i am finally going to convert to Broadband, can anyone recommend an ISP I either should or shouldn't use based on your own experience. I am looking for cheap/reliable as the main criteria.

Before committing yourself to any provider, spend some hours on http://www.adslguide.org.uk/ where there are performance tables for all the ISPs as well as bulletin boards where you can get an idea of which ISPs are having problems at the moment and the satisfaction of their userbase. Best and cheapest are likely to be Pipex, PlusNet or Eclipse.

Fundamentalist - I am a distributor for Tiscali-Network so I have a vested interest in the recommendation.

Pleased to say that my experience with the Tiscali 256k Broadband so far (since September 2003) has been excellent. It has to be because I use the service most days for various work activities. Contact me if you want further info (click on my user profile for email contact)

Brianboru,

I use Pipex, and wondered why you recommend a router (belkin?) rather then a modem?

Can you explain please?

I would recommend PIPEX

Fundamentalist,

This subject has been covered in great depth in the Traders Room:
http://www.moneyam.com/TradersRoom/ShowPostList?fID=1&tID=1490

So if you can get access to that, it would be well worth a read - lots of good advice.

I personally use Nildram here at home, and have used Plusnet in the past, I cant fault either of them (and they have both been in the top 5 of ADSL suppliers for ages on adslguide.org.uk)

J.

Thanks all for the advice, i will check the traders thread as suggested

Routers are better than modems because (a) most of them include a hardware firewall, (b) the ADSL processing is done outside the main computer and doesn't take up CPU, (c) if you run a home network the other computers don't have to route via the main computer and will have much faster access to ADSL, and (d) the ping will be around 5-10ms lower than with a modem, and a lot more consistent. I haven't seen a sensible explanation for this last point, although the consistency is probably due to not having to share processing with other tasks on the computer.

Routers can be more challenging to configure although I use a Netgear DG834 which was trivial to set up.

kayak,

brilliant, you are as always a mine of useful information, many thanks, and a happy New year to you!

PC World are selling a Belkin router for half price, and my neighbour wanted to share my broadbband, so I was thinking of buying it, and linking his 2 pc's to it wirelessly.

Andy

Andy,,i go along with Wansford.Telecomplus offer BB at 25 p/m NO contract..

Mark

Andy,

I think Kayak has answered most points ;0)
I also found I had terrible problems with a combination of XP, my motherboards USB and a d-link broadband modem which others also seemed to share. Upgraded to a d-link 504 (trivial setup) and never looked back.

If you can get a cable connection I use telewest 1MB broadband never had any problems with outages.
Regards.

Andy,

For what you are looking for, they best router available at the moment would be one of the Xyzel wireless routers. It has an integrated ADSL modem (most ADSL routers require you to plug an ADSL modem into them), and it also has a PCMCIA slot for any 802.11b wireless card which then turns it into a wireless access point - very good value for money. My dad bought one about 5 months ago and hasnt had any problems with it at all, he loves it.

If you are interested in these, drop me a mail (spooky@moneyam.com) and ill let you know where you can get one for a very good price.

J.

Sutre,

I have sent you an email, can you post again if you don't receive it.

Many thanks

I have no vested interest in Telewest so I am happy to recommend their cable internet which is excellent if you are in their franchise area. It seems to be extremely reliable, fast and stable. Help line and self help are good from my experience. You need a network card in your PC and they provide the cable modem and install it for you.