Broadband high speed service in the UK??

[aussie_in_uk]

I have just moved to the UK and am trying to work out the best broadband provider who can get me on-line with my Macs.
My fiance actually has a PC so we will be trying to get two Macs and a PC - probably all set-up on wireless in our new place.
I looked at the BT site, and it said their Broadband doesn't support OSX.
Has anybody got any advice as to the best provider to use. Our local telephone exchange in Suffolk is apparently set up for Broadband.
We are both heavy on-line users, so we are looking for the best provider who can get us on-line and sorted with lots of speed and have it working well on a wireless network at home.
Thanks
Aussie

 

[Blue Velvet]

You might find this site useful.

http://www.adslguide.org/

 

[Applespider]

Have a look at adslguide.org.uk

They have lots of info on the best current deals and some really good forums to give you an idea of how ISPs act in real life. There is a Mac forum on there too.

BT do handle Macs but they don't support them officially. At least one of their 'free' options didn't have drivers that worked past 10.3.5 but if you are heavy users, they do now have a cap on usage at either 15 or 30GB

It's probably worth checking to see whether you can get cable. It tends to be cheaper for higher speeds. Try Sam Knows to see what services are available to you (cable, LLU, ADSL - with speed indications)

 

[Peterkro]

I've had good service from Pipex.

 

[Uma888]

If your are in a telewest area (get your post code checked up online ), get telewest, iv been with them for 2 year, every year they have increased my broadband speed by 1mb for free (runnung @ 4mb rite now), in the two years that iv been with them total downtime has beem 7 days (1 in the first year and 6 in the second year) other than that they are good.

PS if you try to cancell they will try to keep you on, i.e they will do what ever it takes. we calnclled our telephone line with them, they blocked all other telewest customers calling us, apparently WE had to call them and tell them to unblock them within 14 days oc canlellation , we are back to bt now

PSS: im on a pc, dont know how they wrk with macs ,
PSSS: STAY AWAY FROM AOL, its LAME !!!

 

[TMA]

Some tips:

- Avoid USB modems.

- Avoid AOL.

- Zen internet are a good one if you want unlimited, no frills but solid reliable service. You pay abit more but it's worth it. Expect to hold a connection for hundreds of days!

- Plusnet are fairly reliable with little or now slow downs or technical problems (though not as good as zen) and they are cheaper. But as with many other UK ADSL providers are starting to look at capping/off-peak/excessive use policies. Always read the small print.

 

[Lau]

I've had good service from Pipex.

I second Pipex. I've had no problems with them at all. I am using a wireless Netgear router with it (which is also great), but the USB modem seemed fine for the day or two I had to use it.

And yes, don't touch AOL with a bargepole.

 

[gaomay]

Zen internet are execellent. Although you can used any provider so long as you get an Ethernet basede modem. I have a Belkin combined modem/router/802.11g point which works superbly.

 

[R.Youden]

If you are in London Bulldog are very good apparently 3M/bit and quite cheap. As far as I am aware there is no such thing as broadboand that does not support Mac. All you need is to plug in an ethernet cable and Apple wizard should set it up for you!

Good Luck

 

[gangst]

Hi,

I originally bought BT Broadband when they didn't support Macs, but now they do. My advice to you is don't worry if the internet provider supports Macs or not, the reason for this is that once you hook your phone line up to a wireless router (presuming it has a built in modem, most do, except airport!!) all you have to do is enter the internet settings into the router, this can be done using eithere Mac or PC using the same principals of entering the settings over a browser to the router.

If you want the fastest in the UK go for Bulldog, they go up to 8mb/s and its reasonably cheap compared to other internet providers at similar speeds.

Try to avoid internet providers which try to cap monthly downloads such as BT, even though this really only effects you if you download lots of video, apps e.t.c

Stay away from AOL, as previously mentioned, their settings don't comply with all routers and I think that they make it mandatory for you to use their own useless browser.

Also in the UK Broadband is not available everywhere so make sure to find out if it is available in your area otherwise satellite broadband is available.

My personal recommendartion would be Bulldog for the speed and cost, I will shortly be moving to them when I move house very soon.

Good luck.

 

[Lau]

Actually, I have a feeling Bulldog are spreading round the UK to other big cities. I'm sure I heard that they were in Bristol.

 

[Applespider]

Bulldog will wherever they can get BT to unbundle an LLU. Sadly, they haven't even got that in all of London yet which is frustrating; since their standard service is now looking pricey with all the other upgrades/cuts that other ISPs have made in recent weeks