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Choosing an Internet Provider to Pre-Order Broadband

Now that we have a firm date for activation, you can pre-order broadband with the ISP of your choice. One needs to bear in mind, however, that pre-ordering broadband is entirely different from pre-registering. Pre-ordering definitely commits you to buying the service as soon as it becomes available on 26th November.

There are many ISPs offering broadband to choose from. They offer services which may be differentiated in terms of speed, price and contract duration and there are many other factors to be considered, including support, email, webspace and other extras.

We shall indicate below some of the ways in which the
ADSLGUIDE website allows for in-depth comparison of ISPs. First a few more thoughts on aspects to bear in mind.

  • INSTALLATION

    Installation by BT can be arranged by the Internet Providers but for most home users this is often too expensive and it's usual to self-install.
    If you are concerned about this aspect before ordering, it's possible to contact someone who is more knowlegeable or a
    local supplier of computer support .

  • COST

    Don't just consider the monthly connection cost. Think about:

    a. total costs over the first year:
    - monthly connection cost.
    - connection charge(s)
    - new hardware cost (bought from ISP or elsewhere)
    - additional installation costs (e.g. conversion from an ISDN digital line back to an analog line for ADSL broadband, removal of a shared line, ...)
    - cost of support (i.e. cost of using the internet provider's helpline).

    and

    b. cost for the following year(s):

    - monthly connection cost.
    - cost of support (i.e. cost of of using the internet provider's helpline)
    When buying new hardware, there can be interesting "package deals" from broadband providers but usually the prices are lower from hardware suppliers.

    The price of filters seems to vary very widely.
    Prices range from around 2 pounds from some sources to more than 10 pounds from some internet providers. And it's not clear that performance will necessarily vary in accordance with price - the more expensive filters should be the "active" type and more effective than the lower-priced "passive" filters. One needs to remember that every telephone socket used needs a filter.

  • RELIABILITY

    Reputation for reliability, see
    www.adslguide.org.uk

  • E-MAIL

    Does your e-mail address come from your present Internet Provider?
    If so, is it a problem to change your e-mail address?

    There are a number of possible solutions to retaining your present e-mail address without having to remain with your present Internet Provider, for example:

    Ask your present Internet Provider "How long will my e-mail address be maintained alive if I were to change to another Internet Provider?" You will find that some Internet Providers will still maintain your mailbox active (and readable) when you no longer have an account with them.

    Another possibility is that if you do not at present have a "free" internet account (i.e. pay as you go by means of the telephone connection charges while on-line), you may be able to switch over to such an account, enabling you:
    - to maintain your e-mail address and read any mail sent to this address
    - to use this dial-in service as a back-up for broadband for emergency connection to the internet or for e-mailing using your present modem.

    Some Internet Providers support Outlook Express only.

    Numerous Internet Providers offer web-based e-mail, which is handy for use when you are away from home. (Websites such a www.mail2web.com can usually be used for the same purpose, even if your provider does not offer a web-based e-mail facility.)

    Note also that there's another way to obtain an e-mail address that will serve you in the long term and avoid the need to change e-mail addresses. This is to register a domain and use an address on this domain as your principal e-mail address while arranging for all mail sent to this address to be re-directed to an e-mail address with your new Internet Provider.

  • SPEED

    Currently the download speed of the most popular services for home users is 512 Kbps.
    Services exceeding 512 Kbps are generally more expensive and more suitable for multi-user business environments.

    In the
    News Archive of the ADSLGUIDE website one can find their monthly reports on the fastest rated ISPs. Below are links to some recent reports:
    http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=1351
    http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=1289
    http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=1240

  • CONTENTION RATIO

    For an explanation of the term contention ratio see:
    http://www.adslguide.org.uk/howitworks/contention.asp.

    A contention ratio of 50:1 is normal for home broadband users and is likely to be offered in the standard packages of ISPs. Lower ratios are preferable as fewer users compete for the available bandwidth but are more expensive.

  • DIAL-IN BACK-UP

    It's a good idea to keep your "old" modem and retain a dial-in connection, just in case there's a disruption of broadband.
    It could serve for any emergency (and allow you e.g. to e-mail your Internet Provider's helpline or accessing website help pages).

  • CONTRACT PERIOD

    What is the length of your present contract?
    Are you willing to go to a longer contract (as offered by many broadband providers)?
    It's also worth planning to retain as a standy the possibility of dial-up internet connection.
    In choosing your broadband provider, some have a minimum 1 year contract period, with others it can be just on a monthly basis and some offer a choice of duration with more advantageous pricing for longer contracts.
    And if you do subsequently decide to change, this can require payment of a migration fee to your new provider, thus one needs to read the conditions carefully.
    Remember to check the contract conditions for your existing dial-up internet connections and do not forget that this will need to be terminated at the appropriate time.

  • ACCESSIBILITY

    Does the broadband package you are considering offer 24/7 accessibility? (most do, but there are a few non-24 hour services).
    What about accessibility away from home?

  • FUTURE

    It's worth thinking about future needs without making things too complicated too complicated for yourself, e.g. someone remarked to us: "Although we only have one computer at home, I would like to keep my options open so may probably purchase a wi-fi broadband router."

  • SECURITY

    It is nowadays important to use in addition to a Virus Checker some sort of Firewall when on ADSL. Windows XP has a built in Firewall and there are free ones such as Zone Alarm (
    http://www.zonelabs.com) which can be downloaded from the Internet.
  • REPUTATION OF ISP

    Reputation of ISP not so much for speed, but for reliability, for help, etc. is an important consideration (there's information on
    adslguide.org.uk)

  • WEBSPACE

    This is not always a standard part of the ISP's package but also not of interest to some internet users.

  • EXTRA APPLICATIONS

    Are there any new or special applications planned for broadband - and are these supported by the Internet Provider?

TIME TO COMPARE ISPs

In considering your choice of broadband ISP and package, there are a number of useful tools on the ADSLGUIDE website:

Selective listing and searching of Broadband ISPs according to a range of criteria can be accessed via the site's "List" Page:
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/isps/summarylist.asp
You can, for example, list ISPs and their packages in sequence of yearly cost of ownership for 512kB services:
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/isps/summarylist.asp?order=tco512k
Or search for services which fulfil your specific requirements:
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/isps/search.asp?type=advanced

You can compare up to 6 ISPs for Speed, Reliability and Customer Service
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/isps/compare.asp

And when you are closer to deciding, check the Message Boards for user comments on each ISP:
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/threads.php?Cat=


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