New ISP needed

FlyingDagg

I would be grateful if the Mods could leave this here for now as I may get more replies. Thanks.

Due to financial circumstances I need to find a new provider, currently with Virgin Media. It will mean going wireless for the first time and I need a reliable service for poker. I know that only complaints seem to get posted on internet sites so does anyone have any recommendations based on reliability and good customer service?

devonfish5

HI FD,
         I used to be with BT and internet here was going on/off all day/night long.
I now have the whole Sky package & the internet is so much better.
I use an Ethernet cable into my pc.
others in our house have laptops and only use the wireless connection. they are always, well often moaning that their connections keep going whereas mine is near perfect with the Ethernet connection, so I deffo rec you use this connection for playing serious poker.
gl

dev

DAVEYZZ

I'm on bt infinity..fibre optic..£22 pm unlimited use.

Had no probs with connection.

Plus get bt sport and espn for free!..sorry sky:)

The_Don90

BT is the one i use and is quite good. Fastest in my area, but wouldnt compete with Virgin in the Urban areas i think. 

BT Sports would also be free if that interests you.

peter27

I've dealt with a number of ISP's and have quickly realised that all the major companies (Virgin, O2, BT etc.) do a decent job, but enivitably there will always be problems with a select group of customers.

My advice would be to simply go with the company that gives you the best deal, while avoiding the smaller providers such as Talk Talk for reliability reasons.

dragon1964

Hi FD

I recently changed to BT.

I don't know about their average customer but if you have problems, they are terrible.

My speed was rubbish from day 1 and have spent many hours on the phone explaining the same problem to dozens of different people.(very tilting)

Without doubt, the worst customer service I have ever encountered.

Speed has improved but still drops occasionally to about 1 or 2Mbps.

Unless things improve, I will be changing again at the end of my contract.

As I said, this is just my personal experience

The_Don90

In Response to Re: New ISP needed:

Hi FD I recently changed to BT. I don't know about their average customer but if you have problems, they are terrible. My speed was rubbish from day 1 and have spent many hours on the phone explaining the same problem to dozens of different people.(very tilting) Without doubt, the worst customer service I have ever encountered. Speed has improved but still drops occasionally to about 1 or 2Mbps. Unless things improve, I will be changing again at the end of my contract. As I said, this is just my personal experience
Posted by dragon1964

Ask to speak to a manager. i did that when i had an issue. It will be sorted very quickly

paige55

In Response to Re: New ISP needed:

HI FD,          I used to be with BT and internet here was going on/off all day/night long. I now have the whole Sky package & the internet is so much better. I use an Ethernet cable into my pc. others in our house have laptops and only use the wireless connection. they are always, well often moaning that their connections keep going whereas mine is near perfect with the Ethernet connection, so I deffo rec you use this connection for playing serious poker. gl dev
Posted by devonfish5

+1

dragon1964

In Response to Re: New ISP needed:

In Response to Re: New ISP needed : Ask to speak to a manager. i did that when i had an issue. It will be sorted very quickly
Posted by The_Don90

Hi Don
I did get through to a manager eventually and he was more helpful,

Still took a few calls and 2 engineer visits, including a new main socket and new line to the pole. No change.

One engineer changed something at the exchange which made the difference.

Still monitoring it.

scotty77

BE Broadband was the very very good for me.  Think they have been taken over by Sky now but they are run as seperate entity.  Great CS and very fast speeds.

I wanted to upgrade to fibre tho so went for BT Infinity and haven't had any issues so far.

MAXALLY

In Response to New ISP needed:

I would be grateful if the Mods could leave this here for now as I may get more replies. Thanks. Due to financial circumstances I need to find a new provider, currently with Virgin Media. It will mean going wireless for the first time and I need a reliable service for poker. I know that only complaints seem to get posted on internet sites so does anyone have any recommendations based on reliability and good customer service?
Posted by FlyingDagg

Each to their own Dale, but I have been with BT & Sky in the past and I didnt think much of their service or customer services once they got you to 'sign up' to them TBH.

Switched to virgin media a couple of years ago who have a much better customer services (IMHO), a better speed, a better product etc etc. It also helps knowing someone who works for these who lives round the corner from me. Its not what you know.....it is who you know!

Hope you get it sorted though, and this is the right time to shop around just before the festive season too, as there may be some deals out there now.

belsibub

Do a speed test here when the result is in just above it press street stats & it will show all the BB speeds & who is supplying it around you.Don't use wireless powerline plugs not as good as direct to router but much better than wireless.

http://www.uswitch.com/broadband/speedtest/

MP33

I,m with Sky but that was mainly because i was with them already for home phone and TV which helps

Always been pretty reliable for me. Haven,t used wireless for ages and will never do again if i can help it. (far to unreliable)

P

EDIT : My mum was with "Talk Talk" and had loads of problems. The customer service was pretty bad as well , hence why she cancelled it

foldUfairy

Stay away from talktalk, I have had nothing but trouble with them for months.
CS is awful similar to ebays, just reading generic responses and cannot think for themselves.
We had to get hold of the supervisor for a better router and they still sent the same one haha.

From what I have read online about changing ISPs Virgin seems to be the way to go, but it's not available everywhere, were on a new estate and cable can't be put down until it's been up for 5 years which is BS.

FCHD

I'd put in a word in favour of BT. I've found their service excellent.

Slipwater

Up until last year, I had worked for BT for eight years, and I would say that it's difficult to qualify the customers with problems, because nobody ever called me in all the time I was there to say they liked the service they had... and with 18 million customers you would kind of think that is true for most of them!

I used to have their service, and found the broadband dropped out whenever someone called. I now have Sky, but it doesn't run as fast, so I guess it depends on requirements.

foldUfairy

Sorry didn't read OP properly dagg, you want to change from Virgin.
BT seems to be the second best suggestion by a few people ITT.
When I posted a thread about dodgy internet someone suggested wireless homeplugs, I think they're defo worth looking into if you can't jus run an Ethernet cable from your router. 

gazza127

I was on Orange for some unknown reason.  My wireless was awful.  Genuinely terrible.  Kept cutting off every hour despite being about 5m from the wireless box.

So I switched to BT.  Havent had any issues so far.  Not once has my connection dropped in about 5-6 weeks that i've had it.  I suppose it helps that im in a BT Hotspot area as well, which means even if my internet did drop, I could log onto the hotspot zone just using my BT password.

Yep, id probably recommend BT.