Internet Provider - Any recommendations?

[Dutto]

I refer you to a quote from Sam Goldwyn of "Metro Goldwyn and Meyer" film fame when he was talking to a Film Director who had over-run his budget by a million dollars:

"A million dollars?" he said "A million dollars here and a million dollars there and it's not long before you are talking about serious money."

For some people, 50p is very similar to a million dollars!

Personally, I hate with a passion those adverts on TV that start by telling me "It's only ..... !" :mad1:

I immediately multiply the cost up to a year and discover small things like "It's only fifty pence a day." actually equals £182.50 a year and if you are paying tax at 60% then this is the equivalent of having to earn £456.25 in real money before you can buy an item that costs "only 50p a day"!

That's why most people switch off their electrical gear ... :wave:

... without even bothering to think about the environmental benefits. :thumb:

 

[-Bezza-]

I immediately multiply the cost up to a year and discover small things like "It's only fifty pence a day." actually equals £182.50 a year and if you are paying tax at 60% then this is the equivalent of having to earn £456.25 in real money before you can buy an item that costs "only 50p a day"!

That's why most people switch off their electrical gear ... :wave:

... without even bothering to think about the environmental benefits. :thumb:

I said it costs about 50p a year so you can stable the horse again :thumb:

 

[terrym]

I immediately multiply the cost up to a year and discover small things like "It's only fifty pence a day." actually equals £182.50 a year and if you are paying tax at 60% then this is the equivalent of having to earn £456.25 in real money before you can buy an item that costs "only 50p a day"!

Whilst I understand your point, anyone earning enough to be paying tax at 60%* is unlikely to give a chuff about whether they should be turning off all their electrical appliances previously on standby.
And for the rest of us mere mortals, turning off every appliance last thing at night to save a few watts overnight before we go to bed only to have to turn them on again 6-8 hours later next morning probably doesn't rank very highly in our priority lists. That said if you want to save some money without really noticing, spend slightly less in the power shower every day, turn the CH thermostat down a tad, and turn a few unused lights off although even that is becoming less necessary now what with LEDs.
*As I understand the '60% tax band' is a pseudo band of tax for those earning beteeen £100K and £119K.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Being an advocate of PlusNet, I just checked their latest prices. £25 per month for 38Mb or £30 for 76Mb fibre, including line rental, seems a pretty good price.

Any download limits at those prices?

 

[-Bezza-]

Any download limits at those prices?

Nope. I checked my stats and regularly go through 40gb+ a month with the likes of 4k streaming. Never had an issue. Also doing a backup to the cloud and was uploading continuously for weeks at a time.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

turning off every appliance last thing at night to save a few watts overnight before we go to bed only to have to turn them on again 6-8 hours later next morning probably doesn't rank very highly in our priority lists. That said if you want to save some money without really noticing, spend slightly less in the power shower every day,

I think most of us of a certain age used to turn things off before going to bed because of the fire risk and the habit stuck i still turn things off at the socket (T.V signal booster, microwave, kettle, toaster etc) but now leave the modem and my Freesat box turned on 24/7.

 

[-Bezza-]

I think most of us of a certain age used to turn things off before going to bed because of the fire risk and the habit stuck i still turn things off at the socket (T.V signal booster, microwave, kettle, toaster etc) but now leave the modem and my Freesat box turned on 24/7.

My grandad was quite into his electronics but in a really uninformed way. Basically, if it was sold by Sony then he needed one and would go out and buy it. He learnt about video plus and how it made recording from the telly so much easier, so he promptly went and bought a new vhs recorder. Few weeks later he was telling us how it was a load of rubbish and it never recorded what it was meant to. Long story short, turned out he was programming it to record and then switching it off at the wall to save on the electric.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Brilliant, was that where you entered the code from the TV guide into the box using the remote and it recorded it automatically.

 

[-Bezza-]

Brilliant, was that where you entered the code from the TV guide into the box using the remote and it recorded it automatically.

That's the one. And if the program was delayed it would adjust automatically. Amazing system.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I remember it well, also good for TV times as you had to buy it to get the codes.

 

[Clint]

Makes you wonder how we all coped with under 5 channels...my mum used to buy the tv times...at Christmas!

 

[terrym]

Makes you wonder how we all coped with under 5 channels...my mum used to buy the tv times...at Christmas!

We only have Freesat and Freeview, but not Sky. We haven't watched C4 for months, probably years, same goes for C5 even more so. We rarely watch ITV. So the only time we will watch live TV is selectively on BBC, which isn't every day. However we do use BBCiPlayer from time to time, and have access to Netflix although that's not on too often. ITVHub isn't worth the trouble.
My TV viewing is summed up by Film 4. I used to watch Film 4 fairly regularly some time ago but then when I looked there was usually some rubbish on so I didn't watch it. And in fact I dont even bother to look nowadays.
So having umpteen channels available is really of no use to me!!

 

[Dutto]

............. That said if you want to save some money without really noticing, spend slightly less in the power shower every day, turn the CH thermostat down a tad, and turn a few unused lights off although even that is becoming less necessary now what with LEDs. ............

There you go again! Squandering money! :laugh:

A) What's a "power shower" and why would you need more than one shower a week if you don't work down a pit or in a foundry? We live in the caravan for months on end and manage with Baby Wipes, French Cologne and a trip to the local swimming pool once a week. As far as I'm aware, neither of us smell of anything other than French Cologne.

B) What's a "thermostat"? Seriously, I loathe central heating and we make do with a couple of night storage heaters and a gas stove.

C) Unused lights? We only have four rooms in the whole house! (lounge, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom) and a conservatory. The five bulbs are all LED's and believe me they are switched off if no-one is in the room.

My grandad was quite into his electronics but in a really uninformed way. Basically, if it was sold by Sony then he needed one and would go out and buy it. He learnt about video plus and how it made recording from the telly so much easier, so he promptly went and bought a new vhs recorder. Few weeks later he was telling us how it was a load of rubbish and it never recorded what it was meant to. Long story short, turned out he was programming it to record and then switching it off at the wall to save on the electric.

My grandma was brought up in a house that used the living room fire to heat the house, boil water for a bath and cook on and lighting was via a couple of paraffin lamps. When Granny and Grandad got married they moved to a pit house that had electricity and some idiot explained to Granny that a light switch was "like a tap, but it lets the electricity flow". According to my Granddad it took quite a lot to reassure her that electricity wouldn't "flow all over the floor" or "fall out of the light fitting" if there wasn't a plug in a socket, or a bulb in the light socket, when they were switched on!

Happy Days! :thumb:

PS

1. I appreciate that it is only "50p a year" to leave an electrical gizmo on standby nowadays; but if you multiply ALL of the gizmos that are in some modern homes those 50p's soon add up.
2. I am NOT in the 60% tax bracket but I find that calculating the cost of something "before tax" makes for an interesting comparison of what something actually costs; especially to anyone so desperate as to go to one of the modern loan-shark companies that advertise on the TV!
3. Over the years, I have met many people who have behaved as if they were "rich" when in reality the bank and other lending agencies actually owned their home, car, caravan etc and needed paying every month. I have seen the devastation that can be caused when someone is unfortunate enough to be made redundant, get themselves fired or become ill to go down that route.

Two proverbs worth remembering are:

"Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves."

and

"A penny saved is a pound that doesn't need to be earned."​

 

[terrym]

@Dutto
Your last post has put me in mind of the Four Yorkshiremen. :thumb1:

 

[Godsdog]

Took delivery of the V6 box yesterday only to find on opening up the package it wasn't the V6 box at all,the fools at virgin have sent me the TiVo box which is not wanted by me, so just been on the blower and they are resending the V6 and a new modem which wasn't explained to me initially, so apparently the V6 and the new modem talk to one another through the WiFi so there isn't a need for them to be in the same room which is good otherwise it would be useless as my modem and TV and coaxial Ariel are 2 rooms apart

 

[Dutto]

Apparently I can't tell TalkTalk that I'm cancelling my contract with them when the contract runs out on 17th May because I "Have to give 30 days notice!"

The "end contract early" fees are almost the same as "keep the contract until the end" costs so I will just stay with them.

I have pointed out to Vodaphone (been a PAYG customer with them for nearly ten years now) that there is a fault on my line but they have assured me (and I have it in writing via an email) that they get BT to activate "the fibre" (the one that I didn't even know I had at my address!) and test the line before the contract starts.

At £23 a month I can get Broadband and Phone which an 15% off for any day that the speed drops before their promise; which at the moment is THREE TIMES more that I get from TalkTalk.

Feeling a lot happier now! Thanks for all the support. :thumb:

Even though Vodaphone are the new kid on the block I've been more than happy with their mobile network. When I'm in France I can phone and text anywhere in the UE using my "120 free minutes and unlimited texts per month" for £10 so I seldom use my computer and just use the phone.

Again, many thanks! :thumb:

 

[Chippy_Tea]

At £23 a month I can get Broadband and Phone which an 15% off for any day that the speed drops before their promise; which at the moment is THREE TIMES more that I get from TalkTalk.

The reason they are quoting figures 3 times faster than you are getting from TT is because it is fibre broadband borne out by the statement - (that they will get BT to activate "the fibre")

You are currently on ADSL but your cabinet is fibre enabled (FTTC) so you have the option to move to TT fibre should you wish to, TT's lowest priced fibre package is £22.50 a month including line rental (no usage limits) is is up to 38 Mbps and a guarantee (for me) of 35 Mbps, i have looked at Vodafone and they are only guaranteeing 25 Mbps with a maximum of 38 Mbps for roughly the same money, i am not trying to sway your decision just pointing out that they are not offering you anything you cannot already get as a TT customer.

 

[Dutto]

Agreed, but TT:

• Already charge me over £28 a month for the 6.9Mbps.
• Have never offered to upgrade my service in the last two and a half years.
• Haven't sent anyone out to check the BT line that I just know is the problem with the intermittent fault.
• Have had me jumping up and down like a monkey on a stick trying to sort something out that isn't anything to do with the inside of my home!
• Added the insult of sending me loads of mail to the effect that new customers get a much better deal that I do.

I only have a limited amount of patience and I'm afraid that TalkTalk have used all of it.

 

[Leon103]

I thought yku were on fibre already. No wonder your speeds are poor

 

[marshbrewer]

Apparently I can't tell TalkTalk that I'm cancelling my contract with them when the contract runs out on 17th May because I "Have to give 30 days notice!"

The "end contract early" fees are almost the same as "keep the contract until the end" costs so I will just stay with them.

I have pointed out to Vodaphone (been a PAYG customer with them for nearly ten years now) that there is a fault on my line but they have assured me (and I have it in writing via an email) that they get BT to activate "the fibre" (the one that I didn't even know I had at my address!) and test the line before the contract starts.

At £23 a month I can get Broadband and Phone which an 15% off for any day that the speed drops before their promise; which at the moment is THREE TIMES more that I get from TalkTalk.

Feeling a lot happier now! Thanks for all the support. :thumb:

Even though Vodaphone are the new kid on the block I've been more than happy with their mobile network. When I'm in France I can phone and text anywhere in the UE using my "120 free minutes and unlimited texts per month" for £10 so I seldom use my computer and just use the phone.

Again, many thanks! :thumb:

Dutto, you might like to ring them again, very politely and cheerfully explain that you will pay the early termination charge, and will then be going to another provider. If, and when, they find and fix the fault on your line and provide you with fault free broadband, and AS YOUR EXCHANGE ISN'T UNBUNDLED (i.e. they are doing this over the same infrastructure as TT) you will be taking small claims action to recover all of your fees and charges from the day the day the faults were first reported to them, plus an amount of compensation for loss of amenity, your general time and trouble as they are obviously in breach of contract. You may like to do a little research before the call to estimate what this figure is. In addition, you might suggest that you will be reporting the matter to OFCOM as an obvious example of unfair practice.