Morning All

Having just moved house i have lost access to VirginMedia cable services meaning no Virgin Phoneline, no digital TV and no fantastic Broadband.:thumbdwn:

BT are in the process of activating the new phoneline so that 1 down.

I've also managed to blag a free Freeview box so the TV is also sorted.

However broadband is proving a stickier subject.

For ease i was planning on going with BT but have heard their settings can e problems with playing xbox online; so i've looked at Sky's options and O2 broadband but am really none the wiser!

Only requirement i have is that is runs faultlessly with my Xbox, however SWMBO will want wireless for her laptop so a free router would be a bonus.

Can anyone recomend a provider - preferably fast and reliable and giving away free equipment and free activation!

Thanks in advance

Cliff

i get virgin broad band 8meg 10pound per month free router etc! never had a problem with itand im not in a cable area ive got my tv with sky and phone rental with sky (bt only area no cable!)

If you want the digital tv as well, look at sky as they do a deal if you go for both. The same with Orange if you have a mobile phone with them on a tariff of more than £45 a month.

Talktalk do phone and broadbound deals, and as you said O2 probably do deals if you are a O2 phone customer.

It's a congested market, but there are good deals to be had if you need another product like a mobile or sattelite (or even the BT vision)

I'm with orange max. £25 per month for 8Mb, free calls, another phone line for VOIP, line rental, and its faultless with xbox live.

Technical POV: Xbox live doesn't require that good a connection. Important things when using xbox live are:

Latency times (you want ping responses back in under 160ms in an ideal world, of course under 100 is better and under 50 is even better than that!)

Packet loss - ideally should be below 1%

On my current internet connection we have a line fault and consequently I suffer from 6% packet loss. I also have a 260ms ping response time. This means

1) I get kicked from xbox live parties very frequently due to loss of connectivity

2) I suffer from lag in pretty much any shooting game

3) When I end up as the host in a multiplayer game, everyone gets really annoyed

I can say though that when my ping response time was around 130ms and I had 1% or so packet loss, xbox live worked perfectly - you DON'T need a very fast connection, just a reliable one.

Orange Broadband is actually available from free with any monthly contract at the moment. You have to sign up to them looking after your home phone bill too though. Depending on the deal you take up you get different call packages and the top Home Max package includes the home line rental too for £15 on top of you mobile contract. (£25 a month without a mobile contract)

You even get a free wireless router with the basic package. According to the setup information its free unless you need help with the computer/router bit: 'Setting up Orange Broadband is simple. Just pop in the CD and follow the steps. If you'd like some help anyway, call 0844 493 4045 and we'll send someone round. It costs £69.99.'

I still have free Orange broadband from when it was 2 Meg with a contract over £30. Still is only 2 Meg but I don't have to sign up to the phone line thing. I haven't played online with the 360 yet but the Wii plays fine online.

I believe O2 do broadband deals with their contract customers too...

i get virgin broad band 8meg 10pound per month free router etc! never had a problem with itand im not in a cable area ive got my tv with sky and phone rental with sky (bt only area no cable!)

I agree Although use Virgin for phone as well.... Laptop works fine along with two 360`s...COD diehard sons

Phil

Technical POV: Xbox live doesn't require that good a connection. Important things when using xbox live are:

Latency times (you want ping responses back in under 160ms in an ideal world, of course under 100 is better and under 50 is even better than that!)

Packet loss - ideally should be below 1%

On my current internet connection we have a line fault and consequently I suffer from 6% packet loss. I also have a 260ms ping response time. This means

1) I get kicked from xbox live parties very frequently due to loss of connectivity

2) I suffer from lag in pretty much any shooting game

3) When I end up as the host in a multiplayer game, everyone gets really annoyed

I can say though that when my ping response time was around 130ms and I had 1% or so packet loss, xbox live worked perfectly - you DON'T need a very fast connection, just a reliable one.

Ok how the hell do i check any of that stuff or is it more a case of get it installed and then hope it works?!

Try and find some Sky BB users locally ( to check ot Sky)- round here it's a bit hit and miss,on as often as off so daughter tells me , but other reports swear by it .From experience of BT, anything above 2m they play with the latency changing from fast to interleaved playing havoc with you're pings .Don't game my self ,but when son was at home we shared BB and he could always tell -hook up the old voyager modem ,hey presto -interleaved ,quick threat to cancel and back to fast ,with gaming ping times .

Virgin -no experience of landline delivery (which I assume is what you're looking at ), but think they do mobile BB.

Check this out

Mobile Broadband - Fibre optic + Mobile Broadband

Edited 29 January, 200917 yr by VWD

Clifford,

For some insight into what customers think of their respective suppliers, then thinkbroadband :: The UK's largest independent Broadband / ADSL comparison & review website is a really handy site to have a surf of whilst working hard tomorrow lunchtime!!

I based my move from Tiscali (absolutely DREADFUL) to an Entanet reseller (absolutely fantastic) almost 100% on the opinions and reviews on that site.

Also Samknows Broadband - Comprehensive Broadband Information might prove helpful.

I am with UK Free Software Network and you know what my connection is like!

HTH

Once the BB is set up you could check / adjust settings using this site

PortForward.com - Free Help Setting up Your Router or Firewall

I have found it very useful in getting open NAT settings all the time,

Alan.

The router provided with Sky broadband gives me an open NAT without any fiddling necessary which I was quite happy with.

I'm with Sky BB now and it works faultlessly with Xbox live and it only costs me £5/month. I think they've got a 3months free deal on at the minute as well.

The only downside is that you have to use their equipment but since you said you wanted a free router, that probably isn't a bad thing