Any recommendations?
FWIW I have owned upwards of a dozen modems over the past 16 years (oh the excitement - and expense - of upgrading to 2.4K :-) and the best I have used is my trusty Diamond Supra Express 56e PRO (e for external - internal is a winmodem AFAIK). Solid as a rock.
One going for 14 quid 2nd-user here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3445532689&cate...
Also, I need to sign up with a decent ISP, and would like to use one that offers a flat rate monthly fee, though I can't have broadband. Does anyone have a personal favourite here?
Again, FWIW, if you're a heavy online user it's worth seriously considering Home Highway unless your exchange has a sensible ADSL trigger level. The line rental is basically the same as a second phone line although there is a higher installation fee as well (£75 a couple of years ago). The quick connect (2-4 secs) and stable, faster connection speed are much better than analogue.
For an ISP I use The Phone Co-op http://www.thephone.coop/internet/ and have a flat-rate FRIACO account. They are not the cheapest around (£14 plus vat) but I am happy to support a co-op and never have problems connecting. Big plus is that the account is not tied to a single phone line so I can use it when visiting family and their bill is not charged. (I have my phone calls with them as well but that's another story).
HTH Syd