London and broadband access in flats there

I am going to be in London for about a year and am trying to figure out which company I should go to for broadband connection. I don't have much of a preference on ADSL vs. Cable, but I am interested in a reliable low latency/ping connection.

Also, where in London should I focus on for finding some place to live? I have about 400 GBP to spend per week on a flat.

Ohh... for TV, should I go with digital or satellite? I am interested in trying to get some German television stations, are there any carriers I should consider?

Thanks in advance for any input!

Gredik

Avoid NTL like the plague. Tiscali are fine. Unless it's changed, you'll find the speeds lower than here in Germany.


Well, London's a big place. I always recommend staying north of the river, since I don't like being mugged or raped. East or North-east will probably be the most likely areas, but beyond that it's hard to make any specific recommendations.


If you want German channels, I guess you'll have to go for satellite.

Check out these threads for more info:
Life in London, Cost of living, best locations, etc..
London neighbourhood recommendations, Moving to London, choosing the district to live in
Toystadt London, London's native German speaking crowd

I second the ntl-hate

Move to Stratford 2012!

400 GBP pw = you can find something really nice
I would advise north of the Thames, better if in the western area: you could avoid the unbelievable traffic jams on the M 25 (the circular motorway) and be nearer to the M 4 and Heathrow.
Chiswick is an excellent area: very nice (it costs a little, but with 400 GBP pw ...), near M 4 (the southern England east-west motorway) and not far from M 1 (the South-North English motorway), in London (a lot of buses and the Tube).
If you prefer living outside London, don' t go beyond Acton.
If you like small cities, Uxbridge is nice and served by two Tube lines.
There are a lot of nice sites (flats), but I don't remember the exact addresses, just search them with google.

It is not that bad south of the river in London. I lived for eight years in Streatham and never had any trouble, and was often in Brixton late at night without problems. Perhaps areas like Hackney, Peckham and Lewisham and more generally the East of South London can be a bit dangerous, but areas of South London like Putney, Clapham etc are okay.

EDIT Oh and Stockwell is another area to avoid
FURTHER EDIT Loughborough Junction should also be avoided, if only cos it is so grim and dreary a place

About broadband speeds... I think you'll find its faster in the UK than in Germany, with some offering up to 24Mbps.

There are some comparison sites:

http://www.codehot.co.uk/broadband/a.htm

http://www.broadbandchecker.co.uk (you need a postcode for this one)

About accommodation, Loot usually has a lot of flats and house-shares advertised:

www.loot.com

Where you live in London typically varies according to where you work and how you will get there i.e. Tube, bus, etc. There is a balance between cost of accommodation, cost of travel, travel time and the quality of the accommodation/area i.e bigger place, nice area, futher from the centre but long and costly journey time.

Having grown up there, I can safely say that Uxbridge is in no way a city. Not even a town. It's suburbia through and through. It takes 90mins to get to the City from there.

400GBP a week is loads. Suggest you look at Fulham, Chiswick, Wimbledon, RIchmond, Hampstead, Primrose Hill, Belsize park, Maida Vale, Clapham.

The best website to start looking for places on is Find a property

before I moved over here I had Tiscali broadband which was fine. Speeds upto 6Mbps now.

I'd say Primrose Hill or even somewhere in Notting Hill or Chelsea (though it'll be small in Chelsea/Kensington on that budget). Personally I love Primrose Hill - very nice indeed. All depends where you're working - I'd certainly avoid Stratford if you're renting - tenants won't benefit from the Olympics - all they'll see is their rental prices going up.

Market being what it is, and given your budget, if you're hanging around for a year or two I'd certainly consider buying somewhere too.

I'm writing this from just outside of London on a BT Broadband connection and it's fine - I've got NTL at home and they're rubbish - I'll certainly not be renewing with them EVER again.

Thanks everyone for your response! I didn't even think of using the search engine, I guess the question has come up before.

Gredik

Hey Gredik, if you are renting then you will probably have to go with digital TV - drilling a hole in the landlords building so you can put a dish up may piss him off. Saying that, there are plenty of serviced apartment blocks which offer Sky as part of the package in London...just depends on what you are looking for. Good Luck!

..but Gredik's after German TV and there is only DW on Sky. It's the reverse situation for Brits in Germany - UK satellite dishes point at Astra2 (28.2 degrees East) but the German TV is all on Astra 1 (19.2 degrees East).