Any opinions on o2 broadband?

Freakitchen · 18 Jun 2008 at 19:36

Wanted to search for this, but 'o2' is too short a string to do that!

Basically, am moving house soon and have cancelled my existing broadband with Eclipse. Have been VERY far from my exchange for 4 years now, so could only get a maximum of 800Kbps on ADSL Max, so the predicted 'up to 5.5Mbps' on my new line should be quite nice!

Anyway, I'm looking for the best ISP to go for, but am unsure whether to go for what seems like the bargain price of o2 (£7.50 a month as an o2 mobile customer on their up to 8mb package) with no limits on bandwith, or pay more for what seems like a more 'advanced' package from ADSL24. Am assuming that the o2 service will be throttled at peak times but I only download large files overnight, how likely am I to get good download speeds at this time? ADSL24 on the other hand do things by download limits, which would be fine on the 'Home30' package - would I be right in thinking P2P downloads are less likely to be throttled with them?

Any opinions welcomed.

Nymins · 18 Jun 2008 at 19:41

Not an O2 customer myself, but will be at the end of this month when my exchange goes live.

However, O2 do not throttle any speeds, the speed is constant all the time and are completely unlimited for downloads, unlike ADSL24. They are probably the best ISP you can get for the value and features. Im sure everyone here will agree and I myself have never seen a bad remark about them.

I am currently on ADSL24 and they are great too. I have went over my download limit once and had to pay £15 extra. This wont happen if you monitor what you download, but obviously i didn't that month

For future reference, O2 broadband and Be* (BeThere) are the same company, just in case anyone tries to confuse you

RJC · 18 Jun 2008 at 19:47

Had O2 a month an no complaints, had few drop outs here & there on the first week, been rock solid since.
Download speeds seem pretty good at all times.

If you do join, you might be able to get discount, I managed to get it for £2.50 a month and my friend got it for free.

Rob

(was with Be there)

Freakitchen · 18 Jun 2008 at 20:59

Thanks for the replies, guys.

Seems I was a bit premature with the £7.50 thing, I put my phone number in and it's giving me a price of £17.50 instead...seems my local exchange hasn't been 'unbundled'. Any ideas if the service is the same regardless of this?

Even at this price, it's significantly cheaper than ADSL24 @ £30, so I'll probably still go for it unless there's something I'm missing with this higher price point. RJC, mind if I ask how you got the extra discount? Wondered if they might be able to drop the price further even on my exchange.

RJC · 18 Jun 2008 at 22:37

I was renewing my contract after threatening to leave, the chap I was talking to asked if I would like O2 BB and that he could do me a deal, as I was with Be I could transfer without giving my 3 months notice.

Personaly give them a call and see what they say. Good luck !

Rob

Cyclone · 19 Jun 2008 at 03:35

Ive been on O2 for about 6 months and never had any problems.

feriso · 19 Jun 2008 at 09:35

Well - my "Ready to go" has just gone yellow this morning meaning that it should go live today at any time - I'll give you an update later. Can get 6.2-6.4 on ADSL hoping for 10+ on LLU.. *fingers crossed*

DavidQ · 19 Jun 2008 at 09:59

I'm going live with O2's home access service tomorrow, was supposed to receive the router yesterday but they didn't send it and I had taken the day off work to sign for it. I phoned them up and spoke to a manager who's giving me £15 off for the first two months, hopefully the service will be good though!

marmalade · 19 Jun 2008 at 10:51

The service on an unbundled exchange will not be as good as when using their own gear they are using BT's. However they are expanding and 02 are a really excellent company.

Nymins · 19 Jun 2008 at 10:55

Freakitchen said:
Thanks for the replies, guys.

Seems I was a bit premature with the £7.50 thing, I put my phone number in and it's giving me a price of £17.50 instead...seems my local exchange hasn't been 'unbundled'. Any ideas if the service is the same regardless of this?

Even at this price, it's significantly cheaper than ADSL24 @ £30, so I'll probably still go for it unless there's something I'm missing with this higher price point. RJC, mind if I ask how you got the extra discount? Wondered if they might be able to drop the price further even on my exchange.

Yes as mentioned that is only "O2 Home Broadband Access", which is available to everyone and is only 8mb, not their 24mb LLU service. Wait until your exchange is unbundled and go for it.

z0mbi3 · 19 Jun 2008 at 10:57

Freakitchen said:
Thanks for the replies, guys.

Seems I was a bit premature with the £7.50 thing, I put my phone number in and it's giving me a price of £17.50 instead...seems my local exchange hasn't been 'unbundled'. Any ideas if the service is the same regardless of this?

Even at this price, it's significantly cheaper than ADSL24 @ £30, so I'll probably still go for it unless there's something I'm missing with this higher price point. RJC, mind if I ask how you got the extra discount? Wondered if they might be able to drop the price further even on my exchange.

If you send me an e-mail (see my trust info) with your name , address, BT land line and mobile number you can get it for ~£10. I work for O2 and we have a friends & family scheme going on at the moment.

FrenchTart · 19 Jun 2008 at 10:59

Don't bother getting it if it's not their LLU.

Freakitchen · 19 Jun 2008 at 11:02

z0mbi3 said:
If you send me an e-mail (see my trust info) with your name , address, BT land line and mobile number you can get it for ~£10. I work for O2 and we have a friends & family scheme going on at the moment.

That sounds great, cheers, I'll get that email to you soon. Local exchange isn't unbundled, but for this money I'm tempted to give o2 a try anyway. I'm moving from a connection that struggles to sync at 800kbps - anything close to 8mbps will be like lightning for me.

Nymins · 19 Jun 2008 at 11:02

z0mbi3 said:
If you send me an e-mail (see my trust info) with your name , address, BT land line and mobile number you can get it for ~£10. I work for O2 and we have a friends & family scheme going on at the moment.

Does this happen to work for their LLU service? Getting it on the 30th of this month and was just wondering

z0mbi3 · 19 Jun 2008 at 11:37

Yes, top LLU bundle you can get in your area for £7.50. It won't work if you're already signed up though as far as I know.

z0mbi3 · 19 Jun 2008 at 11:45

Freakitchen said:
That sounds great, cheers, I'll get that email to you soon. Local exchange isn't unbundled, but for this money I'm tempted to give o2 a try anyway. I'm moving from a connection that struggles to sync at 800kbps - anything close to 8mbps will be like lightning for me.

Done. You should get an e-mail from O2 shortly inviting you to give them a call

Nymins · 19 Jun 2008 at 11:51

z0mbi3 said:
Yes, top LLU bundle you can get in your area for £7.50. It won't work if you're already signed up though as far as I know.

K cool i sent you an email. My email address has 'nymins' in it so you should know its me.

Cheers

z0mbi3 · 19 Jun 2008 at 12:01

Nymins said:
K cool i sent you an email. My email address has 'nymins' in it so you should know its me.

Cheers

Ok I have your mail. What I've done is created myself a reminder for the 30th to register you for the discount then. Assuming your exchange goes live on the 30th and the availability checker agrees, then it'll all be fine. Only reason I won't do it now is I don't want to confuse / complicate things as you can only get 8 meg in your area at the moment.

That ok?

Nymins · 19 Jun 2008 at 12:07

z0mbi3 said:
Ok I have your mail. What I've done is created myself a reminder for the 30th to register you for the discount then. Assuming your exchange goes live on the 30th and the availability checker agrees, then it'll all be fine. Only reason I won't do it now is I don't want to confuse / complicate things as you can only get 8 meg in your area at the moment.

That ok?

Sure no problem. I can't register with them myself till the 30th anyway, just hoping the exchange does go live and it doesn't get cancelled or postponed.

z0mbi3 · 19 Jun 2008 at 12:37

Nymins said:
Sure no problem. I can't register with them myself till the 30th anyway, just hoping the exchange does go live and it doesn't get cancelled or postponed.

I think if the date was going to change it would have done so already. So you should be fine

. Once I register you at my end you'll get an e-mail telling you what to do. I'll make sure I drop you a mail after I've registered you just for your peace of mind.