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Broadband
Advantages: (i) Between 9 to 160 times faster than dial up for downloading programs, music, photos, drivers, radio and video. (ii) You can use the telephone while your computer is on-line. (iii) Updating anti-virus and anti-spy programs takes seconds rather than 10 to 25 minutes. (iv) Your broadband connection can be shared with other family members provided you have a router rather than a plain modem. (v) A wireless router can share the broadband connection with a modern laptop being used somewhere else in the house or garden (depending on the strength of the wireless signal). Broadband, is it worth paying for? If you are a Pay-as-you-go customer, check your phone bill. Add your total quarterly bill to any extra charges you might be paying for an enhanced pay-as-you-go service. Don't be taken in by low offers which last for for a limited period. Look at the real cost after the offer period. If the grand total is around £84 per quarter, then it would be worth going for Tiscali 8Mbps broad band (it includes internet access, emailing, line rental and all 01 and 02 phone calls any time and any day). In some parts of the UK, this Tiscali broadband service would cost only £60 per quarter flat fee because Tiscali offers a free line rental in 52% of UK. Sadly, the West Country will have to wait for free line rental. If the free line rental is not available in your area, Tiscali will reduce the line rental by 25% giving the £84 per quarter flat fee. If you pay around £66 per quarter and you tend to phone mainly in the evenings and weekend, then the Post Office is worth considering. You get 8mbps broadband, line rental, and free 01 and 02 evening/weekend phone calls for a flat fee of £66 per quarter. Overseas calls: Tiscali offers free phone calls to 10 overseas destinations. The Post Office offers a range of overseas calls for 5p per minute. TalkTalk is currently £20.49 per month with free everything including TalkTalk line rental. However this service is not available everywhere in the UK. TalkTalk once had a poor reputation for customer service but I believe this has now been rectified. Orange has a good offer at £24 per month but it is rather idiosyncratic. The free phone is a second phone which must be connected to the broadband modem. Please note: With broadband, 0845, 0844 and 087 calls are not free as they belong to companies other than telecoms suppliers. 0845 and 0844 calls cost 5p per minute at any time. 087 calls can cost 7p per minute at any time. Broadband contracts are usually for 12 months or 18 months. If your quarterly cost is on the border-line, then convenience may be a deciding factor. If a large part of your internet activity consists of downloading programs, video, radio, photos, or music, then broadband's faster download speed may be a convenience worth paying for. Border-line surfers who regularly do a lot of research on the internet can save valuable working time by using broadband. As the offers change almost weekly you should check the latest costs on the internet. Dozens of sites will give comparisons, but always check more than one site as some are better at keeping up to date. I recommend that you click www.chooseisp.co.uk as it updates daily and it has the most helpful format. It is also firmly on the side of the consumer and pulls no punches.
Also try www.broadbandchoices.co.uk or www.uswitch.com/broadband/index.aspx Speed refers to download speed: 8Mbps broadband faster than dial-up. ISPs cannot always provide the advertised speed because it sometimes depends on circumstances beyond their control. Some ISPs will tell what speed to expect in your post code area, so ask before you commit yourself. You can check your speed after installing broadband by using the free speed test link on www.adslguide.org.uk, or download the free speed tester from www.broadbandchoices.co.uk Usage restriction:Some providers restrict the amount you can download per month, check this on the provider's website. |
Slow computer: I hear people say they are thinking of going on to broadband
because their computer is slowing down. Broadband has no effect whatsoever
on the speed of a computer; it only changes your telephone line so that it
can carry more traffic. The telephone line to your house changes from the
equivalent of a cart track to become a 20 to 160 lane motorway.
Setting up broadband internet is easy, you follow the instructions
provided with the ISP's CD and eventually the screen instructions tell you
to plug in the modem. Email settings: The detail required in these fields varies wildly from ISP to ISP. Here are some of the most
common ones:- Orange may have other settings because it has several times changed ownership and name. New email settings: Set up a new email account to contain your new broadband email address. You need to change the default email settings to your new broadband username and password. In Outlook Express, click Tools, then Accounts, then click the Add button and enter the details of your new email account. Examine your anti-virus settings. The email scanner may still be set to dial-up, change it to LAN. This particularly applies to AVG. If you have more than one account, in Outlook Express, click Tools, then Accounts, then for each account click Properties and un-tick the box labelled Always connect to this account using. If you have only the broadband account, in Outlook Express, click Tools, then Accounts, then click Properties and ensure there is a tick on the box labelled Always connect to this account using. Then ensure that the broadband account is showing in that field. It will usually be LAN. Click the little down arrow to see the options for connecting. The main difference from dial-up is that usually you must select the broadband connection under the Connection tab, and then select Never dial a connection in the Internet Connection tab. Older Tiscali USB modems are different, they use a dial up setting for broadband. Emailing: A few ISPs allow you to keep your current email address, otherwise you will be given a new email address. You will have to notify everybody about your new broadband email address. This is no problem as it only takes a few minutes to send a round robin to all your address book contacts. Click Here to see how to do this. Shrinking broadband choice: The UK branch of AOL has been bought by TalkTalk. Tiscali has bought Pipex, Freedom2surf, and Nildram. BT is buying Madasafish and the also the Waitrose internet service. UK ranks a lowly 19th in the world for broadband service. Adverts claiming to be £X cheaper than BT are comparing their costs with BT which is an expensive service. Also BT appears to be slow in allowing broadband suppliers to use the national exchanges. When you sign up, the ISP will check your telephone line for suitability before you commit yourself. The new ISP will also arrange the transfer if you are switching the line rental from BT. Customer care: In my experience, most broadband Customer Care Lines are good, but they are always too busy on Saturdays, if you need to phone a care line on Saturday, try in the evening after 10.00pm. |
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