UK Folks: Telephone/Internet/TV

[Alynn]

So I've been looking over different companies, and I was mostly disappointed with the abysmal 2mb DSL speeds, with limited monthly usage,  for the same price I'm paying now for 6MB cable speeds, with unlimited usage... But then I found a cable broadband, which would have been nice had it not been for the 3 pense a minute charge for using it (for me about 1296 pounds a month, sheesh).

So what do you use for your phone/TV/internet needs? I want to make sure I make a smart informed decision when I get there.

[scotch]

Where are you living? If you live in a city the chances are you can get 8mbit DSL, unlimited (24mbit if you are extremely lucky).  Personally I am happy with 1mbit dsl at the moment, so I stick with that.  No good ISPs have usage caps, browse around a bit to find a good one.

[Alynn]

I will be living near Huntingdon, I don't have a nailed down address, as I may be living on one of the RAF's in that area.

[SSH]

ispreview.co.uk and adslguide.org.uk are your friends

[Pumaman]

If you end up living in a Telewest Cable area, it's worth taking it up since they'll give you 10 Mb broadband with no usage limits for around 35 quid per month.
However cable doesn't cover much of the country, so in all likelihood you'll have to settle for a 1 or 2 Mb DSL line -- but most good ISP's don't have any download limits (it's only the really cheap ones that do).

To be quite frank, unless you download stuff all day every day, there's not really any need for more than 1 Mb.

As for TV, the free-to-air digital service ("Freeview") is pretty good which gives you around 30 channels with no subscription, though if you want more you'll have to get Sky (the satellite service) which costs from about 15 quid per month.

Finally, in terms of telephone, you'll have to get a BT phone line if you want to get DSL, in which case you're pretty much stuck with their rates. I think it's 5p per call evenings and weekends, and about 4p per minute weekday daytime.

[SSH]

Actually, Local Loop unbundling means you can get a BT line from other providers, and the wholesale line renatl price just came down, so more "one bill" deals will be available. Even without that, you can use carrier preselect to get other people to carry your calls on a BT line. I use justdialsaver but the website at uswitch.com will tell you the chepeast deal for all kinds of utilities, if you have a postcode for your house. If not, use the one of the base at which you are stationed, as it is likely to be the same rates anyway.

[Nikolas]

Don't go for homecall or homechoice. Both of these are thieves!

But francly I think that 2 Mb is just fine... At least for me... And I know that BT is awfull to live with. If I wasn't going to move house every 9-12 months I would surely change line rental provider and take a package from a company like telewest. For lower speeds (512k), ukonline offers broadband for 9.99 quid! that's cheap!