I want an all-singing, all-dancing security package

[Mokles]

Hi All,

 

We're thinking of switching our Broadband provider from Virgin to BT - only because of the cost as we've been very happy with Virgin for most of the time.

 

The problem we've got is that with Virgin we've had PC Guard Total which covers just about everything security-wise and I don't particularly want to get different elements from various places and then have to worry about keeping them up to date. So can anybody recommend anything similar that I can set up and then just leave to do everything else without too much input from me?

 

Look forward to your replies. :)

[Jelly Bean]

I realy would NOT go to BT.......If you go for there cheaper packages you are capped......Once you use the package allowance of data usage they will then start to charge you for every 5 mb of data usage ontop of you bill at £5-00 a time.BT are not cheaper.......They advertise UPTO speeds,this means your phone may say you can get as an example 7 mb speed but in actual fact you may only get 3-4 meg.I on average get half a meg speed wich is the lowest of the low.....

 

Your better off with Virgin,they are the cheapest and more reliable of ISP....I never used there PC Gaurd....When I had Virgin.....I cannot get them were I live now....

 

Try these:

 

http://extremetechsupport.com/threads/3597-FPCH-Recommended-Security-products

 

Look harder into BT before you decide to change.....Find out there rules and contract.......You may find your stuck with terrible speeds and end up costing you more money.....

[Mokles]

Hi Jelly Bean

 

Thanks for your quick response. What do you mean by 'data usage'?

 

At the moment we have calls and Broadband with Virgin and only line rental with BT, but they have been sending us special offers for over a year now to try and get us, and, up until now none of their offers have been worth the hassle of changing, but now they've come up with one which is by invitation only, and which is not available on their website and which is very good. It has coincided with Virgin increasing their charge by £5/month. I'm gathering information with the intention of seeing if they will offer us any incentives to stay with them.

 

I'm not too bothered about what speeds they're offering as we only get about 3 - 4 at the moment anyway and that's way below what our Virgin package offers but I realise that there are other factors that affect this so that isn't a prime consideration.

[Jelly Bean]

Virgin media is classed as unlimited.....Wich means as an example you get 10 meg broadband and could leave your computer connected to the internet 24 hours a day 7 days a week at no extra charge.....

 

Data usage is like buying a dongle that you top up every month....You put lets say £15-00 on the dongle.....This gives you lets say 15 mb of data usage....This means every time you open a web page or upload or download a picture,send a word document to a friend it uses up your data allowance you have paid for.....Dont quote me on prices here or amount od data allowance Im just giving an example....Another way of looking at it is your £15-00 supposed to buy you 100 hours of internet for general usage,BUT once you start to download and upload the data usage is used up very quickly.......So you do not get the 100 hours at all......

 

BT lower cost packages work on this princible.....If you have an older phone line your speed will also be slower.....If you have a very low speed and connect more than one computer to the internet your speeds will be even lower again and may get drop outs.....

 

If your going for BT then if BT infinate is in your area I would get that......

[Jelly Bean]

http://www.productsandservices.bt.co...?topicId=25633

 

If you look at it it says for BT Infinity,the first one says upto 20 meg speed.You proberly will not get 20 meg maybe around 13 or less....

 

The next box says 10 gig data usage.....This data usage is when your downloading,youtube etc.....Once you use that 10 GB they will charge you for every 5 GB above that 10 GB you use....

 

For unlimited data usage you would have to pay at least £28-00 per month.

 

With the data usage,cheaper packages you also get a limited wireless connection an example is say 250 minutes per month.....

[Mokles]

Thank you so much for pointing out about the data usage - it is something that I hadn't thought about. I don't think 10 Gb would be enough for us, but having said that is there any way of checking just what our usage is?

[Jelly Bean]

BT also block torrent software.Even if you legaly used the software to just share files amongst friends its blocked..

 

To monitor your data usage with BT you have to login to your online BT account.....They also will send you an email when you are coming up to your data usage limit....

 

Yes there prices may appear cheap for there lower priced ones until you get to the data usage....Then your stuck....When speaking personaly to BT they dont even mention the data usage policy.....

 

Then add to there price of TV,phone line the price is getting greater.....If the data usage package is not for you then unlimited is £28-00,then add TV etc if thats what you want from them....

 

Costly....

 

Even with Virginmedia price rise there package deals are cheaper.....There speeds better.......

[Plastic Nev]

From the speeds quoted so far, I am assuming that you are getting the Virgin service via the telephone line anyway and you are not on cable. Rather than BT via the telephone line, I would be looking at prices and deals from the independent ISP's, some of them can be extremely competitive. Have a good look round at what is on offer, both the prices and the data cap imposed, plus what excess charges are for going over the cap.

 

As far as the original question of which security system you install once a better or cheaper service is found, there are some good all round antivirus and complete security suites available, but also a lot of rubbish too.

Have a look here these people do independent testing of all security software.

 

http://www.av-test.org/en/tests/test-reports/quarter-22011/

 

Have a good look round at what they have tested and found, you will be surprised.

 

Nev.

[Starbuck]

When i lived in Wales i used Virgin and never had a problem with speed or price.

I used BT previous to that, but wouldn't go back to them.

As Plastic Nev pointed out, it sounds like you are connected by phone line and not cable.

Virgin cable is by far the best.

Now i'm in the midlands i can't get Virgin cable, so have gone with 'Talk Talk'.

http://sales.talktalk.co.uk/product/broadband/

 

If you are connecting through a phone line..........

they have some great deals and i'm more than happy with the speed and the service.

Might be worth checking out.

[Mokles]

Thanks Plastic Nev & Starbuck.

 

You're right, we don't have cable, and to be honest the speed isn't a problem with us most of the time - I guess what you've never had you never miss.

 

Thanks for the links - I've had to put this little project on hold for the mo as hubby decided he wanted an Android phone with Bluetooth - but that's another story...

[Jelly Bean]

Men huh?

[Mokles]

I know it's a little after the event, but I wanted to let you know that we decided to stay with Virgin and take our line rental over to them as well, since BT put their line rental up and got rid of some of the 'privileges' we had with them. This was back in January, our latest bill was £12 less than normal, when queried, I was told that they'd done some work on the broadband in our area and it was now cheaper. As you can imagine I nearly fell off my chair, I mean, it just doesn't happen prices going down - £12 a month!

 

So just thought I'd share that bit of good news. :D

[KenB]

some work on the broadband in our area and it was now cheaper.......down - £12 a month!

I got the same from my Gas-Electric provider - down £20/month

 

I think they are lulling us into a false sense of security :)

[terry0912]

If you use online banking, most of the banks have anti-virus software for free as long as you keep the account open.

 

Also your bank may supply RAPPORT, This is a program that checks the IP address (web address) against the registered one as a layer against fraud protection.

 

Terry