Fibre provider

[cheesemp]

Just requested my MAC code from BT for my infinity connection as it costs too much with a growing family. Just wondering what people felt about plusnet, talktalk etc.

I've been recommended plusnet and its an ok deal (saving me £10 on BT) however the supplied router is rubbish (no 5Ghz N) so I'm going to have to stump up for a new router (got my eye on tplink AC router for £47 on amazon).

The current talktalk deal is practically giving the fibre connection away for 6 months once cashback is taken into account however I've heard horror stories about their tech support (not that I've called tech support for ADSL/Fibre in 10 years+). They also appear to have a half decent free router at the moment.

Given that cash is quite tight (Wife has just restarted work at less hours following maternity pay which crippled our reserves) I'm just wondering what's best on a tight budget and if I've missed any options (BT and sky are both more expensive).

All we currently use the broadband for is downloading steam games, iplayer and the other usual suspects so a super decent connection isn't a priority - I don't game online since the daughter arrived and I don't see that changing in the 18 month contract time.

[MrJim]

I was with Sky fibre for a year, but changed to Plusnet about 6 months ago. So far I've been very happy with their service. Plusnet do at least make it easy to use another router should you want to; Sky on the other hand, make it hard by fixing your login info into the router they provide, making use of an alternative difficult (though not impossible). If you do go to Plusnet, if might be worth ordering through Quidco if you use it - they have £90 cash back on Plusnet at the moment (they have cash back on a lot of other fibre services too).

[cheesemp]

If you do go to Plusnet, if might be worth ordering through Quidco if you use it - they have £90 cash back on Plusnet at the moment (they have cash back on a lot of other fibre services too).

Annoyingly thats only on the 78Mb service. I can only get 25Mb where I am so I'm on 38Mb service. They are only giving £10 with that and then my father in law won't get a referral bonus which is worth more...

[cheesemp]

For comparison purposes I've worked out cost per month after cashback, phone line, router etc are taken into account:
Talktalk - £26
Plusnet - £31
Bt (was offered this on the phone when getting MAC) - £38

So I guess the question is do I want my own router and better support (plusnet) or a cheaper bill (talktalk).... Keep flip flopping between the two.

[MrJim]

For comparison purposes I've worked out cost per month after cashback, phone line, router etc are taken into account:
Talktalk - £26
Plusnet - £31
Bt (was offered this on the phone when getting MAC) - £38

So I guess the question is do I want my own router and better support (plusnet) or a cheaper bill (talktalk).... Keep flip flopping between the two.

I've heard a lot of bad things about Talktalk, but I was with them for about 4 years & never had a single problem. The only reason I left them was that I could get a cheaper deal elsewhere. But I guess anyone can have problems with any ISP, it seems...

[AETAaAS]

I've heard the nightmare stories about TalkTalk too, so never dared try. I'd too say go with Plusnet. I've been with them on the 38mbps package for a while now and have little to complain about. While you said you don't game much, if you get the inclination at some point; the ping I get is silly. I almost consistently have the lowest ping in the room when playing games like Insurgency even on French servers with French people in it. The speed is consistently above expectations; downloading pegged at 4MBps easily.

They are running a promo at the moment with a sizable discount for the first 6 months (£3.75 + 15.95 line rental) and £35 cashback, which goes some way to eating into the difference with Talktalk.

Have to agree the router is far from impressive. Going into it to change settings is slow and painful. Thankfully, I haven't had to do that at all since getting it. It's fine for me but I don't know what your house setup/use case is.

[abaxas]

Isn't talk talk 2bmps upload?

[Singh400]

Just requested my MAC code from BT for my infinity connection as it costs too much with a growing family.

I was in your position over a year ago, I just rang up BT and said I was moving to PlusNet for the exact same service but at a cheaper price. They gave me a discount to match the difference. Might be worth a try.

[MrNeil]

Really your bound to problems with any provider !! Yes i haver had problems with TT but always come up trumps for me There service is like a bag of pick and mix !
Few weeks ago i had my speed halved so i went online to find a way to solve the problem ..I went on the speak to someone live who made me do one simple test unlike when you ring up and have to go through a wide range of text book cods wallop.. He asked if i will be in next evening to try my line again from which i said yes . They did ring a little late but to cut a long story short they found a possible problem and i got a openreach engineer come out next day and fixed my problem Though they did once cut me off a week early before moving house but i got £20 for that .

If you ask nicely you can get a good package to I did !

[cheesemp]

I was in your position over a year ago, I just rang up BT and said I was moving to PlusNet for the exact same service but at a cheaper price. They gave me a discount to match the difference. Might be worth a try.

Annoyingly they didn't come close - £38 vs £31...

Think i'm going with plusnet. The £35 cashback they are giving will almost cover the new router i've just ordered (a TP link archer AC750) and i know they have good reliablity. Decided I just don't want to risk being one of those customer who get trouble at talktalk and have no internet for a month...

[shaithis]

The problem with TT is that heir equipment is poor and the tech guys either aren't very good or they cba.

I've had to deal with them on behalf of my brother and I do not recommend it! Constant line drops, over and over. Stability was around 1-2 hours, making it impossible for him to game online. They were asking him to do all manor of ridiculous things that were never going to effect his line stability until I got involved.

OTOH, my mother dealt with PlusNET herself and she is a complete technophobic....they even sent her a new router pre-configured for testing.

[cheesemp]

Its been completely decided. Plusnet have just begun offered £80 quidco cashback on top of the £35 cashback they do themselves. That brings it to £23 a month for fibre and phone line. Makes the £38 BT offered look really poor... Will sign up ASAP before the £3.75 a month for 6 months offer ends!

Edit: and done! That was good luck. The £3.75 offer ends tomorrow. Got best of cashback and discount.

[scaryjim]

Its been completely decided. Plusnet have just begun offered £80 quidco cashback on top of the £35 cashback they do themselves. That brings it to £23 a month for fibre and phone line. Makes the £38 BT offered look really poor... Will sign up ASAP before the £3.75 a month for 6 months offer ends!

Edit: and done! That was good luck. The £3.75 offer ends tomorrow. Got best of cashback and discount.

That's a pretty good deal - hope it goes well for you. I was a happy plusnet customer for years, but their service over our last two house moves was pretty appalling, so I've jumped ship. New house is (finally!) in a VM area, so I can have fibre broadband without a phone line and with no involvement from Openreach. Don't know if you checked for VM but quidco have been doing £120 cashback on their broadband-only deals - I still don't think it would've been as cheap as the plusnet deal though, tbh - their prices are the only thing that kept me with them for the last couple of years.

To be fair the service while we were in the property was always good - they've just been really poor when we've tried moving house....

[Flibb]

Plusnet and BT tend to have deals on at different times, maybe because BT own Plusnet. This month Plusnet are cheap, next month it will be BT.

[shaithis]

That's a pretty good deal - hope it goes well for you. I was a happy plusnet customer for years, but their service over our last two house moves was pretty appalling, so I've jumped ship. New house is (finally!) in a VM area, so I can have fibre broadband without a phone line and with no involvement from Openreach. Don't know if you checked for VM but quidco have been doing £120 cashback on their broadband-only deals - I still don't think it would've been as cheap as the plusnet deal though, tbh - their prices are the only thing that kept me with them for the last couple of years.

To be fair the service while we were in the property was always good - they've just been really poor when we've tried moving house....

The problem I found when recently pricing things up was that VM prices have jumped up by roughly the price of BT line rental.....

Comparing BB for my mothers house and there was only a couple of quid between a VM line without phone and a comparable line from elsewhere with the prerequisite phone-line. This never used to be the case. Seems VM are taking advantage of the phone-line prices to boost the price they can charge rather then using them as a means to make their prices look more attractive.

[Singh400]

Annoyingly they didn't come close - £38 vs £31...

Think i'm going with plusnet. The £35 cashback they are giving will almost cover the new router i've just ordered (a TP link archer AC750) and i know they have good reliablity. Decided I just don't want to risk being one of those customer who get trouble at talktalk and have no internet for a month...

Did you go through to the retentions department? Go straight for the options to leave, and when they ask why you are leaving. "You are too expensive. X is Y amount cheaper".

Edit* Please do report back with your PlusNet experience. I will not hesitate to move if BT Infinity begin jacking their prices.