|
|
|
| Be launch 24 meg broadband in the UK |
| Monday, September 26, 2005 at 08:29 by Kathleen Hill |
Be Unlimited (Be), one of the UK's breakthrough broadband providers, today launched "Be home 24 meg" - the UK's fastest broadband Internet service.
For just £24 ($42.56) per month, Be offers it's members speeds up to 24 Megabits, unlimited downloads and 24 hour per day access to the Internet, using the free, wireless "Be Box" modem.
Be is the UK's first Internet service provider (ISP) to harness the latest ADSL2+ technology, maximising the potential of your phone line, at a competitive price. The company is deploying its own network in the UK, utilising the Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) EU directive, which allows independent operators to lease incumbent's (British Telecom in the case of the UK market) last mile access infrastructure.
Dana Pressman, Managing Director of Be said,
"We are thrilled to be the first ISP to roll-out 24 meg broadband in the UK. For anyone wanting to get the most from the Internet, this is an absolute must - at £24 per month Be is simply better value than any other broadband service from any other provider. This radically advanced capability will change the way people use their computers and opens up a world of opportunities as exciting as the advent of broadband itself."
Be's 24 meg service represents an exponential leap for Internet users. Just one 24 meg line can stream two High Definition TV (HDTV) channels, plus three or four standard TV or Video-on-Demand channels, and still have enough bandwidth for general surfing or voice calls (VoIP).
Also supplied (free of charge) with the super-fast ADSL service, is a "Thomson SpeedTouch 716g" wireless router that normally retails for £116.99 ($207.46). The router can be used to connect multiple computers, games consoles and standard telephony devices to the ADSL2+ line and also features a four-port 10/100Mb/s Ethernet switch, 802.11 b/g wireless LAN and two VoIP telephone ports.
Be's pilot membership has been a huge success, with overwhelming levels of interest in their products. Their first member, who connected during the pilot phase, is experiencing an average speed of 18.5 meg - breaking the UK ADSL speed record. With their pilot offer now over, Be are beginning to expand their coverage across the UK.
To join Be, customers simply need a BT telephone line that is connected to an exchange in which Be has installed their equipment. The service costs £24 per month, plus a £24 connection fee, and there is no annual contract.
For more information and to check availability, go to www.BeThere.co.uk
|
|
| |
 
|
|
| This is EXCITING! As a Amatuer Radio Operator, I am well aware of the HORRID RF Interferrence BPOL (Borad Band Over Power Line) DOES cause, and the absolute Evil that prompts the FCC & Present Governmential DemoGogues to Advoke & Promote BPL. A dictorial Fasciet State FEAR freedom of UnControlled Mass Comminication! |
|
|
| WOW. I am presently kicking myself for having just ordered an NTL 2MB service. Though I suppose I'm getting TV and phone as well, this is just so much better.
Soon as the contract runs out, i'm gonna switch. |
|
|
| I registered for that service this weekend...
One thing to note is that, whilst they do supply you with a fancy router at no cost, they want it back; fail to return it, or trash it somehow, and they'll bill you £100. |
|
|
| Hurry up and allow other cable networks to cross over! i wanna join but don't want BT |
|
|
| I just signed up for the service, so just waiting for the 2 weeks for it to be activated. I am quite excited about getting 24MB, or anything over 8MB. Be seems to be ridiculously cheap at 20 quid for 24MB ADSL, with free wifi modem and only 3 month contracts. The next best deal I found was Bulldog, 29.99 for 8MB, no modem at all.
Anyways, what they don't tell you on the signup form is that if you enter a member's email address as a referrer, both you and the member get the first month free. So if you don't know any members yet, help yourself and me out by using my email address: boon.koh***@***imperial.ac.uk (remove the ***'s) |
|
|
| Wow
Its gonna help the console online gaming comunity so much
cant wait |
|
|
| I have this service - it is rubbish and within a week I'm looking to changing my provider - even with my old 2Mb connection I could download faster. As for the router - well it is totally rubbish and insecure. There is no option to enter an address for a DMZ and when you try to change the password on the thing it locks you out to the point that you have to reset the modem and the (find yourself a PC (for the Mac users amoung us)) and then using the compand prompt in dos mode upload their template (which they e-mailed to me and I then had to call a friend to create me a dial-up account so that I could get the e-mail) to the router - I found it a pain and I'm cisco and apple qualified. I thought of the normal users having to do this. Just to add, I hope you wont mind sitting on the phone listening to the same song over and over for about an hour at a time if you have a question! My advice is to stay clear of BeThere 'NOT'. |
|
|
| Made my order over 5 weeks ago and I'm still waiting to be connected. I'm aware BT has caught a lot of flak recently over its LLU connections I'm assuming this is why it's taking so long, but this is getting a bit silly. Hopefully it's worth the wait, and these are just early teething problems. |
|
|
|
|
| Just got it yestarday after 2 weeks late, deeplly deceptioned, I wiish I didnt order it.
1. Can not use another modem router.
2. Download speed changes constantly from 1 to 11 Mbits/s
3. Rubbish "Be Box", doesnt give you customize options, like DNS, normal options like a normal modem and routers.
4. Customer service takes about 1 hour to answer you, and tell you that your problem will be given a ticket and wait for an answer the next 48 hours.
Well is 48 hours and this is what I can think of so far. If I get anything new, I'll tell you. Or you could write me to fher_f19@yahoo.co.uk |
|
|
| I've just contacted Be to enquire about connection and the phrase "up to 24 meg", after a considerable wait listening to the worst recording of "Enya" that I have ever heard, I finaly got through to the inevitable Indian call center the line quality was terible the accent of the opperator made her version of english virtualy unintelligable, when I asked about the phrase "up to 24 mb connection" the reply was so dissjointed and garbled, it was of no use at all. I asked for a uk contact number and was told that this was un-available. Now if this the sort of service the company feels will encorage prospective customers to sign up, imagine what the service will be like once they have got your money. Having read the previous comments I am glad that I did not sign up to this dissapointing mess. I will give this company a wide berth untill they can demonstrate a willingness to provide good customer service on a UK call center with english speaking operatives thpepper@gmail.com |
|
|
| This is a copy of the e-mail i have just sent to BE 24 I wonder if they will bother to reply.
I have just tried to get some sense out of your call center, I am,
or rather was, a prospective customer, I think it is wonderful that
you have been able to provide 24 mb broadband, or should I say up to
24 mb, I feel that this little idiosyncrasy should BE explained on
your website. But I digress, my main point is, primary customer contact
should be nothing but first class, it is in most cases the main and
only impression a customer aquires. The impression that I have aquired
is that you are a bunch of cheapskates. when one considers the cost of
developing this service and making it available to the public,
advertising , etc, and then to put your marketing and sales in the
hands of an Indian call center with extremely poor quality line
clarity,poor quality english language skills and the ability to do no
more than read a poorly construted script, is nothing short of fool
hardy, I know you are one of the first to provide this service, you
will not be the only provider, but if your service continues at this
level you will certainly be one of the failures. Any way may I thank
you for providing me with such a poor experience on my first contact
with your company, without which I may well have signed up for your
service. may I suggest that you take a look at the comments posted
regarding your service on the itvibe.com site, I'm glad I did .
best wishes for the future,, Tom Pepper |
|
|
| And there was me cursing because I didn't live in a BE enabled area! There MUST be some happy campers out there though?
When I've have ISP problems I have always been able to find lots of other people who have also had lots of problems and once they get together they can put forward a pretty good argument. well I guess if someone isn't having a problem they aren't likely to report it. you never hear from the happy people.
Sometimes I think it's down to the individual users lack of knowledge but as a certified Cisco Engineer Iw ould have thought that the previous poster has more than enough skills to cope with BE's router.
So the end of an illusion, BE suck eh? I hope this isn't it for ADSL2.... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
