Best internet options [Edinburgh]

biketard

Hi all,

We're about to return to Edinburgh after a dozen years working in Asia. We already have a flat, but will need to get set up with a few things as quickly as possible once we arrive. High up on the list is internet access. Can anyone recommend any good companies/options?

Cheers,
Stu

Fysh

Most of the usual suspects can offer fibre broadband in most places. I've used Virgin in London for years and found them pretty good but they couldn't provide service to the new flat when we moved last year so I went with PlusNet. No complaints so far on price or service. Your mileage may vary, of course!

There's a write-up here of Ofcom's report about UK ISPs from last year that looks good, though obviously I'd recommend checking the report itself rather than taking the article at face value...

Ponster

Another vote for Plusnet but I find their router to be ****e

Fysh

Ponster wrote: »

Another vote for Plusnet but I find their router to be ****e

Oh yeah, I had the same issue with the one I got from Virgin years ago. Though nobody's come close to the godawful experience of being forced to use the Bt Homehub. An example of Bt's overall competence is that when the Homehub 2 was the standard, one of the two hardware variants available had a known issue where uploading anything more than a few MB would trip the entire thing into resetting. It took them over 18 months to fix that!

Best thing to do is put the router into modem mode and use a purpose-bought router instead; I bought myself a nice Netgear unit a while ago and it hasn't gone wrong yet. (Having said that, at least the free routers Virgin used to do can have open firmware like openwrt installed on them, so it's better than nothing...)

biketard

Thanks, lads/ladies.

What's the story these days with Internet installations including TV options? I know Virgin media does it. How about PlusNet (or others)? I don't see anything on their site.

As you can tell, I'm completely out of touch.

Ponster

biketard wrote: »

Thanks, lads/ladies.

What's the story these days with Internet installations including TV options? I know Virgin media does it. How about PlusNet (or others)? I don't see anything on their site.

Not as popular here are some other countries but a lot depends on how much and what TV you watch.

Plusnet don't offer a bundled TV package so I have a satellite dish and a freesat box which also acts as a recorder and an on-demand box for BBC, ITV, C4 and E5.

Sky, BT and Virgin are the folks to go with if having a complete TV opackage with movies, sports, etc is what you want.

biketard

Thanks for the reply, Ponster.

Honestly I'm not that bothered about TV, but it would be nice to have a few channels. I could probably live with free-to-air at the beginning. Just wondering what's out there and what sort of price I could expect to pay. PlusNet's most basic package seems to be FREE for a year. That seems almost too good to be true.

Ponster

biketard wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, Ponster.

Honestly I'm not that bothered about TV, but it would be nice to have a few channels. I could probably live with free-to-air at the beginning. Just wondering what's out there and what sort of price I could expect to pay. PlusNet's most basic package seems to be FREE for a year. That seems almost too good to be true.

Yep, that's for their 17Mb deal. I pay £6 a month for the first 9 months of an 18-month contract for 45Mb.

Freesat gets you about 150 channels along with digital radio and with the on-demand service I find that there's more than enough telly without needing to buy a Sky Sports or BT Movie package.

Plusnet are use BT infrastructure but have a lot better customer service and I believe that they've won the which! Best Broadband Provider for the last 7 years.

biketard

Cool, thanks Ponster. So you reckon the PlusNet 45MB option for Internet and then Freesat for the TV is a good option.

How much did it cost you to get set up with Freesat? Did you already have a dish?

Ponster

biketard wrote: »

Cool, thanks Ponster. So you reckon the PlusNet 45MB option for Internet and then Freesat for the TV is a good option.

How much did it cost you to get set up with Freesat? Did you already have a dish?

I rented a place that already had a dish. 2 LNBs so you can watch and record different channels at the same time.

I picked up a HUMAX HDR-1010S on Gumtree for £120 which was my only expense but you can always get FreeView (more or less the same channels) with the right digital aerial rather than getting FreeSat.

biketard

Ponster wrote: »

I rented a place that already had a dish. 2 LNBs so you can watch and record different channels at the same time.

I picked up a HUMAX HDR-1010S on Gumtree for £120 which was my only expense but you can always get FreeView (more or less the same channels) with the right digital aerial rather than getting FreeSat.

Thanks again. That's great information.

Fysh

Don't forget that if your TV is Freeview-ready that gives you a handful of channels already (I say handful, the number of non-tat channels is maybe 30-odd or so but many of them are +1 channels showing the same programming an hour later). But it's sufficient for me - I find it easier and cheaper to use Freeview for basic TV, then subscribe to NowTV and Netflix for extra stuff (admittedly, this works because I already have a small server on media centre duty under the TV). Worth considering as an alternative option, since it doesn't tie you into getting a dish installed or signing a longer contract...

biketard

Thanks again, all. I was all ready to go for PlusNet and then figure out the TV options later (probably go with FreeView), but my wife informed me last night that she really wants to go for Virgin Media, ha.

I've checked online and it's already installed in our street, so at least there's that.

Jack B. Badd

It's worth bearing in mind, if you're going with Virgin, they have (or used to have) some good deals with the likes of Virgin Mobile for customers. Very cheap contracts & PAYG rates, etc.

biketard

Jack B. Badd wrote: »

It's worth bearing in mind, if you're going with Virgin, they have (or used to have) some good deals with the likes of Virgin Mobile for customers. Very cheap contracts & PAYG rates, etc.

Good to know. I'll look into that. Cheers.

biketard

Hi all, me again.

I've been checking out the Virgin Media prices here: http://store.virginmedia.com/big-bundles.html?intcmpid=offers_cta_findoutmore_hottesteversale;span%20class=

I'm happy enough to just go for their cheapest offering (Big Easy), and maybe add a SIM card on for another fiver, but I'm a bit confused about the small print relating to the Virgin phone line.

+ Virgin Phone line for £16.99 a month

Is that OPTIONAL or does it have to be added, so that it's not £12.99 a month for the Big Easy, but rather £29.98?

Jack B. Badd

biketard wrote: »

Hi all, me again.

I've been checking out the Virgin Media prices here: http://store.virginmedia.com/big-bundles.html?intcmpid=offers_cta_findoutmore_hottesteversale;span%20class=

I'm happy enough to just go for their cheapest offering (Big Easy), and maybe add a SIM card on for another fiver, but I'm a bit confused about the small print relating to the Virgin phone line.



Is that OPTIONAL or does it have to be added, so that it's not £12.99 a month for the Big Easy, but rather £29.98?

Yeah, all the providers do that. The line rental is usually excluded from the advertised price but you will need to pay it (regardless of provider) so you need to budget for it.

biketard

Jack B. Badd wrote: »

Yeah, all the providers do that. The line rental is usually excluded from the advertised price but you will need to pay it (regardless of provider) so you need to budget for it.

Well crap. I figured that was probably the case, but it's a bit cheeky just how small they make that print. I'm really hoping I can persuade herself to just go with internet and forget about cable TV, but I'm not holding my breath.

Thanks again.

Jack B. Badd

If you're getting decent internet, then something like Netflix + NowTV might be an option. You can catch up on shows from Sky & others & it's bound to be cheaper than cable. Depends what she watches I guess...

Ponster

biketard wrote: »

Well crap. I figured that was probably the case, but it's a bit cheeky just how small they make that print. I'm really hoping I can persuade herself to just go with internet and forget about cable TV, but I'm not holding my breath.

Thanks again.

Since you opened the thread and I first replies, Plusnet are now offering TV channels as well.

https://www.plus.net/tv/

biketard

Ponster wrote: »

Since you opened the thread and I fist replies, Plusnet are now offering TV channels as well.

https://www.plus.net/tv/

Very interesting, thanks.