O2 Broadband: Review

As I mentioned when I joined IntoMobile, occasionally I will be writing commentary or editorial on various areas within Mobile. Today it’s the turn of O2, with their Broadband offering - yes, those tentative steps towards convergence are occurring apace within the industry (as you might or might not know, O2 bought Be - an ADSL2+ Broadband provider).

I actually ordered O2 Broadband about 2 weeks before Christmas - the idea being that whilst I was off from work (and having a baby!), that it would be less inconvenient - however, I was concerned that being the Xmas period, there were going to be problems with logistics (activation, and equipment delivery) - I need not have worried…..

The equipment, and the activiation both occurred within days of each of other - in fact the only reason I didn’t get the router on the same day as activiation, is because I decided to move the delivery date.

“Move the delivery date?” I hear you say - yes, O2’s delivery of the router, and also the notification of activation of my line were both managed by text message. And not just one-way text either, but interactive - by this I mean you could respond to the delivery date SMS, and choose another date! I can’t say how good it is to see a company taking this part of the broadband experience seriously - and O2 get major kudos for getting this part right!

I should probably mention at this point too, that I had a previous BB (Broadband) provider - so in actuality, I was porting my account via a MAC code. Nevertheless, O2 managed this perfectly too, and my line was activated on the 27th December.

Now, on to the router setup and usage……..

On unpacking the box that arrived via courier, I found the router, instructions, and ADSL filter - the usual stuff if you’ve ever had BB before. This all got plugged in, and shortly afterwards I was upstairs on my PC, checking out the admin interface to the router, to see if I was connected (just a note here that my router is connected to the PC via Homeplug wiring - that’s LAN over Powerline - which will probably form the subject of another post….).

All was looking good - in fact in my haste to plug everything in, I didn’t install the CD that came with the router. On reading the instructions, I found it didn’t matter, because it looked like all the installation CD did was install AV (Anti-virus) protection, and also modify some settings (I’ll come to this later).

I tested internet and email, and was quick to notice outgoing emails were not going anywhere - that being the case, a quick call to UK-based customer services, and it confirmed some interesting points I’d missed when signing up:

O2 require you to use their SMTP servers to send email - this is one of things that gets set up if you install their CD (which I hadn’t done, as I noted previously)

O2 are currently blocking SKYPE - which is kinda obvious when you consider their core business

The second point wasn’t a major issue for me since I don’t use Skype, but it’s something worth bearing in mind if you are a user. The first was an issue however, because I pay to have my own domain (along with email) hosted on the interweb. However, a very reasonable chap from customer services explained that it’s because O2 are trying to manage SPAM in and out of the network.

I did explain that I needed access to my email server, and he said that for this to happen, there was a �5/month surcharge for a static IP address (and the associated routing to hit my interweb email server). Fair enough I thought, a company trying to proactively manage SPAM, I’m happy to work with that!

So, what’s the service been like since then? In short:

the router stays connected to BB really well

the customer service people are very helpful and easy to get hold of

the charges are reasonable

Overall then, a MUCH better experience than my previous provider, who shall remain nameless! As I said before, it’s so refreshing to have a GOOD experience with service provision in the UK today, and as a result O2 are the first to get a rating on my new scoring system:

Score: O2 Broadband gets 5 stars out of 5 - excellent all round!

(Subnote: O2 Broadband, being ADSL2+, is capable of supporting up to 20Mb or so - however this is dependent not on their infrastructure, but mainly on the cable in ground - so I currently receive 2Mb, which isn’t the fastest - however, given this is out of O2’s control, I have not factored it in to the rating, as it would have been unfair)

Ben

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