Be Broadband

[Dudley52]

Going to go with Be after using Orange for the past few years.

Says the maximum download speed for my area is 7mb so it would be pointless going unlimited and just go with value right? Since unlimited is up to 24mb and value 8mb so I wouldn't be able to make use of it?

Also should I stick with the wireless modem I'm using now (BTvoyager2091) or change to the modem they provide?

Thanks!

 

[nath]

I was told I'd get 14 and I ended up with 19.5, so you may find you'd get more than 8 but I expect not by a huge margin. Be ADSL uses a slightly different method to connect up, you'd need to reconfigure the Voyager quite significantly (compared to just changing the username/password). I don't know if the Voyager even supports that so it's probably worth just shifting to their one.

Plus, ZOMG WRONG FORUM!

 

[Dudley52]

I was told I'd get 14 and I ended up with 19.5, so you may find you'd get more than 8 but I expect not by a huge margin. Be ADSL uses a slightly different method to connect up, you'd need to reconfigure the Voyager quite significantly (compared to just changing the username/password). I don't know if the Voyager even supports that so it's probably worth just shifting to their one.

Plus, ZOMG WRONG FORUM!

Cheers. Will go for value then and use their modem.

 

[old.user4556]

I'm with O2 (rebranded Be really) and was told I would get about 9.5 Mbps, so I plumped for the 8 Mbps max service and it does connect at 8 and usually maxes out at 8.

I've never found 8 megabits to be too slow.

 

[Overdriven]

Regarding limites, I got told that the max I could get was 9mb. But they had the wrong exchange and wrong exchange distance. I'm capping at 2.0mb/s while downloading (BT btw)

 

[Dudley52]

I've been on 512k with orange for years. They say its the max I can get in the area. They tried making it faster but said it was not possible. Bullshit.

 

[Furr]

With Be* Generally good! although their service (imo) has started to ever so slightly degrade the last year..... I get 15.7Mbit down from 17Mbit when I joined. Still... Is faster than anything else I can get!

 

[nath]

With Be* Generally good! although their service (imo) has started to ever so slightly degrade the last year..... I get 15.7Mbit down from 17Mbit when I joined. Still... Is faster than anything else I can get!

I'd be surprised if that was down to them, quite possibly degradation on the line. Possible worth giving them a call though and seeing if there's anything they can do to get it going faster.

 

[GReaper]

Seeing as you've already got ADSL, check your connection stats and put the info into ::. Kitz - Max speed calculator .::. I think there might be a small difference when switching from ADSL to ADSL2, but it's going to be more accurate than them estimating the connection speed from the length of the line (which they don't know!).

But anyway, if you're unlikely to get above 8Mbit then Be Value is your best bet. However if you want to tweak your connection (lower ping with fastpath), or need a static IP, or need to send to port 25 (needs static IP), then go with Be Unlimited.

 

[Chilly]

virgin are doing some pretty hardcore deals atm. Be are good tho, use their router it works but overheats (turn it upside down).

 

[nath]

Virgin stuff is all good on paper but they're a shit provider, n'est pas? Bandwidth throttling and threatening letters from their chums at the RIAA etc?

 

[Trem]

Virgin stuff is all good on paper but they're a shit provider, n'est pas? Bandwidth throttling and threatening letters from their chums at the RIAA etc?

Totally agree.

I can't get better than VM due to my distance from the exchange but if I could I would. It wasn't so bad until they started throttling in the day as well as at night. I really want to leave them.

Avoid VM at all costs if you are a downloader.

 

[ECA]

I'm signed up for 24mb with Be but only get 12-16.
I do however get 1.5mb-2mb upload which is well worth it.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Virgin stuff is all good on paper but they're a shit provider, n'est pas? Bandwidth throttling and threatening letters from their chums at the RIAA etc?

I'm with Virgin, don't really have any problems or complaints.

 

[nath]

I'm with Virgin, don't really have any problems or complaints.

I expect there will always be a fair few people who have no problems with any given service. I've heard so many people bitching about Virgin though so I think it's safe to say that on the whole they're not that great.

 

[Trem]

Like I said, if you download lots (or even watch iPlayer etc), you get throttled by VM. It starts at 10am then again at 4pm iirc, download more than 3gb before those times and your speed is woeful.

I think they need to sort out their advertising tbh, I would like to know what the average speed actually is when taking into account the throttling, I bet my fucking eyes its a shit load less than 10, 20 or even 50mb that they advertise.

Wankers

 

[Ch3tan]

Far less, however their throttling does not always kick in, but they throttle at any time, despite their claims it is only at peak.

I would not go Virgin unless you have to; their customer service which made them a great isp when it was blueyonder is non-existent now, speeds are bad, and it is not cheap compared to adsl services that deliver.