Broadband pricingMonthly Inc VAT. See VAT Exc.
| Up to: | 8Mb/s | 8Mb/s | 24Mb/s* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tariff | Std | Prem | ADSL2+ |
| A | £18.99 | £31.00 | £17.95 |
| C | £26.99 | £39.00 | £26.95 |
| D | £34.99 | £47.00 | £32.95 |
| E | £46.99 | £59.00 | £38.95 |
Setup £59.99 Full tariff list The package Max *ADSL2+ trial Extra charges
Availability
To check availability you can enter your full UK postcode, or the number of a line.
We are committed to providing you with a quality broadband internet service that works when you need it. However, when you simply visit a web site on your computer there are in fact a vast number of computers, network devices and communications links involved in making that work. Whilst you may pay us for an internet service there are in fact many different parties responsible for different parts of making your internet connection work. Here we try and explain some of the issues and how we go about finding and fixing problems when they happen.
Obviously there is some equipment and wiring in your premises. Your computer; wireless access point if you have one; network cables; broadband router; telephone wiring; and so on. This is your responsibility not ours. Having said that we do sell equipment such as routers which have a 12 month warranty, and we also provide routers free with the broadband service which we take responsibility for on an on-going basis.
If you think there is a fault we will expect you to carry out some basic tests within your own premises to confirm that things are working. However, we do have constant monitoring of all broadband lines so we are able to quickly tell if the fault is likely to be in your premises or not in most cases.
If nobody is available to check things, including plugging equipment directly into the BT master socket, or try replacement routers, etc, then this can delay any fault repair.
We make use of BT lines, and the line from BT has a defined termination point. This is the dividing point between BT's wiring and responsibility and yours. The NTE, also known as the master socket, is that termination point. Normally it is a rectangular white box with a separate face plate screwed on to the bottom half on the front. This can be removed and it reveals a telephone socket behind it. That socket, also known as the test socket, is the termination point. Removing the face plate also means any extension wiring is unplugged from the line as it connects to the back of the face plate itself.
We define our service in the same way as BT. If a router plugged into that test socket works the we are providing the service. If it does not work on a different socket then you have a wiring issue you need to resolve. We can, of course, offer some advice on how you do that.
As we use BT lines, there is a part of the service that relies on BT. This is in two parts in fact - one is the telephone side and one is the broadband side. For the broadband to work you have to have a working telephone service. If you have a fault we will ask you to connect a normal telephone to the line and confirm it is working. If it is not then you have to contact the telephone provider (usually BT) to get that fixed before we can do anything about a broadband fault. Fixing the telephone line normally means the broadband is fixed anyway. We do provide telephone lines (which are BT lines) as well, and if that is the case you have a single point of contact for telephone and broadband issues. Even so, we have to resolve any telephone line issue first.
BT have lines, and various networking equipment (called things like DSLAM, and BRAS), which we make use of. We pay BT to provide the service to us so that we can provide a broadband internet service to you. You pay us. Having said that we have to work around what BT will do for us in providing and fixing the service. This can occasionally be frustrating, but we will do whatever is necessary to get BT to do their bit.
Most faults are either in your premises or in the BT network.
BT connect to us in a data centre and we then provide a connection to the internet. We have equipment which has to be working in order for your internet connection to work. We also have some sophisticated constant monitoring to ensure we can identify any problems quickly. We have links to other internet providers that allow for the internet connection to work.
What we do not have, and no ISP has, is a connection directly under our control to every other computer in the world. This means that things can break over which we have no control. A good example might be some web server you want to access in, say, Australia. If someone pulls the power on that server and it is not working, there is nothing we can do about that. Fortunately there are normally people paying for the other end of any communications, such as a web server, and who will get such things fixed quickly. Where we can, we will try and contact people who are responsible for any broken part of the internet that you report to us. In most cases the contact details are available for you to make complaints directly if you wish.
Most faults are on the BT line or customer equipment. We can usually eliminate customer equipment faults quickly. However, sometimes we get a fault where the BT line is faulty and BT do not believe it (based on their test systems).
A situation like this, where BT are not convinced there is a fault, and we are, is tricky. What BT have chosen to offer us in that case is an engineer visit at our expense. They will, if they find a fault, not charge us. However, this visit is not cheap! It is . The big problem comes with intermittent faults where an engineer may visit, connect a router and wait 10 minutes with all working fine, and leave with no fault found and a charge.
If we are charged for an engineer visit, we pass that charge on to you at cost. We will always ask you first before arranging one of these visits.
However, we are working on a way to avoid charges for us (and hence you) by proving to BT that the fault is in their network. If we can do this then they can arrange an engineer rather than us arranging one, and so avoid the risk of a charge. To do this we use a test router...
The test router is a normal router that we have purchased from BT plc and programmed with a test login. The router is fixed to an NTE face plate and has no ethernet or USB connection. We will send this to you and you plug it in over night (or during the day) as convenient for several hours. We will automatically log details of the line characteristics from the router every 10 minutes and run constant bit error rate tests on the link. While connected you cannot use the internet but the package does include a basic telephone handset for emergencies.
The principle is that we have eliminated all of the equipment; wiring; splitters; plugs; etc from the equation and replaced them with a known working test router. We can then say to BT that there must be a fault in their network if this shows problems.
This does mean that some types of fault, where BT insist there is no problem, can take slightly longer as we need to send you this test router. However, it does mean we can avoid excessive engineer charges. If you would rather risk an engineer visit charge we can arrange one instead, but it is your risk if we do that.
As for the router, our policy is that we will charge for postage if the router shows there is no problem. If the router confirms the problem, then there is no charge.
Of course, if the test router works, but your router does not, we are happy to sell you a new router.
And just to be sure, before and after each use, we soak test the test routers at our offices.
We send information sheet with the test router that cover setup, preparing for a BT engineer visit and your opinions of the engineer visit. These are PDFs which you are welcome to print.
