Best Telephone Provider?

[uksbc]

Hi All,

i am considering having a new business line put in at my house (indpendent of my home landline) and before i just automatically order one from BT i was wondering what other peoples preferences are

i need the full package - line install, inbound and outbound calls, and ability to add a broadband service

any thoughts??

thanks

Del

:D

[Rob Holmes]

BT

I have clients using cable etc and they can't pick and choose the Broadband provider etc..

Rob

[Niteflyer]

Bulldog are pretty good for this!

I have wanadoo broadband (uncapped) (upto 8MB download speeds), they also give me a phone line with a 0845 number and free weekend and evening calls for £27.99

Matt

[creacom]

BT

We have been using them for the past year for our telephone line and broadband and the service has been first class.

Jacqui

[uksbc]

thanks for the response,

it would suggest what i thought anyway, install a BT line and then shop around for broadband and a low cost routing solution

thanks

:D

[creacom]

I would suggest....though many will probably argue....

Get the line installed then switch over the rental and call to someone like Talk Talk. They have of course just launched their free broadband service but there are quite a few restrictions on it so maybe not the best.

BT do broadband and its been excellent so far for us.

Jacqui

[uksbc]

BT do broadband and its been excellent so far for us.


i agree Jacqui, BT are good for BB but i had a major problem last week because the IP address from BT was blacklisted and our outgoing email was getting treated as spam so i want to solve the probelm at home before it arrises :D

Good Idea with the Talk Talk thing though - i will have a look at that

:D

[cjd]

There are only two networks; BT or NTL, every service is a re-branded pruduct of these two. NTL has a very, very poor customer relations record but if you're not in a Cable area that makes it easier.

The newer providers have very mixed reports - Bulldog has had an awful time but when it works it seems fine.

The Talk-Talk deal looks interesting £21 for telephony ('unlimited' calls and line rental) and 'free' broadband. This deal has disturbed the market so if you can, you be best advised not to make a decision for a month or two to see how the competition developes - they will be forced to respond.

[Rob Holmes]

i agree Jacqui, BT are good for BB but i had a major problem last week because the IP address from BT was blacklisted and our outgoing email was getting treated as spam

Thats easily solved with a static IP address :)

I recommend plus.net for broadband

Rob

[Clare]

Whatever network you're on - you can get free national calls and cheap international calls using some of the low cost call providers.

I use http://www.1899.com for my UK and US calls, http://www.18866.com for some international calls (depends whose cheapest) and Onetell at weekends when it's free. They only charge a connection fee of 3p or 4p respectively.

I don't have cable so don't get some of the other free, inclusive deals that I know are around.

As I phone the US quite often it only costs me 63p for an hours call.

Clare

[davenny]

We switched over to vonage and its really bad, we get dropped calls, delay in hearing people etc.

And to let everyone know we are on a T1

Erik
http://www.usspin.com
SPiN - Super Powerful Networking has decided to Open Source its system; it is complete free to anyone who wants to start their own mastermind group. (Manuals, Materials, Website, Web-links etc.)

[cjd]

We switched over to vonage and its really bad, we get dropped calls, delay in hearing people etc.

And to let everyone know we are on a T1


That's almost certainly not a Vonage problem; there's a lot of things to complain about Vonage but their network is fine. Have you tested your LAN and looked for packet loss on the connection?

[uksbc]

thanks for all the suggestions everyone

i got a bit sidetracked today but i will sort this in the morning

thanks

:D

[KM-Tiger]

i agree Jacqui, BT are good for BB but i had a major problem last week because the IP address from BT was blacklisted and our outgoing email was getting treated as spam

Thats easily solved with a static IP address :)

I recommend plus.net for broadband
Only if it's a true static IP. What you get from Plusnet is a fixed (ie always the same) IP, which is nevertheless still listed as on a dialup allocation. So sending mail from one of these IP's will be blocked by AOL, for example and anyone that subscribes to the MAPSDUL list. I gave up sending outgoing mail direct from my own server for this reason, and now relay via Plusnet.

I used to recommend Plusnet, but would hesitate to do so now. As they have grown their level of CS has gone down, and ATM they are unloading customers onto Tiscali LLU, whether they want that or not. Thinking of changing to Zen shortly, certainly for my business connection.

[broadband-engine]

I use http://www.1899.com for my UK and US calls, http://www.18866.com for some international calls (depends whose cheapest) and Onetell at weekends when it's free. They only charge a connection fee of 3p or 4p respectively.


I too have registered for 18866 and 1899 and I use the service via an Orchid Dialler http://www.orchid-electronics.com/home.htm for £15 so I do not have to do any dialling of access codes. Been with 18866 and 1899 for getting on to a year now and the service is brilliant.