i need some advice regarding isp's. i am currently with sky but only receive 1.5meg linespeed. can any suggest a better service provider or any ways to speed up my connection. (i realise distance from the exchange etc affects this)

o2. Period. Consistently the fastest performing network, confirmed fastest ADSL ISP (was the fastest ISP in the UK statistically until recently when Virgin Media narrowly took the lead), awsome 24/7 freefone customer services, fastest upload speeds of any residential ISP by far, rediculous pricing, uncapped/unrestricted service etc... also some cracking additional features that offer additional value such as email-text which is pretty cool (especially for myself with my business).

If you need higher download speeds however, and your far away from the local exchange, you may wish to consider Virgin Media if you are on their network, as their technology does not suffer from distance issues. Though they do severely shape traffic, have some network and backbone capacity issues, restrict high users at peak times and do not offer net neutrality. And their customer services is poo. Heavy uploaders may wish to steer clear, as their speeds are well below standardin relation to thier download speeds, and the DOCSIS cable technology that they make use of, is not suited to heavy/fast uploading.

For an ongoing long-term review of o2 Broadband, by myself and a few other members, click here.

Out of interest, what Sky Broadband package are you currently on, and how are you testing line-speed?

wow, i have been thinking of leaving sky aswell and have been unable to see anyone who comes close, i think i will be cancelling my sky contract to go with O2. only thing is Sky are saying they will completly cancel my broadband before a new provider can take over. could mean a couple of weeks with no internet.

Avoid talktalk

*shakes fist*

I changed over from Sky to o2, and it was instant - so they are probably chatting bubbles in order to keep you as a customer. If they continue to take this stance, contact Ofcom and see what they say on the matter, because as of last year, they are no longer allowed to do things like this.

It should take an Openreach engineer less than an hour to physically do the switch.

thought that would be the case.

Maybe it may be worth giving your PC hard drivea full spring clean as this can slow your connection

i am on virgin 20meg service and it has been in my case fantastic,never goes off except when i dont pay the bill lol.download at 1.9megs a second of their own news servers.customer service is not as bad as many people say.

I have been with many ISP's Sky being the last one and the worse. I moved house, and they kept saying that they couldn't connect my new house to broadband until they disconnected my account from my old house in the end this went on for a month till I told them where to go. I signed up with Plus.net I have been with them for just under a year now with no problems what so ever. Although they state on there website that theres "usage allowances" They never do anything if you go over. These have 24/7 free english customer support. And as there not a massive company you feel like your a valued customer rather then just another number. The prices are cheap plusnet value( upto 8mb) is £5.99 a month for the first 3 months then 11.99 after or Plusnet Premium Broadband (upto 20mb) £11.99 a month for the first 3 months, then 15.99 after . They also have a non contract option Pay a one-off setup fee of £30 and have the freedom to leave Plusnet when you choose with 10 days' notice and no penalties. By far the best broadband I have used. Currently I am on the plusnet value and get 4.24mbps download speeds.

ive been with sky 4 a wile now on the 20meg package when i 1st signed up a was getting about 3 meg witch turned out to be a line problem witch bt replaced witch took me up 2 10 meg, i have since replaced all my internal phoneline with cat5e cable witch has took me up 2 16meg, it mite be worth checking out your phone line incase you go to another isp and get stuck at the same speed, plus goto http://www.broadband-finder.co.uk/broadband-tools/line-check.html to see what speed you line is capable of.

Add another vote from me for O2
Only ever had one problem with it and that was sorted over the phone in 10 minutes by a very nice chap in a BRITISH call centre. No outsourcing for them

Im with Virginmedia and on their 20meg package
just done a line speed test and I am getting 19.25Mbps download and 0.71Mbps uploads.
It does sometimes crash but we have 3 pc's, 1 laptop, xbox360, wii and ps3 not to mention various mobile phones and ipods! We usually play a lot of online games and I do my downloading overnight at download speeds of 2.3Mbps.
When it crashes I just reboot the router and it comes back up in about 2 mins.
Probable the best I have been with.

Further to my last post as of today i am now only receiving 512kbs . i recently told sky to switch me to the free package as they coulndt provide me with broadband in excess of 2.5 mbs this package is supposed to be 2 meg. i think a stern phone call is in order

Just out of interest have you always been getting about them speeds? or is it something that just started now? If it is, have you possibly decorated your house with load of xmas lights as I just read this.

t is that time of year, that you either love or loathe. Yes "Christmas is here, and it is time for the annual ADSL health warning message.

If you have ADSL and you have Christmas lights that flash, you may end up with an intermittent ADSL connection. Therefore if you have any ADSL problems, the first thing to try is switching off your Christmas lights. The problems are generally linked to lights that flash, since these are more prone to generating RF interference that can affect ADSL. In theory CE marked light sets should be OK, but there is the chance of grey imports which may not actually meet all the European standards.

To avoid problems, it is generally best if you keep wiring for your Christmas lights away from the telephone wiring, and avoid running the cables parallel to each other."

Another point for O2 from me too

Hardly anything ever goes wrong but when it does its dealt with quickly using English call centre staff.

I would recommend them that much I've just renewed my contract with them.

First 3 months free too for all signups, so it makes sense

Just a thought whilst im still up and about, you may wish to check the BT Wholesale line checker to see what speed they estimate your line can handle.

http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/adslchecker.welcome

It is the internal system that BT use to check and estimate your line speed when you order your ADSL service. It does tend to be quite conservative, so can be a bit lower than what you will actually get, and on occasion it can be a bit higher of course, but within reason, it is relatively accurate.

You might also wish to check with Be*, if you are considering o2 Broadband, their checker is fairly accurate as well.

https://www.bethere.co.uk/web/beportal/homepage

It tell's me the following:


Not bad, im seeing about 11 - 12Mbps sustained, so its not far off (im on the 8Mbps package, but o2 have neve restricted my sync speed for some reason).

Telefonica o2 have owned Be* for a few years now, and their o2 Broadband service uses the same network and infastructure etc, so it is essentially a line checker for o2 as well (Be* is the geeks internet service, o2 is their mainstream service).

As Tony says, o2 offer 3 months free, plus they offer a 30 day money-back guarantee, if you are not happy and cancel in the first 30 days, they will end your contract without any hassle, meaning you are not going to be tied into a service that is not for you.