Looking for a new ISP

j.col · 13 Feb 2021 at 09:05

My contract is nearly up with Virgin and i want to jump ship.
Even though i am on 100mb, the quality of the connection seems poor to me.

Currently i can get

BT 50-69mb 31.99 24 months
Plusnet 66mb 24.99 18 months
Talktalk 66mb 24.00 18 months

BT, i used these before and was very good, my only concern is the 24 month contract.
Also anyone know if i will get their new Hub?

Plusnet, not sure about these, opinions are welcome.

TalkTalk, same as above, also there are loads of horror stories about their customer service, is this still the same?

Deleted member 77746 · 13 Feb 2021 at 10:30

Zen Internet, in 6 years it's been great.

You pay for what you get, plus you can choose between 12 months, 18 months and 24 months contracts depends what package you chose.

j.col · 13 Feb 2021 at 11:05

Just had a look at Zen, bit pricier than the rest, are they worth it?

57-76mb, £34.99 + £20 setup and 12 month contract

alexp999 · 13 Feb 2021 at 11:24

Another vote for Zen, been with them nearly 3 years.

Unless you are in a City Fibre area, you are stuck using the Openreach infrastructure between your home and the exchange (or their nearest POP), but I find I never get the evening slow downs anymore. The connection always maxes out what my line can support.

Plus you get static IP (great for remoting in away from home, punching holes in firewalls of friends/family or online servers, etc.) You can also get a static IPV6 block at no extra cost.

And they have a lifetime price guarantee, so whatever the price of the broadband when you sign up, it will never increase. They even let me reduce it when they reduced it after I joined.

Also, while not quite to the commitments of AAISP, they don't block anything on the internet and don't have any traffic management policies.

You are free to use your own router, although the one they send you is pretty good. I'm using it but with OpenWRT for Cake SQM and a separate modem and AP.

Deleted member 77746 · 13 Feb 2021 at 11:31

j.col said:
Just had a look at Zen, bit pricier than the rest, are they worth it?

Personally they are worth it.

ChrisD. · 13 Feb 2021 at 11:55

I’ve used Sky, Zen and PlusNet. The only difference I’ve ever noticed is that with PlusNet I have more money each month. Whenever I’ve had to speak to them they’ve been fine to deal with.

Buffalo2102 · 13 Feb 2021 at 21:53

I'm with Zen and would recommend them but I previously spent several happy years with Plusnet so if the extra pennies concern you I would choose Plusnet.

!bluetonic! · 14 Feb 2021 at 08:09

Another vote for Zen.

However, we will soon have the option of FTTP with Gigaclear.

Deleted member 77746 · 14 Feb 2021 at 10:20

!bluetonic! said:
Another vote for Zen.

However, we will soon have the option of FTTP with Gigaclear.

Not where I am. :mad:

Pretty cheap though.

!bluetonic! · 14 Feb 2021 at 11:22

To be honest, I get rock solid 80 Mbps internet with FTTC and there's no complaints. I've got a few Fritzboxes which I've set up in a mesh.

With Gigaclear, it's up to 900 Mbps. Our village has been dug up with a go live date if late spring, early summer this year.

Deleted member 77746 · 14 Feb 2021 at 11:40

!bluetonic! said:
To be honest, I get rock solid 80 Mbps internet with FTTC and there's no complaints.

Same here, no complaints at all. I'm a bit dubious moving to faster net as I know a few people who initially had stability issues with g.fast. I would need pure FTTP to move to the next one up I think.

Haven't really done much research into it. Happy with 80/20 at present though.

!bluetonic! · 14 Feb 2021 at 12:09

Bouton Aide said:
Same here, no complaints at all. I'm a bit dubious moving to faster net as I know a few people who initially had stability issues with g.fast. I would need pure FTTP to move to the next one up I think.

Haven't really done much research into it. Happy with 80/20 at present though.

But then my current speed may be the equivalent of dial-up compared to FTTP connectivity.

Deleted member 77746 · 14 Feb 2021 at 12:13

!bluetonic! said:
But then my current speed may be the equivalent of dial-up compared to FTTP connectivity.

indeed.

lltfdaniel · 14 Feb 2021 at 12:29

Another vote for zen here.

Buffalo2102 · 14 Feb 2021 at 14:13

My Zen Gfast has been rock solid 300/48.5 for the 6 months I've had it.

MissChief · 14 Feb 2021 at 14:29

Buffalo2102 said:
My Zen Gfast has been rock solid 300/48.5 for the 6 months I've had it.

G.Fast is no longer being rolled out.

I have a discount available for Sky Broadband, £23pm?