ADSL with Static IP

[upnorthal]

Hi

I've finally reached the end of my AOL contract period, so I am now armed with my MAC code.

I need an ADSL ISP that will provide me with a static IP (I need this to provide my web hosts in order to add a rule to allow me to telnet in).

I also need to have UK speaking technical support.

Price is not my concern, but decent UK based support and static IP address is.

Can anyone recommend? I've tried Google, but to be honest, most the mainstream providers have reviews slating them!!

Zen looks good, any thoughts?

Cheers

Al

[openmind]

I used to be with Be There who provide a very fast connection with fixed IP. I think they outsource support though (not that I ever needed to contact them)

[JohnGrove]

Hi,

I would recommend Eclipse Internet, I have been with them for quite a few years now.

Static IP is free, call centres are UK based and very knowledgeable.


John

[greenbox]

im with freedom 2 surf they also provide a free fixed IP with their broadband packages.

[StephenW]

Zen are good, reasonable support (in house, UK based etc.), static IP (used to give you four I think).

[upnorthal]

Thanks guys.

Its always more re-assuring to read comments from actual business users!

[consultant]

Another vote for Be!

Unlimited package (https://www.bethere.co.uk/web/beportal/homepage) is £17.50, but now a 12 month contracr.

Good speed, static IP, english support (from Hungary).

They offer a 'tell a friend scheme' - if you wanted, we could both get a £15 credit if I passed your info onto them! (hey, there's a recession and we all have to scrape a living!!). PM me if interested!

[upnorthal]

lol, no probs.

Its between Zen and Be at the moment. I'll let you know if I decide to go to Be!



Another vote for Be!

Unlimited package (https://www.bethere.co.uk/web/beportal/homepage) is £17.50, but now a 12 month contracr.

Good speed, static IP, english support (from Hungary).

They offer a 'tell a friend scheme' - if you wanted, we could both get a £15 credit if I passed your info onto them! (hey, there's a recession and we all have to scrape a living!!). PM me if interested!

[paultnl]

I can recomend Newnet

[awebapart.com]

Hi,

I would recommend Eclipse Internet, I have been with them for quite a few years now.

Static IP is free, call centres are UK based and very knowledgeable.


John
I can recommend Eclipse Internet too.

I moved to them in 2005 because I needed a static IP address. They have their glitches and the odd downtime like most other companies (and not always their fault), but their UK support staff are very good.

[edmondscommerce]

Zen is fine if you can cope with a download restriction, same with NewNet

if not then Be should be good (im currently switching to them)

[My Owl 1]

Hi

I've finally reached the end of my AOL contract period, so I am now armed with my MAC code.

I need an ADSL ISP that will provide me with a static IP (I need this to provide my web hosts in order to add a rule to allow me to telnet in).

I also need to have UK speaking technical support.

Price is not my concern, but decent UK based support and static IP address is.

Can anyone recommend? I've tried Google, but to be honest, most the mainstream providers have reviews slating them!!

Zen looks good, any thoughts?

Cheers

Al


Hi Al, We have a superb UK based customer service, good speeds IP's etc. "Which" magazine have given us good ratings and our prices are good too. No minimum contract either. If you would like to know more do pm me.

Best wishes

Avril:)

[TotalWebSolutions]

Hi

I've finally reached the end of my AOL contract period, so I am now armed with my MAC code.

I need an ADSL ISP that will provide me with a static IP (I need this to provide my web hosts in order to add a rule to allow me to telnet in).

I also need to have UK speaking technical support.

Price is not my concern, but decent UK based support and static IP address is.

Can anyone recommend? I've tried Google, but to be honest, most the mainstream providers have reviews slating them!!

Zen looks good, any thoughts?

Cheers

Al

Hi Al,

If you are still looking for a reliable and professional ADSL solution then we can offer Business Broadband from £12.99 per month for low use or £24.99 per month for unlimited use. Both come with 1 static IP as standard and allow you to telnet in. We can also offer 20:1 if contention is a factor.

Our Technical Support team is highly trained and more importantly based in-house in our Stockport office.

If you would like to discuss this further please don't hesitate to contact me by sending me a PM.

Kind regards,

Simon

[upnorthal]

Well, Be is crossed off my list.

Not interested in a supplier that outsources technical support (no matter how good they say they are).

[imaginarynumber]

I am on a dynamic with Virgin Media.

Have you considered a VPN- that way you are not tied to your home landline.

I recently open a VPS VPN account (using the open source OpenVPN) with vpsville.ca

I pay about a fiver a month- they have lifetime 25% off discounts if you google.

[KM-Tiger]

Well, Be is crossed off my list.

Not interested in a supplier that outsources technical support (no matter how good they say they are).

Try O2 then. It's the same exchange equipment and network, but the support call centre is UK based albeit 'up north'!

[Ceco Solutions]

I would recommend BE Broadband been with them sinc 2005 excellent service.

[JohnGrove]

Well, Be is crossed off my list.

Not interested in a supplier that outsources technical support (no matter how good they say they are).

Another good reason to consider Eclipse Internet.

[JoyDivision]

I too am in exactly the same problem, I donwload around 2gb of data a day, mainly Iplayer etc but also general business traffic and stuff like ISOs (from legal sources).

I need a static IP address and something which will allow me to download 2gb a day without going mad, AOL so far have not written to me despite me going over the bandwidth limit.

UK call centres would be nice but more importantly I need them to understand me when I tell them its a BT fault and not have to farse around for 40 minutes doing stuff which is my job anyway.

A free laptop would also be nice :p

[upnorthal]

I never knew the meaning of 'fustration' until I spoke to an AOL support person abroad.

They had the nerve to give me the Microsoft Phone number advising me their must be a problem with my Windows XP operating system.

In the end, the problem was at my local exchange and resolved in a few days by BT I believe.

Having said this. Every AOL support person / rep who is UK or Ireland based have been pretty much outstanding customer support wise.

AOL retentions tried their bit to get me to stay. They stated I could have a 'call back' everytime I wanted technical support that way I would always speak to a UK person. Not quite sure how that would work in reality.

Attractive as the offer was, I politely declined.

[upnorthal]

Just a little update. I looked a little deeper into the whole ADSL thing (I wasn't aware of a concept called LLU).

I've decided to go with O2.

I understand their call centres are UK based. According to the http://www.samknows.com/broadband/ website, there is some O2 / Be Internet kit in my local exchange.
Looks like Be and O2 are the same company or at least related.

Unfortunatley, Zen don't have a LLU in my exchange, therefore I would most likely only get up to 8 Meg con on the standards BT kit.

As I live 742 metres from my exchange (as the crow flies), I'm hoping I may get a decent download speed. Of course, line quality and the actual *real distance* of copper cabling from exchange will make a difference.

Price was never the main consideration here. However. O2 offered 3 months free connection. On quidco, I've got £100 cash back. In real terms, I think it works out I pay just under a tenner a month including my static IP. (oh and a free Thomson 585 Router than Zen wanted £70 for !!!!)

As long as they don't block any ports their end (as I need to use telnet) I will be fine.

Roll on Wednesday....


PS. Anyone else here live in South Yorkshire? Local council have advised me of 'digital Region'. We are all getting fibre to kerb (25 mb / sec) by November next year as part of a massive aware from Europe to help 'regenerate the area'.

Cheers

Al

[KM-Tiger]

Unfortunatley, Zen don't have a LLU in my exchange, therefore I would most likely only get up to 8 Meg con on the standards BT kit.

Zen only ever trialled LLU in the immediate local area of their HQ in Rochdale.

But to complicate matters further, Zen are gradually changing over their customers to BT's 21CN network, which will mean that you can get ADSL2 (with accompanying speed increases) from Zen.

But O2, IMHO, is a good choice.

[sysconfig]

I'm with Be*, indeed a daughter of O2. They have very strong focus on support (although their new website bethere.co.uk looks like they were a bunch of incompetent freaks), and also a large "customer helps customer" forum and community.

If you haven't decided yet, I'd reconsider if I were you.
O2 may have local call centres (Be* have as well, AFAIK), but if their support is of the same "quality" as their mobile support, then it doesn't deserve the name, to be honest.

Cheers
Carsten

[KM-Tiger]

I might be out of date, but my understanding is that:

O2 support = UK (separate and different from mobile)
Be support = Bulgaria

[sysconfig]

I might be out of date, but my understanding is that:

O2 support = UK (separate and different from mobile)
Be support = Bulgaria

I might be wrong. (Don't exactly understand why that matters anyway :)) But as a matter of fact I got decent answers via mail and their forums within hours, and via phone almost instantly. Of course that's only my personal experience, and I absolutely don't care about nationalities, as I wasn't born here either. Main thing is that the job is done properly. ;)

In any case, O2 and Be* use Be*'s network infrastructure (that's what both O2 and Be* told me), so technically there's no difference. Should be a good choice (my internet connections is three times faster than the maximum BT could do for me) :cool:

[saxondale]

Zen only ever trialled LLU in the immediate local area of their HQ in Rochdale.

But to complicate matters further, Zen are gradually changing over their customers to BT's 21CN network, which will mean that you can get ADSL2 (with accompanying speed increases) from Zen.

But O2, IMHO, is a good choice.


except 21CN is was is now "cancelled" ............. BT are only replacing plant on a need to basis.


and until they do "digital region" is just another name for "we`re borrowing off Virgin"

[KM-Tiger]

except 21CN is was is now "cancelled" ............. BT are only replacing plant on a need to basis.

Hadn't heard that. Do you have a reference?

[upnorthal]

and until they do "digital region" is just another name for "we`re borrowing off Virgin"

I think there are a couple of different project names here.

1:
Digital Britain is the UK Government's incentive as part of the Digitial Economy Bill.

2:
Digital Region
A specific project concentrating on South Yorkshire - involving digging up all our pavements in order to lay down fiber opticcable.

Of course - its nothing new. NTL / Virgin (whatever they are called now) did this years ago in certain areas.

[saxondale]

Hadn't heard that. Do you have a reference?

"
By Alan Hyder, Editor, Security Installer

21CN – BT’s switch over to its next generation network – which was threatening to affect alarm signal transmission, will not now be going ahead as a “mass migration” throughout the UK, info4security can reveal.

Originally intended to start next year and roll out across the UK for five years, the switch over to an IP network will now be going ahead on a much smaller scale.
In the rollout plans there were about 30 million PSTN lines being transferred. But BT has confirmed to I4S that this is “not now the case”.
The rollout will now go at a much slower pace over a longer period of time, instead of the “mass migration”.
Equipment at exchanges will be replaced on a when-necessary basis, meaning that, in most areas, there will be a PSTN network for a much longer time than BT had originally planned."

http://www.info4security.com/story.asp?sectioncode=9&storycode=4122865


I think there are a couple of different project names here.

1:
Digital Britain is the UK Government's incentive as part of the Digitial Economy Bill.

2:
Digital Region
A specific project concentrating on South Yorkshire - involving digging up all our pavements in order to lay down fiber opticcable.

Of course - its nothing new. NTL / Virgin (whatever they are called now) did this years ago in certain areas.

trust me - no one will be swinging a spade in Sheffield soon, DR was the social payoff for 21CN.

[KM-Tiger]

http://www.info4security.com/story.asp?sectioncode=9&storycode=4122865

But that's talking about the switchover of PSTN services, not ADSL. The two things seem to be happening to different timetables anyway.

For instance, this (http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/LSCRAY) shows the status of the exchange I am connected to, where you'll see that 21CN WBC (for ADSL2) is already enabled, but the PSTN switchover is running late.

And anecdotally another ADSL connection I use has just been switched over to ADSL2.

It shouldn't be as hard as this to get reliable information!

[saxondale]

But that's talking about the switchover of PSTN services, not ADSL. The two things seem to be happening to different timetables anyway.

For instance, this (http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/LSCRAY) shows the status of the exchange I am connected to, where you'll see that 21CN WBC (for ADSL2) is already enabled, but the PSTN switchover is running late.

And anecdotally another ADSL connection I use has just been switched over to ADSL2.

It shouldn't be as hard as this to get reliable information!


well thats because you yourself are talking about 2 different things - 21CN is, was the enablement of IP to street corner, your exchange may be ADSL2 enabled but your copper pair most definatly isn`t upto the job