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On Sat, 27 Jun 2009, kevin wrote:
Hi All Does any one Know if the Orange (or any other of the USB Dongles) would be a reasonable bet to replace my expensive (I feel) BT Business Broadband. In Minions we get 1/2 speed Duplex on the Phone line which is 500 k and 250 k respectively. Marginally faster than a good Modem. For this I get charged £103 per Qtr. I also have to pay the (Business) rent on the BT Line which is around £45 per qtr. As I have another Line in, which the PO pays for I don't need the BT Line really. So looking at Orange they suggest Minions Has %80 2g Coverage (whatever that is) and no 3G or 3G+ Would I be wise trying it? I also have not seen anywhere on the Orange site any mention of Linux at all.
2G is GPRS - 56Kbps at best. Avoid at all cost IMO.However, you're paying over the odds for your phone line and broadband - the issue is that BT "have you over a barrel". They probably won't let you drop to a residential tarrif as they'll claim you're a business...
Changing the line from business to residential might be hard, but the best price there wil lbe about £12.50 a month, or £37.50 a quarter.
Broadband wise - check your contract - If it's a BT business one it might well be a one year contract, then once you're happy you'll not be breaking the terms of the contract, ask for a MAC.
Asking for a MAC puts you (or them) under no obligation whatsoever. They must give you one in a resonable time though.
Once you have it, you have 30 days to select a new ISP.So for £103 a quarter, or £35 a month, you can get a stupidly good deal with other ISPs.
Remember - just because it's a BT copper line, you're not restricted to using BT as an ISP - you have a choice of over 100 ISPs who use the BT Wholesale network. (BT Retail, who you're dealing with is just one of those 100+ customers of BT Wholesale)
Speed wise - you're unlikely to get an improvement there, but without a line check, it's hard to know - going by those speeds, it sounds like you're 5+ miles from the exchange and on a fixed speed service.
I'd suggest Entanet, but I know there are people on hte list who've had issues (I'm a reseller), but look at Zen, AAISP, and maybe even Plusnet...
Gordon
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