Best Internet provider?

[cupcake78]

Im with Talk Talk. I've wished for along time that I wasn't. Their connectivity is unreliable, we've had 3 wifi boxes in 15 months. We are continually having to reset the wifi box and I'm sick of having to phone the support line.

We only use them for our phone and Internet. We have no fancy TV and although I'd quite like it dh isn't that bothered.

We live in a town so cable etc could be an option. Don't know where to start.

S/othere/others (10 in total)

75Mbps? We're having a good day if we get 1Mbps download and 0.3Mbps upload weeps.

NetworkGuy. .....We can see the cabinet from our front door.

It looks lovely. Sigh.

Plusnet via FTTC connection... cabinet at end of the street (400yds perhaps). SpeedTest Result: Sun 26/May 21:48 (72 download, 16 upload)

If FTTC is available in your area, then do consider it over ADSL, though it will cost a bit more.

Many factors to take into account when choosing a broadband service. Not sure how to really know which ISP is better than another, as I suspect many share the same backhaul data network. I would guess that Plusnet uses BT Wholesale backhaul, whereas other providers like Sky may own there own backhaul (though is that from the AP, or is it equipment at each exchange?).

I think this article from SamKnows explains more about the backhaul network though I'm not fully sure. It's all a bit complex all these APs, EPs, MSILs and backhaul.

Then there is throttling of data connections - ISPs may call this traffic management. It slows your connection at certain times, for certain types of traffic, such as restricting video streaming.

Looks tricky to compare ISPs performance for a certain location.

NN - yes, Plus.Net and others rent Openreach links from each exchange back to gateway systems in and around London/M25 (various locations connected to LINX).

The ISPs not using Openreach (as much, if at all) would be those competitors with their own equipment at exchanges, such as Orange/EE {previously Wanadoo, Freeserve}, Sky, TalkTalk and Tiscali {now owned by TalkTalk, I believe}. There were also a smaller number of exchanges with BE Unlimited/O2 equipment {but Telefonica's residential customer base recently bought by Sky, presumably with the equipment they are connected to}. Entanet isn't used by many under its own name but have reseller firms like Vivaciti etc. Enta has its own network, as far as I know, but may not be listed by Samknows (think UK is lower importance to Samknows, now, and some data may be stale).

Virgin Media and Sky have used BT/Openreach connections where their own network is not available, but obviously (a) VM doesn't offer TV to the customer and (b) Sky charges much more, as they're paying Openreach for the service.

Easy way in the past to know if someone was on Openreach or other equipment was that most customers of BT/ firms renting Openreach were on "up to 8 Mbps" while other firms were offering "up to 16/ 20/ 24 Mbps" (eg Bulldog, BE unlimited, etc) and of course, if you were in rural Wales, where I was, none of the others was available for years!

IKnowWhat - you know what, I'm damn envious of you and NannyNick - I even moved home to get faster broadband (and yes, it is faster, at about 10 Mbps, instead of 1.5 Mbps { previously 2.5 Mbps before Openreach upgraded the exchange to ADSL 2+ } but well short of the 30 or 50 or 100 Mbps I was hoping for.

My fault (in part) as my sister gave me a list of places she had picked for us to see (she drives, I don't) and I didn't do the check for whether Virgin Media was available at this address. It is/was the nicest of over a dozen places we visited, and all the facilities (shops, public transport) I could ask for, but %&*&% Virgin Media doesn't serve this road. 60 feet away {the other side of my immediate neighbour} on a different street, they could have it.

Then Openreach postponed making the Fibre service live for my exchange/cabinet from September 2012 to June 2013. When I can get it, the estimate is under half the speed you are both getting! I did tell my sister I might move (but I actually said "within a year") but may start off with the speed I get.

Later, when I've made plenty of money, I might go to 220 Mbps (but the installation cost will be 1,000 minimum).

Then again, I might just move if I have made plenty of money, to somewhere which has 70+ Mbps :)

Virgin Media is available in parts of the village I live in but not on the estate I am on. So until Openreach installed FTTC, I was like you on the slow ADSL connection - 512kbps when I first had it - yet others in the village had Virgin with it's fast fibre connection.

I wonder if when buying or renting property, agents/vendors should list the typical broadband speed of the property. That would help people looking for places to rent/buy.

When I was looking, did see links on some property details to speedtest by postcode