Need Help in Getting Broadband

[Illuminati]

Just found out that it's fine to get a BT line installed in my halls for broadband Only problem is getting the planning everything

1) Anyone know of any decent ISPs in Scotland (or anywhere in the UK)? Cable internet is out of the question as the halls can only get analogue from NTL/Telewest

Basically looking for the basics - 1mbps, no bandwidth limit, etc - as well as student-specific things (e.g. a minimum contract of less than 12 months, 7-9 if possible).

2) Best one so far looks to be Eclipse Internet, but apart from Lamsey I dunno anyone on it. Having him on an ISP may be a endorsement in its own but anyone else have any experiences with them?

3) To save up on the wires (especially to stop tripping faults in the flat), the flat I'm in is planning on setting up a wireless network of me handling the line & network and the other three connecting to the line through my room. Course, the high-speed line could mean we could be on the MMOGs a lot - Have wireless got a lot better for gaming & downloading than they used to be, or is ethernet still pretty much the only effective option?

4) Hoping that 3's okay, any tips on how to set up the network? And more importantly, how I can get the hardware cheap and reliably?

Half of this could be in Hardware, but probably easier to keep it all in one place? Anybody able to help?

[camstuf]

you need to do a search to see what, If any is available in your area.

[TheRealDave]

i get my hardware from www.ebuyer.co.uk and got a wireless network setup for my laptop to use anywhere in the house. As for the ISP i'm not sure, I have only ever used AOL, BT and freeserve/wanadoo. got kicked of AOL and BT so they both suck and wanadoo now have a limit for downloading which doesn't effect me

[vivitron 15]

i use PlusNet which is a pretty good ISP, i think its ~£30 for 1 meg unlimited, monthly contract.

they have pretty good newsgroup servers, so downloading is fun and safe

for the hardware, you can either get a cheap modem, and then a second ethernet card/wireless card for your pc, then "bridge the connections" - standard xp feature, or just get a modem/router with built in everything - that way, your pc can be off and they can surf still.

pm me if you need any more info about PlusNet - they really are a great service provider, no probs with them at all yet (even when BT tried to screw me out of getting an upgrade to 1M, they were on my side )