Waddya think?

[floppybootstomp]

I've been fuffing and faffing about changing my ISP for a coupla years now but think I've finally found a package almost as good that will save me money.

With Plusnet. Their fibre broadband service has come to my area.

Details:

Current:

ISP: Zen
Monthly contract
100Gb bandwidth allowance
2Gb webspace
4Mb d/ speed
512Kb u/l speed
Excellent helpline
Unlimited e-mail addresses
£35.74 pcm
BT Phone line on average £45 a quarter

Total aprox monthly cost: £50

Proposed:

ISP: Plusnet
Package includes phone line rental
18 Month contract
120Gb Bandwidth allowance
No webspace
32Mb d/l speed
u/l speed unknown
Unknown helpline but it's an 08 number, Zen's is not
Unknown number of e-mail addresses but definitely at least a few

Broadband and phone cost monthly: £28.48

So, most important thing, I save about £21 a month.

I'll lose my web space so I'll need somehere to store my pix, maybe I could use that Flckr thing you all use but can you link to them to display pix in forums? If not I'll have to find a coupla gig of space to rent, didn't one of those Linux distros offer some free web space?

I don't like 18 month contract but I've been with Zen over eight years on a one month contract so - as long as Plusnet are ok - I'd probably stay with them anyway.

I have the bother of letting lots of people know a new e-mail address but I've been changing all contacts over to my gmail address anyway so not a biggie.

I get another 20Gb bandwidth a month.

Plusnet chatline fella assured me they do not throttle but they offered this 'Plus' package for another fiver guaranteeing low ping for gamers so I'm wary. Surely 32Mb d/l speed would give me a good ping?

I can keep my old landline telephone number.

So: Plusnet any good and what do you think?

 

[Ian]

Looks like win-win to me! Much cheaper and faster .

They get mixed reviews on review sites (i.e. http://www.dslzoneuk.net/isp_ratings.php), but I've heard positive things about them. That's a heck of a saving per month, so I'd go for it!

 

[V_R]

I have been looking at doing just the same thing for the last few weeks flops.

In fact i very nearly ordered FTTC this afternoon. From ADSL24. I have my MAC code ready and waiting, but want to be sure before i leave Be as they have been very good.

What does the checker here say?
http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/adslchecker.welcome

Also, this spreadsheet is a good way to check out the other providers if your interested.


What router are you looking at? Do Plusnet give you one? Remember your ADSL one wont work, you need a 'cable' router.

This one is a firm favourite, and a bargain at the price, i may well try it myself.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Checker says Greenwich exchange can supply 32.9Mbs download and 8.2Mbs upload on fibre cable broadband.

The router is a Thomson wireless with 4 ethernet ports, may have been a g75, can't remember offhand. It's not quite free, they want a fiver postage for it. Good point about my current router not being compatible.

According to that spreadsheet the Plusnet 120Gb bandwidth broadband package on it's own is £22.49 which would mean adding the phone line rental of £13.00 would make monthly cost £35.50. Will have to go back to Plusnet site and check cost again, I think they (or me) may have made a mistake. Still, that's still a saving of £15.00 a month which on my current pricing more or less equates to a 'free' phone line rental.

I'm not sure which other services (ISP's) are available from my exchange (Greenwich). may have to investigate.

Ian: Zen @ #7, Plusnet @ # 19 in that graph. Hmm.

 

[V_R]

Ah i've just taken a look at their site, looks ike they supply a Netgear WRN1000 a decent router. The Thomson one your looking at is for their ADSL/ADSL2+ service, the 585v7 (what Be supplies, again a nice router, though i dont use it with my be connection)

Yeah best to check with the providers site, that sheet does get updated, but is meant as a guide only.

If you can get the fibre service, you can use any of the fibre providers, they all use BTs 'FTTC' network. Infinity if your on BT.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Doesn't surprise me, I gleaned most of my info from a live chat guy who really didn't seem to know what he was talking about, mostly just quoted company bumpf at me, the pillock. He was the one, when I asked what router I'd get, told me the Thomson. He was also unaware there were different pricing systems for different areas which their main site goes at great pains to point out. Didn't exactly inspire confidence, lol

Whatever, I think I'll get a better deal out of this, will request MAC code tomorrow.

 

[V_R]

lol, heres the page i looked at if your interested...
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/hardware/index.shtml

Think i may bite the bullet and order it tomorrow too, didn't do it today as the install date would have been Friday 13th!

 

[TriplexDread]

Ouch I could DL 120gig in less than a week if I needed and not get charged for it

Bandwidth capping is a thing of the past and should not be integrated into BB packages nowadays.

 

[V_R]

Indeed, but what about a fup? Traffic shaping/throttling? Aint you on VM?

Also on the package Flops is looking at it says this....

Even better, any usage between midnight and 8am won't count towards your monthly allowance. You can view your usage on-line at any time. If you go over your allowance it's not a problem. You'll just pay an extra £5 per 5GB.

My ADSL24 package i'm looking at is 30gb a month peak (8am-midnight) and unlimited off peak (midnight-8am and all weekend)

One of the reasons i'm thinking carefully before i leave Be, totally un throttled without a fup. Win

 

[Taffycat]

In fact i very nearly ordered FTTC this afternoon. From ADSL24. I have my MAC code ready and waiting, but want to be sure before i leave Be as they have been very good.

This is our internet provider, and yesterday I had a surprise phonecall from one of the guys. It was to let me know that they were allocating a new internet address, to subscribers on certain packages. He was asking my permission, before making the change.

I was hardly going to refuse, of course, but still thought it was very decent of them to contact us.

"Downtime" took all of 2 or 3 seconds. Nothing else was changing, so I probably would not even have noticed it for a while.

I know you have made your choices Flopps and V_R, but felt this company was worthy of a wee vote from a happy customer.

 

[V_R]

Well, i went to have another look last night, and as i decided that i aint actually superstitious and that i dont care its Friday the 13th for my install....

So i ended up ordering the Fibre 30 Pro package from ADSL24.

Will keep you posted....

 

[floppybootstomp]

I can't see a better package from ADSL24 than what Plusnet are offering, higher prices, less bandwidth allowance and no integrated phone line/Broadband packages

http://adsl24.co.uk/broadband/fibre/

 

[floppybootstomp]

Ok, here's the eventual correct price I arrived at:

£16.50 a month less and more bandwidth, inc unlimited d/l overnight. Makes sense to me I just hope they don't throttle.

I'm not sure how smooth the changeover between Plus net and BT and Zen will be but am requesting finish date and MAC code from Zen today. I shall phone Plusnet and ask them about my ending contract with BT, as BT are their parent company I would imagine I won't need to do anything. We shall see.

More I think about that online 'expert' I spoke to yesterday at Plusnet he didn't have a clue, I hope this doesn't reflect the whole company

 

[V_R]

I can't see a better package from ADSL24 than what Plusnet are offering, higher prices, less bandwidth allowance and no integrated phone line/Broadband packages

http://adsl24.co.uk/broadband/fibre/

For me its personal preference, i know and trust ADSL24, dont really want to be tied to an 18 Month contract and dont want my upload capped at 2mb.

 

[TriplexDread]

Ya I am on VM but i'd rather be throtttled during busy hours than have a restriction as to how much I can DL a week/month

What if I wanted to stream via Skyplayer (which I do)
Movies
Docu
Kids programs
Normal pc browsing and gaming etc all takes up bandwidth
Im not limited to it

I pay £21 pm for 10mb no extra charge for phone lines etc and probably upgrading to 30mb next couple months aswell. No hassle with calling different services for subscriptions to telephone line or what not!

 

[V_R]

Ouch I could DL 120gig in less than a week if I needed and not get charged for it

Not the way they throttle you you couldn't.

For every 750mb they drop you to 2.5mb for 5 hours. No thank you, not for me.

http://shop.virginmedia.com/help/traffic-management/traffic-management-policy.html


I've said it before, VM in most places, including round here, are massively oversubscribed. Meaning low speeds and high pings at peak times.

If i was to go with VM it would be the 50/100mb service. (different back end network, not congested)


The ADSL24 package is fine for my needs, its actually the same kind of thing i was on before i moved to Be.

I can DL what and how much i like all weekend and not be throttled at all. Not P2P/Newsgroups, File sharing or other.

In the evenings i wont need to worry about the 30gb, NAS has BT client if i really need it.

 

[floppybootstomp]

For me its personal preference, i know and trust ADSL24, dont really want to be tied to an 18 Month contract and dont want my upload capped at 2mb.

I can understand that, very much so.

I'm still hesitant about switching, Zen have been brilliant for 8 years.

Still, I save 15 quid a month, get a lot more bandwidth especially if I d/l overnight and my speed will be greatly increased. No brainer, really.

Only thing that really worries me is 18 month contract cos if the service does turn out to be bad, I'm lumbered.

Could always buy my way out of the contract I suppose, and if things were that bad, I would.

I shall do this thing - *deep breath*

 

[V_R]

Ok, so my install date has been confirmed as the 17th, though thats the one day i may not be able to get off work.... :/

Typical....!

 

[floppybootstomp]

So change the install date - simple

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've just spoken to the people at Zen (Tonya) and she asked me why I wanted to leave as I'd been with them over eight years. So I explained.

So she offered me ADSL2 for the same price as I have now for loyalty and a phone line for 11.52 a month.

That still works out to around £47.50 a month though which is 14 quid more than the Plusnet package.

And I'd need an ADSL2 router but that's not really a biggie.

ADSL2 will get me around 10-12Mb download speed and a much faster upload speed apparently. I'm currently on 4Mb d/l and 512K u/l.

But:

I know Zen, they've been good in the 8 years I've been with them.
If I stayed with Zen I'm getting a free upgrade and I'll still save £3.50 a month on my current monthly invoices.
I'll still have a monthly contract
I'll keep my 2Gb web space.
I have a domain name registered with Zen as well.
I've no idea what Plusnet will be like and it's an 18 month contract.
Zen's helpline is good and it's free, so far people at Plusnet haven't known what they're talking about.
In the graph at that ADSL UK site Zen are # 8 and Plusnet are # 19.
Tonya had a lovely voice and was friendly and persuasive (nice Yorkshire accent as well).
The Zen MD has long hair and plays guitar in a band.

She said Zen couldn't offer the Plusnet package at that price and make a profit as they're completely independent and Plusnet are subsidised by BT, their owners.

Decisions, decisions, much wringing of hands.

Better the devil you know?

 

[V_R]

Thats a great deal and ADSL2 means you wont need to do to much messing about.

What router do you have at the mo? If its not an ADSL2+ i highly recommend the Netgear DG834GT with DGTeam firmware.

Can get them off the bay for about 20-30 quid and they are rock solid. and the DGT Firmware is miles better than the stock Netgear one.

ADSL2 upload will be about 1-1.3mb for you flops.

I know Zen, they've been good in the 8 years I've been with them.
If I stayed with Zen I'm getting a free upgrade and I'll still save £3.50 a month on my current monthly invoices.
I'll still have a monthly contract
I'll keep my 2Gb web space.
I have a domain name registered with Zen as well.
I've no idea what Plusnet will be like and it's an 18 month contract.
Zen's helpline is good and it's free, so far people at Plusnet haven't known what they're talking about.
In the graph at that ADSL UK site Zen are # 8 and Plusnet are # 19.
Tonya had a lovely voice and was friendly and persuasive (nice Yorkshire accent as well).
The Zen MD has long hair and plays guitar in a band.

Some very good reasons to stay tbh. Not being in a 18 month contract would do it for me.

She said Zen couldn't offer the Plusnet package at that price and make a profit as they're completely independent and Plusnet are subsidised by BT, their owners.

Hmmm, interesting, didn't know that...


I guess you need to ask yourself if you really need the FTTC speeds.....

Tough call Flops.