Broadband supplier

[peterb]

Ive been with Zen for years - good but expensive.

I'm looking at reducing my connectivity costs and considering Plusnet or Vodafone (I have vodafone as my mobile service provider)

Anyone got experience of either of those ISPs that they care to share, either the service itself and/or their customer service.

Use will be streaming, web browsing and e mail, no on-line gaming.

[g8ina]

Do you have Virgin in your area, Ive been with em for ten years and had no probs.

[peterb]

Do you have Virgin in your area, Ive been with em for ten years and had no probs.

I have, but I don't want or need their TV packages - but I do need a static IP address and I think they charge for that.

[MrJim]

I've been with Plusnet in the past, and had no problems. They are one of the few ISPs these days that don't have a problem with you using your own router (looking at you, Sky!). I'm not actually with Plusnet now though, because once my contract was up, they refused point-blank to give me another contract at the same price as their new customers, so I voted with my wallet and went to another ISP instead. If you use Quidco or similar company, you can get some good cashback deals when you change ISP, so there is that incentive to keep moving once your contract is up.

[Ttaskmaster]

I'm also a Voda phone user.
Clueless fluppets won't stop badgering me about how they can save me money on superfast broadband at only £17.99... Thing is, I took their challenge and went through their setup tests. Turns out not only are they unable to supply me with superfast broadband, but they cannot even do better than BT and the eventual cost will actually be the same £75 BT are charging!!

I've done this four times now, purely for a laugh, but they're still sending me all the marketing gumph.
I'm not sure I'd want a company like that taking on ISP duties...!

[outwar6010]

Another recommend for plusnet. They have been great with few hiccups.

[Butcher]

I have, but I don't want or need their TV packages - but I do need a static IP address and I think they charge for that.

VM only offer static on their business packages it seems. £45 a month for the cheapest static IP option package which is 350/15 mbps.

https://www.virginmediabusiness.co.u...tile_voomfibre

[Hoonigan]

I was just about to suggest the above ^
I'm currently contemplating a business connection when we move house, especially with their 500/35 network coming soon.
Their top-tier package is £65 and comes with a 32GB Virgin Media sim card as well.

However, be aware, they're a 24 month contract and I can't find any information about pricing after that.

Having asked around my friends, Plusnet seem to be ok, until you need support, then they're atrocious. Vodafone seem the best bet for cheap and cheerful broadband.

[Giraffe]

For about 3 - 4 yeras I've been with Direct Save Telecom. I was, for some reason getting away from T***T*** (historical - series of takeovers, not my fault, 'onest guv).
Decided to give a smaller company a go, partly because my exchange was LLU only for the above not-mentioned ISP. As I'd suspected, as DST could offer LLU prices, it uses TT's servers and so all of my e-mail addresses still work.
I'm on copper only and getting the full sync. speed for where I am. There were a few early problems but they were sorted out pdq. Support has a strong regional accent - eventually I realised that it's English!

[jimborae]

Another Voda ISP customer here. Wish I could recommend them but I can't. Speed varies wildly, I'm paying for upto 76Mb/s but never get more than 52Mb/s. Usually it's around 30-35Mb/s but at peak times it's been down to 3 or less Mb/s. When I was with BT I had a rock steady 68Mb/s day in day out.

Frontline customer service is a joke, just Indian call centres reading from a script and until not that long ago you had to use their router but that policy has been dropped.

I will be leaving and going with Virgin Media or back to BT as soon as my contract is up.

[peterb]

Looking like Plusnet at the moment then!

Thank you everyone for their input so far.

[Zak33]

you know youre gonna rue the day, don't you?

you know it's gonna bite you on the butt, don't you?

Imminent rue-age

you cant get good for cheap. It doesn't work like that....as soon as it breaks.. you will rue the day.

[peterb]

I might, but it’s the difference £860 a year and £300 a year - and that covers a lot of rue-age!

And the line will be the same - both provisioned by Openreach as mine exchange has limited third party providers.

[DanceswithUnix]

I might, but it’s the difference £860 a year and £300 a year - and that covers a lot of rue-age!

And the line will be the same - both provisioned by Openreach as mine exchange has limited third party providers.

My you have been with Zen a long time. Have you tried phoning them up and asking for a new contract on modern pricing, because that sounds like more than they currently charge for their 350/50Mbps G.fast service. Annoying that you have to check every few years rather than getting an automatic drop in cost, but I've yet to come across anyone who does that

[peterb]

I had a new contract last year when I moved my landline phone to them.

Might be worth seeing what I can get,

I do have a block of 8 IP addresses (free when I started with them) which I don’t really need now - a single static would be fine with a bit of nifty port forwarding.

Need to reconsider land line service - with unlimited minutes on my mobile, do I need to pay for calls from the landline? Probably not, it’s just habit!

[DanceswithUnix]

I had a new contract last year when I moved my landline phone to them.

Might be worth seeing what I can get,

I do have a block of 8 IP addresses (free when I started with them) which I don’t really need now - a single static would be fine with a bit of nifty port forwarding.

Need to reconsider land line service - with unlimited minutes on my mobile, do I need to pay for calls from the landline? Probably not, it’s just habit!

I found that the best deals always seem to bundle the landline, so expect to get a cheaper rate if you include that.

From a quick Google, your 8 address block is probably costing you £100 per year. If you had to get a business setup that probably adds a bit, I'm on standard consumer tariff.