Help With Provider Choice.

Hi, I am after some advice. I currently have FTTC broadband with IDNet and it's been excellent for the whole.
But times are changing and I have FTTP coming to my house this year. But I am split who to go with?
I currently have a pre-order with Gigaclear as they seemed good and are rolling out FTTP in my area. However I have read that it's difficult to get decent prices after the initial 18 months and they can be quite high after. Over £80 a month for 900mbps.

I also have Wessex Internet building in my area but they charge full price and only offer 350mbps then go to 900mbps and are very expensive. But they may offer better customer service?

And one I've recently seen is Squirrel Internet, I've never heard of them, they use Gigaclear's network and they seem to be a bit more technical in their approach which I like. I want IPV6 and I have confirmed Wessex Internet support this, I don't think Gigaclear do, but Squirrel Internet does, it even states it on its website.

Has anyone had any experience with these companies? Is Squirrel Internet a bit like IDNet in its approach? It's cheaper than Wessex Internet too. To be honest I'd rather go with someone who won't increase prices, IDNet never have done, I pay a bit more first but don't need to call up and renegotiate any pricing.

And to add currently Openreach have no plans to install FTTP in my village. So I can't go with IDNet for fibre.

Thanks.

This is a link to Squirrel Internet:

http://www.squirrel.uk.net/#home

I have had a Gigaclear 1GPS service for nearly 8 years. The max data rate is about 940 Mbps down or up but is limited by contention. The price rose slightly after about the first year but it has since stayed the same. They have since introduced lower speed options at a lower price. The service I have is no longer available to request.

The customer service has been OK on the few times I have needed to contact them.

My alternative is 1.2 Mbps ADSL!

AFAICT if and when Openreach provide FTTP where I live, I would not want to use them as the service would cost more for a comparable speed.

Thanks, when you say the price went up a bit how much? I see they increase it mid contract. But I've read that the discount you get as a new customer is very difficult to keep after the 18 months?

In 2015 when the service was installed I paid £38.80 pm
In 2016 I paid £39.90 pm
And ever since I have paid £41.30 pm
I could just pay £25 pm for 500 Mbps.

Recent Speed test result.

Edited by Michael_Chare (Sat 04-Mar-23 23:40:25)

That's good pricing. Does Gigaclear support IPV6?

Just confirmed that gigaclear do not currently support IPV6, think I'll cancel my order with them in that case. Look at Squirrel internet.

Why do you want IPV6?

Firstly because it's 2023 and every provider should be supporting it, considering that officially they have now ran out of IPV4 addresses globally.
So secondly it'll reduce any future potential problems.
And thirdly Xbox is built on the IPV6 networking platform since Xbox one:

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/10/video-m...

So it runs better on IPV6. I am looking more into Squirrel Internet and will cancel my Gigaclear order, it still uses their network anyway.

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

Why do you want IPV6?

For most new fibre ISPs there is no IPv4 ... all CGNAT, so without IPv6 there is no inbound!

Interesting, so how does Gigaclear get away without using IPV6? Does CGNAT have a translation layer? How does it work?

The majority of services will fall back to IPv4 if IPv6 isn't available.

The hill I will die on is that an ISP selling you a CGNAT IPv4 service with no IPv6 isn't providing you with an internet connection, they're selling you web access at best, and it should be priced accordingly. If you launch an ISP/altnet today and you have no IPv6 from day one I am going to assume all your network engineers are incompetent, and avoid you.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

Why do you want IPV6?

For most new fibre ISPs there is no IPv4 ... all CGNAT, so without IPv6 there is no inbound!

What I know is that my Gigaclear connection has a public IP address. I don't know what Gigaclear do in other parts of the country. It would be easy to ask them. It appears that I could use Squirrel. I would then get both a public IPV4 and a IPV6 addrees, but it would be more expensive.

Thanks for that, it makes sense, I have looked further and I have been advised that Wessex Internet support IPV6 despite the terms and conditions on there website setting they do not currently, I have requested further confirmation on this.

So far Squirrel Internet are the only ones who state you get an IPV6 address from them, but they are an 18 month contract and I've never heard of them. There pricing is very good though, they claim not to increase it mid term and promise to offer good rates at the end, but, they also state the following:

The advertised speeds are available to at least 50% of customers, at peak time via a wired ethernet connection.
All products have a minimum guaranteed download speed of 50% of the advertised speed.


Would you say that means they have a high contention ratio?

Edited by markyr74 (Mon 06-Mar-23 23:01:03)

In reply to a post by markyr74:

Interesting, so how does Gigaclear get away without using IPV6? Does CGNAT have a translation layer? How does it work?

The vast majority of services create an outgoing connection that then is used to receive data (so you web browser will create an outgoing connection to a web server and the returning data will come back via that connection). With CGNAT if you wanted to have your own web server that is accessible via the Internet then you couldn't as people wouldn't be able to connect to it (you need your own IP address to do that) but the vast majority of what the "average" person does at home will work with CGNAT (mobile carriers generally use CGNAT).

In reply to a post by markyr74:

Interesting, so how does Gigaclear get away without using IPV6? Does CGNAT have a translation layer? How does it work?

The part of the Gigaclear network that I use must have enough public IP addresses. No CGNAT or IPV6.

Well Gigaclear are about to go live in my area, Wessex Internet have pulled out due to ‘competition’, or because they can’t compete on pricing. So I am split between Gigaclear and Squirrel Internet, anyone want to offer any further advice as to which one to go for?