Which ISP would you recommend?

[janegrey]

We need to change ISPs and find one that will offer at least 8MB bandwidth with a contention ratio of 20:1 or better.

There's no cable in our area, so it'll have to be via the BT phone line.

Any recommendations, based on cost and reliability (I need to use it for work, so cost isn't the main consideration).

I've been warned to avoid TalkTalk - any other ones to avoid?

tia

Having used them for years - I would recommend IDNet - they managed to get my ADSL functioning quickly and efficiently, after BT had taken 6 weeks to not install it... They do what they say they'll do, if you've got a problem, you ring up and speak to someone who's name you know, who tell you what to do
when things screw up.

They don't do anything amazing they just do the really simple stuff, really well. If there's a problem they sort it.

They're not the cheapest, but neither are they horrendously expensive. And I'll bet they're at least as fast as any other company using the same BT lines...

Ranty recommendation over - they are officaly quite good...

www.idnet.net/

Thanks - they do look good - and they do a phone and broadband package which would be worth us considering. I wish we had cable because then we wouldn't have to pay for BT line rental on top.

Other ones to avoid. Where do I start?

I'm with BT Internet and I wouldn't recommend them, I just haven't got annoyed enough to move yet.

The best reputations for a professional service, rather than the usual are Zen and Andrews and Arnold. Neither of them are particularly cheap but you should get what you pay for. I don't know about contention ratios.

When you say at least 8MB, I think most ISPs offer an up to 8Mb service, but what you get may be considerably less. I think that the higher speeds (up to 20Mb) are only available in a few areas at the moment.

Be Internet and their "white label" operations, such as O2, seem to be well regarded.

I've been with PlusNet for years and they've been great. Good products and excellent customer service.

Be Internet started off with a very good rep (primarily for their high-speed links) but they seem to be struggling a bit to cope with growth at the moment.

We've used a wide variety of comms suppliers at work and I'd say stay well away from Tiscali and BT.

Type you phone number into SamKnows to find out who offers service in your area.
If you want a real "at least" 8Mb connection on a BT line (not an up-to 8Mb service) then I hope you are within about a mile of the exchange and you are looking at an ADSL2+ service from Be or O2 (same people), or maybe C&W/Bulldog if you can persuade them to sell it to you.

Thanks -especially for the SamKnows link.

Only TalkTalk offer LLU access in my area, so it looks like we'll need to use standard ADSL - which is what we do have at the moment and generally it's fast enough.

That SamKnows link is great.
I am one of the lucky few has had a great run with Sky for many years and two house moves.
If you have a Sky Subscription already and they do LLU on your exchange, then they really are good value for money.
However Customer Service can be bad at times, although I haven't found the need to use it more than a couple of times in 6 years.