Fibre here but who to chose

Fibre is here but who to go with, I am with BT now with 4 years mainly trouble free service but I was looking at 500 down but BT not offering it at the minute only 300. Other providers are offering 500 at a cheaper price but not sure i would get same service as I get with BT. I could get 1gig with other providers at same price as i am paying BT now but that might be overkill for me,

In reply to a post by merrymouse:

Fibre is here but who to go with, I am with BT now with 4 years mainly trouble free service but I was looking at 500 down but BT not offering it at the minute only 300. Other providers are offering 500 at a cheaper price but not sure i would get same service as I get with BT. I could get 1gig with other providers at same price as i am paying BT now but that might be overkill for me,

I'm not sure BT's service is necessarily any better than other providers. Depends which ones and what package.

What does the right side show when you put your postcode here:
https://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/postcode-search

Check out Plusnet if you don't need them for voice.

Vodafone: Good pricing, good product (reliable, consistent), the worst technical support known to humankind.

Watch our for caps on some of the smaller operators. This may not bother you if you don't use much data, but just be aware.

Aquiss: good service, 12 month contract, first 6 months half price, no automatic price rise at end of contract. But you have to provide your own router.

BT's network is fine, their customer service reputedly is variable.

Talktalk's network is fine, but they are vying with Vodafone for the prize of worst customer service.

At least you've not having to deal with Virgin Media.

If you really want to go with BT, and you really can't live with 300M, then you can wait a while. Most likely they're only offering 300M because of limited capacity from BT Wholesale at your head-end exchange, and it will get upgraded in due course. EDIT: don't forget that with BT special offers come along quite frequently, including cashback, so you need to time it right. But equally remember that there are price rises baked into the contract period.

Edited by candlerb (Thu 27-Jun-24 17:39:50)

Thanks for all the advice its made my mind up for me. I think 300 is plenty fast enough for me. I do a fair amount of downloading so Vodofone does not sound so good. I do use my own router so Aquiss would not be a problem. Not keeping phone line as will be transfering number to sipgate so plusnet would be ok too. I will be staying on BT but ordering as a new customer and keeping FTTC till fibre up and running and phone number transfered. If anything i have said does not seem the right way to go please say as advice is always welcome.

One thing that I don't believe BT can offer is a static IPv4 address as you must have their business tier to get this, so if this is important to you, you may want to take this into consideration.

In reply to a post by candlerb:

BT's network is fine, their customer service reputedly is variable.

That is the most diplomatic/charitable description I have heard for a while. [and no, I don't want to work with them at all, but accountants/buyers seem to soil their undergarments at the idea of any alternative so they infest my life professionally despite my best efforts]