TalkTalk

[Maiden Stone]

I have BT Basic. My account has been continuously in credit lately so my payments have been stopped until further notice.

[Selina]

Hi tofgem - I am in a very similar situation to you.  Tesco was my ISP and BT is my landline.  Tesco broadband was bought by TalkTalk last year.  I decided to stay with TalkTalk and see how things went.

I was long out of contract with Tesco and no new long term contract was entered into with TalkTalk and so far I have no complaints apart from the recent price rise.  I phoned them and was told they could do nothing for me in the way of a reduction but that I was free to leave.

As far as I understood the email regarding the price increase the 18 month contract would only apply to me if I took the slightly higher fixed price option, which obviously I didn't!

I know I am paying quite a lot for just the provision of broadband but as you know there is not a great deal of choice, I don't want to go to BT so I will stay where I am unless and until I have reason to be dissatisfield.

I was able to keep my old tesco email address but I have others such as Gmail and am gradually swopping contacts over to them.

Pleased you are settled for the moment anyway and have time to make a decision on what to do.

Best wishes,
Selina

[LizzieW]

Here's another vote for PlusNet.  We've been with them for over 2 years now, they are very good and if you have a problem you just ring them up, they are in Yorkshire, and get instant help.  We have broadband and landline with them, which is cheaper than broadband only and BT for the landline.  As they are an independent company within BT, I'm sure you would still be able to use BT1571 as your answerphone.

[LizzieW]

According to the media both Talktalk and Post Office have been hit with a cyber attack and the internet is down. The attack works by exploiting a weakness in customer routers with malicious viruses able to get through unsecured ports.  Due to the attack, the routers were unable to provide connections to their customers.

All the more reason to leave TalkTalk I would think.

[km1971]

Being anti BT because of the unregulated price rises for line rental, I have finally got rid of my landline. I am now using MiFi (private WiFi). I have two - £15 a month for 15 Gb from Three and £25 a month for 50Gb a month from Vodafone. I will drop Three when the contract expires.

Personally I would go for Vodafone's MiFi and 2Gb for £11 a month. It is a lot easier to watch your usage on Vodafone than other providers. You can start with a Pay As You Go or30 day contract before switching to a two year commitment.

If you use a tablet or laptop for the internet you will not need anything else. For a desktop you need a USB network adaptor for about £12 from PC World.

Your mobile has a built in answerphone, and you can add whatever you use on landline calls to your mobile budget. It would be best to only allow software updates at the start of the month, especially with a tablet. Or take it around to a friend with a big quota.

Ken

[KGarrad]

I've been using a MyFi PAYG for a few years now.

Deals on the Isle of Man are obviously not as good as in the UK - I pay £20 for a 30-day, 20 GB deal.