Recommendations for ISP?

[george1979]

Hi all,

So my 12 months with Plusnet is almost up and I'm looking around for options. I haven't been too impressed by them as I've had a technician out twice due to an unreliable connection, slow speeds and so on. Not to mention it takes 45 minutes on average to get thru to them, in my experience.

I saw an offer on topcashback for EE broadband - £136.50 cash back and about £18 a month incl line rental, which seems good. After cashback though that works out at about £7 a month which immediately gets my BS sense tingling as I'm thinking there must be a catch. Are they really poor? Do any of my fellow Hexites have any experience of them?

Also, other than EE, are there any other companies you'd recommend? I can't get Virgin (who I despise with a passion anyway) or Fibre in my area at the moment.

[MrRockliffe]

Zen offer the best customer service and internet in the opinion of many. However they have a monthly cap of 500GB (if that's an issue).

I recommend them based on the fact I've never heard anything bad about them.

[watercooled]

Are you in an LLU-enabled area? If not, you're likely to end up with pretty much the same thing, connection-wise (unless congestion is the issue - see below). Although different companies might offer better tech support, but for the most part Openreach are still the ones going to be sorting local issues.

If you're LLU, you might get slightly different connection stats but I wouldn't expect any huge differences unless, again, congestion is to blame.

Are you noticing the slow speeds particularly at peak times, i.e. mostly evenings/weekends, or do you have consistently poor speeds? If it's the former, then moving ISP might help depending on LLU/BTW and where the congestion lies.

[wilsonian]

If you're LLU, you might get slightly different connection stats but I wouldn't expect any huge differences unless, again, congestion is to blame.

This is what alot of people don't really understand. If you change providers chances are all your changing is the way billing, customer service and data throughput is handled. Not the physical line to your house (I'm not saying it doesn't but Open Reach don't change "D sides" that often).

[Zak33]

Zen dont cap all their options.

And they don't shape traffic either

you get what you pay for and I pay for Zen

[george1979]

This is what alot of people don't really understand. If you change providers chances are all your changing is the way billing, customer service and data throughput is handled. Not the physical line to your house (I'm not saying it doesn't but Open Reach don't change "D sides" that often).

No I understand that it's still the same line and Openreach would be the ones fixing it. That was fairly evident the two times Openreach have been out already!

The main issue is that its not been the most reliable and getting thru to them is like pulling teeth. There are also some billing issues I've had with them as well.

It may be less hassle just to stay with them but I'm considering options.

Had a look at Zen, they are a bit pricey for what you get. Especially when you consider that you pay for activation, and the same router I currently get free.

If I was able to get fibre I'd definitely consider them but for regular broadband I just don't see the value.

[Leftfield_2k2]

Happy BT fibre customer here, great speed although in the rare event of having an issue they are a nightmare to get it sorted!! (touch wood it's been rock solid for the last couple of years :-/ )

[Brutos]

Sorry to hear about your woes with plusnet i have been with them since december and its been the best connection i had since o2 broadband. Had to move from sky fibre since they had terrible congestion issues in my exchanged. I guess it all depends on experience and your specific connection as if you have a bad line chances are whoever you go with you will have the same issues