Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 16 of 44

Thread: QOTW: Are you happy with your broadband provider?

  1. #1
    HEXUS.admin
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Posts
    31,709
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    2,073 times in 719 posts

    QOTW: Are you happy with your broadband provider?

    Let us know who you're with and how you're getting along.
    Read more.

  2. #2
    Missed by us all - RIP old boy spacein_vader's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Darkest Northamptonshire
    Posts
    2,015
    Thanks
    184
    Thanked
    1,086 times in 410 posts
    • spacein_vader's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI B450 Tomahawk Max
      • CPU:
      • Ryzen 5 3600
      • Memory:
      • 2x8GB Patriot Steel DDR4 3600mhz
      • Storage:
      • 1tb Sabrent Rocket NVMe (boot), 500GB Crucial MX100, 1TB Crucial MX200
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Gigabyte Radeon RX5700 Gaming OC
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX 520W modular
      • Case:
      • Fractal Design Meshify C
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • BenQ GW2765, Dell Ultrasharp U2412
      • Internet:
      • Zen Internet

    Re: QOTW: Are you happy with your broadband provider?

    Yes. Zen seem reasonably priced (but not cheapest) with a good online portal, support that understands technical queries and a reliable connection.

    Worlds apart from my previous supplier Origin. Constant drop outs, non existant support and a clunky portal. Cheaper is not always better value.

  3. #3
    Welcome to stampytown! Salazaar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Oxford-ish
    Posts
    4,459
    Thanks
    505
    Thanked
    353 times in 254 posts
    • Salazaar's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asrock B450m Steel Legend
      • CPU:
      • Ryzen 5 3600
      • Graphics card(s):
      • 5700 XT

    Re: QOTW: Are you happy with your broadband provider?

    Yes. I'm with Virgin now, it's not perfect but all the others in my area are based around Openreach copper to the home and regardless of who I was actually with a fault on the line somewhere had reduced my service to less than 1mbps - and this is in a built up area which should otherwise have been capable of some form of 'superfast'.
    ____
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Posts
    3,895
    Thanks
    935
    Thanked
    971 times in 717 posts

    Re: QOTW: Are you happy with your broadband provider?

    Happy enough with the Virgin broadband but not so much with package cost (TV, phone, BB).

    What I'm really not happy with is constant incremental price increases, and I don't just mean the end-of-intro-deal hike. That, I knew of in advance and was expecting.

    What really annoys me is the way it keeps creeping up, when they add new channels that I don't want and then use that to justify a price increase and, after a while, you look at the bill and think how the [naughty-word] did it get that [another naughty word] high?


    Okay, before anyone says it, yes I know, ring and ask for retentions and threaten to leave and, probably, we'll get a price cut.


    My point is that I really, REALLY object to the type of sharp, disreputable (though legal) business practice that relies on customer inertia to gouge that customer and, to my mind, it entirely depends on automatic, on-going payment systems, on "subscriptions" where it renews automatically unless you actively cancel. And it isn't just broadband - everybody is at it, from magazine subscriptions to car breakdown to all forms of insurance.

    Okay, getting a bit off-piste (just fir a change) but you'd think that the billions and billions of pounds banks etc have had to pay over PPI mis-selling would have issued a red-flag to this kind of obnoxious-but-legal practive but it seems not.

    It seems companies like charging us for things we haven't said we want. For example, adding on insurance (yes, Scan, I mean you .... among many others) we haven't asked for, unless we explicitly turn it off, until legislation makes that sort of disreputable practice illegal ... eventually.

    But in the meantime, it leaves a very bad taste in consumer's mouth. It is why I haven't used Scan for years, and why, though the broadband itself is fine, I am starting to get very angry with Virgin over being treated like an idiot.

    So on the vague off-chance that someone senior at Virgin, or my insurance company, or the AA, etc, reads this, I do not want to spend half my spare time looking to see how's gouging me this month. Yes, I know I can ring, moan and get a reduction but I just want a quiet life, not to spend it auditing the latest rip-off wheeze from companies I use regularly.

    So, happy with broadband, sure. Virgin? Nope. Not at all.



    /Here endeth today's rant.

  5. Received thanks from:

    blokeinkent (16-03-2019)

  6. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    2,385
    Thanks
    181
    Thanked
    304 times in 221 posts

    Re: QOTW: Are you happy with your broadband provider?

    I've never had incremental price increases on virgin except for the Retail Price Index increase.

    The only thing that frustrates me about Virgin (and any company that does this badly) is outsourcing to India and let their culture of KPI chasing run wild.

  7. Received thanks from:


  8. #6
    Banned
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Posts
    83
    Thanks
    5
    Thanked
    5 times in 3 posts
    • moshpit's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus TUF X570-Plus(WiFi)
      • CPU:
      • Ryzen 7 5800X
      • Memory:
      • 32Gb (4x8Gb) 3200mhz Corsair Vengeance RGB
      • Storage:
      • Corsair MP600 M.2 500Gb PCIe 4.0, Toshiba X300 6Tb SATA
      • Graphics card(s):
      • PNY RTX 3090 24Gb XLR8 Revel Epic-X
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX850i
      • Case:
      • Corsair Carbide C400
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • Viewsonic XG2703-GS 1440p@165hz IPS Gsync
      • Internet:
      • d-220mbs/u-22mbs

    Re: QOTW: Are you happy with your broadband provider?

    Been on my current ISP for a year and am overall pleased with the service. Speed is consistently higher than advertised by an average of 10% (typical 220-225mbs down for advertised 200mbs) and about same 10% on upload too. Ping is very nicely low in all games and reliability is high with only 2 times in the last year down for a couple hours each time, both times due to weather and understandable.

    Our price hasn't changed at all since signing up last year, so that's been nice too. No data caps on my service. I did have to replace the router the ISP supplied me with with my own because it was kinda a piece of junk that only did the basic job of routing, and couldn't port forward to save it's life. Putting my own router in place worked fine with the ISP service, so that too is a positive.

    Overall nothing negative to say about Spectrum internet and cable, but am on the Time Warner side of it, apparently Spectrum isn't as solid on it's Charter side. Time Warner Spectrum is great, Charter Spectrum not so much, I've heard.

  9. #7
    Almost Ex-HEXUS Staff Jonatron's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    London
    Posts
    705
    Thanks
    48
    Thanked
    272 times in 167 posts

    Re: QOTW: Are you happy with your broadband provider?

    Zen, no problems so far. Had to reboot my router only once in over a year.

  10. #8
    Hooning about Hoonigan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Posts
    2,308
    Thanks
    171
    Thanked
    442 times in 316 posts
    • Hoonigan's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI MEG X570 ACE
      • CPU:
      • AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
      • Memory:
      • 32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB
      • Storage:
      • 2x 2TB Gigabyte NVMe 4.0
      • Graphics card(s):
      • PALIT NVIDIA RTX 3070Ti Gaming Pro
      • PSU:
      • be quiet! Straight Power 11 Platinum 750W
      • Case:
      • Corsair Crystal Series 680X
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 11 x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • Acer Predator Z35P + ASUS ROG PG279Q
      • Internet:
      • Giganet (City Fibre) 900/900

    Re: QOTW: Are you happy with your broadband provider?

    My upload speed has been a little lower over the past couple of weeks, but apart from that, very happy with Virgin Media.


  11. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    1,528
    Thanks
    18
    Thanked
    76 times in 63 posts
    • lodore's system
      • Motherboard:
      • X570 AORUS MASTER
      • CPU:
      • Amd Ryzen 5900x
      • Memory:
      • 32GB DDR4 2666 Mhz
      • Storage:
      • 1TB Gigabyte AORUS 7000s SSD and sandisk 1tb sata 3
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVGA 1080TI 11gb
      • PSU:
      • Ion+ 860W
      • Case:
      • Corsair 4000D AIRFLOW
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 pro 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Iiyama 34inch ultra wide quad HD 144hz and 24inch asus HD
      • Internet:
      • 80Mbps Zen

    Re: QOTW: Are you happy with your broadband provider?

    Quote Originally Posted by Saracen999 View Post
    Happy enough with the Virgin broadband but not so much with package cost (TV, phone, BB).

    What I'm really not happy with is constant incremental price increases, and I don't just mean the end-of-intro-deal hike. That, I knew of in advance and was expecting.

    What really annoys me is the way it keeps creeping up, when they add new channels that I don't want and then use that to justify a price increase and, after a while, you look at the bill and think how the [naughty-word] did it get that [another naughty word] high?


    Okay, before anyone says it, yes I know, ring and ask for retentions and threaten to leave and, probably, we'll get a price cut.


    My point is that I really, REALLY object to the type of sharp, disreputable (though legal) business practice that relies on customer inertia to gouge that customer and, to my mind, it entirely depends on automatic, on-going payment systems, on "subscriptions" where it renews automatically unless you actively cancel. And it isn't just broadband - everybody is at it, from magazine subscriptions to car breakdown to all forms of insurance.

    Okay, getting a bit off-piste (just fir a change) but you'd think that the billions and billions of pounds banks etc have had to pay over PPI mis-selling would have issued a red-flag to this kind of obnoxious-but-legal practive but it seems not.

    It seems companies like charging us for things we haven't said we want. For example, adding on insurance (yes, Scan, I mean you .... among many others) we haven't asked for, unless we explicitly turn it off, until legislation makes that sort of disreputable practice illegal ... eventually.

    But in the meantime, it leaves a very bad taste in consumer's mouth. It is why I haven't used Scan for years, and why, though the broadband itself is fine, I am starting to get very angry with Virgin over being treated like an idiot.

    So on the vague off-chance that someone senior at Virgin, or my insurance company, or the AA, etc, reads this, I do not want to spend half my spare time looking to see how's gouging me this month. Yes, I know I can ring, moan and get a reduction but I just want a quiet life, not to spend it auditing the latest rip-off wheeze from companies I use regularly.

    So, happy with broadband, sure. Virgin? Nope. Not at all.



    /Here endeth today's rant.
    I completely agree with this rant. The default ripoff / Loyality penalty should never been allowed. it started with Car insurance and has spread all over the place.
    My parents had an issue with sky recently. they had a sky + box which was around 9 years ago. I suspect the hard drive was failing as it kept on freezing and being non responsive. all they wanted was a working box with the same channels. Sky wanted to charge them more for a sky q box with less channels. they have been a customer for around 13 years. it cost over £20 for the phone bill just to contact them due to the time he was put on hold.

    I am currently with plusnet and havent had any issues so far. I have been with plusnet before and other than a major outage affecting the whole network i havent had any issues. I could of gone with virgin but i have heard enough had stories about them that i didn't feel the faster speed was worth it espically concidering how often they seem to trottle the speed anyway.

  12. #10
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Skelmersdale
    Posts
    145
    Thanks
    6
    Thanked
    2 times in 1 post
    • mojothejester's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte GA-Z87X-SLI
      • CPU:
      • Intel core i5 4690k @ 4.4ghz
      • Memory:
      • G.Skill Ares 8gb 2133mhz orange
      • Storage:
      • Kingston v300 120gb ssd, Kingston 240gb ssd, hitachi 1tb hdd
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Asus GTX 970 Strix
      • PSU:
      • Be Quiet! Powerzone 1000w Bronze
      • Case:
      • Phanteks Enthoo Pro M titanium green
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 home
      • Monitor(s):
      • Acer 23" 1080p
      • Internet:
      • 80mb/s BT Infinity

    Re: QOTW: Are you happy with your broadband provider?

    Not really. Was on BT infinity then switched to talktalk faster fibre as costs started to spiral with bt. Talktalk connection is poop, cuts off quite regularly, have to reset router at least once a week. My 2 year contract came to an end so thought I'd go back to bt. Says i can get infinity, then at checkout it says i can't have it and tries fobbing me off with standard broadband. So i'm stuck on talktalk now

  13. #11
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Manchester
    Posts
    1,669
    Thanks
    52
    Thanked
    123 times in 100 posts
    • Percy1983's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte x570 Aorus Pro
      • CPU:
      • AMD 5900x + Cooler Master Nepton 140XL
      • Memory:
      • 64GB (4x16GB ) Corsair Vengence 3200mhz @ 3600mhz CL16
      • Storage:
      • 1tb SP US75 Boot + Fast 4tb SP XS70 + Slow Raid 0 4tb (2tbx2) with 100gb NVME cache
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Vega 56 8GB
      • PSU:
      • 875w Thermaltake Toughpower XT
      • Case:
      • Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 11 Pro 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • 24" Acer UHD x2
      • Internet:
      • Vodafone

    Re: QOTW: Are you happy with your broadband provider?

    With talk talk, everything works, nice and cheap, not the fastest but more than fast enough.

  14. #12
    Show Jumper ! Word..
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Plymouth
    Posts
    423
    Thanks
    3
    Thanked
    14 times in 12 posts
    • Andi-C's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus GENE V
      • CPU:
      • i7 3770k under a H110i (4.6)
      • Memory:
      • 16GB (4x4gb) Corsair 1800 DDR3
      • Storage:
      • Samsung 840 Pro 256gb - Sandisk ultra 1T
      • Graphics card(s):
      • MSI Gaming 1080ti
      • PSU:
      • Be Quiet Dark power Pro 850W
      • Case:
      • Corsair D350
      • Operating System:
      • Window 10 pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • SG2716 (2560 x 1440) 144hz
      • Internet:
      • Zen ADSL2+

    Re: QOTW: Are you happy with your broadband provider?

    ADSL with Zen here.

    Started with Sky since moving to our home 7 years ago. I've had issues on my line for the last 2 years, started with increase in speed at the cost of high ping. When asked why my ping had increased & spikes when gaming they said "well you can download faster!". Needless to say that didn't go down very well, the line was investigated by a fat old Openreach engineer who said "you've got a fault under the ground, don't know where. Deal with it".
    To be fair Sky were really good & I had no issues with them asking for the fault to be escalated.

    I decided to try another ISP in Zen after recommendations from other users.
    Next issues were disconnecting randomly, my routers log showed pages of line drops ! After going through the usual internal tests (again & again) they said the failure is external & said basically "deal with it because Openreach won't".

    I've got only 1 month left & my only option is Virgin. Luckily they've just fitted a new fiber optic line so fingers crossed that works.

  15. #13
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Posts
    895
    Thanks
    53
    Thanked
    83 times in 71 posts

    Re: QOTW: Are you happy with your broadband provider?

    Currently with Zen but dissatisfied with their pricing. The rest of the broadband isp technical support must be horrendous as I feel Zen's technical support is overrated. Looking to jump ship to Hyperoptics - get rid of telephone clutter cord.

    I'm in a Virgin cable area but there is no way I'll get their broadband. The dark days of ntl have left its scar on me.

  16. Received thanks from:

    Millennium (15-03-2019)

  17. #14
    OilSheikh
    Guest

    Re: QOTW: Are you happy with your broadband provider?

    Happy with Plusnet Fibre. No downtime. No need to contact support.
    Price is a bit steep £20 for BB and that ever increasing fkn Line rental. Think I paid £13/m last year.

  18. #15
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Wonderful Warwick!
    Posts
    3,919
    Thanks
    4
    Thanked
    183 times in 153 posts

    Re: QOTW: Are you happy with your broadband provider?

    I'm with Virgin and whilst I agree it expensive for the package I actually get what I want. All in pay £100 a month. 2 boxes, telephone line and broadband. Supposed to be on Vivid 200 but actually get around 275 down and 27 up....

    So all in all - expensive but I can justify it when we sit down to watch something like the footy or F1 in 1080p through our projector and surround sound. The missus is disabled (said it before) and recent changes to the pubs and cinemas round here mean it's much better to just sit at home and watch stuff these days
    Old puter - still good enuff till I save some pennies!

  19. #16
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Where you are not
    Posts
    1,330
    Thanks
    606
    Thanked
    103 times in 90 posts
    • Iota's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus Maximus Hero XI
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core i9 9900KF
      • Memory:
      • CMD32GX4M2C3200C16
      • Storage:
      • 1 x 1TB / 3 x 2TB Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVMe
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Nvidia RTX 3090 Founders Edition
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX1200i
      • Case:
      • Corsair Obsidian 500D
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Samsung Odyssey G9
      • Internet:
      • 500Mbps BT FTTH

    Re: QOTW: Are you happy with your broadband provider?

    With Sky, no issues with the service provided aside from it using the poor Openreach network with super slow speeds compared to my old VM connection from years ago. Copper, just wish they'd get rid of it entirely.

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •