UK ISPs - Anyone got any recomendations?

[Project_B]

Alright,

So moving into my first house in my 2nd year of University and obviously im going to have to sort out the internet some how.

has anyone got any links to some reviews of uk ISPs or any personal experience?

We ideally need somthing with no download cap.

Any help appreciated.

[rubixdub]

Have a look on here
http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/

[unfold]

I've been with a few over the last couple of years, here's a brief roundup of my experiences:

SKY: joined up to their BB service shortly after it was released, spent 9 months out of the 12 month contract with broken internet due to them not getting the finger out and upgrading the exchange, was unable to get out of contract even though they were not providing what I was paying for, since then I've known a few folk who swear by their BB service, but out of spite more than anything i always tell people to avoid them.

Talk Talk: we started getting our phone service through this lot and for an easy life signed up to their BB, decent enough speeds and a good connections, but limited downloads at peak times so it took ages to get large files.

Tiscali: Current provider, excellent service, good d/l speeds, fairly good customer service. the package we're on has no limits on it and router allows port forwarding to get those pesky downloads down the internetz quicker.

Hope this helps

[Malicious]

Virgin. (Telewest)

Seriously, never had any problems with them... ever.

[mugger t]

http://www.bethere.co.uk

Or Virgin

[metalboxproducts]

Virgin. They are pretty reliable.Reliable enough for me to do a radio show without any problems. Unlimited d/l's and quick quick quick. Upto 20 mb.

[mugger t]

Virgin don't have unlimited download - if you go over a certain amount of download at peak times, they cut your speed to 1/4 of what you pay for
But you have to be downloading a fair amount for it to happen.

[pikeymobile]

http://www.bethere.co.uk

Or Virgin

This. I've been with Orange and Sky in the past, kicked off both for breaching their 'fair use policy', which essentially means that although they quote you unlimited usage, they'll cut you off if you go above around 40gb a month (for orange anyway, not sure what sky's cap was).
With bethere now because they were the only ISP to offer above 8mb in my area, so jumped on the be pro package for the faster upload speed for uh... certain activities. I've probably used in excess of 300gb down and around 150gb up for a few months in a row (had mates come round to download entire tv series and shit) and they've not said anything or throttled the connection.

[__________]

i'm with BT, very good but i think that might be cos we've been with them since broadband existed. they've upgraded our BB from the 512k we started with to 12mb now or something...for the same price...which isn't bad really.

my mate's with Virgin. they cut his BB speed to 56kbps cos he downloaded like 10GB worth of games (legally, via steam) BUT they state they've got no download limits. look at the small print, and its actually 'reasonable usage' which is a fucking cop-out if you ask me...false advertising.

if you're gonna download loadsa shit...don't go Virgin, that's my advice. we've never had beef with BT. never been cut off or had our DL speeds crippled, and we download our fair share.

[HamCrescendo]

I'm on virgin and its ridiculously slow, but apparently thats because I live miles away from an exchange? Fuck knows.

[Project_B]

Interesting responses! Thanks everyone... very handy indeed. Will look into this a bit more.

Cheers again