Internet Service Providings
Haven't seen this link on here yet, apologies if bindun
www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8woC9B30zE

And a related story:

- Tiscali are incompetent liars.

Having sold me a 2Mb connection following their line tests, after 3 weeks of 5-seconds-max-at-a-time internet and regular calls to "support", a BT engineer was sent round and tested the line directly, only to find we can only support 1Mb at best. Contract duly cancelled as Tiscali didn't offer a lower-speed option, so we switched to Virgin who did.

- Virgin are incompetent liars.

Having sold me a 1 Mb connection, I found myself with an intermittent 2Mb connection, which was up about 50% of the time. Repeated calls to Virgin to sort this out failed to produce any result as their computer system said we were on 1Mb, and as they were only charging me for 1Mb (and I was sick of calling people by this point) I let the 12-month minimum contract roll around.

- Tesco are surprisingly competent.

Having had no problems with their 512k connection prior to the Tiscali "upgrade", I went back to them and have had no problems with their service since. Well, except for what happened next...

- Virgin are incompetent liars.

Transferring the line to Tesco and cancelling the Virgin contract didn't seem to get through to Virgin, however, as they charged me for the next month. A couple of phone calls later, all is "sorted". Until they charge me again the next month. Another phone call and it's "sorted" again. A few days later I find I have no broadband. As Virgin have now realised I've cancelled the contract, but conveniently forgotten I'd transferred to someone else. So have contacted BT to disconnect the broadband (that Tesco have been providing for the last 2 months) from my line.

- Tesco remain surprisingly useful.

One phone call and their checks reveal Virgin's cock-up. Another netless week and I'm finally back up and running.
(Potedeian, Tue 8 Sep 2009, 16:14, 6 replies)

I also found tescos broadband to be very good

( Peej, Tue 8 Sep 2009, 16:22, closed)

I'm with Be There
And I've been nothing but impressed with their service.

I asked to receive a text once a month to inform when my bill was able to be viewed, but for no other contact unless there was a problem. I've not heard anything but the single texts each month.

Plus, download speeds can reach 14mb/s, which isn't bad at all!
( Agnostic Antichrist Baltimora, Tue 8 Sep 2009, 16:40, closed)

Tiscali do have a reputation for being f*ckwits
but we didn't seem to have any problem the one time we called them to get a code to move to O2.
( idonthaveafunnynickname Drink-Aware? Sure. I'm aware I want another drink., Tue 8 Sep 2009, 18:39, closed)

Virgin on the ridiculous
Although these tossers' mail address is in sheepshagging country their office is well hidden on an anonymous business park in Sheffield. I finally got rid of them by handing papers over the counter so they couldn't blame the post office for them going missing.
(The Jannie, Tue 8 Sep 2009, 19:19, closed)

We're just moving from Tesco after 4 years very reliable service. Unfortunately it's v. expensive for the speed we get so we're going to give Be a try but wouldn't have any qualms about going back to Tesco if Be turn out to be useless.
(cmouse is pondering about life in other jobs, Wed 9 Sep 2009, 9:25, closed)

i'm with tesco
on their 'value' broadband package (which they no longer sell). Speed is a bit slow - i'm only paying for 512k, but often get 1mbps anyway, but that's fine cos i don't d/load much stuff anyway. Although I've considered changing recently cos things like iPlayer won't stream very well. And because since I signed up with tesco (3 years ago?) the market's moved on and there are faster packages for less money.

NEVER had a problem - i've got a quicklaunch icon which i can click and get online in about 10secs without fail. every time.

BUT: here's the funniest bit. They use Virgin Media's infrastructure. Go to any of the 'find my IP' type websites (i just tried it on whatismyipaddress.com) and you'll see what i mean. Sometimes it comes up as NTL, but NTL *is* Virgin now.

Yet from what I've heard from loads of people (including this thread), Virgin themselves are utterly shit at providing a decent connection. :D
( spesh., Wed 9 Sep 2009, 9:37, closed)