Is Tiscali Broadband Any Good?

By Julia Kukiewicz Staff Writer Tuesday, 22 January 2008

Is Tiscali Broadband Any Good? Best points Cheapest broadband package Best for customer service Brilliant TV & broadband packages Free wireless router on most packages, even the cheapest Free setup Only 30p per extra GB on limited download packages No more 18-month contracts - All packages now 12-months Worst points Not as fast as some other broadband providers (eg. Be, Virgin Media etc.) Not all packages include a wireless router Security freebies don't extend to full anti-virus tools Related Broadbands News See our other recent related news stories: How does Tiscali compare to Sky and Virgin Media? Cheapest UK broadband provider Tiscali has launched its new digital TV over broadband service, posing a big threat to Virgin Media and Sky. Anna König pitches them all together to see how Tiscali TV holds up against the big boys. Tiscali contract length reduced to 12 months Funnily enough it turned out that Tiscali's 18 month minimum contracts on all their broadband packages may have been responsible for a downturn in subscriptions to the UK's cheapest broadband provider, prompting them to lower the contract length to 12 months across all packages. Tiscali tops customer satisfaction survey Low cost broadband kings, Tiscali, have not only kept their user's wallets happy, they've also managed to garner enough support to be awarded best customer service ISP in a recent survey. Similar 'Any Good' Articles See our other investigations into whether a particular broadband provider is any good: Is Orange Broadband any good? WITH a terrible record of customer service, Orange Broadband can't really be all that bad, can it? Neil Hawkins looks closer at the question: Is Orange Broadband any good? Is Post Office Broadband any good? IS Post Office Broadband any good? We know they’re good at selling stamps and weighing parcels, but with their recent launch of broadband services Lorrie Kelly digs a bit deeper to find out whether Post Office Broadband is any good. Is TalkTalk Broadband any good? With more bad press in their early days than they deserved, TalkTalk broadband has weathered the storm and come out shining - but is TalkTalk any good? Helen Storey looks closely and reveals the answer. Is Sky Broadband any good? They may have introduced the phrase 'Sea, speak and surf' into the public lexicon, but is Sky Broadband any good? Julia Kukiewicz rustles through Rupert Murdoch's sock drawer (and his broadband packages) and uncovers some naked truths about Sky Broadband. Is O2 Broadband any good? IF you blinked late last year, you probably missed the launch of what is arguably the UK's best broadband package: O2 Broadband. Here, Neil Hawkins looks a little closer at the high speed wonder that is O2 Broadband and answers the question: Is O2 Broadband any good? Is BT Anywhere with BT ToGo any good? NOW you can take your broadband connection with you wherever you go thanks to BT's new BT ToGo smartphone - part of the BT Anywhere broadband package. But is BT ToGO any good? Helen Storey finds out.

YOU’VE probably seen their flashy new adverts on TV but are Tiscali’s new broadband packages any good?

Tiscali have had problems in the past but as their flashy new adverts attest they’re back, revamped, and they recently topped the JD Power Broadband Customer Satisfaction survey beating well-known rivals such as Virgin Media, Sky Broadband, O2 Broadband and BT Total.

Is Tiscali any good on… Price?

Tiscali are advertising two broadband only options at great prices: £6.49 and £8.49 a month.

Those prices are amazing and would be even more so if they lasted. Unfortunately, they’re not the standard broadband prices but just slightly mystifying ‘introductory’ prices which last for three months and save you about £20 on your 12 month contract.

Still, what will henceforth be referred to as the Actual prices are still a bargain at just £12.99 or £14.99 a month.

This makes Tiscali the cheapest broadband in the UK.

You can also save with free setup (up to £25 with other providers) and a free wireless router when you sign up online.

Is Tiscali any good on… Speed?

Tiscali aren’t trying to break any records with their up to 8Mb broadband connections but this speed should be fast enough for all but the very fussiest of users.

There are faster broadband providers out there.

The UK’s fastest broadband providers at the moment are Be (up to 24Mb), O2 Broadband (up to 20Mb), Virgin Media (20Mb), Sky Broadband (up to 16Mb) and UKOnline (up to 16Mb).

And lucky broadband users in Ebbsfleet, Kent will soon be able to enjoy up to 100Mb broadband as part of Openreach’s high speed broadband trials for the UK.

But in truth, high speed broadband is only much use to serious gamers or those downloading masses of large files. For web browsing and other normal web use (even streaming video), Tiscali’s up to 8Mb should be more than fast enough.

Is Tiscali any good on… Broadband Bundles?

As well as their broadband only deals Tiscali also offer some fantastic Broadband & Phone and Broadband & TV bundle deals.

The Tiscali broadband and phone deals come with completely free line rental with free UK and international calls anytime for £19.99 a month or just at the weekend for £14.99 a month.

The Tiscali broadband and TV deals are even better value.

You get a free set-top box (no mucking about with cables or satellite dishes) and all the Freeview channels plus many more including Sky 1-3, Fox news and Paramount comedy.

Tiscali also has the UK’s largest selection of on-demand movies, rendering redundant those annoying walks to the video shop on a rainy Sunday.

You can read more about Tiscali’s TV bundle in our story ‘Tiscali rolls out digital TV bundle package’ as well as Anna Konig’s excellent feature ‘How Does Tiscali Compare to Sky and Virgin Media’.

Is Tiscali any good on… Download Allowances?

It is download allowances that make the big difference between Tiscali’s two cheap broadband packages.

The £6.49 (£12.99) broadband package offers a fairly reasonable 5 GB download allowance. If you exceed this allowance you only pay an 30p per extra gig, which is extraordinarily good value. After all, a Gigabyte is about 300 high-quality songs.

This cheap Tiscali package is a fantastic deal if you’re a light user but if you know that you often download video clips, large email attachments and photos it might be worth paying the extra £2 a to upgrade to Tiscali Option 2 which has unlimited downloads.

Tiscali’s unlimited download - £8.49 (£14.99) - package has a fair use policy which, Tiscali claims, should affect only around 3% of the top-downloading customers.

If that’s you your bandwidth will be affected from 6pm-11pm, Monday – Sunday.

Is Tiscali any good on… Customer Service

With most value broadband providers customer service can leave a lot to be desired.

Tiscali has been criticised for outsourcing its customer service abroad leading to expensive and rage-inducing calls.

Despite this scary reputation however all signs show that Tiscali has taken serious steps to improve its customer service record. It came above average for support in a recent customer satisfaction survey (which it then went on to win overall.)

Is Tiscali any good on… Freebies and Extras

You don’t expect to be showered with gifts at these prices but Tiscali does include free anti-virus and anti-spam for its email.

More impressively though, their cheap broadband package actually includes a free wireless router and weekend phonecalls!

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