Do You Wanadoo?? (Freeserve)

Member Name: andy0304

Product:	Freeserve
Date:	16/10/04 (2493 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ease of install, Very Quick, Helpful Support Teams

Disadvantages: None Yet!

I originally started of with a Freeserve Pay As You Go internet access account about 5 years ago, however about a year or so ago I began to use the net more and more and decided that for the cost of an anytime package I may as well switch my account to a Freeserve broadband account. At a cost of £27.99 for an unlimited account it seemed worth while, so I placed my order on line.

The modem etc that I received from Freeserve was free and there was no installation cost as it was a DIY step by step set up. The package from them arrived in about 3 days if I remember rightly. The modem was a Speedtouch ADSL modem that like others plugs directly into a spare USB port on the back of the PC. As this was my first external modem, as all the others were internal, I thought I was going to get a huge great big thing but to my surprise my broadband modem was about the size of a computer mouse.

On reading the set up instructions it turns out you have to wait for them to set up your line in order that you can make calls and use the net at the same time. They told me the only way that I would know would be to plug in my modem and wait until both lights went green but this could take up to 14 days. Oh great, I thought I have got the equipment but another 2 weeks to wait. Well I was wrong! I plugged in the modem and 2 green lights appeared, my line was set up before I even had received the modem. Now that what I call a quick response.

The installation itself was very simple; it was purely a matter of plugging the modem into the PC and the phone socket. Not forgetting to use the ADSL splitters to split your line. Then insert the CD that comes with it into your PC CD drive and allow it to auto run. This software installs the modem driver software and the freeserve software required for broadband. This process all in all took around 10 minutes.

Once the install is complete you get 2 new icons on your desktop, one for the modem software and one titled Freeserve broadband. I already had a Freeserve Internet icon on the desktop, however if you were not with Freeserve when you set this up then you would also get this icon as well. From then on to access the net via broadband was a matter of switching the PC on and waiting for the two green lights which appear within seconds of windows loading. Then double clicking the broadband icon which loads your connection, and then double clicking the internet icon which presents you with the Freeserve homepage.

The only change that was made to my user name when I switched to broadband was that @fs was added to the end of it. Other than that you would not notice the change as all email addresses etc staid the same, I have to admit now I have broadband I would not go back.

About 4 months ago I received an email from Freeserve customer services informing me that Freeserve would be no longer the same; they had been taken over by an international company called Wanadoo. Who? I had no idea either but apparently this would not effect my internet so fair enough we would see how things go as I was still on my 12 month contract, one good thing was that my email address did not have to change.

Now every time I log onto the net I get a new homepage www.wanadoo.co.uk, it still looks pretty much like the old Freeserve pages only its out with the bright orange colour scheme and in with a darkish red colour scheme.

Since then I have had various emails from them asking me to switch to a Wanadoo broadband account but to do so I would have to pay a £20 admin fee. I think not, I was quite happy with my old Freeserve account.

I thought that as my 12 month contract comes to an end in October or November (I cant remember which) I would take a look at what they offer as I knew they had changed the broadband options to 3 new Wanadoo Broadband options. On first looking they seemed worth switching as they have 3 options two of which are less than I pay now. The new Wanadoo options are:

Option 1... £17.99 per month

2GB allowance per month
This is ideal for the vast majority of people, and offers all the advantages of a super fast Broadband connection - up to 20 times faster than a normal dial-up connection - at only a fraction of the price.
Use the phone and the Internet at the same time
Always-on connection - no waiting to dial-up
Wireless connection with Wireless Pack (optional at £79.99)

Option 2...£22.99 per month

6GB allowance per month

This is a great choice if you want all the benefits of super fast Broadband - up to 20 times faster than dial-up - and plan to download a lot.
Use the phone and the Internet at the same time
Always-on connection - no waiting to dial-up
Wireless connection with Wireless Pack (optional at £79.99)
Connect multiple computers with Wireless Pack (optional at £79.99)

Option 3...£27.99 per month

30GB allowance per month - up to 20 times* faster than dial-up!
Use the phone and the Internet at the same time
Always-on connection - no waiting to dial-up
Wireless connection with Wireless Pack (optional at £79.99)
Connect multiple computers with Wireless Pack (optional at £79.99

The options are direct from the Wanadoo site in order to give you the exact info about their options, as you can see they are all based on a 1Mbps as opposed to 512k broadband so its 20 time faster than the normal internet access you have to dial into. I am hoping that when my 12 months is up they will give me the option to transfer without paying the admin fee as at present my Freeserve account is 512K, the only downside to these is that they all have a limit per month, however option 3 has a huge limit and you would have to do some serious down loads to reach that limit.

Since the take over not a lot else has changed and most of the time their customer service has been pretty good and their broadband tech support team are there 24/7 unfortunately the calls to them are charged at national rates, so its not free phone unlike some providers offer. However online email help is available.

Some other benefits of joining them:

 Wanadoo Rewards. No points to collect, just exclusive member benefits and offers from big name brands, along with some competitions and it has to be said some of these are quite good offers
 Email addresses for the whole family
 Online Help channel providing free advice and support by email
 30MB of free web space for up to 5 personal websites if you can create that many, but they do have options available to help you with this
 Quick Search facility
 Fortnightly email newsletter on the latest member news, online shopping deals and tools and services which can contain some useful and not so useful information
 Wanadoo magazine showing you how to get the most out of the Internet
The homepage has a list of channels on the left hand site ranging from Money, Auctions, Property, Travel etc etc there is even a channel for Women. In each of these channels is some real useful information about the relevant topic.
Overall over all of the time I have been with Freeserve / Wanadoo I have never really had any major problems but those I have had have been solved very quickly and effectively and their customer service team are always willing to help. Definitely worth the money! And there is none of this taking over your PC like AOL.

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