UK Internet access providers

Good value internet service providers

TalkTalk gives up to 8meg free broadband with its low-cost home phone packages, so not only you cut your phone bills for local, national and international calls but you also get free high-speed broadband internet.

The switch from another provider is simple, and the value offered is exceptionally good. It is probably currently the best deal, unless you are a light internet and phone user, in which case Toucan is the best (see below).

Here's the link:
TalkTalk

Toucan offers 3 services: ToucanTalk for Landline Phone calls, ToucanSurf for cheap Dial-up or Broadband Internet access, and ToucanMobile for big savings on Mobile calls, including the latest range of handsets.

Broadband expert Chris Eagle, Commercial Manager at Broadbandchoices, makes this comment: "Most consumers probably think the new TalkTalk package is the cheapest bundle on the market. But if you take things like connection charges, line rental, phone package and broadband fees into account then, over a year, Toucan still offers the light phone and broadband user the best value for money."

If you sign up online you get free calls.

Here's the link:
Toucan

Fasthosts, the largest UK web hosting company, also offers broadband access.
There are various broadband packages, all with:

• No ties, just a one month minimum contract for new connections.
• Unlimited downloads, no download limits, no time limits.
• No restrictions, unlike most broadband internet providers they let you do what you want with your broadband connection.
• Free migration, move your broadband internet to Fasthosts with no setup fees.
• Backup local-rate dialup internet access included.

Onspeed is a revolutionary new software that gives you some of the benefits of broadband at a lesser cost.
Onspeed works with any Internet connection and ISP. There are no ties, no contract, no set-up fee.
For about £2 per month (£24.99 per year), it will increase your existing Internet connection speed by up to 5 times. Web pages that normally take 13 seconds to load will load in less than 4 seconds.
Onspeed will also speed up broadband connections by up to 3 times.
The most dramatic effect is with GPRS mobile phone connections, with speed improvements averaging 300 - 600%.
Onspeed is a software download utilising a unique breakthrough, a compression technology backed by 9 patents approved. It has been given numerous awards by many of the UK's leading computer and internet magazines.
It is easy to install, up and running in 5 minutes, and simple to use. There is no hardware to configure, no engineer needed to visit, no wires, no need to alter your PC.
All you need to do is download the software from Onspeed website.
It can be used in any country in the world. You can pay in pounds, dollars or euros: about £2 / $3.67 / 3.25€ per month.
You can try it for free for 14 days.

This is the link:
Onspeed

Read other people's views & express yours on Internet Service Providers

~ "Got onto Supanet in the hope of a reasonable ISP and phone deal - my phone bill's worse than anything I ever paid with BT and I'm sick of all the network offers and other drivel I get. There's a few other things I don't like about it, so I'll be moving as soon as I find something decent. I'm still using my yahoo link rather than have to suffer the strings of garbage ads."
Anne Weight
pumaproject@yahoo.co.uk

~ "We have been with Tiscali Broadband for 12 months now and the service was appalling. Nine times out of ten could not get a connection. When complained to their customer services (which is in India) could not understand the operator nor they me. Could not cancel the contract, even though the service was most of the time zilch. Needless to say we have now cancelled our contract with them and are looking for a new ISP, so your site has come in useful."
Cathy Bridges
cathyzz1@hotmail.com

~ "Virgin Net Fine when all is going well. If you have a problem thet're awful and their customer services are absolutely appalling. They simply refuse to respond to emails and when you 'phone the customer line they deny having received them. It's a lovely closed arrangement designed to keep customers 'out of their hair'.I recommend that you NEVER allow them to access your credit card for payments. I am currently in dispute with them about misuse/fraudulent use of my credit card. Needless to say the account is going asap."
Peter Cossey
xpeter.cossey@virgin.net

~ "Don't go to virginnet! Sounds great, but as I explored it's just a leapboard for other Virgin companies."
Gail Barry
slemish@highstream.com

~ "We've been with NTL dialup for quite a few years now....but over the past few months the "service" has gone COMPLETELY DownHill. It's usual to have to make 6 attempts to get a connection...and then it can be dropped for no apparent reason. I'm convinced it's NTL and not my system as we have a totally new PC running windows XP (the old system ran windows 98) and the same thing happened with both. Their "Customer Service" is Absolutely APPALLING, getting through is a Nightmare, then the staff are Completely unhelpful, almost to the point of rudeness! (Apart from one girl - Thankyou Shagusta Khan!- You were Brilliant!). I've made approx. 6 phone calls and sent 4 emails recently (NONE of which have received a reply!)...Appalling. Stay well clear. Many thanks for this site! PS...Haa haa...says it all really, I've just clicked submit....only to find the connection has been dropped! Wish me luck!"
Charlie Fox
charlie@charliefox.co.uk

~ "NTL World offer a competitive deal on dialup but don't have the resources to meet thier commitments. I'm having frequent problems with email, the service is often down messages aren't delivered and they cannot be bothered to post on help pages when there is a problem. I'm not willing to pay for a technical help costs to report problems. I'm now looking for an alternative supplier."
Martin Buck

~ "Have used onetel's penny/minute deal for about 18 months. Lately have had trouble connecting and now they are increasing the cost to 1.5p/minute. I know this sounds cheap but a 50% increase is just too much!!"
Paul McDougall
paulj.mcdougall@virgin.net

~ "Payment methods stop me from changing ISP, since I don't use credit cards and won't use direct debit because of the sloppiness with which it is usually administered. If an ISP wants my custom the best thing they can do is offer an unmetered service that will go on my bill that can compete with my current metered option (which shouldn't be difficult really)."
Jason Evans
jason@kalavinka.freeserve.co.uk

~ "Hi I thought I'd tell you about my favorite ISP. I don't use the Internet much - mainly for email and occasional software downloads and so I didn't want to pay for a monthly service - I also travel quite a bit and so using a fixed telephone number isn't possible either. So I tried a few of the free ISPs - most are quite reasonable but I ended up with Aardvaak - not only are they fast (5 - 7kbps downloads on my 56k modem) but they are also very good at answering support emails - something which a few of the others seem to be awful at doing. Anyway, if you want to add info about a free isp for people like me who don't want to pay monthly fees then I'd recommend Aardvaak wholeheartedly. Keep up the good work Peter."
Peter Oram
peter_oram_at_work@hotmail.com

~ "Beware the BT Surftime package, priced at £7 per month, apparently this now only covers phone line costs. You need a separate ISP provider and if you select BT Yahoo! then you will be charged a further £7 per month. A total of £14 per month for evenings and weekends only! This wasn't displayed clearly when I signed up for Surftime last December but they have been charging me since then. Fortunately they have now refunded it - but they have lost a customer."
Samantha
sjg@sjg.com

~ "I found your site useful. Keep up the good work."
Olukemi Baruwa
Gokemmy@AOL.com

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