Anyone have experience with Be/O2 internet?

[Mark]

I'm thinking of switching internet providers. I can get a faster connection for the same (or less) pennies thanks to the wonders of LLU. I was originally considering O2, as the cheaper option, but my modem requires some exchange-side tweaking that only the Be people have experience with, so it'll have to be be them then. :(

However, since I rely heavily on my internet connection, I don't want to jump ship to a ****hole and end up with a broken connection and a contractual tie-in. I'm rather anal about my internet connection which is why I've stuck it out with PlusNet for so long even when they were giving everyone else a pile of hurt. I've had the odd bit of hurt myself recently too, which has helped make the decision.

That leads me to my question - anyone had any experience with them? Either customer service or actual service? Do download speeds match expectations or do they go to hell in the evenings?

Comments good, bad, or indifferent please - they'll all help. :)

[loki]

I recently switched to O2/Be from VirginMedia. Not because Virgin were bad, it was just I went the Sky HD route so they wanted to put the price right up. Upto now the ADSL has been pretty rock solid. I am about 2.5-2.7km's away from the exchange and get around 5mbps downstream regardless of the time of day. No capping or traffic shaping. Occasionally O2/Be suffer with DNS issues but a change to Open DNS solves that problem :)

Service wise I have no complaints at all. Polite knowledgeable staff and for the three or four occasions I have had to use them, never really had to wait to be answered.

I may still have the email of a guy who works for O2 and is a regular at OcUK. For the upto 20mbps service, I get it for £7.50 a month on a friends and family rate.

My only gripe is that the O2 Wireless box gets pretty hot and if you play a lot of online games, the O2 firmware prevents you putting the router in the DMZ. Its basically a modded Thompson router. So either invest in Netgear or use your existing kit

[Mark]

I know about the F&F deal and have been offered too, which is making the decision rather more complicated. As noted above due to the fact I need an INP tweak to get above 7.5mbps I'd need to go with Be.

Of course the problem with that is that I don't actually know if I can get above 7.5mbps anyway. I don't know if the fact I've already got 7.5mbps from my current ADSL line is any indication of what I'd get with ADSL2/ADSL2+.

[divine]

I've been very impressed. I eventually got forcefully disconnected from Pipex (Tiscali) because they were a bunch of incompetent asshats who couldn't sort their billing department out.

O2 were fantastic from the get go, texting me regular updates on the status of my new connection, they text me before they take money so I can make sure I have the money etc.

Connection I find fantastic, I get 4-5Mbps on the 8Mb package, compared to the pitiful 1.5Mbps Pipex managed. They seem to have me on ADSL2+, which i'm not sure is normal for the 8Mb package or not but either way i'm very happy with the speed considering my line quality. Had one or two DNS issues but a simple 30 second switch to OpenDNS and all is well. Never noticed any slowdowns, they don't cap traffic or restrict anything .

I think general opinion is that O2/be* are probably about the best ISP around at the moment.

The O2 router firmware is a bit restrictive (assuming you use it, I did because it shat all over the belkin I was using before) in initial guise but I recall someone on here telling me how to get it into a power user mode which opens up a lot more options for fiddling.

[NokkonWud]

I've only heard brilliant things about BeThere, to the tune of them being the best ISP in the country. I wouldn't worry :p.

[Mark]

I use my own DNS proxy pointed at OpenDNS anyway so I don't mind if their DNS servers do one (except when my own server does one, which isn't entirely unheard of - oops).

Sounds like Be is the way to go then. I'll give them a call/email/whatever tomorrow and ask about packages (I know what they've got, but I don't know which one I should select).

[Daz]

They seemed pretty good when I looked into them :)

BT have started throttling us bad during peak times, starting to get on my tits. A shame really, because I was pretty happy with the service I was getting (second line, BT vision etc).

The 21CN RFS date is March next year, hopefully with some ADSL2 goodness they'll open the taps up a bit, though I guess it depends on how much bandwidth there is in the core. I'll have a moan in the mean time!

[Mark]

My 21CN RFS is the same, but it's slipped once already and there's going to be a fair bit of congestion in the ordering process I'd imagine. As to whether it'll help, that depends where your congestion lies. If it's at the exchange end then maybe. I'm not sure where my recent congestion came from, but since PN have recently lit at least one new segment I can guess.

[leowyatt]

Been with O2 since May and things have been great. Had some problems with our O2 box keep dropping the wireless connection and spoke to tech support who altered the snr and we lost a bit of speed but the box seems to be working fine. Having the super user account does help alot though ;)

[Mark]

I suppose I could use the O2 router and ditch my trusty Draytek, since that's the source of my problem with moving to O2, but I'm not sure I want to. I doubt many can claim 165 days uptime on their routers. :)

[divine]

You don't have to use the O2/be supplied router if you don't want, I just did because it was better than what I already had.

[Mark]

I know that. That wasn't what I said though. What I said was that using their router would avoid the impulse noise protection issue I have with my own router - at the cost of potentially ending up with a less stable solution.

It's all turning into a hellish carbuncle of tech-speak. Oh to be in a position where I didn't know what I was talking about. I think I've caught something OCD from Phykell (or more accurately, he caught it from me, as I've been pondering my ISP choices on and off for about three years :D).

[LeperousDust]

I suppose I could use the O2 router and ditch my trusty Draytek, since that's the source of my problem with moving to O2, but I'm not sure I want to. I doubt many can claim 165 days uptime on their routers. :)

Quite easily with my WRT, i didn't even realise routers where flaky things? I don't think the one back home has ever been switched off apart from when i relocate it. The rents and my brother wouldn't have a clue what to do if it "went wrong" ;D

[Mark]

My WRT seems to get its knickers in a twist and self-mutilate every so often, though it's behaved a fair deal better since I ditched my bridged wireless setup. Plus, with the firmware currently on it, it reboots if you change pretty much anything. Given that I access my systems remotely quite regularly, and actually plan on hosting on the connection next year, an unstable router wouldn't be so clever.

The older Netgears used to be horribly prone to dropping connections for no obvious reason. And then of course there's Belkin *spit*. :/

[LeperousDust]

I'm running tomato on my WRT and you'd think since its third party and does so much it would be a little temperamentally, but tbh i've found the exact opposite to be true...

[Mark]

Just don't try plugging any hard disks into it. That'll really sort it. :p ;D

[Stan_Lite]

Quite easily with my WRT, i didn't even realise routers where flaky things? I don't think the one back home has ever been switched off apart from when i relocate it.

Same here. I've had mine for over a year and the only time it's been rebooted was when we switched the Virgin account to my name and Virgin insisted on changing the modem for an identical one. The only router I've had problems with was a cheapo Zoom thing I had a few years back which had overheating issues. After a bit of a search, the only solution I found on the web which appeared to work was to drill holes in it to let the heat out - I decided at this point, it was time for a new one :D

[Streeteh]

BeBroadband rock, i dropped them a support ticket due to my email not working correctly, within an hour i had received a reply detailing exactly how to fix it. They even texted me to tell me they had sent a reply!

[Mark]

Oh well, my request for a MAC prompted PlusNet to drop the monthly price below what I'd pay by switching. They've been very good to me in the past, so with them being the devil I know I'm afraid I bit. Game over.

[leowyatt]

well if you get it cheaper then nice one Mark ;)

[Mark]

I get to keep the same connection too. I'm counted as a Business customer which means I have access to priority support and I don't get hassled with FUP or download limits. It's not a perfect world for sure as I do get traffic-shaping issues occasionally, but that's maybe once every six months, if that, so I'm sure I'll cope. :)

PS - the O2 F&F deal would have been £5 p/m cheaper, but with my modem issues it could have proved a false economy.

[MarcLister]

Be* are pretty decent. Had some issues with download speeds when I first joined but it seems OK or bearable now.

Using an AM200 modem with a WRT54GL router. :cool:

[Mark]

Currently attempting to back out of the deal I just did having found the flaw in the plan. Whether I'll get a positive response, only time will tell.

If I'm successful, do Be do referrals, and if they do, does anyone want one?

[MarcLister]

Currently attempting to back out of the deal I just did having found the flaw in the plan. Whether I'll get a positive response, only time will tell.And what flaw would that be?

[Mark]

Usenet/P2P. OK, so I've only used Usenet once in ten years (this week in fact), but I've been known to use BitTorrent for ISOs.

Usenet maxed out at 150Kbps at 4am. I think that's about as off-peak as it's possible to get. It's completely unusable past about 10am. The account type I'm on is great for business-type stuff (HTTP, VPN), but at the price of being absolutely knackered for P2P.

Plus I've had more video streaming and VoIP issues lately. I can't tie those down specifically to the ISP but it would be a remarkable coincidence if it wasn't.

[Mark]

This if (sic) confirmation that the 12 month contract entered into is now nullified.
Cost me the princely sum of £6.25 (the cost of reimbursing one months' discount) \o/

Just waiting on the ticket I opened with Be now. :)

Edit - Migration initiated. Looks like Quidco will cover the migration fee and first month.

[Garp]

Be have a great reputation inside the industry too. Most of the geeks I've been working with over the past couple of years have switched over to Be. Their tech support is knowledgeable.

[Mark]

They were rather woolly in a response I got, but that was my fault for asking a sales guy a technical question. I just opened a new ticket for that issue, quoting the specific service profile I'm after.

[Mark]

I'm pretty impressed so far. The Member Centre isn't anywhere near as comprehensive as PlusNet's, but besides knowing how much bandwidth I've used (which I'll have to research alternatives for), I really don't think that matters - I used all of about three options on PlusNet's panel.

I've had five text messages so far from them, already got a migration date and next day shipping of a router (which I intend to leave in it's box). They also recognised the service profile request I was after and said they'd gladly do it once I was online.

For my next trick, I'm currently playing out and then deleting the entire contents of my Sky+ box (which was pretty much full) onto an Archos box I've had for a while. I've phoned cancellations before but my heart wasn't in it (especially with a full Sky+ box), but this time things are somewhat different. Give me a good deal (new box would be a start) or I'm gone.

[Mark]

Well, here goes nuthin'. If you never see me again, you'll know why. :D

[karbon]

i have an interview for o2 tech support on monday.

you're all DOOMEEEDDDDD

[Mark]

I R Back :cool:

So far, the speeds in both directions are almost identical to what they were. However, browsing feels faster and a quick Easynews test has gone from 10KB/s at 4am to 580KB/s at 3pm. Now that's better. :cool:

Hopefully speed will pick up a little more once I get a slight line tweak in place and things have had chance to settle down. At some point in the future I'll have to think about moving the router (or buying a new one) to improve things further, but for now it's as good as I need.

Thanks all. :)

[leowyatt]

Welcome to the fold Mark :D

[Dr. Z]

I am on O2 at home - ultimate service, really very very good :)

The o2 box has an incredible uptime considering, too. I will move off it to a more tech-friendly solution if I move back home properly at any point, but for my parents its absolutely bob on :)

[Mark]

The deed is done. My Sky service goes away 1st Jan. All they could offer me in the way of a deal was either cancelling movies/sports (pointless as that's all I've been using Sky for recently), or switching my phone service to them (free line rental for a year). With the LLU migration just completed I could see that going pear shaped very fast, so, er, no thanks. No cheap box, no cheap Sky. OK then, bye.

Never thought this day would come. Last time I tried this I played chicken and lost, so this time I've been convincing myself for a few weeks. :)

So, that's £50 pcm extra in my pocket next month then. :)

Assuming it hasn't all gone pear-shaped I might resubscribe for the English cricket season, or if they offer me a stonking deal (there are a few channels I'd like to watch again if I get back into TV watching properly). We'll see I guess.