Considering signing up - help needed

[jonno]

Hi

New person here, and a bit clueless when it comes to telecomms etc.  Have just moved house, and want to get connected up to broadband.  But ...

(1)  want to avoid as much as possible BT or TalkTalk because I've had so much hassle with them post moving in.  Previous occupant had TalkTalk package.  Despite BT initially telling me that I could get an active BT line without paying £125 reconnection, they're now saying that's not the case.  Don't see any way round this unless I go with TalkTalk (which I don't want to, as I've read so many appalling case histories, and I don't want an 18 month contract).  Many phone calls to both BT & TalkTalk, held in queues, passed from one dept to another - their customer service is rubbish.

(2)  I've got Sky TV, so was thinking of their phone & broadband package.  However I've read some bad stories about them too.  Was with Tiscali at old house, they were fine but aren't as cheap as Sky plus I've read a lot of bad stories recently.

(3)  I'm happy to buy in to the general consumer moral of "you get what you pay for", so don't mind paying a bit more for a service that delivers more.  Hence my making contact here, as I've read a number of very good reviews of IDNet & nothing bad thus far.  So am thinking of basic BT package to provide a line & basic landline package (don't make many landline calls), then IDNet broadband.

(4)  Am not a particularly heavy broadband user, regular surfer but don't download very much.  Main requirement is fast, reliable connection for surfing, so would appreciate any help as to which IDNet package would be most appropriate.  With regard to bandwith speeds, I live in west London if that makes any difference.


If anyone can give any guidance re any of the points above, I'd be very grateful.

Many thanks in advance


Jonno.

[Rik]

Welcome to the forum, Jonno.

Most of us here have been through the mill of other ISPs and chose IDNet because the company could deliver a fast, reliable, service with first-class support at a reasonable price. They are not the cheapest ISP, but we tend to feel that they are the best. It's also a company which is responsive to its customers - the bandwidth allowance for Home Lite was recently increased from 2GB to 5GB per month, at no extra cost, following requests from users for a package which was larger than 2GB but not at the next step of 30GB. I've had 17 ISPs (been online way too long ), and have never found a better one.

I would have thought that the Home Lite package would probably suit you best, but you could start on the Home PAYG package at £14.99 with 1GB allowance, additional charges are £1/GB on all packages, so if you kept under 3GB total, it would prove slightly cheaper. Moving between PAYG, Lite and Max is free.

Uploads do not count, and there is no throttling or capping when your reach your allowance limit, you simply pay extra. IDNet will send you a warning email before you go over the limit, and you can check your usage at any time via the accounts page. All accounts come with unlimited email accounts, which take the form of user@idnet.com. Each mail box has a capacity of 100MB (not an issue unless you leave mail on the server) and attachments can be up to 10MB.

This week only there is an offer of the first month free, see here and at other times, you can ask any of our members to refer you, which will result in a £10 credit to your account and to that of the referrer.

We look forward to seeing you amongst us.

[jonno]

Rik

Many thanks for your response to my mail.  BT have hopefully finally sorted me out with a line today, and looks like I will sign up to IDNet.  If so, am happy to seek "referral" from you, if that means you (& I) benefit from a £10 credit.

Jonno

[Rik]

Hi Jonno (after Martin by any chance?)

Glad to hear you'll be joining us, I'm sure you'll like it here - as you've probably noticed, the forum members tend to purr collectively when it comes to IDNet, it's a very personal relationship when it comes to our chosen ISP.

As forum staff, although volunteers, we don't participate in the referral scheme - it would be too easy to abuse our position. However, I'll put a post in Natter, which most members visit, and ask someone to PM you with a referral. If you haven't heard within 24 hours, get back to me and I'll sort something out.