one month broadband contracts

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so, i'm about to move house (hopefully in 10 days), and it's time i got broadband. however it looks like we're only going to be signing a six month lease, so i'd like to go with one of these month-at-a-time deals that virgin are advertising on the tube at the moment, which looks quite good value at no activation charge, 25 quid for a modem and 25 quid a month after that. zen also seem to do one, and ed's praised them here, i think. anyone got any experience of these or others?

also, how easy is setting up broadband on a (windows 98) pc? i'm not an idiot with computers but i'm not that knowledgeable either; should i go with virgin who will presumably make it all v easy or is it easy enough to go with someone else?

― toby (tsg20), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:24 (twenty-one years ago)

zen or bulldog both do month by month contracts. set up is a doddle. You'll have to buy a router but they are about £40 from Dabs. Check out ADSLGuide for infos.

― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:28 (twenty-one years ago)

I can walk you through the setup if you get a dabs router.

― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:29 (twenty-one years ago)

well i am aghast that they won't allow me my own connection because someone in my house already has one so now i am having to figure out how to set up a network and buy a broadband router and crap i don't really have time for. bah

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:30 (twenty-one years ago)

it will take you 5 minutes, steve.

― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:30 (twenty-one years ago)

i hope so. the guides i've found keep confusing me by suggesting i need a 'spare' network card (in addition to the one i already have? wha?). the hardest part may yet be wrapping length of cable around my room and up the stairs to the other person's computer - god knows where the router and modem will go...

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

No you need a £40 router. You can go with the two NIC solution but housemate will have to have their computer on all time (noisy) vs a router(silent)

― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:33 (twenty-one years ago)

oh no, router all the way - i will be using it far more than them anyway, and wish to upgrade to 1meg line to counter transfer rate drop thru sharing (i assume this happens?)

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:35 (twenty-one years ago)

a bit, its not too bad though (having shared with gareth) Bulldog have £19.99 1gig lines at the moment though (its 1gig only at evening and weekends but I don't see that as a problem really).

― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:37 (twenty-one years ago)

You don't need two NICs, just use a crossover cable!

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:39 (twenty-one years ago)

you need two NICs if you have a one port ethernet router and two computers.

― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:40 (twenty-one years ago)

even then a switch is better.

― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:41 (twenty-one years ago)

stevem, is it the same service provider as the existing person in the house?

toby, even if you are only in the house for 6 months, you will presumably be moving to another place in london, and will continue with broadband? if so, they should just do a move and transfer. even if not, tell them you would like to transfer to, say, lindisfarne island, where there is no broadband. i got telewest to cancel my contract because they were unable to provide broadband to that location. it is a good way of getting out of a contract, because, ostensibly, they are unable to provide the service, so agree to termination, if you so wish

― charltonlido (gareth), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:41 (twenty-one years ago)

wait wait - two NICs per computer or 1 NIC for each computer? this is confusing me today. i intend to buy a router with at least two ports.

(thanks for all help and clarification btw)

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:42 (twenty-one years ago)

charlton - same ISP/ICP yes

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Whatever happens you can't have two connections on the same line, but if there is Cable and ordinary phone then you can have cable broadband and ADSL, but why bother when you can share a connection for less.

― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:43 (twenty-one years ago)

if there is Cable and ordinary phone then you can have cable broadband and ADSL

how Ed?

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:45 (twenty-one years ago)

is there an ADSL provider who would supply a line via the phone when there is already a 'rival' cable company's internet service running from another line? i didn't think BT and their clients allowed that?

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:47 (twenty-one years ago)

They are separate lines. One you get from BT and put ADSL over the top of, one you get from telewest. Wast of money though.

― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:48 (twenty-one years ago)

i didn't think blueyonder allowed that, as in, you had to have a blueyonder phone line originally (which BT would also refuse to supply ADSL on because it's not their line)...was that ever the case? i wouldn't do this anyway

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:51 (twenty-one years ago)

is this true?? i thought the idea was that isps got charged a certain amount by bt to activate a line, and they passed this charge on to the consumer via 12 month contracts, so they weren't keen on people breaking them?

― toby (tsg20), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

they're not. my contract stated i had to stay the full 12 months. nonetheless, i had no trouble breaking the contract after 7, when i didnt have anywhere to live last year. i didnt even know you could do that, and was going to transfer my account back to my parents. but telewest were not covering that area at the time, so they couldnt do it, and said they would cancel the contract instead.

if yuo dont want to transfer the account you will have to lie and say you are moving where there is no service provided by them

― charltonlido (gareth), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 21:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I poop too much.

― Labia, Tuesday, 18 November 2003 21:12 (twenty-one years ago)

so all i have to do to share the internet connection in my house is buy a router with at least 3 ethernet ports, connect this to the cable modem (with the modem being the last link in the chain connecting to the phone line) and connect both PCs to the router via NIC outputs using appropriate cables and connections?

will Windows then auto-detect slight alteration in way connection is managed or will it not even register? any software re-configuration to do at all? (apart from submitting my NIC number to blueyonder's database)?

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 20 November 2003 16:19 (twenty-one years ago)

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