Broadband Buyers' Guide
If you're looking for a clear, concise, helpful buyers' guide to
broadband, then you've found it. The Genie's broadband buyers' guide
is a great place to start for all this high-speed internet stuff,
and covers all the main things you need to consider when comparing
broadband - speed, price, usage, compatibility, and the rest.
Our
number one tip is to identify exactly what is important to you
before you move on to comparing broadband providers. Broadband contracts
Traditionally most broadband providers tied you into a 12-month contract.
The reason for this is that they offer you a free installation and
then recoup the cost throughout the period of the contract.
Some providers
such as TalkTalk, Orange and BT have started doing 18-month contracts.
With BT an 18-month contract can mean you pay
less per month in return for being tied in for longer than average.
The others look like they are just trying to secure your business
for longer.
If a contract of any length worries you, there
are providers - notably Virgin broadband - which work on a rolling
1-month contract.
The plus side, of course, is that you can cancel
the contract if you can't afford it or it doesn't meet your needs.
The minus side is that rolling contracts often
come with a fairly hefty cancellation fee. If the cancellation
fee is equivalent to
three months' payment, then it doesn't look quite so rosy - although
bear in mind that it would still probably be more expensive to
cancel a 12-month contract. Download broadband speed
Broadband download speed is, of course, one of the big, big reasons
to upgrade from an old-fashioned dial-up connection to a state-of-the-art
broadband connection. Broadband Genie offers download speeds
between 2Mb and 24Mb.
But what does download speed mean?
When you connect to the internet, the download speed is the speed
at which data (text, graphics, programmes, etc.) is transferred
from another computer (i.e. the internet) to your home PC.
Download
speed is measured in megabits/second, commonly written as Mb
or Mbps (as in 2Mb, or 2Mbps).
What's a megabit?
People often get confused between megabits (Mb) and megabytes
(MB). In summary, there are 8 bits in a byte, so, if your download
speed
is 2 megabits per second, then that's the same as 0.25 megabytes
per second.
It's an important distinction, because file sizes
are generally measured in megabytes. So, you can stop wondering
why your 2MB
photo doesn't download in one second.
Broadband download speed - not what it seems
A really important point to note is that you won't always get
quite the speed you expect. The actual download speed you will
achieve
is dependent on a number of factors, not least the distance you
live from a telephone exchange (for an ADSL connection).
Broadband
speeds, for this reason, are generally quoted as "up
to". Really helpful ISPs will tell you during the sign-up
process what maximum speed you are likely to get.
People living
in big urban areas (in particular, London) are likely to have
access to faster download speeds that people living out
in the sticks.
Upload speeds are generally much slower
Switching broadband provider
The good news is that switching broadband provider is - in theory
- not that hard!
First of all, use our dazzling broadband comparison
search and our comparison tools to find a better, cheaper,
or friendlier broadband
service. Once you've decided...
Switching from one ADSL provider to another
Most broadband services are ADSL, that is, the connection is
down your telephone line. You'll need to:
Check your terms and conditions, and lookout for cancellation
policy and charges. If you are in a 12-month contract, you may
find the
cancellation fee a deterrent to switching.
Arrange to cancel your broadband and - importantly - get them
to tell you your MAC number.
Order your new broadband, and tell your new broadband provider
your MAC number, and what your previous broadband service was.
Your new provider should take of it from there. The switchover
should be seamless, although there may be a few minutes of downtime
between switching connections.
Switching between cable and ADSL
Because ADSL and cable (NTL or Telewest) are completely separate
technologies, you simply need to cancel one and subscribe to
another. When you cancel your ADSL connection, ask for a termination
date
so that you avoid too much overlap.
If you want to avoid losing
your connection even for a few hours, then just time it so that
your ADSL and cable services overlap
- that way you can make sure that the new service is working
before making the final switch.
If you are switching from cable
to ADSL (e.g. from NTL to Tiscali), you will need to have a BT
phoneline installed. You may need to
contact BT independently to get them to come and install a line,
if you don't have one already.
Things to bear in mind
The switching process differs slightly from provider to provider.
Your new provider should be motivated to guide you through any
difficulties!
The UK's telecommunications regular - Ofcom -
is trying to make sure that switching broadband providers is easy
peasy. If you
have any problems, get in touch with Ofcom.
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