Tall, dark, handsome male, GSOH seeks... • Non-Gaming • PC Hardware • Eurogamer.net

boo 30 Jan 2005 22:35:09 13,901 posts
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Registered 18 years ago

...broadband advice.

I like my consoles. I know absolutely diddly-squat about PC's and very little about the internet.
We plug a phone lead in the side of our laptop, press buttons and some kind of majick happens to connect us to the web.
Or something.

Anyway. Thinking of taking the broadband plunge, and it's all a bit baffling.

/thinks. If only I knew a bunch of uber-geeky tech-heads...

/lightbulb goes on...

Advice please!

We're in North London, and currently with BT. Would want broadband primarily because I'm sick of looking at the little blue progress bar, and secondly cos I wouldn't mind getting Xbox live at some point. Might get into creating websites for fun, so might need to upload stuff. I think our options are BT broadband, or Telewest broadband. Not sure if other providers are... providing in our area.
If it makes a difference, I wouldn't want to download music or movies 'n' stuff.

1. What speed do we practically need? Is 1Mb enough or would 2Mb be better (i.e. worth the extra Ł10/month)?

2. If you go with someone other than BT, does that mean you have to change your phone number?

3. Is it complicated to set up / use? (That sounded pathetic!)

4. Any recommended providers, or one's to avoid like the plague?

Cheers!

Edit! - We might move house in the next 12 months. Is it awkward getting out of contracts or can you just transfer it to a new address?

Edited by boo at 22:36:27 30-01-2005

HarryB 30 Jan 2005 22:48:00 7,630 posts
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I get Blueyonder Telewest Cable and I'm Ł50 a month for the top service

Thats 4mb Download speeds and 384k upload speeds

so downloading at 500kb a sec and uploading at about 45kb a sec

now you probably dont need the top service but i have had a fantastic experience with blueyonder - been with them from the start and there are never any problem swith the service unlike what i hear about people with bt who often get connection problems

I believe they upgraded their 512 service to 712 for free so check that out... i was upgraded from 3mb down 256up just a month or 2 ago... its great getting free stuff

Edited by HarryB at 22:49:36 30-01-2005

oddheadshape 30 Jan 2005 22:56:02 953 posts
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blueyonder have been great for me too. had them for a while, no serious problems (once or twice lost my connection briefly...tho im not sure if that was a hardware problem or something wrong with the line. anyway its only been a few times in several years so no real problem). i had 512 which was recently upgraded to 756 and now i think it has been upgraded for free again to 1meg.

fillip 30 Jan 2005 23:18:22 921 posts
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I will give another thumbs up for blueyonder. The basic broadband package is more then adequate for gaming etc, you can still keep your BT line. I have moved house three times since the original connection and each time I have moved they have reinstalled cable at the new address free of charge. Can't say fairer than that.

Angel_Treats 30 Jan 2005 23:21:10 11,070 posts
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You should give Nuttah a shout, he can sort you out. He's very helpful. I was going to sign up for his broadband package except that my flatmate pre-empted me and ordered virgin broadband... which I don't recommend btw, as the support team are fuckwits.

boo 31 Jan 2005 08:32:26 13,901 posts
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Thanks all - bumped for the daytime brigade...