Pipex Broadband?

ADSL on a Mac consensus seems to be get a router as it'll just work, the USB modems, even the supported ones are meant to be a bit of a nightmare.

Pipex seem well regarded, just to throw a couple more names into the equation look at Zen (I use them, they rock) and Metronet, both highly regarded.

cheers,
Paul

They only state ADSL modem, so I assume this will be some hideous USB number.

I think I will invest in a router as my father in law got one for his mac and said he just plugged it in.

Will check out Zen now. Cheers

I'm using Pipex, great uptime. As suggested, for any adsl isp, do yourself a favour a get a router - then anyone can plug in. Mine's been sullied by a powerbook with no problems.

Thanks John.

I am using my step fathers mac with a D-link router which he says has never failed so I have just purchased a two port one from the dreaded dabs for 40 quid.

If you can use Pipex then I can use pipex, but now I have been looking at Zen!

It will probably come down to the cheapest set up.

One thing is for certain in comparison the BT packages look very poor value for money, what A shame I will have to pay the buggers 12 quid a month for the privilege of broadband.

I have never used a home phone line for making calls so I have no other use for BT, ah well.

Bear in mind that Pipex is a 12 month contract, if you want to leave early you'd need to pay back the connection fee that is waived when you sign up.

I don't think you'd have any problems with Pipex, just if you use a lot of bandwidth or download a lot of stuff from usenet Zen may be a better bet.

Best I can suggest is head over to ADSLguide and have a look at the ISP specific forums.

cheers,
Paul

I've just signed up with these guys http://www.metronet.co.uk/ got their pro-rata 2meg and I totally recommend them. I called their helpline for assistance it turned out to be a BT problem they booked a BT engineer for me them called back the evening of the BT repair to check if all was now well.

J8hn, on their website it basically says that I can have a 1meg service unlimited for 22 quid a month is this correct?

If so thanks Paul because I am over this like a case of slapping rash.

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Originally posted by garyi:
J8hn, on their website it basically says that I can have a 1meg service unlimited for 22 quid a month is this correct?

If so thanks Paul because I am over this like a case of slapping rash.

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Bear in mind that's ex-vat, but yes, £26 unlimited (as unlimited can ever be these days ).

Paul

Thanks I have gone with metronet. But gutted they wanted a further 7.50 for a mialbox, so I will stick with yahoo, its been fine thus far.

Big move saturday. Can't wait.

i'm with pipex. i don't have anyone to compare them to, but their customer service is not great - always busy, long wait times and not that helpful if i do get through.

on the plus side, the connection is always fast.

Good luck with the move, Garyi.

Cheers,

JR

Garyi, i'm an ex Pipex subscriber;nowt wrong with their service but they have fallen away in their package deals. i was on 512kb and wanted to go 1mb but Pipex wanted nearly £40 so i shopped around and found my present isp XIFOS.net £26 per month (monthly contract) and no download limit to boot!.
they (XIFOS) are a very new company but i've been thru' most of the early teething troubles now and would recommend them.

dennis

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Originally posted by garyi:
Hi guys I am looking for broadband in the new abode and this company seems very reasonable.

Anyone using them.

Also they say that it works with OSX but excluding 10.2 and 10.3, now that reasonably means they only support the first generation from 4 years ago.

MOst websites say they don't support Apple but most have done in the past, any one using pipex with Apple?

Cheers

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I've been with Pipex since 1997, and I think they're great.

There is an unofficial support site at www.pipexsupport.com. Very useful.

I don't understand the Mac OS thing. Try posting a query about it at http://www.pipexsupport.org.uk/bbs/viewforum.php?f=9 .

BT will shortly be regrading all connections (say 512kbps) to the fastest that the line will support. This is because the costs are in the number of MB downloaded, not the line speed. However, I don't know how that would affect Pipex, who seem to attract power users, among others.

Also, I'm sure that

quote:

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Originally posted by Paul Hutchings:
Bear in mind that Pipex is a 12 month contract, if you want to leave early you'd need to pay back the connection fee that is waived when you sign up.

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Paul,

yeah, but if you sign up with BT, you are committed to paying 12 months of subsription, not just the connection fee.

That could be over £300!

cheers, Martin

Gary;

Nildram, Nildram, Nildram.

Absolutely streets ahead. Great UK support, nice people, very cheap. If you want a metered service it starts from about 16 quid including 1GB of transfer every month. Every additional 2GB costs another 1.75, and the fee is capped at about 26 quid for that month if your data reaches that. You can also do time-based metering, which is probably a really bad idea; the whole point about broadband is that it's permanently "up". Unmetered 512k is about 23 quid monthly. They have a very fast internet feed, which makes your service very responsive. Overall, the best deal I've yet found for home use.

Metronet are quite wierd. There is quite a lot of politics and no love lost between them and BT, and they are always having problems which BT end up fixing. Their service always seems to include a fixed IP address, and although this in itself should not cause problems, in practice it seems to, particularly with D-Link routers. I can't explain this, only report it.

D-Link routers are fine, until something upsets them and they need a firmware update. Some D-Link routers require a separate utility to update their firmware, and this only runs under Windows, which is inexcusable. Their routers' in-built web interface (used for config.) is confusing and over-flashy -- hard to see what the thing is doing if you need to. The best routers on the planet (for this context) are Draytek -- they aren't expensive, and you can get them from SEG Communications (google them up). Never had one fail to connect, or give any trouble at all. Note that apart from the ADSL logon & password, and possibly DNS addresses, all config. details for all UK ADSL accounts will be pretty much identical (unless you're with Metronet in which case all bets are off, and you can bet the support line has the answerphone on).

Finally, if an ISP says their service "doesn't work" with any version of the MacOS, usually they just mean either that their support department hasn't a clue, or that their vile but free USB modems don't have a stable MacOS driver. With a router, it is AFAICT impossible to offer a broadband account which won't work with a Mac. IP is IP, end of story. Pipex, by the way, now own Nildram, and with their own Pipex-branded accounts, have never been known to answer a support call within 15 minutes (IME). They're OK, but not outstanding.

Best;

Mark

Cheers Mark.

5 days too late LOL.

I have a D-Link router now and I have already paid metronet. However they only have a 3 month contract so I can bail after that if needs be.

One other thing to report I ordered the d-link on the dreaded dabs 9.45 Wednesday evening and it arrived before 12 on Thursdays, so on this occasion very impressive

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O
the dreaded dabs

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Had some bad experiences? I've always found them to be quite good - although their prices seem to be creeping up.

Been a Pipex ADSL customer twice - with a year's gap inbetween (when I moved, awaiting ADSL to become available in my new home). Basically, no problems with Pipex but support is lousy and they're expensive.

I've moved to PlusNet, a 2Mb package which costs me £20/month all-in (though the bandwidth per month is limited to 2Gb, which suits me fine). The support from PlusNet is a quantum leap ahead of Pipex, and the product is far more competitively priced and I'm a much happier customer.

Good luck whichever way you turn...

John