Click here for when you will be able to get broadband.
Many people won't want to change, staying with the one they're with means they won't need a new email address and Freeserve or Tesco will supply a reliable service.
Some will have to change because we're with NTL and they don't supply broadband to the Scottish Executive's "activated" exchanges (see other thread in this section). No doubt there are other suppliers who won't supply us either, which restricts our choice a bit.
As you can see from the list on the ISP Review here there are hundreds to choose from and there's a lot to think about when deciding.
There are four basic elements to be considered when choosing an ISP and package:
Cost Speaks for itself but what the cost really is depends on the other two elements. I have found pay-as-you-go (payg) broadband packages but they don't work like dial-up payg do. All the ones that I've found have a minimum monthly charge, typically £14.99, which allows you to download, again typically, 1Gb of data and then charge you for every additional Gb. So, true cost depends on the other two elements.
Download allowance. Many ISPs set download amounts for their packages, for instance BT's basic package only allows you 1Gb of downloads, which might be enough for a very light user but a regular user of the Internet will use between 4 and 6Gb.
Speed. Gone are the days when broadband meant a 512kbps connection, now 1 or 2 Mbps (i.e. 2 or 4 times faster) are offered in standard packages. 512 is still an option in some cheap deals, which might be good choices if that's all your connection will support.
Contention ratio. Basically this is how many people you are sharing the connection with. The fewer the better really but with our small exchanges it might not make much of a difference.
On top of this there are also a plethora of extras offered by ISPs to get you to sign up. These range from free webspace and antivirus scanning of email to free broadband equipment. All of these have a financial value, webspace isn't worth much these days but modems etc are. From what I can tell hardware tends to be "given away" to people signing contracts of a year, software and online utilities comes with shorter contracts.
Any one who has any recommendations or condemnations is welcome to post their thoughts, we must all have friends elsewhere who use broadband. Also post if you're thinking of signing up with someone and have questions about them.
Not all exchanges will be able to supply the normal choices, those that can't are referred to as "EA". If you live close to the exchange and are only being offered a 512k connection, you might be connected to one. Check the "Broadband - Exchange Activate" thread for further information.
Many people won't want to change, staying with the one they're with means they won't need a new email address and Freeserve or Tesco will supply a reliable service.
Some will have to change because we're with NTL and they don't supply broadband to the Scottish Executive's "activated" exchanges (see other thread in this section). No doubt there are other suppliers who won't supply us either, which restricts our choice a bit.
As you can see from the list on the ISP Review here there are hundreds to choose from and there's a lot to think about when deciding.
There are four basic elements to be considered when choosing an ISP and package:
Cost Speaks for itself but what the cost really is depends on the other two elements. I have found pay-as-you-go (payg) broadband packages but they don't work like dial-up payg do. All the ones that I've found have a minimum monthly charge, typically £14.99, which allows you to download, again typically, 1Gb of data and then charge you for every additional Gb. So, true cost depends on the other two elements.
Download allowance. Many ISPs set download amounts for their packages, for instance BT's basic package only allows you 1Gb of downloads, which might be enough for a very light user but a regular user of the Internet will use between 4 and 6Gb.
Speed. Gone are the days when broadband meant a 512kbps connection, now 1 or 2 Mbps (i.e. 2 or 4 times faster) are offered in standard packages. 512 is still an option in some cheap deals, which might be good choices if that's all your connection will support.
Contention ratio. Basically this is how many people you are sharing the connection with. The fewer the better really but with our small exchanges it might not make much of a difference.
On top of this there are also a plethora of extras offered by ISPs to get you to sign up. These range from free webspace and antivirus scanning of email to free broadband equipment. All of these have a financial value, webspace isn't worth much these days but modems etc are. From what I can tell hardware tends to be "given away" to people signing contracts of a year, software and online utilities comes with shorter contracts.
Any one who has any recommendations or condemnations is welcome to post their thoughts, we must all have friends elsewhere who use broadband. Also post if you're thinking of signing up with someone and have questions about them.
Not all exchanges will be able to supply the normal choices, those that can't are referred to as "EA". If you live close to the exchange and are only being offered a 512k connection, you might be connected to one. Check the "Broadband - Exchange Activate" thread for further information.
Just been notified that the exchange now wont be activated until 28/8/05 ! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh can BT do anything right?