chrisjako Posted February 16, 2017 Posted February 16, 2017 We are thinking of moving our internet services away from our LA and going with exa networks we run 2 x 100mb leased lines and a 1gb point to point link between two buildings a mile apart form each other their prices are almost half the cost of our LA! Has anyone use Exa before that can share their experience good or bad?
jonathan.lees Posted February 16, 2017 Posted February 16, 2017 We've used them for over 7 years. The support is fantastic, can't knock it one bit. But we are looking to move away now as their are others with more competitive pricing and also their sales team aren't the best, we've had a couple of issues that's dented our confidence.
MatthewL Posted February 16, 2017 Posted February 16, 2017 Not used them personally but I do come across quite a few places using them and not heard anything bad.
themightymrp Posted February 16, 2017 Posted February 16, 2017 Have used them before at a previous school and had nothing to complain about. The only issue we ever had was with BT who installed the FTTC link to the school. Exa were great 1
localzuk Posted February 16, 2017 Posted February 16, 2017 Using them across our 6 schools. Only issues we've had were Openreach install issues, and a lightning strike frying an FTTC modem. Lines have been great. 1
round2it Posted February 16, 2017 Posted February 16, 2017 we are moving shortly due to LA pulling the plug on Broadband, so far so go they communicate quite well 1
chrisjako Posted February 16, 2017 Author Posted February 16, 2017 We've used them for over 7 years. The support is fantastic, can't knock it one bit. But we are looking to move away now as their are others with more competitive pricing and also their sales team aren't the best, we've had a couple of issues that's dented our confidence. Who else are you looking at? Thing is they seems to be pioneering DarkLight, of which one of my sites is just 50 meters away from the line
chrisjako Posted February 16, 2017 Author Posted February 16, 2017 we are moving shortly due to LA pulling the plug on Broadband, so far so go they communicate quite well Our LA are charging £24k for our three lines, Exa in comparison are just under £12k for a likewise service, but we have to source our own smoothwall boxes
jonathan.lees Posted February 16, 2017 Posted February 16, 2017 Who else are you looking at? Thing is they seems to be pioneering DarkLight, of which one of my sites is just 50 meters away from the line Zen Internet & Wave 9 so far... We're only looking for a single 100mb leased line and FTTC backup. I really can't say anything negative about Exa's network, when we signed up years ago our LA supplied our connection, it was 10MB over fibre at the time and was costing circa £5000pa, but then they changed the pricing and it went up to £18,000! So we pulled out and went with Exa and a couple of FTTC connections for around £5000pa at the time. We've since upgraded to 50mb with burst to 100mb which we've never had any issues but there has been some miscommunication which has cost us hence we are looking elsewhere and coming across better pricing for 100mb leased line.
jonathan.lees Posted February 16, 2017 Posted February 16, 2017 Our LA are charging £24k for our three lines, Exa in comparison are just under £12k for a likewise service, but we have to source our own smoothwall boxes Exa can do web filtering with their free Surf Protect product. I was told last year that in January this year it can your authenticate AD users to filter on a per group basis, but then I was told at Bett that this has been delayed now until April unless you purchase one of their expensive firewalls. That could save you having to purchase smoothwall boxes.
Haptic Posted February 16, 2017 Posted February 16, 2017 We partner with EXA, great bunch - far better experience working with them than some other ISP/Providers. Chris 1
EXA_Mark Posted February 16, 2017 Posted February 16, 2017 Zen Internet & Wave 9 so far... We're only looking for a single 100mb leased line and FTTC backup. I really can't say anything negative about Exa's network, when we signed up years ago our LA supplied our connection, it was 10MB over fibre at the time and was costing circa £5000pa, but then they changed the pricing and it went up to £18,000! So we pulled out and went with Exa and a couple of FTTC connections for around £5000pa at the time. We've since upgraded to 50mb with burst to 100mb which we've never had any issues but there has been some miscommunication which has cost us hence we are looking elsewhere and coming across better pricing for 100mb leased line. Hi Jonathan, Matthew Connor, who has been your account manager since you joined Exa seven years ago has been trying to call you but you are on holiday this week. He has sent you an email, but if you could ring him on our main number 0345 1451234 he can talk you through it. On the matter of pricing, your last contract with Exa was signed nearly two years ago in 2015 and the cost of 100Mbps Fibre (and 1Gbps) has dropped by about 20-30% since then, so of course any quote now compared to what you had in 2015 will be lower, as it would have been if you asked us too. On average a 100Mbps on 100Mbps leased line will be around £4,700 per year. The DarkLight product mentioned is our new Dark Fibre based service (a replacement for standard leased lines), and as a guide, the 1Gbps on DarkLight is less than £6,000 a year, and 100Mbps on DarkLight £3,588 per year, and anyone who can get DarkLight should absolutely, the speed and cost are market leading, by some significant margin. Don't intend this to be a sales pitch, its not, I am trying to show how prices and technology change. Ask the two you've mentioned, Zen and Wave 9 for a quote of 1Gbps on 10Gbps (that is the optic speed we put on by default on DarkLight, but customers can have 40Gbps optics installed if they want and need) and compare that with our sub £6,000 a year price, I think you will find it is a lot cheaper. You have been with us a long time, and as you said the service has been good throughout that time, and prices do change, we'd hope that you get a formal quote from us before you consider moving next year. In the meantime if there is anything I can help with personally do not hesitate to contract me directly.
ShellJSPC Posted February 16, 2017 Posted February 16, 2017 We are an IT provider for Education Establishments in West Sussex with over 300 schools in the West Sussex, Hampshire and Surrey areas. We partnered with Exa approximately 5 years ago and now have over 160 schools using EXA Networks for their broadband and email needs. I cannot fault the pricing - no increases in any of the ADSL, FTTC or lease line prices and they are much cheaper than the LA. Service is second to none, from sales (Matthew Connor is our account manager) , provisioning, accounts and the technical support team. Schools are much happier, better connected, more in control of their filtering needs and saving money. 1
jonathan.lees Posted February 16, 2017 Posted February 16, 2017 You have been with us a long time, and as you said the service has been good throughout that time, and prices do change, we'd hope that you get a formal quote from us before you consider moving next year. In the meantime if there is anything I can help with personally do not hesitate to contract me directly. Thank you Mark for your response and for explaining the pricing. Indeed we have been a customer for a long time and your support and service is second to none. I've been in touch with Matt and that issue has been sorted out now, I'll be back in touch nearer to our renewal date for another quote. 1
EXA_Mark Posted February 16, 2017 Posted February 16, 2017 Thank you Mark for your response and for explaining the pricing. Indeed we have been a customer for a long time and your support and service is second to none. I've been in touch with Matt and that issue has been sorted out now, I'll be back in touch nearer to our renewal date for another quote. Delighted to hear you and Matt have been in touch and issue has been sorted. Of course I hope to be able to refer to you as a customer for many more years to come. As I said earlier though (and this applies to all on Edugeek), if you need to get in touch with me directly you are always welcome to, by PM, email, pop into our Bradford office and of course you are welcome to give me a call too.
karldenton Posted February 16, 2017 Posted February 16, 2017 Used them before at a previous school. Moved from Redstone. Exa were great. Surfprotect was good too. 1
rob_coles Posted February 17, 2017 Posted February 17, 2017 We're using Exa. Much cheaper than our LEA service second to none. We will be looking about for diligence but don't see us moving anywhere 1
jonnykewell1 Posted March 2, 2017 Posted March 2, 2017 Can surfprotect be used on a non exa provided Internet connection? @exa_mark
EXA_Mark Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 Can surfprotect be used on a non exa provided Internet connection? @exa_mark Hi jonnykewell1 Yes, SurfProtect can be used on any ISPs internet connectivity, the only requirement is that the connection has at least one static real world IP address. If I can help with anything else, let me know.
ITGURU Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 We are thinking of moving our internet services away from our LA and going with exa networks we run 2 x 100mb leased lines and a 1gb point to point link between two buildings a mile apart form each other their prices are almost half the cost of our LA! Has anyone use Exa before that can share their experience good or bad? What hardware are you using for your P2P connection
HBPS Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 Hi Chris if you are who i think you are SBSJ and you have a Smoothwall onsite still i'm pretty sure you can keep the device and it will be supported as the devices were paid for for all schools regardless of connection not you stay with the LA. there maybe a charge though for support after the contract ends, were going 100MB leased line with Schools broadband fairly cheap as well. i know mark and Matt pretty well at Exa both good blokes. if you need a chat inbox me 1
chrisjako Posted March 14, 2017 Author Posted March 14, 2017 From the FTTC i'm using a procurve 5400 series switch at each end, the two ports are configured to their own separate vlan which route to the subnet of the opposite site they are on before going out to their own gateway, all I had to do then was configure DHCP on each site to use the core procurve switches as the gateway instead of smoothwall. For three years its been running uninterrupted and serving sims SQL data along with exchange and network shares without any sort of glitch or speed issues
chrisjako Posted March 14, 2017 Author Posted March 14, 2017 From the FTTC i'm using a procurve 5400 series switch at each end, the two ports are configured to their own separate vlan which route to the subnet of the opposite site they are on before going out to their own gateway, all I had to do then was configure DHCP on each site to use the core procurve switches as the gateway instead of smoothwall. For three years its been running uninterrupted and serving sims SQL data along with exchange and network shares without any sort of glitch or speed issues
chrisjako Posted March 14, 2017 Author Posted March 14, 2017 Hi Chris if you are who i think you are SBSJ and you have a Smoothwall onsite still i'm pretty sure you can keep the device and it will be supported as the devices were paid for for all schools regardless of connection not you stay with the LA. there maybe a charge though for support after the contract ends, were going 100MB leased line with Schools broadband fairly cheap as well. i know mark and Matt pretty well at Exa both good blokes. if you need a chat inbox me Yeah they said they can sort us out with smoothwall boxes when the time comes, its set in stone now we are going with Exa for our P2P link in June already handed in notice to Virgin, unfortunately we have another 2 years left on our two internet break out circuits though 1
chrisjako Posted March 14, 2017 Author Posted March 14, 2017 Hi Chris if you are who i think you are SBSJ and you have a Smoothwall onsite still i'm pretty sure you can keep the device and it will be supported as the devices were paid for for all schools regardless of connection not you stay with the LA. there maybe a charge though for support after the contract ends, were going 100MB leased line with Schools broadband fairly cheap as well. i know mark and Matt pretty well at Exa both good blokes. if you need a chat inbox me Yeah they said they can sort us out with smoothwall boxes when the time comes, its set in stone now we are going with Exa for our P2P link in June already handed in notice to Virgin, unfortunately we have another 2 years left on our two internet break out circuits though 1
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now