Home Broadband Recommendations Please :)

[Bananas]

It could be your connection that's crappy rather than just the ISP. Can you get your line stats out of your router at all? Really need to see downstream line attenuation and SNR margin then can have a look at what can be done.

 

IF you have a ropey line and most ISPs dont want to know these guys are well worth considering, not the cheapest but the support is second to none they will literally hound BT until issues get fixed.

 

AAISP - Home

 

I've gone back to BT now to save money but they are the best ISP i've ever dealt with, their MD even blogged about my issues some years ago when my throughput was woeful turns out they had 400 homes on a 10Mbps VP and according to BT there was NO contention on their network eventually they issued 6 month lead time as ALL the VPs in the exchange were running hot and they needed to install and additional DSLAM (what a waste of money with WBC/21cn/FTTC around the corner) in the end they got it cut to a few weeks as it was unusable most of the time even for simple browsing.

 

I've since come to the conclusion that BTW have NO network monitoring equipment in place and are relying on ISPs to fault find and prove the contention is inside the BT network, it's an utter farce

Edited May 14, 2014 by Bananas

[MatthewL]

BT are shocking to the point where they disconnected my line when moving it over to 21CN. PlusNet are really helpful and can test lines etc with them been part of BT but at a distance. Although I am quite clued up on our local exchange and common faults on it I can often tell PlusNet what is needed now when I have minor faults, generally its down to BT. Even get to know BT engineers now, got 2 broadband ones based around here which come out.

[Ant]

Have to echo what @glennda said earlier on. Although more expensive than the competition, I can thoroughly recommend Zen.

 

I've been with them for a number of years now and their customer service, reliability and performance have been second to none.

 

I now use them for phone as well as Internet. I'm still on ADSL, but as the performance has been consistently good, I haven't felt the need to move over to their Fibre package yet.

 

Edited to add: We have had a few faults on the BT line in the past and Zen were very quick and efficient at getting BT to fix it. No trying to get hold of anyone at BT. An example; reported an issue to Zen on a Friday afternoon and by Saturday morning a BT van was outside with an engineer sorting it out. Don't think I'd get that service even if I was a BT customer.

Edited May 14, 2014 by Ant

[StevieM]

Update: Been on to Virgin this evening and told them I was paying too much for broadband. First, they offered me a 50Mbs connection for £24.50 (I'm currently on 30Mbps for £26.15), but I stuck to my guns. I was then put through to customer relations who offered me £19 for my current speed. That'll do for me!!

 

One thing Virgin does have in its favour is customer service. I always find them very friendly and down-to-earth. I ended up chatting with the girl for about 20 minutes about how much we both hate British Gas!

 

I know this is no help to you @abillybob, but it may be useful for others browsing the thread.

[abillybob]

Update: Been on to Virgin this evening and told them I was paying too much for broadband. First, they offered me a 50Mbs connection for £24.50 (I'm currently on 30Mbps for £26.15), but I stuck to my guns. I was then put through to customer relations who offered me £19 for my current speed. That'll do for me!!

 

One thing Virgin does have in its favour is customer service. I always find them very friendly and down-to-earth. I ended up chatting with the girl for about 20 minutes about how much we both hate British Gas!

 

I know this is no help to you @abillybob, but it may be useful for others browsing the thread.

 

Well at least you got a better outcome from virgin, they do sound good to me but they are one of the most expensive, plus I don't have fibre where I am if I did Virgin would definetley be top of my list anyway!

 

Cheers @StevieM

[Zoom7000]

I got a recent retentions deals from Virgin Media which I posted here.

 

My contract just expired and I managed to get myself what I think is a pretty decent retentions deal. Here's what I was paying:

 

£38.49/Month (First 6 Months Broadband was half price)

60Mb Broadband (Was gonna be boosted to 100Mb in July)

Basic Telephone (Weekends Free)

SuperHub 1

18 Month Contract

 

I called to cancel and they offered me:

 

£26/Month

100Mb Broadband

Basic Telephone (Weekends Free)

SuperHub 2 (Free)

12 Month Contract

 

I refused and gave them my 30 day notice. They called me back 2 days later and offered me:

 

£21/Month (+ 1 Month Free - Effective: £19.25/Month)

100Mb Broadband

Basic Telephone (Weekends Free)

SuperHub 2 (Free)

12 Month Contract

 

But I negotiated harder, because I wanted the 152Mb, they initially offered it for £26/Month, but I wanted no more than £23/Month, so I persisted and settled for:

 

£25/Month (+ 1 Month Free - Effective: £22.91/Month)

152Mb Broadband

Basic Telephone (Weekends Free)

SuperHub 2 (Free)

12 Month Contract

 

Not interested in TV and the telephone I only use for incoming calls. I have been with them 19 months now and I have to say the service has been flawless so far compared to issues I suffered constantly when I was with Be (bethere.co.uk) previously. I know the SuperDud was a bit of a joke, but I just got delivery of my new SuperHub 2 today, so hopefully that will give me better wireless performance.

 

Prior to joining VM, I was with Be and paying nearly £35/Month for 9Mbps & BT phone line. Moved over to VM and got 60Mbps and telephone for £34, with the broadband half price for the first 6 months. If I couldn't get VM, I'd probably look at a Sky Fibre Unlimited deal.