Helped a neighbour sort our their Internet connection this week.

The provider was BT Internet.

They provide the routers pre-configured with a generic username, that "just works". So all that was needed to get it to work was to plug-in the router (and Microsoft, and ethernet) into the relevant sockets, and wait for DHCP to do its trick.

This is the simplest broadband install I've seen to date as a result, no changes at all required to the PC or router. Kudos to BT for getting this organised (not that it is THAT hard).

The only complication came with activating "Broadband Talk", which is a Voice Over IP type offering from BT, gives you a second line, various free or discounted calls depending on the option chosen.

http://www2.bt.com/static/i/btretail/consumer/home/internet/bbtalk.html

After pondering the manual (I'd been trying to avoid the bundled CD), we decided there were no settings to help you set this up in the router and so followed the manual and inserted the CD. Immediately the program ran, it said that the user didn't have Administrative privileges (which they did), seem it isn't compatible with Windows Vista.

Quick call to BT support, and the secret it seems is to visit;

http://www.bt.com/bbv

Where you can activate Broadband Talk without using the CD.

The support guy was clearly knowledgeable (with a very heavy Indian accent), but sounded like he was already very bored of the calls from Windows Vista users.

BT seem to have done a good job on this set-up, and the price is EXTREMELY competitive.

Although one has to think that maybe they are exploiting their monopoly position. If I was competing I'd be checking exactly how the wholesale offering of these services to competitors tallies up.

My recent experience of BT support leads me to think perhaps they are getting it together, compared to my previous dire experiences where I would have used "any other provider" for any telecoms service, in preference to having to deal with BT support.