|
|
|
Hi everyone
I hope I've got the right forum.
I'm currently with BT fibre option 2 with anytime calls, there hasn't been any issues at all with them but I would like to move somewhere with better customer service just in case there are any issues, I've been looking around and it seems like a choice between these:
Plusnet (I'm aware they are still part of BT)
Zen
Both companies offer completely unlimited unthrottled fibre which is what I'm after and both offer anytime calls which I'm also interested in. The difference in price is huge though and I'm wondering if it's worth it.
I should note that my fibre speed is slow (around 22mbps) due to exchange distance so I'm looking at the 38mbps with both providers.
Currently I pay £50.89 a month to BT
Zen for a 12 month contract comes out at £52.90 a month.
Plusnet is only £28.30 a month (all my workings out are below)...are Zen that much better, or should I just snap up that Plusnet offer now?
I should note that I do work from home so downtime or problems with migration would be a real problem for me!
Thanks very much for any opinions given, I've given my workings out below (hopefully they're correct!):
BT - out of contract
Rental - £15.99
Caller Display - £1.75
Fibre inc - £27.67
Calling Plan Unlimited Evening and Weekend Plan
Broadband BT Infinity Option 2
Anytime calls add-on £5.48
= £50.89 a month currently
Zen 12 month contract
Rental - £15.99 per month - (191.88 over 12 months)
£30 activation
£27 fibre (324)
Any time calls £6.51 (78.12)
Caller display £.90 (10.80)
= £634.80 / 12 = £52.90
Plus Net 18 month contract
Rental - £15.99 per month - free for first six months (191.88)
£14.99 fibre (269.82)
Any time calls £5.00 (90)
Caller display £.99 (17.82)
=569.52 - 50 cashback = 519.52
*additinal* £10.10 topcashback = 509.42 / 18 = £28.30 a month for 18 months on average.
|
|
|
Not sure where you got the information from, but a quick look HERE shows Zen line rental can be had for £11.22 (inc. VAT).
I'm with Zen for BB, and would recommend them for that (BT for phone).
ZeN Office
Fritz!Box 3390
|
|
|
|
Sky Line Rental £16.40
Sky fibre 40/10 £20
Sky Unlimited Talk, (UK and virtually worldwide) £5
|
|
Register (or login) on our website and you will not see this ad.
|
|
|
Unfortunately that price seems only to be available for Phone-only, or Phone + ADSLx.
The Phone-FTTC bundles are shown on this page.
My broadband basic info/help site - www.robertos.me.uk | Domains,site and mail hosting - Tsohost.
Connection - Plusnet UnLim Fibre (FTTC). Sync ~ 56.4/14.5Mbps @ 600m. - IPv4 BQM IPv6 BQM
"Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly." - G K Chesterton.
|
|
|
I should note that my fibre speed is slow (around 22mbps) due to exchange distance so I'm looking at the 38mbps with both providers.
Cabinet distance, not exchange distance, in case you were not aware. I am happy to recommend Plusnet, very few issues in the years I have been with them and good support when occasionally needed.
Kevin
plusnet Unlimited Fibre - sync approx 60000/20000 at 450m - BQM
Using OpenDNS
Domains and web hosting with TSOHOST
|
|
|
I can't comment on PN, I have had experience of BT and VM (cable) and to be honest leaving Zen was the worst thing I ever did, I couldn't watch iPlayer/stream anything between 4pm and midnight on either - Zen totally different story, I have the Roku streaming and I downloaded a Win 10 ISO last night without issue, did a speedtest too:
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results.html...
Also, my ping graph:
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ping/share/2ee121e5180...
Honestly can't fault Zen, I can torrent / download / stream at full speed whenever I want.
|
|
|
|
I moved from Sky ADSL to Plusnet fibre a week ago today. Used over 1.2TB in that week and haven't had any issues loading any sites or playing any games. Youtube and everything loads instantly. Hope this helps.
|
|
|
You're absolutely right, I stand corrected 
ZeN Office
Fritz!Box 3390
|
|
|
I would go with sky
they have fairly good customer service IMO
zen are always pretty good i would stay away from budget providers if you want good service
i've had pretty bad experiences from plusnet.
BT where bad also but cost nearly the same as sky.
SKY FTTC - 40/10
|
|
|
|
I moved to Plusnet about 10 months ago, migration was fine, service has been fine since. customer support still sounds a bit iffy at times in terms of phone waits/tickets responses etc. (though better than it was). But I've never had to contact them so no direct experience. (I think I've only ever once had to contact an ISP's support in the 9 1/2 years we've been in this house anyway)
|
|
|
I've been with Sky FTTC for nearly two years (after a horribly tough installation experience ruined by BT).
They've been absolutely fantastic, it only went down two or three times since.
My only complaint is their awful router. I'd like to use my own. I'm moving soon and considering PlusNet, but might still stick with Sky since they seem like a better deal. PlusNet charge an obnoxious £16 for line rental even if you don't use the phone for anything.
|
|
|
you can use your own router for fibre
its a bit tricky though.
SKY FTTC - 40/10
|
|
|
£16 for line line rental even if you don't use the phone for anything If you don't use your line then I can only assume you are on VM or using mobile broadband otherwise you are using your phone line to connect to the internet. Note It is LINE RENTAL not the phone service which is perhaps just 50p, the rest is for supplying and maintaining the line, the buildings, pay staff, etc.
Sky Line Rental is currently advertised as being £16.50pm which on the face of it appears to be more than PlusNet.
|
|
|
IDnet offers basic line rental for £10/month.
|
|
|
IDnet offers basic line rental for £10/month. Why the reply to me? I was simply pointing out that line rental via Sky is a similar cost per month as when taken from PlusNet.
|
|
|
IDnet offers basic line rental for £10/month.
And your point is?
ID Net's £10 is the ex vat price, £12 inc VAT - and no inclusive calls. add evening and weekend calls and it's £15. so a whole 95p cheaper
And you seem to be with Sky, whose line rental is similar to Plusnets IIRC
Cheapest line rental with Plusnet is Line Rental Saver, paid up front a year in advance - £12.99 equivalent, no inclusive calls. So not that different from Plusnet again although only a one month contracts.
Of course ID Net's broadband is much more expensive for any decent amount of download
|
|
|
Of the two I only know PN but my experience of them over the last year has been great. The service works, consistent speed 24/7. I've heard that support can be a bit tricky to deal with but I've never had to talk to them so wouldn't know. Very impressed actually - the first ISP where I've never even felt the need to join their support forums.
---
Andrue Cope
Brackley, UK
|
|
|
I should note that I do work from home so downtime or problems with migration would be a real problem for me! IMHO I'd go with ZEN as their support -if things go wrong- will be superior.
|
|
|
|
I've been with PN for 6 or 7 years now, always found them very good. They sorted out all sorts of problems with my ADSL connection, and since I switched to FTTC a couple of years ago I've had no problems at all. I have both phone and BB with them on an unlimited package, and although other ISPs may be fractionally cheaper I think it is always worth paying for something you know is reliable.
|
|
|
I use IDNet at the office, and there's no need for anything other than the line for FTTC. Same thing at home, but I took up Sky Fibre Unlimited Pro simply because I was happy with my Sky TV service + customer service and wanted unlimited and unthrottled connection since VM had me very annoyed with their throttling and appalling CS.
I'm just saying, it would be nice if Zen/Plusnet offered line rental without any calls included for those of us that don't need them.
|
|
|
it would be nice if Zen/Plusnet offered line rental without any calls included for those of us that don't need them. Plusnet Line Rental Saver includes no calls
|
|
|
....and since I switched to FTTC a couple of years ago I've had no problems at all...
I think you will find that for all FTTC ISP's, which makes comparisons regarding CS a mute point.
|
|
|
I recently moved to Plusnet and have been very happy. I'm on their 40/20; our line can manage just over 70 down but not worth £5 a month extra for us, but having the 20 upload is. Only Plusnet offer 40/20 as far as I am aware.
Migration went almost completely smoothly; on the day of the move I did need to prod Plusnet to do whatever was needed for their part of the changeover. I called their service then and again about three days ago when neighbouring tree work brought down our telephone line. Both times answered in about 10 mins, not perfect but not too bad. Both times they dealt with the issue quickly and efficiently. I did consider Zen as well, but the extra cost wasn't worth it for me.
On the broken line, Openreach came out the next day, and replaced a lot of our downcable as well as the broken line; I wasn't in but my wife says they were really helpful. That part would have been the same whatever ISP I guess.
--
Recently moved from BT Infinity 2 to PlusNet. Very happy so far.
|
|
|
I should note that I do work from home so downtime or problems with migration would be a real problem for me! IMHO I'd go with ZEN as their support -if things go wrong- will be superior.
I think if I was working from home, and the connection was important to that, I'd probably look at some sort of business package with better support.
|
|
|
|
A couple of weeks ago I came back from holiday on a Friday night to find my phone dead. After performing the usual tests I E-mailed the Sky Help Centre on the Saturday. They called me on my mobile on the Sunday and arranged an OR visit for Tuesday am. By 11am Tuesday the problem was fixed!
|
|
|
|
Thank you everyone for your replies to this thread.
I still haven't made a decisive decision, but you input has been much appreciated!
I'm not going to go with Sky which was mentioned and after reading on these forums I have been a bit more concerned with Plusnet as there seems to be quite an amount of negative comments.
However there also is on the Zen section of the forum, I guess it's the old cliche of people don't comment if everything just works as it should.
I am heartened to see that there seems to be quite a few replies on here by Plusnet representatives so I think that's a good thing if problems aren't being fixed quickly so with that coupled with their significantly lower price at the moment I am leaning towards them I think.
|
|
|
There are a few recurrent negative posters, not all of whom have been on Plusnet for several years past. Things have changed a lot, as at one time they wouldn't even have got on my short-list.
I moved from O2 LLU to IDNet FTTC, for the reassurance of their reputation. After a year I was happy FTTC was not having problems on my line, (there are copper problems between the cabinet and exchange and I was worried they may get through the filters at the cabinet), and moved to Plusnet in February 2012, saving myself a considerable amount per month.
Really happy.
The majority of complaints seem to be about waiting times on the phone, and slow ticket response. Not about the CS received once contact is made. The CS forum reps are very good and can make things happen. Since a reorganisation a few months ago using the Community Forums can be quicker than here, as understandably those are more actively monitored.
I think this comparison, especially the CS one, speaks more than the forum complaints. AAISP of course are tops in this selection, but I have to say my (slight) experience of IDNet and Plusnet CS is that I have found Plusnet try harder and get results. Roll your cursor over the graph bars to see how many votes are there for each ISP.
My broadband basic info/help site - www.robertos.me.uk | Domains,site and mail hosting - Tsohost.
Connection - Plusnet UnLim Fibre (FTTC). Sync ~ 56.4/14.5Mbps @ 600m. - IPv4 BQM IPv6 BQM
"Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly." - G K Chesterton.
|
|
|
Thank you for your detailed reply, that's absolutely excellent and has made my mind up, I'm going with Plusnet.
I had completely forgotten about the TBB CS graphs, such as useful feature, thank you for linking to them.
It used to be a problem of course that if the internet went down there was no way of accessing forums but using smartphones has removed that problem so it's good to know the forums are regularly replied to, I'm quite excited to make the switch now...and slightly nervous in cases there are any hitches...
Thanks again for you help.
|
|
|
Good luck, I hope it goes as smoothly for you as it did for me (or even smoother).
--
Recently moved from BT Infinity 2 to PlusNet. Very happy so far.
|
|
|
|
Thank you, I'm hoping so!
The sign up online was very easy...I'm just waiting for the MAC code from BT now...apparently it's mostly sent instantly but I've been waiting a few hours for it now.
They said it can take up to seven days (I assume in extreme circumstances) so hopefully it'll arrive soon, I'm out of contract and up to date with the bills so there's no reason why not...*gulp*
|
|
|
Alas that side didn't go so smoothly for me.
BT sent a bill after the broadband had been transferred with another complete month charged where there should have been a (very small) rebate for time already paid.
When I rang they said their should be a final bill within 14 days of switch of the telephone (a couple of weeks after switch of the broadband), which there hasn't been.
Apparently I'm due next BT bill in a couple of days, so O'll see if that corrects everything; though I rather fear it won't.
If you do contact BT to confirm that you are transferring and give notice (asking for a MAC does not necessarily constitute notice), make sure you do NOT use the word cancel. They can misinterpret that and cancel the entire line, which is then the start of a long nightmare.
--
Recently moved from BT Infinity 2 to PlusNet. Very happy so far.
|
|
|
|
Eek! That sounds like an absolute nightmare...cancelling the entire line, that's incompetence of the highest order, hope it goes smoothly.
I'm doing exactly the same as you, moving from Infinity to Plusnet, do you remember how long it took to receive your MAC?
|
|
|
My MAC took pretty much the full 5 working days that is the OFCOM requirement.
Because of cashback deal timing, I ordered Plusnet before the MAC arrived, and added the MAC online later. On suggestions from other posters I then rang Plusnet a day or so later to make sure the online adding the MAC had triggered the next stage in their process. It hadn't. My experience with both that and the broadband reconnection on the day is that Plusnet 'automatic' processes don't always work; but that when you ring you get a helpful and informed person who resolves the issue. (That's why I put ' or even smoother' in my comment above.)
--
Recently moved from BT Infinity 2 to PlusNet. Very happy so far.
Edited by StephenTodd (Tue 11-Nov-14 17:29:19)
|
|
|
I'm really glad you've posted so I can anticipate these problems in advance, thanks very much!
I guess the MAC will take the best part of a week then to squeeze some more cash out of us before they let us go!
I'll definitely ring Plusnet when I do get the code through.
Thanks again.
|
Pages in this thread: 
Print Thread
PhotoFiend
