes]

I've been with PlusNet for over 2 years and the service has always been excellent and the pings also excellent. Its just in the last few months with the introduction of first the 'Acceptible Usage Policy' and then the 'Sustainable Usage Policy.'

I understand where they are coming from as they suggest that a heavy downloader can cost up to £23,000 a year and said customer is only being charged £21.99 a month. I don't like the fact that they say every change they make is beneficial to 99% of customers and its the evil 1% who need to find another isp. I don't believe for one second that those figures are accurate.

What annoys me is the fact they change little things and the first time I am aware of the change is not via a well thought out e-mail but instead via a 12 page long customer thread on the forums complaining of ill treatment.

Sorry to continually hijack this thread with my whining :P

[Ch3m1c4L]

pipex 1mb giving me the l3370r pings of 14-32 on the mpuk bf2 servers :D

no limit, no traffic shaping.

although when i move out nxt year and into flat with a couple of mates (i think we might move to whereever is next door to an exchange) well go for mpuk BB unless we decide we need more like 8mb to account for all our downloading and/or gaming

[LozB]

Originally posted by gabes
Its just in the last few months with the introduction of first the 'Acceptible Usage Policy' and then the 'Sustainable Usage Policy.'


i recon that the average consumer is basically signed up and cannot avoid changes to the service. usually T's&C's mean they can change the service without notifying you or letting you leave the service..

sucks tho.. i agree

[FL1X]

Originally posted by gabes

Don't go with Plusnet they've put everybody onto a sustainable usage policy whereby you have

30 gig downloads max in peak time (4 p.m - midnight)
100 gig of downloads max in off peak (midnight to 4 p.m)

After which point you get a nasty e-mail and some serious throttling action!


nope im with them and reguarly dl well over 100gb a month with no emails or complaints.

[gabes]

ahh but are you a 2 meg customer? They have different levels dependant on the line speed.


What does your 'View my Usage' stats page say?

[King-Kodiak]

And wasn't it also mentioned that special customers aren't hit so hard? cba to go look :)

[gabes]

lol I am special, I'm a 2 meg PREMIER customer and I still get hit hard, apparently, although I've not tried my luck.

[Zenith]

All I can say is that MPUK DSL 2Mbit is stable and was a pain free transfer from my old ISP, Eclipse.
Pings/latency to the MPUK servers are amazingly good (4 hops, including my home router!), and times to other servers are fine as well.

[FL1X]

2 meg line

[Murray-Mint]

I too have been on Multiplay DSL for a while - it's a great service, the only issues I had were migrating due to various BT problems, none of which were MPUK related.

The service is fast, quick and easily the best ISP for gamers around.

And my torrents are getting around 220-230k/sec. Which is nice.

[Diakatarnis]

I use BT although they do have a monthly usage of 40gb it also means that when somthing goes wrong they cant blame the company that suplise the phone line as its umm them :D

[Er00]

torrents at 202-230?! Wtf are you downloading? I only ever get 50k at most, even on really popular stuff :/

[Murray-Mint]

Originally posted by Er00
torrents at 202-230?! Wtf are you downloading? I only ever get 50k at most, even on really popular stuff :/

Linux ISOs, large game demos, the usual. If you configure BitTorrent right (optimum number of uploads, optimum upload speed, etc) it goes great!

[Baz]

doesnt everyone reply that?

"what do use bittorrent for?"
"Linux Distros......lots of them......":rolleyes:

[Ch3m1c4L]

Originally posted by Baz
doesnt everyone reply that?

"what do use bittorrent for?"
"Linux Distros......lots of them......":rolleyes:

lol, theres a lot of anime stuff ppl can say they use it for too :D

pure pwnage....

and well errr patches for your bt client, game patches.....i like the fact how more and more companies are releasing stuff with a normal dl and a bt file :D

[Er00]

I might try using a different client, I swear I used to get better download speeds than I'm getting atm on the same kind of stuff *shrugs* as long as it comes down at some point I'm not usually too bothered when :p

[LozB]

wonders if my adsl will be setup soon....

i know that i26 is a priority but im wondering about the email i sent last week on the 8th...

otherwise im reluctantly going to have to go with BT, as i move house this weekend....:(

[PyscoFalcon]

Telewest.

I'm on 2mb connection and will be upped to 4mb soon. Yum!

[Pumpkin]

For the person that mentioned UKonline port blocking earlier.

Yes, we block inbound TCP/80 and inbound TCP/25. This means you can't run a web or SMTP mail server on the default ports.

Everything else is open.

[GeeDee]

Multiplay DSL Update:

Migrations (or reply e-mails) have now been submitted for all those who e-mailed adslbeta.

Anyone else who wants to sign up for Multplay DSL see Wizzo's posts in this thread. :)

(You know you want to :p: )

[andyf]

I'm on UKOnline now - fast setup and I'm trained at 8000kbit, so no complaints here.