I am often asked for my opinions on the different broadband suppliers available and every time I am forced to say that by far the best broadband product that I have ever come across would have to be the one provided by Telewest. Unfortunately it doesn´t get a great deal of publicity by any of the major magazines or papers as it isn´t available for everybody; only those in a Telewest area. This of course means that there will be a number of people reading now who will not be able to receive the service that I´m about to talk about but those that can should continue reading.
I have discussed the `Blueyonder´ broadband package by the telephone company Telewest in the past but due to numerous improvements in their pricing structure I thought it was time for me to talk about them again. Three weeks ago I was surprised to receive a letter from Telewest stating that they had just upgraded my line from 512kbps to 750kbps for free. Just to give you some kind of indication as to how fast this is, I can now download a 4 minute song from the Internet in less than 60 seconds - Something that would take probably best part of 20 minutes using standard dial up.
In addition to the 750k package, Telewest now offer the choice of 256k, 1.5Mb and 3Mb speeds with the prices varying accordingly. Most suited to the majority of light home users would be the 256k service which starts at £12.99 a month if you take out a Talk Unlimited phone package, £17.99 if you take out a different phone package and £19.99 a month if you´re not a Telewest phone customer at all and just want the broadband. The 750k a month package is £25 a month with a Telewest talk plan and £27.99 by itself, the 1.5mg is at £35 with Telewest, £37.99 without and the 3mg at £50 with or £52.99 without.
In all reality the lowest two speeds should be the only ones you should consider looking at; I´ve yet to meet any individual who genuinely needs a 1.5mg or 3mg connection to the Internet; I´ve met plenty of spotty teenagers who think they lead such hectic lives that they do need these speeds but that is besides the point.
I personally have the Talk Unlimited package for £26 a month which allows me to call anyone I want free of charge at any time of the day or night (except mobile users and non-geographic numbers such as 0845 and 0870 numbers) and I then pay a further £25 a month for my 750k broadband. This means that my bills are usually around the £50 mark which allows me to speak to whoever I want and go on the Internet whenever I want free of charge. Of course, you could go for the basic talk package at £10 a month and then get the 256k broadband for £17.99 a month which would give you your phone line rental and broadband connection in one package for £27.99 a month plus your calls.
Please don´t think that I get any kind of a kickback from Telewest by plugging them so hard but I do like the service that they are offering more than the majority of BT based counterparts and I think it´s about time we changed the perception amongst the people of Torbay that Broadband is expensive. In many instances people on slow, unlimited dial up connections can actually save money by making the switch to Broadband whether it´s with Telewest or an alternative provider.
Computer Articles 2007
