Changing ISP, what steps should I take?

[Seismica]

(Scroll down to get to the question, or read if you like)

Until 17th September I will be living at my Mum's. At that date i'll probably be permenantly moving out. She is in charge of the bills etc. and currently she is paying too much for a poor service.

But, our ISP is god awful. We get 0.2-0.3 Mbps download and upload speed on average, whether it's peak time or not. I'm watching my PS3 screen tell me that a 62MB update for GT5 is going to take 240 minutes. I got it to 70% and then it timed out because of my router signal strength (Can easily be fixed by using an ethernet cable). After stopping this download and then waiting 5 minutes for speedtest.net to load, this is what I get:

That's funny, because it usually thinks we're based in London. Now we're based just outside Manchester? Close, but we're in Teesside, which is in the North East. My phone has faster internet than this...

I know that our current package is the lowest package that AOL have to offer. I'm not alone in this, forums are riddled with AOL users getting the same, and AOL doing nothing about it. I know it is £16.98 pcm including line rental. Currently we pay around £40 a month for our outdated sky package. Sky's website has a package with unlimited broadband, and the same TV package, and calls for £39.75 pcm in total. It's a no brainer to switch.

So, I want to switch as it would save money and we'd be recieving a better internet service.

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So my question is, what steps should I take to change ISP? Can I do it with her permission, or does my Mum have to make the calls etc.? Because if I leave it to her, it will never get done. I don't care if I won't be living here, we're not paying money to these cowboy internet providers any longer.

 

[RacecarBMW]

Speak with the new service provider they should be able to handle everything.

 

[Casio]

They'll have to talk to the bill payer. Both to cancel the old and sign up the new.

 

[Seismica]

They'll have to talk to the bill payer. Both to cancel the old and sign up the new.

Thought so. Well, i'll have to write a script, dial the number and put the phone in my Mum's hand to get this done. Might not bother, only got just over 2 weeks. But I will tell her she's overpaying for Sky by over a tenner a month, that should get her moving.

 

[chug-a-bug]

Changing your ISP may give you cheaper internet but not necessarily faster . You need to post your router stats to see what speed you could potentially get, if you're on a long line theres nothing that can be done except to move house or get cable and/or fibre. Also, wireless speeds depends on your router and the distance from your PS3, nothing to do with your ISP.

Having said that though, AOL are not known for their fast and/or reliable service.

As for switching you'll need to speak to AOL to get a MAC then phone Sky and give them the MAC, they'll handle everything else. They'll need permission from the account holder though, i.e. your mum.

 

[DG_Silva]

Looking at what you have said, it's more likely to be the telephone line than the ISP. BT has to upgrade your telephone line by law if you are getting less than 2Mbit/sec, so contact BT, even though you aren't with them, and get them to upgrade your line.

Failing that, go to Virgin cable. Not the cheapest ISP, but by far and away the fastest for the price.

 

[Seismica]

Changing your ISP may give you cheaper internet but not necessarily faster . You need to post your router stats to see what speed you could potentially get, if you're on a long line theres nothing that can be done except to move house or get cable and/or fibre. Also, wireless speeds depends on your router and the distance from your PS3, nothing to do with your ISP.

Having said that though, AOL are not known for their fast and/or reliable service.

As for switching you'll need to speak to AOL to get a MAC then phone Sky and give them the MAC, they'll handle everything else. They'll need permission from the account holder though, i.e. your mum.

Ah so those are the steps I need to take. I'll write a list of instructions for my mam to follow after i've left. Shame I can't do it myself, I don't think I could pass for a female voice.

Our tariff is outdated and AOL limits speeds during peak times. The only time we get a decent connection is 3-5am. Like I said also, AOL seem to re-route our internet through proxy servers in different parts of the country (Or something like that) to save costs. Google and Speedtest both think i'm currently in Chester, which is about 100 miles away. You know something isn't right when your 3G internet on your phone is over 3 times faster than your wired connection by the same speedtest. If it wasn't for my data limit i'd be using it as a wireless hotspot.

Looking at what you have said, it's more likely to be the telephone line than the ISP. BT has to upgrade your telephone line by law if you are getting less than 2Mbit/sec, so contact BT, even though you aren't with them, and get them to upgrade your line.

Failing that, go to Virgin cable. Not the cheapest ISP, but by far and away the fastest for the price.

According to their website, Virgin can't offer us a fibre-optic connection.

Heres my exchange:

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/NEHRT

I'm fairly sure AOL or TalkTalk/CPW (who own AOL) did have LLU presence last time I checked around 2 years ago. They must have withdrew that, which would coincide with when our speeds dropped from 5Mbps+ to <2Mbps.

 

[DG_Silva]

You could always say that you are phoning on behalf of your mother, who has difficulty hearing on the phone. Once you've got the majority of the donkey work out of the way (such as setting up the account, Direct Debit information, etc.), all they'll need to speak to her for is to confirm who she is and that she authorises the use of her bank account. We've done it for my mother-in-law, and Sky were absolutely fine with it.