I'm here, and a bit stumped

[Alynn]

Yes I am now in the UK... I have a house that I move into on thursday... but jeez I can't decide on an ISP, so now I ask for your help....

So far NTL seems my best bet... both Phone and TV for 32.99 a month (this is in pounds, I have no clue how to do the symbol), BT is a close second but since it's DSL and my distance from the exchange I can only pull about 512K down, and since I need the 20GB download plan (26.99/month) + the 11/month for the phone line comes to 37.99....

The only thing is I still have to call NTL to verify they have service in my area...

The biggest selling point is the unlimited access which Pipex offers at 17.99/month, Talk Talk at 29.99/month  and UKOnline 19.99/month NTL is unlimited as well...

I've been looking around on the net for an hour, and once I know for sure if NTL is available then I'll have a better look...

But anyway what do you use/suggest

FYI I'm considered to be in postal code PE28 4DA if that helps.

Thanks
Al

[BOYD1981]

according to their website, Bulldog Internet are bringing their 8mb service (ADSL) to your area at the end of march, it's also unlimited.
their site is here http://www.bulldogbroadband.com/index4.asp

[Alynn]

Yes, but the BT phone number I will recieve states it's not available, and I'd rather get my internet sooner than later, since I am getting my computer back on thursday, and most likely, as that is a Huntingdon postal code, I will only be getting the 512 that I have been offered from every other service.  I practically live online and I may be a bit spoiled having an 6MB pipe to myself back home for only 45$ a month.

Although the 19.50/month is nice.

Just so you know my only real utility bills will be my phone, internet, and if I choose to get it, cable or satelite... but since I don't get my television for another month, I can wait on that decision.

But thanks for he info Boyd, at least now I have a phone number to call to ask questions to an actual person (which I find is much more informative).

[BOYD1981]

i'd recommend getting satellite over cable, it's mostly all the same channels and cable can act a bit shitty.
plus if you get a Sky+ box you can record up to two things at once.
but if you want broadband now i'd recommend Pipex, although all DSL ISPs are pretty much the same in this country as they all go through BT's network (and therefore require a BT phoneline), the only real differences are price, capping and the level customer service (which if you actually want makes your choice not to go with Bulldog a sensible one).
i'm with BT myself, i got their Broadband Basic package which is capped ridiculously low for a low price, but even with the over limit charges it still works out cheaper than the 30gb package, and it's 2mb.

[Pumaman]

NTL have a postcode checker on their website  http://www.ntl.com
However, they are notorious for their bad customer service; they're one of those companies where when it's all working fine then it's great, but when something goes wrong it can be a nightmare dealing with them to sort it out.

Personally I use the Broadband Premier DSL from www.plus.net which gives you a 2 Mb line with a limit of 30 GB/month peak-time (4pm-midnight) downloads for 21.99/month (+11 for phone line = 32.99).

For TV the cheapest option is to get a Freeview box (they cost about 30 pounds) which gives you about 30 free TV channels; but if you want to pay for extra channels, Sky (the satellite service) is probably the best bet as Boyd suggests.

[Alynn]

Well, for now to get me started I decided to get BT's service, no matter which ISP I use, I'm capped out at a 512K speed, but due to my massive amounts of internet I use (I average 64 hours a week, that doesn't count all the downloads I start before I go to bed). Since I'm only required to have 3 months with BT since they can get me setup the fastest (I turn my phone on today, so I can order the internet on friday) I'll go with them for now.

NTL cant give service on the RAF base on which I live, so SKY is my best bet for television, I've already priced out PAL to NTSC converters, found a decent one for 180 USD, but I need one for mine and one for my daughters television... All in all my bills come out like:

BT phone... 11
international add on for phone... 1
Internet... 26.99
Sky... 31

So basically 70/month without phone call costs which is about 133 USD which is more than fine, sky will be a one time cost of 89 for the Sky+ box and a normal box, plus the 2 converters so I can watch them on my television...

Actually, I'll have to find my phone number (I'm using the hotel computer lab and I don't have my phone number on me) and look at plus.net see if they offer in my area...

All in all I appreciate the suggestions...

[SSH]

Pretty much all ISPs will do up-to-2Mbit in your area. However, the ones that do up to 8Mbit will be limited.

As for TVs, you can probably get a reasonable sized TV for equivalent of 180USD... like this 20" Toshiba TV and sell it on ebay when you leave

Also, uswitch.com will tell you who is the best provider for you in all kinds of stuff a quick guess at your needs suggested Toucan Talk 4 All would save you 150 a year.

[Sam.]

I wouldn't recommend BT, we were on them for a while, but the service is severely limited. We switched to TalkTalk and get 1mb broadband and telephone all under the same provider. The internet is unlimited and doesnt come with any crazy requirements, plug in, set up and go.

[Alynn]

From looking around no matter which service I use, I'm limited to a 512K line regardless, so at this point it's more about which one is the cheapest and has the best startup (such as a free modem, and setup, and why are they all USB modems, I'd rather connect it right to my LAN card).

Talk Talk doesn't tell me what is available for me to use, it just says you can use talk talk, but doesn't say a single thing about max speed, anything that can give me at least 1 would be nice, but I'd much rather have 2 or better (ok I know probably not where I live)...

So anyway Tocan, eclipse, then plus.net seem to be the cheapest with  unlimited usage and plus.net next in line with 30GB which should be more than enough for my family and I (I am the primary user though).

Bah this was easier stateside where pretty much only 2 ISP's offered broadband, one for 45 USD and the other for 55USD... bleh...

Oh and SSH a 20" TV is EWWWWW.... I have a 34" HDTV that works great with my 6.1 surround sound (what can I say I love my lifelike picture and sound) so my wife and I agree that a 200 dollar converter is worth more than a 200 dollar TV in this case. I dunno a 20" TV would look silly with all that sound . Thanks though.

Anyway, in the end, I guess since I have the 3 phone numbers for these companies... if all else fails, I'll use BT until I get a feel for how things actually are out here...

[SSH]

From looking around no matter which service I use, I'm limited to a 512K line regardless, so at this point it's more about which one is the cheapest and has the best startup (such as a free modem, and setup, and why are they all USB modems, I'd rather connect it right to my LAN card).

Until you know your phone number they can't tell what speed you'll get.

[Mr Flibble]

I'd suggest Tesco Broadband. Unlimited downloads, 1.1mb speed (DSL) and all for £17.99 a month.
I think it requires a BT landline though.

[BOYD1981]

I'd suggest Tesco Broadband. Unlimited downloads, 1.1mb speed (DSL) and all for £17.99 a month.
I think it requires a BT landline though.

EVERY dsl isp in the country does...

also, if your tv supports/is HDTV then, although i'm not quite sure about this, you may just be able to use s-video out if your tv has an input for it (my understanding of HDTV is that it works more like a monitor than a tv doing away with the NTSC/PAL divide, but i'm probably wrong), as the Sky+ box does have s-video out. plus you should check if your tv supports PAL before getting the convertor, unless ofcourse you already have which is how you know you need one... as a lot of TVs these days support both signals.

[Alynn]

I've had my phone number for days now (since I didn't plan on changing it since it doesn't cost anything to setup that way). All that let me put in my phone number all say 512K.

I don't believe my TV is multisys, however, I won't know for sure until I get my tele in about a month (possibly sooner, it really depends on how fast the boat it is on takes to get here, then shipped to my location). I'll try the Svid cable first, since I have about 5 or 6 of those floating around. If it works great... However, since I'm not really up to speed, is there any chance that sending a PAL signal to my (possibly) NTSC TV will hurt it... I'd hate to ruin my screen since the TV is only about 6-7 months old.

Anyway doing a few searches for KV-32HS420 (I believe the model number, which I was mistaken earlier, I have a 32" not a 34" but whatever) nothing I've found so far says it will work with PAL, but I will keep searching...

It will probably be a day or two before I talk again, I move into my house tomorrow, so I will have to find the library to use the internet there... but thanks again, maybe I'll wait for the TV to show before I go buying the converter.

http://reviews.cnet.com/Sony_KV_32HS420/4507-6481_7-30895536.html?tag=sub
Looks like it's NTSC only, Oh well... guess I'll get a converter after all. But I guess I'll wait to see if it does work through svideo...

[BOYD1981]

it shouldn't damage it. when you feed an NTSC signal into a PAL tv the picture just ends up greyscale and perhaps, if i remember right, either shrunk or too large due to the difference in the number of scanlines and frequency.
i've no idea what would happen if was the other way around though, if i had an NTSC tv handy i'd check it out, although my guess is probably much the same.