Broadband... which one?

[Greatime123]

1. What is the best braodband around?

2. Got two computers, how would I go about say using Broadband A for both computers without paying a large amount monthly?

[Vision2]

you don tpay per pc or laptop.

any amount of pc's or laptops can be rigged up to use rj45 (network cable) or wireless onto the router.

As for which is best, depends on what you use it for, and what isps you have available. Not everywhere is the same.

[ThePCWiz]

Hi, Most broadband providers now offer unlimited broadband with Free wireless Router.
02 broadband - Good uptime and speed ( depends where you live) and also a good monthly price. Cheaper if your an o2 user
Sky - unlimited downloads also free router, Now Free for six months. Sometimes laggs when busy
Virgin - a bit expensive but fast broadband and free router

[Faevilangel]

Hi, Most broadband providers now offer unlimited broadband with Free wireless Router.
02 broadband - Good uptime and speed ( depends where you live) and also a good monthly price. Cheaper if your an o2 user
Sky - unlimited downloads also free router, Now Free for six months. Sometimes laggs when busy
Virgin - a bit expensive but fast broadband and free router

02 is a limited coverage (needs unbundled compatible exchange - their website will tell you can get it) If you're on an 02 contract, you get it cheaper as well. The average is about £10 a month.

Sky is the same as 02, speeds can vary a lot.

Virgin - High speed (better than 02, bt etc) as it's via cable. Not everywhere has cable. You can get 50mb Broadband on Virgin.

Other options

Be broadband - Owned By 02, so same applies

BT - owns all the UK phone lines (ADSL) so would be the best choice if you want reliability.

[Greatime123]

you don tpay per pc or laptop.

any amount of pc's or laptops can be rigged up to use rj45 (network cable) or wireless onto the router.

As for which is best, depends on what you use it for, and what isps you have available. Not everywhere is the same.

I've got the router so how does it work exactly?

[Faevilangel]

I've got the router so how does it work exactly?

A cable goes from the router to the computer (RJ45 cable or better known as an ethernet cable)

Your new provider would give you a new router ;) and set up instructions

[Jameschillman]

Broadband can vary from exchange to exchange depending on your location.

Some exchanges can be heavily oversubscriped on certain providors So one providor will not be the same for every town/city.
It is faily well known that the BE/02 network is highly oversubscribed for most postcodes ( I believe they publically admitted this last year)

A search on here with your postcode will let you know exactly what services are available to you where you live :

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php?page=availability-exchange-search

[ThePCWiz]

Setting computers in a wireless networking environment offers a number of advantages. Computers can be moved from one location to another as long as within the area of the wireless network without laying new cables. No cables are needed to network new computers or printers. Just plug in a wireless network adapter and configure. Prevent troublesome wiring and cabling for your computers by establishing a wireless connection. The size of the area of the wireless network depends on the type of wireless router and wireless network adapters used.

Materials Needed:
- Wireless Router
- Wireless Network Adapters for your Computers
Step 1
Choose a wireless router with a number of available ports for the equipment to be included in the network. Select wireless equipment with 802.11g wireless technology for best performance.
Step 2
Select wireless network adapters with the same brand or compatible with the wireless router. Same brand setup is relatively easier.
Step 3
Connect the wireless router to a modem. Check the documentation that accompanies the wireless router. Follow the instruction in connecting the router to a modem. Different brands and models may differ with the connection setup. Take a cable from the modem and connect to the wireless router, look for an Internet, Wan, or WLAN port.
Step 4
Configure the wireless router by following setup instructions with the accompanying CD or documentation. Temporarily connect the wireless router to a computer by using a plug from your modem or any available cable.
Step 5
Configure the wireless network name also known as SSID. The name should differ from any existing network names within the area.
Step 6
Configure the wireless encryption (WEP) or Wi-Fi protected Access (WPA) by choosing a password. The WEP or WPA protects the wireless network from accidental intrusion by non-authorized users.
Step 7
Enter an administrative password that will only be used by an administrator or network technician to adjust and secure the network and router settings.
Step 8
Save the settings and unplug the wireless router from the computer.
Step 9
Connect the computers or laptops to the network. Recent models of computers and laptops have built-in wireless network support and can automatically detect existing wireless networks. Follow instructions for installing wireless network adapters for computers or laptops. Computers may require plugging the network adapter into a Universal Serial Bus (USB) slot and arranging antenna on top of the computer. Insert network cards into laptops by using empty card slots. Some network adapters may require a CD for installation. Follow directions and choose appropriate computer and network settings

if you are setting up through a ethernet cable, just connect the ethernet cable to your network card at the back of the pc or side for laptops and one to the router.

[leemason]

I've got the router so how does it work exactly?

What type of router. For example you need a completely different type of router for ADSL Broadband as opposed to cable broadband.

[KM-Tiger]

... Materials Needed: ...

Can I use the one I prepared earlier?

[Dwebs-Ltd]

It is faily well known that the BE/02 network is highly oversubscribed for most postcodes ( I believe they publically admitted this last year)


Thumbs up for BE from me.

BE usually stop new signups at oversubscribed exchanges unlike many suppliers they do make an effort :)

Touch wood never had any speed issues!

[Jameschillman]

I was on a BE/o2 network for 12 months and consitantly had disconnect issues and speeds lower than 2mb when i should have been getting 8!

As i said before this hugely depends on your local exchange! :)

[Dwebs-Ltd]

I was on a BE/o2 network for 12 months and consitantly had disconnect issues and speeds lower than 2mb when i should have been getting 8!

As i said before this hugely depends on your local exchange! :)

Exchange + Internal Wiring + Filters + (Never use the BE supplied router)

I had disconnects for the first 6-8 weeks. 4 BT Openreach visits later they had to reconnect the line at the green box. The third engineer missed that the wire was knackered. Since that was fixed zero issues.