Consensus on best Fibre Optic Provider/Package?

[sansnom]

Been shopping around for a couple of days now and it seems there's horror stories about every provider.

This will be my first time upgrading to Fibre Optic from a 2mb broadband connection and I can't figure out what's what.

At the moment I'm leaning towards Zen even though it's more expensive it seems to be the only truly solid provider but with a 50GB cap which should be plenty in a month.

That being said, I have 3 sky boxes at home, and landline is with BT. Is there anything I should be aware of? Or is there any truly number 1, no BS, provider? Don't care if it's slightly more expensive i.e. Zen

 

[KIA]

Zen. Pick one of the unlimited packages.

http://www.zen.co.uk/business/broadband/fibre-optic-broadband.aspx#2

 

[sansnom]

My only concern with Zen is that the Router provided appears to be getting a lot of negative feedback.

If you look at this for example it seems to confirm the negative feedback im seeing on other places on the net.

http://www.choose.net/media/guide/faqs/best-fibre-broadband.html

 

[MissChief]

As they all use Openreach equipment up to the exchange it often comes down to price and 'unlimitedness'. Actual backbone can also affect it as well, especially at peak times.

 

[Bluecube]

I've just moved to Plusnet and am very happy with them. Cheap, unlimited, rock solid service. I was looking at Zen but found them too expensive and the 50Gb limit was too low - I currently go through around 400Gb a month!

 

[#Chri5#]

My only concern with Zen is that the Router provided appears to be getting a lot of negative feedback.

If you look at this for example it seems to confirm the negative feedback im seeing on other places on the net.

http://www.choose.net/media/guide/faqs/best-fibre-broadband.html

Don't pay for the TG582n then - get an Asus N series from OCUK eg N56U

 

[sansnom]

Don't pay for the TG582n then - get an Asus N series from OCUK eg N56U

Apparently you have no choice but to go with what they offer as they will charge you for it regardless and if anything happens to go wrong it's just another reason for them to blame it on "unauthorized hardware"

 

[kitfit1]

Apparently you have no choice but to go with what they offer as they will charge you for it regardless and if anything happens to go wrong it's just another reason for them to blame it on "unauthorized hardware"

I have no idea who would have told you that you have no choice, but it is completely wrong. I'm with Zen and using an Asus RT-N56U. I simply chose not to purchase any of the routers that Zen offered and use my own. There was no charge imposed on me, if there had of been i would have cancelled the whole deal there and then lol.
I have the Unlimited Fibre 2 Package @ £25pm, plus my phone line is now with them as well. I have been with Zen over 7 years, previously on ADSL, and have rarely had any issues. There backbone is one of the best, if not the best in the business and customer service is easily the best of any UK isp.

 

[starfighter]

If you want the best. Zen.

 

[Azraeluk]

I currently use TalkTalk's Fibre Large and scrapped the supplied router before the openreach engineer had his tools back in his van. Swapped in a ASUS N66u and its never skipped a beat.

Essentially all fibre providers are just reselling openreach's infinity product so it comes down to how much "cap" they give you before they charge. TT's service for me is unlimited and I have no issues in either upload or download speeds.

The downside is the support is overseas unless you use the talktalk members forum which is UK based but not an "instant" fix. If you are network savvy you can usually work out if its a TT problem an openreach problem - Its usually Openreach.

 

[sansnom]

I currently use TalkTalk's Fibre Large and scrapped the supplied router before the openreach engineer had his tools back in his van. Swapped in a ASUS N66u and its never skipped a beat.
.

Out of curiosity, wouldn't you need something that was a Modem+Router to be able to scrap whatever they provide you with? BT Infinity for example gives the Home Hub 5 which is DSL+Router.

I have the Asus N66u as well but I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a modem in it so you would have to connect that to a modem which connected to the line, no?

 

[bremen1874]

If you ask for it Openreach should still provide you with a discrete modem.

 

[KIA]

Apparently you have no choice but to go with what they offer as they will charge you for it regardless and if anything happens to go wrong it's just another reason for them to blame it on "unauthorized hardware"

Nonsense.

 

[Azraeluk]

Openreach mount a box inside your house that's the VDSL modem, the only way to bypass this is to get a VDSL all-in-one router but they are quite scarce and expensive and I have heard people have mixed results at getting them to work as some of the OR boxes are quite locked down and require hardware modes to get the account details from.

I have short run of cat6 from my wall mounted OR modem to the WAN port of the n66u and it works a charm. I didn't have to do any configuration or anything though I have heard that might not be the case with some providers.

Even with BT Infinity direct from BT they still mount the OR box on the wall as the HH5 is still just an ADSL modem.

 

[bremen1874]

Even with BT Infinity direct from BT they still mount the OR box on the wall as the HH5 is still just an ADSL modem.

True for the HH4, but not the HH5.

 

[Azraeluk]

I was unaware of this and it seems they have added full gigabit to all switch ports to.

 

[sansnom]

I was unaware of this and it seems they have added full gigabit to all switch ports to.

Yea but apparently it's not too great a piece of kit. Range issues and possibly port forwarding.

 

[86JR]

Zen is the best I concluded. Mine is unlimited, nothing is blocked (no more "this site is blocked by MPAA/RIAA etc that I had one TalkTalk all the time), it doesn't seem throttled, they have their own network (which does not stretch to cornwall so I can't comment on that) as well as BT's, they give you a free dialup so you can get online if your fibre fails, their customer support is legendary, and when I signed up it was cheaper than everywhere else too!

They offer 4 routers, I just went for a Netgear which has been fine, don't need to upgrade to an ASUS. My ping in BF4 hovers around 13 compared to 33 on talktalk (albeit ADSL talktalk) etc.

I just finished downloading around 20GB in the time it took to watch Olympus Has Fallen.

 

[86JR]

Openreach mount a box inside your house that's the VDSL modem, the only way to bypass this is to get a VDSL all-in-one router but they are quite scarce and expensive and I have heard people have mixed results at getting them to work as some of the OR boxes are quite locked down and require hardware modes to get the account details from.

I have short run of cat6 from my wall mounted OR modem to the WAN port of the n66u and it works a charm. I didn't have to do any configuration or anything though I have heard that might not be the case with some providers.

Even with BT Infinity direct from BT they still mount the OR box on the wall as the HH5 is still just an ADSL modem.

Kelly Communications did my install, they didn't mount the box they just left it under the sofa along with the router, lol.

 

[ci_newman]

Yea but apparently it's not too great a piece of kit. Range issues and possibly port forwarding.

I have a HH5 at home now and it works fine, wireless stability appears to be much better than my old HH4 and the wireless 802.11ac works a treat.

I'm glad to be rid of the OR modem and just using a single device again! I can see my line sync speeds without dicking around in hidden menus / systems.