Is IDNET now poor value for money ?

[Rik]

TBH, Dave, I've never been able to work out their new tariffs. To know whether they suit you, you have to know what bandwidth you use when. It's horribly complex, a bit like trying to compare mobile phone tariffs.

[john]

I agree on the pricing plans, they're as complex as railway fares and a much simpler system would be desirable.

I dream of the day when the infrastructure will allow us all to have unlimited download allowances and guaranteed speeds sufficient for all the things the internet is capable of providing such as this.

I'm not holding my breath though  

[Tacitus]

I agree with Rik it is complicated for the average user.  What they need is a web based calculator.  However, based on my interpretation of their system, people on the iDNet 5Gb Max package would gain a higher off peak allowance under the AAISP system.

TBH, unless you are touching the 5Gb limit and really need the extra, I wouldn't bother to move unless you have other reasons for doing so.  I'm not sure, but aren't BT looking at revised prices in the new year, which would impact on all the BT based ISPs?  This will probably affect those on WBC more than the ones on max, but it will be down to the individual ISP to pass on any price reductions.

A&A might be beating others to the punch with their new system.

[quandam]

Right! You would need one of our outstanding  non diluted  degrees to understand what they are offering. If you do 'manage' to achieve one of these 'coveted'  degrees you may well still have problems

[davej99]

I suppose I could work out how much it would cost to use an AAISP product, but, I was so amazed by the nerd tariff I thought why bother. What's wrong with something like 5Gb for a tenner? May be it is a selection process designed to ensure only members of Mensa get admitted. Maybe the router has a funny handshake. All I can tell you is I failed the entrance test.

[dujas]

I think you're making it out to be a bigger issue than it really is, purely because it's a different system to what other BT Wholesale reliant ISPs traditionally use.

AAISP's peak time is 9am-6pm weekdays. If the majority of your Internet usage/downloads is within that period, then they'll probably be expensive compared to alternatives. If however your usage is mainly from 6pm onwards and weekends, then they can be very good value.

For example: If everyone in the household worked away from the home during the daytime (therefore the vast majority of the household's Internet usage falls into AAISP's off-peak period), then for the same price as Idnet's Home Plus package (£17.99, 40GB/month limit), I could use a two unit package with AAISP to give me a 200GB/month off-peak limit.

[Lona]

Why is adsl2 cheaper than adsl?

[Simon]

I think it's because BT sell it to the ISPs cheaper, Lona, but I don't know the technicalities as to why it's cheaper.

[Tacitus]

AAISP's peak time is 9am-6pm weekdays. If the majority of your Internet usage/downloads is within that period, then they'll probably be expensive compared to alternatives. If however your usage is mainly from 6pm onwards and weekends, then they can be very good value.

Fair enough, but are the 'units' ring fenced to peak and off-peak?  If I have two units, does one of them get used only in peak hour and the other only during off-peak?  Suppose the peak hour unit gets used up, do I then need to purchase another peak hour unit or do I start eating into what's left of my off-peak? 

Does this apply only to WBC connections or does it also include those on vanilla Max?  If it does include those on Max then it is probably better value than iDNet since Max users are limited to 5Gb total.  Those on WBC get enhanced allowances which are more competitive with the AAISP offering.

In the end it depends on individual usage patterns and whether you are on WBC.

[Rik]

Why is adsl2 cheaper than adsl?

BT charge significantly less, Lona, presumably because their costs are lower. That enables ISPs to pass on the savings as greater bandwidth allowances or lower prices. IDNet have gone the bandwidth route, presumably because they are aware of the increased levels of use by most customers. When I joined, the £17.99 package was 2GB/month, it then went to 5GB and I needed that extra. Now it's 10 peak and 30 off peak, and I find myself straying a little higher. I think they've made the right decision as the web becomes more 'media rich'.

[Lona]

I just wish I could get adsl2 but my area will be one of the last places to have it, just like when BB was available I had to wait for ages. 

[Rik]

Well, hopefully there will be some good news for you next spring.

[talos]

Same here Lona, we seem to lag well behind the cities, but curiously the MOD base up the road has a super-fast system, wish I could plug in an extension.

[Rik]

Want to borrow a shovel?

[dujas]

Fair enough, but are the 'units' ring fenced to peak and off-peak?  If I have two units, does one of them get used only in peak hour and the other only during off-peak?  Suppose the peak hour unit gets used up, do I then need to purchase another peak hour unit or do I start eating into what's left of my off-peak?

Does this apply only to WBC connections or does it also include those on vanilla Max?  If it does include those on Max then it is probably better value than iDNet since Max users are limited to 5Gb total.  Those on WBC get enhanced allowances which are more competitive with the AAISP offering.

1. You can use the units as you wish. At 17.5% VAT a unit with AAISP costs £3, now as a 20CN customer that unit pays for 1GB of data downstream peak time or 100GB off-peak. But you can break that unit up so its value is used up over different periods, e.g. 50GB off-peak, 512MB peak etc.

2. It applies to both 20CN and 21CN ADSL connections, the only difference is that for 21CN customers with AAISP, their units give 25% more downstream allowance during peak time (from January onwards). Unlike Idnet, AAISP didn't pass on the cost reduction of a 21CN connection straight away to its customers.

[davej99]

I have given up on AAISP, but I had not realised how expensive adsl is versus adsl2+, or rather how much better the allowance is, in my case 5GB versus 30 GB for £17.61. Now that might make me look around. So this might be a good time to improve the adsl Home Plus package until it can be upgraded. Given recent network enhancements at IDNET it hard to believe some extra allowance cannot be found just to temper the apparent inequity.

[Rik]

Watch and wait, Dave.

[davej99]

 

[Tacitus]

I agree with Rik it is complicated for the average user.  What they need is a web based calculator.  

Ask and ye shall be given!.  

Makes it much clearer.

[Gary]

We have a date for 21CN as forth quarter 2011 but no date at all for WBC   

[kinmel]

My thoughts on Idnet pricing are stolen from some distant advert, but I cannot remember which product it was for

"Reassuringly Expensive"

[Rik]

Stella Artois?

[john]

Is she a member of the support team ? 

[Rik]

She may be but I don't truss my memory.

[kinmel]

Stella Artois?

Give the man a prize Stella Artois