 |  | By Neil Hawkins Staff Writer Tuesday, 1 April 2008 |
ORANGE Broadband has often been in the news for the wrong reasons. This is mostly down to what we like to call Bulldog or TalkTalk syndrome i.e. taking on too many customers too quickly.
However for the last 6-8 months Orange Broadband stopped all marketing in an effort to improve all round performance of its broadband packages.
So, the big question now is, will Orange Broadband prove sweeter than an, er, orange? Or will it leave you feeling like you’re sucking on a lemon?
Is Orange Broadband any good on Price?
Put simply, if you have an 18 or 24 month Orange mobile contract then you’ll be hard pushed to find a cheaper broadband provider than Orange.
This is because, like O2 Broadband, Orange Broadband likes rewarding existing customers and make them feel loved, but rather than hug you it gives you a hefty discount instead.
The three packages Home Starter, Home Select and Home Max are priced as follows:
For a limited time, the Home Starter and Home Max packages are half price for six months, £6 and £12 per month respectively.
All packages come with an 18 month contract.
This makes Orange Broadband pretty competitive with the likes of Tiscali and it compares well against O2 Broadband and Virgin Media.
Let’s see if it’s any good in other areas.
Is Orange Broadband any good on Speed?
Orange Broadband serves up speed in two flavours, ‘up to 2Mb’ for Orange Home Starter customers and ‘up to 8Mb’ for Orange Home Select and Orange Home Max customers.
Speed has been one of the technical issues flagged most by existing customers.
Some say that they get half the speed they should be getting; others say they keep losing their connection; whilst some have had no problems at all.
In a nutshell Orange Broadband’s speed issues are variable but improving.
Is Orange Broadband any good on Broadband Bundles?
The three Orange Broadband deals each have a different home phone bundle included.
The two more expensive packages, Home Select and Home Max, come with an Orange Livebox (basically a fancy wireless router; more about that later!) which, among other things, acts as a virtual second phone line, into which you can plug a standard telephone and make free calls (including to Orange mobiles) via your internet connection using a technology called Voice over IP (VoIP).
Still with me! Good!
The cheaper Home Starter package doesn’t include this but you do get inclusive UK evening and weekend calls via your landline.
For potential Home Max customers there is more good news! On this plan you no longer pay BT for your line rental every month as it is included in the monthly price, a saving of £126 per year!
Is Orange Broadband any good on Download Allowances?
All three Orange Broadband deals have decent allowances. The basic Home Starter package has a 6Gb allowance which is more than enough if you are just going to be surfing the net and checking your email every day.
The Home Select and Home Max packages both have unlimited allowances but there is a fair use policy attached which, based on customer experiences means that if you start to download more than roughly 40Gb a month then you may get a warning letter.
Every package, in common with other big broadband providers, limits the speed of peer-to-peer and file-sharing programs at peak times (6pm-11pm).
Is Orange Broadband any good on Customer Service?
The fact that there is a dedicated website for problems with Orange Broadband is a little foreboding for its customer service.
Although in fairness, they join Tiscali, TalkTalk, Virgin Media, Toucan and just about every other big-name broadband provider out there by being hated enough to have a site dedicated to how much they suck.
Common complaints revolve around being passed around different call centre in the UK and abroad and having to re-explain issues several times.
Other gripes concern the cost of phoning up Orange Broadband customer support and technical support.
Calls to customer support can be made between 7pm-11pm and are charged at 5p per minute.
Technical support is open 24/7 but there is good news and bad news!
The good news is that Home Select and Home Max packages get 5p per minute support but the bad news is that Home Starter customers have to pay 50p per minute.
Orange Broadband tends to fare badly in the customer service polls, a fate it shares with most other large broadband providers. Whilst not the worst, unfortunately Orange Broadband has yet to make the big improvements that it hopes to make in this area.
Is Orange Broadband any good on Freebies and Extras?
The Orange Livebox is the main extra but only comes with the Orange Home Select and Orange Home Max packages.
It has many useful functions such as wireless router, Xbox or PS2 compatibility and the ability to plug in a printer so any computer can use it from anywhere in the house.
The most interesting feature though is the VoIP function which basically means you can use it as a second phone line, giving you free international calls and free calls to Orange mobiles.
Lastly, I don’t know if you could call it an extra but if you don’t pay by direct debit then it’s an extra quid on your monthly bill!
So, is Orange Broadband any good?
If you are looking for a cheap broadband package with value and loads of features bundled in then consider going with Orange Broadband. If on the other hand you are a sucker for top-notch customer service and fast, consistent speeds then go for a better quality broadband provider like O2 Broadband or Plusnet.
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