I'm trying to find good value broadband that is not with Sky or BT

[Bluecube]

If I've ever had an issue then the tech support has been really fast in getting back to me so can't fault them there. Having said that, I've only had a two minor issues so maybe the easier they are to solve the quicker they get back to you!

[Marcos]

Plusnet has traffic management

That's interesting, I called up Plusnet a couple of weeks ago armed with that knowledge from Money Saving Expert's guide to broadband, and the sales rep on the phone flat out denied it, I said I've read it on this article on this site and she said nope that's incorrect, so I advised her to make a note and pass it on to management to get in touch with MSE and correct it.

So is the sales rep full of BS or are you and MSE wrong?

[Agent]

That's interesting, I called up Plusnet a couple of weeks ago armed with that knowledge from Money Saving Expert's guide to broadband, and the sales rep on the phone flat out denied it, I said I've read it on this article on this site and she said nope that's incorrect, so I advised her to make a note and pass it on to management to get in touch with MSE and correct it.

So is the sales rep full of BS or are you and MSE wrong?

They traffic manage and are pretty open about it: http://www.plus.net/support/broadban...nagement.shtml

[Marcos]

I think that good broadband is subjective, since some people find 10 Mbps really quick, while others painstakingly slow. It depends what you're using it for - if it's web browsing and the occasional video, 10 would be fine, 38 would be best. If you download steam games etc, it's really nice to have 76 down - titanfall downloaded within 2 hours for me and I can watch youtube videos in 1440p without issues

But, I'm with BT and even with huge monthly usage, I get no slowdown (in fact the other day I did a speedtest when BT was having issues, and I got a speed greater than I should! - http://www.speedtest.net/result/3591315226.png and I'm on 76 down).

I would look at what the most common ISP is in your area, and go with a different one. Plusnet is common where I live and consequently, there are a lot of complaints due to throttling.

I see your angle now, no worries.

I wouldn't be daft enough to ignore my line's theoretical speed then criticise the provider I go with for not exceeding it.

So I guess what I mean by good BB is all the factors outside of theoretical top line speed. Like, how close to the line's speed the provider can give, even if it just 10mbps.

How do I find out which ISP is most popular in my area?

[MrRockliffe]

I see your angle now, no worries.

I wouldn't be daft enough to ignore my line's theoretical speed then criticise the provider I go with for not exceeding it.

So I guess what I mean by good BB is all the factors outside of theoretical top line speed. Like, how close to the line's speed the provider can give, even if it just 10mbps.

How do I find out which ISP is most popular in my area?

Ask people, take your laptop/phone around and look at the WiFi names - I'm pretty sure every company will have their name in the SSID. From my room, it's actually mainly sky, but when travelling around I'd say 80-90% are plusnet. Very few BT which means better Internet for me. I think this is why Zen are really good, because fewer people use them. Higher price, less people, better service.

EDIT: Just updating Titanfall and it's reporting speeds of 30 MB/s! It often does this, and ends up downloading 1GB updates in a matter of seconds



By the time I realised I was downloading that quick and had captured the screen, it was almost finished. I'd love someone to explain why this is happening

[chrestomanci]

Zen? Although might have to up the budget slightly.

I have been with Zen for the past 10 years or so. Their speed, reliably and customer service has been excellent, but as Guy says, they are a bit more expensive.

I guess you need to decide where your priorities lie. If you wanted low price above all other considerations you would have signed up with EE or tiscali by now.

[isandunk]

I almost moved my parents to Plusnet the other night. The phone / broadband (fibre) seems like a pretty good deal.

Then I read the reviews: https://www.trustpilot.co.uk/review/www.plus.net

Generally, lack of customer support, very long phone wait times for support, and serious issues just not being fixed for months.
It's not just trust pilot, ISP review and other places also highlight issues.

Think I'm going to stay away for the moment. I know more people complain over praise, but the numbers of complaints are staggering.

My experience is the complete opposite of what you've seen. Whenever I've raised a ticket re: connection issues, they have responded quickly and sorted my problems out rapidly. When I rang up to say I was moving house, they highlighted that I was on an older, more expensive contract and moved me to a cheaper, unlimited contract. My parents and family have been with them for years and have nothing but good experiences to report.

I agree though; the reviews on trustpilot seem pretty damning...

[shaithis]

why dont you want to be with BT. They have no traffic shaping, no speed restrictions, and their infinity product is great. I get very close to the 78 that they will supply as a maximum. Their customer service though does have a lot to be desired, but i find that most companies are like that.

BT do packet shape, do have speed restrictions and their network seems to be starting to creek and groan a bit in places. I would be very wary of them now that they have shoehorned so many onto the infinity service.

[DanceswithUnix]

I have been with Zen for the past 10 years or so. Their speed, reliably and customer service has been excellent, but as Guy says, they are a bit more expensive.

I guess you need to decide where your priorities lie. If you wanted low price above all other considerations you would have signed up with EE or tiscali by now.

Indeed, Zen are one of the few companies I have only heard good things about and I was tempted to go with them last time I changed (which is years ago now).

I am with Eclipse, and the same applies. Eclipse traffic shape P2P during the daytime on adsl, which I haven't had an issue with but it did make them cheaper than Zen.

The upside? Excellent service, you can have a couple of static IP addresses if you want, you set your reverse DNS address, no port blocking, no restrictions generally on what you can run on your link. Personally I have found them worth the extra money.

If you want an un-metered service, you are probably looking at bundling in the telephone services as well though to get a better deal.

http://www.eclipse.net.uk/home-bundles/pricing

[OilSheikh]

+1 for Plusnet
No Traffic management on fibre that I have noticed. You can log a ticket online on their member portals and you even get texts when updates are made

[Marcos]

So I've just ordered Plusnet

Trying to get the £101 cashback deal via Top CashBack. Hope it works. The whole year should work out ~£110

[Agent]

That cashback certainly does sweeten the deal. Can you have the current offers with it too?

[Marcos]

Nope, doesn't go with the £2.49/mo and £50 cashback deal

I thought about trying it, but I didn't want to risk the TCB not tracking