silence said:are bitching or bragging about free 8Mbit line?
bitch
Hey i'm not complaining... just... They really ARE crap. There is no one paying for the line, and it's fully functional.... Go figure....
Moving to England...
- Thread starter Xmas
- Start date
Hey i'm not complaining... just... They really ARE crap. There is no one paying for the line, and it's fully functional.... Go figure....
silence said:so you are bragging.... biatch... i have to pay like 90 Euro for shitty 1.5Mbit/192Kbit line.....
Nuffink for 8Mb/500Kb
UKOnline for broadband - very cheap and the same kind of service you will receive elsewhere. Can't go wrong with 2Mb for £14.99 a month. No setup charge for a while either.
I dont recommend going with NTL and dont know about Telewest if they are available in your area.
Car insurance.. go with the best option. Get the Yellow Pages when you get here and phone everyone up. Remember some charge more for monthly installments.
House insurance - I went with Budget Insurance.. way cheaper than anyone else for a very comprehensive policy. Tesco insurance were good too. I am sure you can search for the correct URL's.
Get registered for water, and council tax immediately.
Powerwise I am with NPower but you may have better deals in your area. Try www.uswitch.com for more info and comparisons.
What to watch out for: congestion on the roads... high petrol prices, high prices for everything really.
Any more info required let me know...
I dont recommend going with NTL and dont know about Telewest if they are available in your area.
Car insurance.. go with the best option. Get the Yellow Pages when you get here and phone everyone up. Remember some charge more for monthly installments.
House insurance - I went with Budget Insurance.. way cheaper than anyone else for a very comprehensive policy. Tesco insurance were good too. I am sure you can search for the correct URL's.
Get registered for water, and council tax immediately.
Powerwise I am with NPower but you may have better deals in your area. Try www.uswitch.com for more info and comparisons.
What to watch out for: congestion on the roads... high petrol prices, high prices for everything really.
Any more info required let me know...
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
If you go cable, you can get 10 mbit down for £35, 4 mbit for £25. Both NTL and Blueyonder do it, but Blueyonder is uncapped at the moment, though that might change if they merge companies. Upstream is a bit weedy (384 kbit) but that's down to the limitation of a network designed for TV delivery.
Captain Chickenpants
Regular
If you are coming to join IMG then welcome
People seem to be mostly in either
Watford, convenient for getting the train to work or into London, but is a little rough and rowdy on a Friday/Saturday night.
St. Albans. Nice place with reasonable night life. Property is very pricey. Train is a pain to Kings Langley, but getting into London is easy, driving through St. Albans can be a slow sometimes. If you are into cycling it is about 8 miles, and we have showers that can be used.
Kings Langley. Nice place but a little quiet. Can be quite expensive for property.
London, prices and transport vary depending on where you are.
Hemel Hempstead. Hmm not much I can really say, it is fairly average in all respects.
I would recommend when getting a flat to ask for a 6 month lease, that way you can move more easily if you find somewhere better after you have settled in.
I would be worth asking if anyone else is joining the same time as you, that you could share a house with, tends to be cheaper and you have someone in the same position as yourself.
If you have other questions feel free to PM me.
People seem to be mostly in either
Watford, convenient for getting the train to work or into London, but is a little rough and rowdy on a Friday/Saturday night.
St. Albans. Nice place with reasonable night life. Property is very pricey. Train is a pain to Kings Langley, but getting into London is easy, driving through St. Albans can be a slow sometimes. If you are into cycling it is about 8 miles, and we have showers that can be used.
Kings Langley. Nice place but a little quiet. Can be quite expensive for property.
London, prices and transport vary depending on where you are.
Hemel Hempstead. Hmm not much I can really say, it is fairly average in all respects.
I would recommend when getting a flat to ask for a 6 month lease, that way you can move more easily if you find somewhere better after you have settled in.
I would be worth asking if anyone else is joining the same time as you, that you could share a house with, tends to be cheaper and you have someone in the same position as yourself.
If you have other questions feel free to PM me.
Last edited by a moderator:
deviantchild
Regular
Xmas said:
job at Img?!
Well I moved from New Zealand to London about 18 months ago, and the biggest headacke is the banks. You cant get a bank account without a flat, and you cant get a flat without a bank account.
If you can organise a bank account before you get here, or your EU cards work here then all the better.
Things to watch out for:
The stupidly expensive beer, petrol, phone, transport, food, rent, etc, etc, etc.
For broadband I use Telewest. Cost £39 a month for 3Meg, but they are updating that to I think 6Meg soon free. Also comes with 30 odd TV channels of rubbish, and a phone.
Cant really think of any other downsides. It does piss me off that my 1 bedroom flat costs 3 times as much a month in rent as my mortgage does in NZ (for a three bedroom house on a 1/4 acre section).
Ali
If you can organise a bank account before you get here, or your EU cards work here then all the better.
Things to watch out for:
The stupidly expensive beer, petrol, phone, transport, food, rent, etc, etc, etc.
For broadband I use Telewest. Cost £39 a month for 3Meg, but they are updating that to I think 6Meg soon free. Also comes with 30 odd TV channels of rubbish, and a phone.
Cant really think of any other downsides. It does piss me off that my 1 bedroom flat costs 3 times as much a month in rent as my mortgage does in NZ (for a three bedroom house on a 1/4 acre section).
Ali
Thanks for all the helpful advice and nice words!
Unfortunately, there's not much on offer in Kings Langley that fits my price range.
The EC/Maestro cards do work, but that doesn't get me a bank account. Anyway, Img will help me with that.
The broadband offers really seem to be ok, I'm currently on a 1Mb/128Kb connection and rarely feel the need for a faster one.
At the moment I tend to look for some nice place in Kings Langley, Abbots Langley or Watford. So I can get up as late as possible.Captain Chickenpants said:
Unfortunately, there's not much on offer in Kings Langley that fits my price range. Yes, devrel.deviantchild said:job at Img?!
Hm, maybe I should rent a van...Ali said:
The EC/Maestro cards do work, but that doesn't get me a bank account. Anyway, Img will help me with that.
The broadband offers really seem to be ok, I'm currently on a 1Mb/128Kb connection and rarely feel the need for a faster one.
St Albans is stupendously expensive - Thats where I've worked for the last 10 years and my wife hails from there. Also bear in mind that the lovely, quaint City centre turns into, whats colloquially known as, "Blood Alley" of a Friday/Saturday night.
Muggings? Or hooligan fights?Dave Baumann said:
deviantchild
Regular
RussSchultz said:
Hooligan fights. Those sorts of smallish towns are particularly bad for it, and it seems to be getting worse.
Xmas said:Well, it seems like I'll be moving to England soon (just a few miles northwest of London), and I need to find an affordable flat to rent, maybe get a car, adjust to the English way of life, register with authorities, get insurances, phone and broadband internet
Basically, my life is going to change a lot, and it would be cool if someone here, especially those living in the UK, could give me some helpful advice, on things I need, dos and don'ts, what to consider when looking for a flat, a car, an ISP and all the important stuff
I guess there are a few things I haven't thought of at all yet.
My brother will join me looking for a flat, and we'll probably go with my dad's car, so for the first few days, luckily, mobility won't be an issue. But we still have to find a cheap hotel or B&B, and I hope to find a flat as quick as possible.
Merkel was too much for you already?
As far as ISPs go, I'd ensure you get your phoneline from BT as that will give you the biggest choice in ISPs. NTL have a dire reputation (as do BT, so the joke is that anyone could actually be worse). Trying to find a decent ISP offering speeds over 2Mb is going to be a real mission, and I wouldn't reccomend Bulldog as they are infamous for being crap.
Personally, I'd go with an ISP for its rep and then just wait for them to jack up their speeds. My reccomendation would be PlusNET with its Premier package which ensures a 30:1 contention ratio, and currently offers you up to 2Mb (depending on what your area can receive). They're going to offer 4 and 8Mb connections soon. I use them and its been a good experience with fast lines and support (using their online ticket system).
Assuming you're going to get a UK bank, I'd reccomend cahoot. Excellent online interface, quick to respond ticket system (and as I had my card stolen recently, allow me to say their phone support is good too) and competitive rates. Might not be true anyone, so I'd reccomend taking a look at www.moneysupermarket.com
Not much to say about way of life. There's a bit of a drinking culture, more towards London, but I don't drink so it's not really my scene. If you're male though, and don't visit the pub, well... Oh, and anywhere with lots of pubs around 11pm is not somewhere to be. IMO, its the blight of British life, but there you go.
In my life here I'd say its a nice enough place, I certainly wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
To be fair, I live in quite a rough town but have never got into trouble here on a night out.
In general, if you don't go looking for trouble, it's quite easy to avoid it - you soon find the dodgy pubs to avoid. (Although I did once get attacked by three oh-so-brave scumbags in Norwich).
I've been going out to pubs in various places around the country for about 15 years (2-3 nights a week in the past) so it can't be all that bad here in the UK if I've only got into trouble once. It's pretty easy to avoid the dodgy pubs/bars.
In general, if you don't go looking for trouble, it's quite easy to avoid it - you soon find the dodgy pubs to avoid. (Although I did once get attacked by three oh-so-brave scumbags in Norwich).
I've been going out to pubs in various places around the country for about 15 years (2-3 nights a week in the past) so it can't be all that bad here in the UK if I've only got into trouble once. It's pretty easy to avoid the dodgy pubs/bars.
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