Best ISP in UK

[luke_c]

Well i'm only getting 5mb max with my current provider even though i should be getting 8, and it's not enough, what's the fastest connection/ISP i can get, and what's all this fibre optic stuff?

 

[BlueStar]

Found Virgin to be excellent, reliable and super-fast - they're also leading the way in fibre-optics. The flipside is that their TV service is shit compared to Sky, so unless you want to break the bank and get Virgin broadband and Sky TV, rather than the more cost effective bundles, you're going to have to prioritise internet or television.

 

[luke_c]

We already have Sky TV, and i'm not really worried about price, what kind of speeds do you get with Virgin?

 

[olliepop2000]

 

[luke_c]

Is that Virgin?

 

[olliepop2000]

yes, it is an ex-telewest account

 

[Javacat]

If you've got cable available to you, then just go with that. You're not really going to get much more out of the ADSL connection, no matter what ISP, unless you upgrade to ADSL2.

 

[Hadrian]

Virgin are the best ISP I've ever had and their customer service is excellent. Sky is fucking awful, when it gets to 4PM some people get the worst speeds going unless you are paying for the top package. Sadly they were the only ones available in my area but I will be going with Virgin in March when my contract runs out.

Talk Talk are a bunch of retards, I enquired to what they offer in my area and two weeks later they switched me over without me even agreeing to. Tried to get them to stop it but they have still yet to cancel it. Already made a complaint to Ofcom and apparently they do that a lot.

For the time being I'm using their broadband and phone and I'm not going to pay for it seeing I never agreed to have it in the first place.

 

[prowler]

+1 for Virgin.

Fiber optical broadband

 

[Trolly]

Personally I've hated Virgin since I joined with them, but I think it's just my complaint with the way ISPs are going right now. Virgin have absolutely fantastic speeds off-peak, but I frequently have lacklustre speeds during weekday nights, from about 4PM until about 1 in the morning. Partially it's down to the fact they have a wishy-washy download limit, and say that they'll clip your internet if you 'use it too much', and partially because of the huge amount of people on Virgin now. If I wanted to watch a TV show on iPlayer right now, my connection wouldn't be good enough, though browsing is fine at this speed. The odd thing is (slight tangent here), some days my download speeds will be fantastic, but browsing will be ridiculously slow, any ideas why here?

Anyway, if you don't need to do loads of downloading, go for Virgin. If you're really download-centric just go for Talk Talk, despite this talk of them moving you around they still offer the best by-the-numbers internet service.

 

[prowler]

The odd thing is (slight tangent here), some days my download speeds will be fantastic, but browsing will be ridiculously slow, any ideas why here?

That happens to me, or the other way round sometimes. I always thought it was my router.

 

[FAST6191]

While your ISP may shape or otherwise limit the traffic or block ports or something similar unless you change to a different transmission method (the only time you could get such a thing would be if you were in a flat and got your landlord in on the deal) I am inclined to call your line just being no fun which no ISP change of ISP will sort for you.

Choices then:
BT line:
Many would opt for BT here but I would not, BT is serviceable in my experience but not the best. You can however stack another ISP on top of a BT line.

http://www.fast.co.uk/ : I have not done many lines with these people yet (yet= operative word) but nothing bad on those that I have done. Next few ISPs for various things that I sort out will be done with them.
http://www.titan-adsl.co.uk/ - again no complaints.
https://www.bethere.co.uk/web/beportal/homepage - formerly the top of the "alternative" ISP pile but dropped a bit in recent years. Still good though.

Cable is cable these days and even when it was not it was "region locked". I have had Virgin (formerly NTL or telewest depending on where I was at) but friends who are still with them are looking to jump ship courtesy of their traffic limits (not per month but times of day and stuff like that).

Sky: Assuming their on top of BT thing then steer clear.

Everything else (satellite, 3g, semaphore...) is not going to net you a faster speed and will cost you a fortune.

I will also echo the talk talk bashing.

 

[morcar]

Well i know a lot of people have bashed AOL over the years but i really cant fault them.

I have been with them for over 8 years and onyl had very minor problems.

If you download a lot just keep it to 6pm to 6am and they dont care.

As for speed when i was getting the top package of 8MB i was getting around 6MB most times too.

 

[prowler]

Well i know a lot of people have bashed AOL over the years but i really cant fault them.

I have been with them for over 8 years and onyl had very minor problems.

If you download a lot just keep it to 6pm to 6am and they dont care.

As for speed when i was getting the top package of 8MB i was getting around 6MB most times too.

I remember AOL. I had to get off the internet when ever my mum made a call.
Though thats a longggg time ago.

 

[Chanser]

What saddens me is Virgin is the only major cable provider with nearly no competition at all.

If your on ADSL, have a look at Xilo broadband, a new isp and hearing some good things. If you want a quality ADSL isp then pick Zen.

 

[R2DJ]

What saddens me is Virgin is the only major cable provider with nearly no competition at all.

If your on ADSL, have a look at Xilo broadband, a new isp and hearing some good things. If you want a quality ADSL isp then pick Zen.

Do Zen Internet provide you with a router as well?

 

[Chanser]

I don't think so. There's plenty of other ISP's that offer free routers.

 

[FAST6191]

Aside from some very rare occasions in the US and mainland Europe/Scandinavia most ISP provided stuff is useless unless hacked extensively (and even then I would not buy one from a shop) or you are buying for a business (in which case it is probably still not good enough for the sorts of uses a business will see).