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09 May 08 - 08:48 AM (#2336462) Subject: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: Joe G Hi I'm finally getting internet at home so I can spend more time searching out new music - can people let me have their thoughts on which is best Virgin or Talk Talk - I am trying to work out if it is worth getting cable installled - a few people who have it say even the 2Mb service is excellent but I haven't heard much about Talk Talk Any comments gratefully received - I'll read on Monday lunchtime! |
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09 May 08 - 08:56 AM (#2336469) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: oldfogie talktalk are sort of ok but if you get problems they can be a bit of a pain to sort |
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09 May 08 - 08:58 AM (#2336472) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: Leadfingers The same goes for Virgin - Customer Service is a bit iffy ! |
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09 May 08 - 01:02 PM (#2336640) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: GUEST DONT GO WITH VIRGIN - THEY ARE A PILE OF SHIT. I am now with talk talk and they seem ok up to now - but please leave virgin off your shopping list, never had so much trouble with a ISP ever. |
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10 May 08 - 04:38 AM (#2337006) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Been on broadband for five years now, first with Telewest, then Virgin took over. Any problems I've ever had (and there have been very few) have been sorted very quickly and without effort by techs who walk you through the solution and check back with you later to confirm that your problem has been resolved permanently. I would recommend Virgin to anyone, and I do so under my own identity, not as a screaming guest who is apparently unaware of the requirement to use an identifiable moniker so we know which guest is shouting at us. Talktalk have featured recently on Watchdog, and other consumer programs, and also a customer satisfaction survey, and their customer service WAS at the time regarded as iffy. Don T. |
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10 May 08 - 04:52 AM (#2337016) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: GUEST,Silas Sorry - screaming guest was me using a different PC that did not log me on automatically. You experience is VERY different from mine. For all the use the tech desk were I may as well have phoned mothercare, that is if you can get through to the right helpdesk in the first place. My experience of virgin was so bad I also cancelled my phone contract with them. I have also heard poor reports about talk-talk, but one can only speak as one finds and, up to now, they have been pretty good. |
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10 May 08 - 05:43 AM (#2337037) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: Rasener I am with this company and am very pleased with them, from performance and support - one of the best. http://www.adsl24.co.uk/forum/ Costs http://adsl24.co.uk/index.php Note that you have UK based Support, rolling 1 month contract, no exit fees and no port blocking. I have Home Braodband Home30 for 19.99 a month. You get what you pay for. I did a lot of research before switching to this company and they have been great. |
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10 May 08 - 11:18 AM (#2337145) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: Bernard I've just set a friend's ADSL up... she signed up with an ISP I've not heard of before called 'xln telecom' - they sent a Zylex modem/router (4 port + wireless) and USB wireless fob, plus two filters, and it was a doddle to set up. The login information was pre-programmed into the router, and the WPA wireless security was already set up with a sticker on the router giving the security key. It literally was plug and play with no hassle. I've been setting people's ABSL up for years, and this was by far the easiest. Okay, it doesn't exactly answer the question asked, but it may be useful to others! |
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10 May 08 - 04:12 PM (#2337294) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: Leadfingers Further to my comment above , I have been without Internet for between six and ten hours at a time for the last four days ! Today , 10 am til 8.30 pm !!And the Auto response does NOT list my area as having a problem and neither does the 'live ' Operator ! Earliest they can get any one to me is 'Sometime' Monday morning ! Thats Virgin Media ! |
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11 May 08 - 05:36 AM (#2337550) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: GUEST,Andy Joe, I changed from Virgin to Talk Talk about 4 months ago.I'd had no problems with Virgin over the 4 years I'd been with them, but Talk Talk saves me money. With Virgin I paid about £15 per month for the broadband service but line rental and call charges were paid to to BT. Line rental works out at about £10.50 per month +vat with calls extra. I don't use the phone much so I was paying around £15 per month to BT for the privilige of having their phone, then £15 to Virgin for the internet service. With Talk-Talk you don't pay line rental to BT. You pay the same line rental and call charges to them (Talk-Talk) and about £5 to £6 for your broadband connection. So I'm getting line rental, phone calls and broadband for about £20 per month instead of nearer £30 per month.The system actually rids you of paying BT for their phone line. Hope this is all making sense. Regards Andy |
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11 May 08 - 08:28 AM (#2337591) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: Dave Hanson Make your own mind up FFS. eric |
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11 May 08 - 08:38 AM (#2337597) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: bradfordian All internet via phone (ADSL) you gotta start off with a BT line. TalkTalk will then supply their own line. Its good value. Virgin have a monopoly on cable, you gotta take their phone line whether youwant it or not. Then they bang onto your bill a few extra premium rate numbers that younever made just to boost their income and they hope folks don't notice. Its a question of who is the least money grabbing crook! I think with cable you get a more reliable service and better speeds if you want to pay for it. Would not recommend AOL. |
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11 May 08 - 08:53 AM (#2337599) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: Scooby Doo I would take neither,there just as bad as one another try another brand ticcali isnt to bad. Scooby |
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11 May 08 - 09:07 AM (#2337610) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: treewind Plus Net. I've been with them for years, and put my employer's network on PlusNet too, both after several changes of ISP. They'd never given me enough trouble to be worth moving again and they're pretty cheap, especially after they recently upgraded my "Broadband Your Way" Option2 from 8Gb to 15Gb/month traffic for £14.99. You get some useful extras too (useful to me anyway) like free hosting for up to 5 UK domains, static IP address and SMTP email if you want them, at no extra cost. Anahata |
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12 May 08 - 08:02 AM (#2338245) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: Joe G Thanks very much for advice so far - I will certainly check out the other suppliers mentioned. My main concern with a BT line based service is that the speed seems to depend on the distance from the exchange - I am close to a small telephone exchange but not sure if that is where the broadband service originates. Thanks again and further views most welcome! Joe G. |
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12 May 08 - 08:25 AM (#2338263) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: Silver Slug I've been using Virgin Media for about three months now and not had any problems. I pay £15.50 per month for broadband and telephone line rental, which includes free weekend calls. One other plus for Virgin is that they've just announced that their customer/technical support lines will be free of charge from June onwards. I've heard of some providers who charge £1 per minute for this service so it's something else to check out. |
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12 May 08 - 08:29 AM (#2338270) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: Leadfingers Tech from Virgin was here this am - There WAS a problem on the Cable Connection to the street ! Looks like its all sorted !! |
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12 May 08 - 08:33 AM (#2338277) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: The Barden of England My Virgin Media Broadband is fibre optic, so I get cable TV as well as the phone, and broadband at 20Mb. It's been very reliable, and as was said from 1st. June free support lines when needed - very, very seldom in my case. John Barden |
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12 May 08 - 10:23 AM (#2338347) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: GUEST,Warwick Slade It's all the same to me. Married a virgin but all I got was talk talk (if my wife reads this then someone is using my log on) |
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13 May 08 - 01:40 AM (#2338967) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: AlexB I find Virgin to be utter rubbish. If it were up to me I'd move to plusnet, but sadly the one who pays for our internet connection is the one who is around least to see just how shoddy the service he is paying for is. I also wouldn't recommend any ISP that has ever agreed to use Phorm, even if they've publicly backtracked (BT, Talk Talk and Virgin Media), but that is just me. |
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13 May 08 - 03:53 AM (#2339010) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: gnomad I have found Virgin entirely satisfactory (about 2 years on their dialup service, then about 3 on their ADSL broadband and still counting) with delivery of both kit and service being just as described on the tin. Mind you my requirements are pretty basic. I hadn't heard of Phorm before, and agree that I dislike the sound of them. I am relieved to learn that this would only be legal under UK law if it was an opt-in thing, another reason to be careful what you agree to. |
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13 May 08 - 04:21 AM (#2339021) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: Rasener Some of the utmost priorities for me are:- Monthly contract (wouldn't dream of going with any company that requires a year or 18 months - too mnay things can go wrong) Good UK support that is free apart from local telephone call (I always phone the company several times before making my mind up to join them) That they have a forum, where I can go and judge the mood of the users. Check out how quickly problems get dealt with. No exit fees if you decide to leave No port blocking No throtling of speed The rest is very similar for all ISP's The speed that you can operate on is dependant on how far you are away from the exchnage (and that isn't how the crow flies, but more how the cables have been laid. You might be 100 yeards from the exchange, but 3 miles from a cabling point of view. Any good ISP will check that out for you.Howveer all ISP's have the same issues in relation to that. Nice if you can geta free website with plenty of room. Nice if you can get a static IP address Cost is obviously an issue, but you need to read the small print very carefully. Its great having and ISP that gives a low price, but can't deliver or that you pay £1 minute for support - your bills will soon run up and it will become more expensive than a better ore expensive ISP. |
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13 May 08 - 08:18 AM (#2339151) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: Joe G I'd not heard of Phorm either - checked it out via Google - a bit worrying! Again thanks for all the replies and more welcome - I'm still trying to make my mind up but Plusnet seems to be getting a lot of praise. Joe |
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13 May 08 - 10:58 AM (#2339291) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: Amos Joe, Going with any DSL provider is going to be more problematic than cable. I've been using broadband cable for as long as it was available- - something like ten years?--and have had no major problems with it. WHen there was a setrvice glitch. ROadrunner got on it and put it right fast. Can't ask for more. The throughput has been fast, and the service excellent. Your mileage in the UK may vary considerably. One thign to consider is the lines are much newer. A |
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13 May 08 - 11:46 AM (#2339349) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: Newport Boy The main problem with cable in UK is that it's not available over 90% of the area. The cable companies (now reduced to one) only went for the high density areas, and a limited number of towns and cities at that. Thornbury (pop 18,000) has cable. I'm 1.5 miles from the centre, 900 yards from the limit of cable. There's only 40 houses around us, and we're told the chances of cable are nil. My ADSL gives about 2Mb - I'm 4.2 miles from the exchange along the wire - 1.8 miles in a straight line. I get a good service from Nildram - includes 500 minutes a month of calls, anytime. I still have the BT line rental to pay. Phil |
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13 May 08 - 11:46 AM (#2339352) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: Chris Green Talk Talk are appalling. They're still chasing me to pay them for six months of broadband that I never had, their sales staff are lying sods (told me I could take said broadband with me when I moved house and I couldn't) and their phone staff are all either rude and obnoxious or pitifully eager to help but lacking in a basic command of English! I've no idea what Virgin are like but they can't be any worse than Talk Talk! |
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13 May 08 - 11:53 AM (#2339363) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: LesB I'm with Anahata on this one. I'm with Plus Net & I find them excellent. Cheers Les |
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15 May 08 - 08:15 AM (#2341074) Subject: RE: Tech - Virgin or Talk Talk? From: Joe G Thanks again for further comments - it seems that it may now be a choice between PlusNet, that everyone seems happy with who uses them, and Virgin where there are mixed feelings though a few people I know have Virgin and have been happy. Anyone else like to comment before I take the plunge? Do Virgin and PlusNet set everything up for you or is there some personal geekery involved? I'm ok on IT but not an expert. Cheers Joe G |