Currently I am with NTL for my phone and internet (2mb) but I am looking to change and move back to BT, as this leaves me open to chose a much better and faster ISP.

Since I don't use my phone much anyway, I do not need an extortionat calling package. Its mainly my mum I would call but seeing as we are on vodafone family (free calls between 4 mobiles at anytime) I'd not really be using the phone.

Orange seem to do a good deal (previosly wannadoo, before that freeserve)

Broadband Unlimited (get it all for one great price £19.99 a month)
- up to 8Meg speed *
- unlimited downloads (fair use policy applies)
- Livebox to connect up to six computers wirelessly
- UK and international landline calls included

* Broadband Unlimited gives you a maximum broadband speed of 8 meg, but this can vary dependent on the distance to your local telephone exchange. We will give you an accurate estimate of the broadband speed we can provide during the order process.

Going to ring NTL to cancel tomorrow, if I have to be without the internet for a time then so be it, small price to pay, to have the freedom to choose a better ISP package.

What deals can you recommend, if any?

I am very soon leaving Orange as since they became Orange they have gone downhill completely. No end of problems, and they are never willing to help out -they just fob you off with standard replies and ignore questions (I even posted a letter to head office and it did not good), and if you call them you end up in India. The package is good, the service rubbish.

I can only get 1 MB speed as well where I am and I'm not exactly out in the sticks.

We've been with Pipex for 6 years now (apparently one of their oldest customers! LOL) and we've never had a problem.  The servers might go down for an hour or two once or twice a YEAR!  DO NOT go with talk talk!! Everyone I know who's with them has had so many problems.

Debs

I have BT at home and occasionally use my parents' TalkTalk connection.  There is a huge difference between the speed and reliability of the two.  My parents' TalkTalk connection is unbelievably slow, and constantly cuts off and won't reconnect again for ages.  So much for free, unlimited broadband.
I have a mobile phone with Orange and agree that the customer service is appalling.  It takes 40 minutes to get through to someone whose English is not good enough to understand your problem.  Avoid at all costs.

i have always been with bt just one their new hub and phone for calling over broardband .very quick on the service.

don't go with BT for your broadband !! they are fine all the time you are with them but god help you if you ever want to change. I had a real performance of them acting completely stupid telling me they couldn't clear my line etc. :rolleyes:  I am now with a company called eclipse, they do monthly or yearly contracts you can find them here  Just click on the link on that page and it will take you straight there.

I'm also with Pipex (homecall) and have never had a problem *touches wood*
I think I'm on 'Anytime' with free calls (except mobile) and broadband :) Works out much cheaper than BT :)

yes B.T are expensive too :rolleyes:  I am still having a problem with them trying to charge me for internet till end of dec that I am not even using They have cut off my phone because I refused to pay the bill until this had been taken off and now my phone is off completely   Luckily we have contract mobiles so don't need any of B.T's services anymore

I'm with B.T for my BB i pay £27.99 a month (8 Meg) and i've never really had a problem :)

I've heard so many bad stories about Orange BB.

Good Luck x

you'll be fine lou, just don't change companies :-D I think thats where I went wrong, everything was fine up until then :rolleyes:

After getting quite a responce I am going to ring NTL and BT this afternoon.

Am I able just to take line rental from BT and not take up a calling plan, and then do I contact whomever I want to go with for my ISP? And do I cancel my NTL ISP when I cancel my phoneline too.

Not too fussed if I lose internet for a short time but don't want to cancel NTL and have to take BT broadband (and get stuck into a 12 month contract) before I can change to another ISP company first?

God its so confusing and technical..

What about these people?
http://www.zenbroadband.com/athome.aspx
You can have a monthly contract with them...

NTL can be as bad as BT when you want to leave....

They have been really terrible to my friend when she tried to cancel, so be careful.  Get names and reference numbers etc!

Bt offer a £11 a month rental plan which is the cheapest (This is what I use).  Do you have SKY TV?  I use there free wireless broadband and it is great! touchwood!

I have a friend with TalkTalk and he's having terrible problems with it. He had no service at all for over a week (they were 'upgrading', apparently! :rolleyes: ) and now it's back it's very slow and keeps crashing. As his business is almost entirely internet-reliant, it's making life very difficult for him.

Update to my friend's dealings with TalkTalk: he's at last got back online (after 10 days) and says they're the worst thing in the world ever, and he'd rather eat dog poo than have any more to do with them. :D :D

I am with BT for both phone and broadband and I have not had any problems at all.

Funny this post should come up today, as my son is just off the phone looking to change provider, he has just moved in with his girlfriend who had a baby girl last week,( Im a granny again) he has rented out his own house for the time being.

He is looking at Tiscali, any reports about them? please !!!!  He is also wanting to get wireless broadband to link up 2 computers, all this technical stuff is way over my head LOL!!!!!!!!  so any information anyone could give would be gratefully received and I can pass on the details to him. We cant get any of the cable companies as we dont have that in this area.

Im with BT (I was with AOL but they were really slow and kept cutting me off!). I have a hub and its a fantastic package, really quick and easy to set up. I had a slight problem setting up but the man on the other end of the (free) line sorted it for me!

When I went back to BT for my phone I chose them for my broadband too. I've only been down twice in 2 years and they fixed it right away. I can't say a bad word about the service. It's very fast, if you use the free router they send you setting up is a matter of plugging it in. If you use your own router then setting up is very easy; nothing weird to do.

I must be one of the lucky ones. Been with Talk Talk for a year now and only ever had a problem once, then it was only off for a day.

I'm with AOL and have been for 3 years. Never had any complaints about them, any time I've rung cutomer service has been great and never been cut off or anything. I also have my calls on the phone through them. I pay £15.99 a month for broadband unlimited use,(or something around there!!) and £7.99 a month for my calls and that is also unlimited use to any national landline numbers. They work for me but may not do for everyone!!!

Paula.

dont NTL have a different type of phone line though? that wont read BT stuff?

You get an NTL box to put into your phone line but it takes up a lot of memory and a bit NTL sign comes up when you load the computer! I wouldnt go with NTL.

Oh Dear! I have been with Freeserve now Orange for years and have their wireless service. However need to cut back financially so have just signed up with talk talk. Hope I dont have the bad experience you all have reported. I know they had a bad patch when they first advertised their offer of free broadband because so many people applied for it. Freeserve have been good but I dont much like the orange changes, OK if you have an orange mobile phone. ALso I dont like the fact that they dont inform you when they have a better offer out so I eventually found I was paying £10 more that some one newer who had a better deal with them. I have found since moving on to wireless that we do get cut off quite regularly and it can take a few hours to get it back - unpredictable. Only worth having wireless if you have more than one PC user in the house - we have two kids and their laptops, and we are do homework etc and need to be online at the same time. We didnt want to run wires around the house as it was too difficult to get cable long enough.

Hi JuneH,

Good luck with Talk Talk, I'm with them for my line rental, calls and broadband, although not on the free broadband deal as we are in the wrong area apparently.

We have had a few teething problems with them, but they seem to be fine to me, no better or worse than any other provider I have experienced. The broadband seems fast, but that is compared to the 56k dial up i had previously :) The only issue I had was calling them to report a problem when we first set up the broadband, and finding that the call operator actually understood very little English. Also, the technical help line is expensive, a minimum call charge of £2, but they don't make that clear.

Claire

I'm with OneTel and have only ever had to ring them once with a problem which they put right in minutes. So I am very happy with them.