BT Wireless Broadband

[STEWY L]

hello all, thanks for taking a look!
years ago i started off with AOL dial in,later changing to broadband,still with AOL. well now i'm thinking wireless(lap top has replaced comp). i'm a bit peed
off with AOL,and thinking BT wireless home hub,or whatever they call it,option one,as we are both out all day and any calls both made and received are after
6pm.
if thier is anyone out there who would like to share thier experience of BT WIRELESS BROADBAND,i would be very grateful to hear from them before
"cutting myself off"
thanks in advance,
stewy.(seek and peck)

[Brian Holmes]

I moved to BT from NTL and never regretted it. Their support is good, they have just given free weekend phone calls, and a few weeks ago gave me a vision box for free. If you ignore the opportunity to buy movies etc it provides a good freeview service with built in hard disc for recording. The only fault I have found is the hub phone I bought for VOI doesn't always give a good reception.

[STEWY L]

thanks brian,that's encouraging.
thanks for taking the time mate.
stewy.

[ini]

Personally I would avoid BT (not just because of the Home Hub), or any ADSL-MAX product.

Try and get an LLU or cable provider if possible, all will come with a wireless router.

Check what services are available on your exchange: (O2, BE etc)

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php

[RickT]

I would keep away from BT after hearing some stories.... but remember you only ever hear bad news...

I am with SKY and never had an issue... They do a FREE option which is upto 2mb and 20GB download if i remember correct..

I pay an extra £5 and got 8mb with a 40GB limit... but they dont seem to monitor the cap of 40GB

Rick

[STEWY L]

ini, rick,
thanks for the speedy input lads,greatly apreaciated.
have tried your link ini, and being "up here in the frozen north east" it seems my options are
limited to say the least. BTs web site have "tested" my line and the fastest available is 5mb
according to them.
cable is not available,llu is,i think aol is through that,although my present box is a "bt voyager
190 adsl. ( honestly it's all fog to me,54yrs old going on 23)but keep having to switch this aol
"bt voyager 190 adsl box off and back on to keep on line.
AOL just seems too long to open ( i think because of all the pics and stuff they pull up)
i am paying AOL, BT for the line, and bt again for phone calls. obviously we both have mobiles
(virgin pay as you go) so it mounts up. i thought that if i put it all together it may be cheaper
(apart from our mobiles which we have no probs with).
by the way, as if things couldn't get worse, she hasn't been very clever lately, and at long last,she went to the docs.
turns out she has dysons virus.
can't win'em all i suppose.
anyway, thanks to the both of you for taking the time to offer your help.
it's guys like you that make this place.
take care,
stewy.

[paul b]

But as I found out with Tiscali, which is a secondary ISP as it uses a BT line, BT can (whenever they want) turn the line off and then you have no internet, Tiscali are blamed and get a phone call from me, and then people leave Tiscali and go to BT instead, which is what BT wanted. Due to this, I would go with BT, but I am currently tied into a contract with Tiscali.

Don't get me stared on NTL. Well I'll start anyway. Roadworkers cut the wires and I lost phone, TV and broadband for a full MONTH. I told them I would not pay the bill for that month, as I had absolutely no services whatsoever. They at first tried to battle against me, but then I was told by an NTL worker that everything is ok and it will be sorted. Then I received a bill for rental of the NTL box for the TV. I went bananas at them because what's the point in having a box that sits there for a month catching dust and doing nowt? I have received letters from them, threatening to get lawyers involved. I told them to do it, and I'll get mine. Since then I have not heard from them.

I currently use wired broadband, I find the wireless stuff scarily confusing. I'm getting on like you Stewy, I'm 47.

As previously mentioned, avoid ADSL modems from BT like the plague. Get a built in modem router, they are far more reliable and don't drop off the internet at all if the wireless signal is ok.

Paul

[ini]

If the BT tester says you can get 5mb, your line must be very good, and should fly with any good provider.

For LLU i would recommend Bethere/O2 or Sky 16mb.

[hagis]

I've been with BT for a couple of years and they've been pretty good. I've not got the BT Home Hub as I'd heard a few bad things about it.

I'll be leaving BT in December when my contract is up - I've no complaints about their service but at about £15 a month I can get far cheaper.

BT were especially good when I had problems with my line - they eventually sent an engineer out who replaced part of the line to my house. This is where being with another ISP who use BT's lines sets you back, you could find yourself being in the middle of a game of telephone tennis where BT blame a fault as being your ISP and your ISP blame BT. I've heard of people who have switched back to BT so they can get a fault with their line fixed.

[STEWY L]

If the BT tester says you can get 5mb, your line must be very good, and should fly with any good provider.

For LLU i would recommend Bethere/O2 or Sky 16mb.

ini, this is where my ignorance comes into play.
most providers i have looked at state super fast 8mb.
i'm thinking why pay for something i clearly can't receive?
my bt line only supports 5mb as i read it?
ooooo, my brain hurts