Confused....

[flossie]

Want to get broadband at home and set up a wireless network,  keep reading all the advice here but cannot work out what is the best choice of provider. 

Advice - not too complicated please - really appreciated.

Current phone BT - don't use it much

Thank you in anticipation...

[flossie]

[glow777]

most ISPs supply a free modem for one PC. Some ISPs supply a wireless router but charge more per month for the privilege. My advice would be subscribe to a normal broadband service and buy your own wifi router.

You will need a wifi adapter for every pc you wish to connect wirelessly to the network internet. Some laptops have these built in. If you have a desktop pc that is near the telephone socket that is to be used this can be connected to the router by a network cable

A cheap but adequate router with one wifi adapter can be got for £47 from
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/97523/rb/18854135695


as for isps its up to you talk talk offer free bb if you subscribe to their telephone service. tiscali charge for unlimited download at £14.99 but only 1mb/s  some such as wanadoo allow up to 8mb/s (where available) fo £17.99 but cap the download to 2Gb a month. - it really depends on what you intend to do with your connection.

HTH Glow

[flossie]

Thanks Glow

will get myself a wifi router as suggested

when you say "but only 1mb" - is this a real nuisance?

Thanks for your help

[glow777]

Depends on contention ratio (sorry techie bit)

it will all seem very fast compared to dial up

1mb compared to 2,4 or 8

It depends on what you are using it for - unless you are going to be downloading movies I would say no. You won't notice a difference on web pages, email and small files but may on big downloads or if you are sharing with other computers who are constantly using the internet (streaming media files etc)

BTW don't be taken in by the 4 and 8mb promisses these are only available in certain parts of the country.

Who do you have in mind as an ISP

[flossie]

not really sure - quite confused by all the different comparisons on a website I found...tiscali? BT?

read all the stuff on this forum and got even more confused

any recommendations?   ( I don't use the phone much, don't watch TV much but would want to download documents and music?

thanks for your help

[glow777]

who is your current dial up ISP flossie. If you go BB with them you dont have the hassle of having to change your email address etc.

Failing that for what you want any will do everybody will have a horror story about each ISP.

I use wanadoo but they are dearer and have a capped limit however they have never let me down and I need a reliable connection as I am completing a degree online and daily access is required. I also need to access servers as I work a lot from home.

[flossie]

Currently with BT
Thanks for your help glow