Mac Friendly UK ISP?

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Hi folks - recent PC switcher also looking to switch ISP (I am with Wanadoo (now Orange) and am fed up of service problems (and a helpline that has no interest in helping out if you have your own 3rd party Wireless modem router or don't use a PC.)

2 questions -

1 anyone recommend a UK Mac friendly ISP which is good value but more importantly has good service?

2 What do you need to do to switch? - been with freeserve/wanadoo/orange since the start of UK BB

Cheers

Tim
 
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I'm with Tiscali 8mb bb and its fine imo - no free laptop offer like there is with the orange bb contracts though :'(

oh and to switch u will need to phone up orange and say your switching suppliers and would like your code to do so, they will give you the code and you have to give this to your new supplier when you sign up

Sorry if I haven’t explained this very well but ive just got back from the pub so can hardly see never mind type :D
 
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I have been with BT for years. It always works (just like a Mac....).
 
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I've heard nothing but bad things from people since the Orange re-brand.

I'm with PlusNet at the moment and we've not had any trouble (except when BT said their was a problem with the phone line, so PlusNet had to cut the connection, and wouldn't turn it back on until they got the go ahead from BT... which took some pandering. I blame BT for that though.)

It's not the cheapest, and if something does go wrong I don't know how I'd get in touch with them (all their support stuff is web based); but their usage limits are the most generous I've found (even "Unlimited" packages have a "fair use" clause so they can cut your connection long before you've reached what I'm allowed on PlusNet (and I've used 130GB bandwidth in a month on more than one occasion; most other ISPs top out at 40GB - 80GB). They also include some VoIP features with your package (handy for people ringing me because they give you a local rate number; much cheaper than calling my mobile). Also, there's no long term contract, you just need to give a months notice (and pay a £70 connection charge that they defer until you switch providers, but I had to pay more than that to Tesco to end my contract early so it's not so bad).

If you don't need those features, then I've heard good things about BT :)
 
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I'm with Metronet (Plusnet), and I haven't had a moments trouble with them. I don't know what "Mac friendly" means, so I can't comment on that.
 
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im with demon and they have dedicated mac support.
 
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Thanks for the replies - for Mac friendly I meant dedicated Mac support.

I have just been reading MacWorld and noticed the top voted supplier was Zen?

Demon and Plusnet were two of the runners up.

I see I need to get a MAC number from Orange so I'll get on with it - cheers

Tim
 
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15" Macbook Pro, 2.16GHZ C2D,120 GB HDD 3GB Ram
i have macbook pro and i have Virgin broadband. using a netgear router.

they dont know i have a mac and ive never had any problems with it im moving house soon so someone is going to have a come out and set it up in the new house.
well a engineer is going to have a come out and tell virgin the address and stuff unless i can ring them myself and tell them etc. i hope so anyways.

as far as i know virgin dont have dedicated mac support but i dont see why thats a problem my mac works flawlessly with my modem even when ive directly pulgged into it. just use ethernet.
 
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virgin

i've four macs on airport express and virgin media (formerly ntl)
as my isp.

they do have mac specialists if you ever need techy support you will
get a mac specialist, further up the help ladder.

but to be honest you probably won't ever need that level, as the broadband service they provide, is first class.:Evil:
 
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i agree with brendan virgin media's service has been great been with them for about 2 years since the good ole' days of telewest and blueyonder.
 
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You must take a look at Zen. One of the top rated sites for customer service, performance, and reliability in the latest Which? report and it has dedicated Mac support. I've already asked AOL for my MAC (sic!) code and will be switching to Zen shortly.
 
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I'm with BT, and there pretty good. Very reliable, stable and their service never goes down.

I've heard a lot around my area that virgin media goes down, like every few months for a day or so. But then again that could be a good thing because they may be upgrading or making customers speeds faster etc.
 

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AAISP are very good, albeit a little pricey, but the support they offer is out of this world.
 
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what is the max speed the new macbook pro's can pick up with the new wireless "n" standad? im moving house in a few days and want to get the best speed. possible.
 
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what is the max speed the new macbook pro's can pick up with the new wireless "n" standad? im moving house in a few days and want to get the best speed. possible.

ADSL hardware is rated up to 8Mbps; and your wireless connection (even with "G", let alone "N") will be much faster than that.

ADSL2 is rated up to either 24Mbps or 48Mbps (I forget which), but ISPs which offer those speeds are rare and are limited by your location (and pricey). Even if you find one in your area, your MacBook Pro will be able to handle it no problem. So really you're only limited by your ISP and your modem/router hardware.... just get the fastest you can.
 
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ADSL hardware is rated up to 8Mbps; and your wireless connection (even with "G", let alone "N") will be much faster than that.

ADSL2 is rated up to either 24Mbps or 48Mbps (I forget which), but ISPs which offer those speeds are rare and are limited by your location (and pricey). Even if you find one in your area, your MacBook Pro will be able to handle it no problem. So really you're only limited by your ISP and your modem/router hardware.... just get the fastest you can.

thats great exactly what i wanted to know. so if i had a apple airport base and 10meg broadband would i get 10meg on my mbp. or just less then that about 8 or so?? atm i have 4meg on a netgear 108 mbps G router and my macbook pro i have N enabled. and im getting about 1.2 meg ish
 
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Hello,

Another ISP to consider is Firefly. I have been with them for just over a year now(since moving from AOL-thank god) and they have been faultless and very fast indeed. Sure, they are not the cheapest, but with most things you get what you pay for!!! Check out some reviews on the site ISP review and you'll see that them amongst others have some great reviews.

As for Mac support- Sadly they don't have any as I found out, however you shouldn't really need any with them as setting up your Mac to work with them is straightforward....(user name/password and your done)I didn't have a clue as to what I was doing but still managed it considering that I'd just recently switched over to a Mac is not bad considering.


Michael.
 
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I checked out Zen, their forums seemed to be awash with bad reports although I emailed their support with a few questions and received a polite, extremely informative response within a few hours. Definitely top marks on the customer support. Might consider giving them a try.
 

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