Sadly looking for new provider

I�ve been with AAISP for almost five years. I can�t rate them too highly. Simply the best�! It�s therefore with a heavy heart that I have to look for a new provider.

At the moment, I�m paying £25 per month for 100 gigs on ADSL 2+. Over the last couple of years, my Internet use has changed. I use more bandwidth in general. I also download data that takes ages on DSL. The new offering from AA is a steal for £60 per month http://aa.net.uk/news-2016-terabyte.html but there�s no way I can afford it. To upgrade my 100 gig allowance to 80/20 fibre with AA would cost £40 per month. It�s steep and in these dodgy financial times I need something slightly cheaper with more bandwidth for my pound.

I�m thinking about the Unlimited Fibre 2 option from Zen�minus phone line�at £35.40:
https://www.zen.co.uk/home-office/broadband/fibre-op...

Opinions on this service would be most welcome but I�m open to ideas.

My only �must have� is a UK call-centre.

Thanks for any tips

Does that £25 include line rental? If not, who is it with?

Have you picked up that the Zen package you are thinking of is £35.40pm if you have line rental elsewhere? With most phone suppliers that ends you up well over £50pm.

What speed is your ADSL? I'm wondering if the AAISP Home::1 40/10 would suit - i.e. would that be a big jump from ADSL or only less than double? What is your FTTC speed estimate anyway?

How close to breaking the 100GB are you, as the AAISP £40 is still that. The 40/10 gives a few quid to play with to take it to 200GB.

Do you need landline PSTN phone service? Bear in mind the AAISP 1TB inludes the line, but no phone service. (VOIP available from them or anyone on it at low cost).

Other suppliers - Pulse8broadband is becoming popular on these forums at £44 unlimited 80/20 including line rental and PSTN service. No call package but calls are ridiculously cheap.

Others to look at, though depending on the package you choose from them they may be unlimited or week-daytime allowance and overnight unlimited are (alphabetically): Aquiss; uno; vivaciti. All with low cost line rental and calls like Pulse8broadband.

Edited by RobertoS (Fri 15-Jan-16 11:19:13)

My £25 does not include line rental. I rent from BT. My mother co-owns our home and will not shift elsewhere. It�s a big factor when I look at the providers you list. Many thanks.

The Zen package I looked at for £35.40 was without the phone line.

My ADSL sync is about 17 M. I ought to get near 80/20 in my patch of the woods.

Yes, the 40 mbps offering from ADSL is only £35 but I�m currently using 60-75 gigs, which doesn�t leave much room for heftier downloads. I don�t have a few extra quid to play around with and would not be keen to pay for additional bandwidth on what is now a slow fibre package.

If the 80/20 from AA was just a little cheaper or gave a few more gigs I wouldn�t consider looking elsewhere.

Edited by ARD (Fri 15-Jan-16 11:54:13)

In reply to a post by ARD:

My £25 does not include line rental. I rent from BT. My mother co-owns our home and will not shift elsewhere.

BT Infinity would be the obvious choice.

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

In reply to a post by ARD:

My £25 does not include line rental. I rent from BT. My mother co-owns our home and will not shift elsewhere.

BT Infinity would be the obvious choice.

Doesn't meet the only requirement given:

My only �must have� is a UK call-centre.

They do on the number I use

You may also want to consider going direct with TalkTalk Business. They're currently offering half price on their ADSL2+ offering and they use a Warrington call centre, with many of their support staff being ex-Zen. You should be able to keep your BT line but you need to speak to them to over the phone though chances are they won't offer you the same bb price if you took line rental from them as well.

If "cheapness" is a prime consideration, followed by a UK call centre, then Plusnet ought to come into consideration.

They'll do an unlimited 80/20 package for £22.50 when you don't also get the phone service through them. And provided you live in an Ofcom "market A " area.

Of course, it comes with something of a penalty, in that you'll have to put up with delays when using their support phone service. Issues there have been long-standing, and can be seen in the PN forum on this site. I have no problems with them operationally - but when I need support, I usually prefer to go via their own forum.

The extra £££ you spend on other services, such as AA, Zen etc, goes to make support better. If cheapness becomes a critical factor for you, then it might just be better to take a hit on support, and accept the extra pain only if and when you need it.

If you did change to PN, the the "route of least pain" that I'd recommend would be that you migrate first to their ADSL broadband-only service, then upgrade to the unlimited-fibre service. You could step via the intermediate 40/2 (not 40/10) service for £17.50 to see if that fit your needs.

In reply to a post by ARD:

My only �must have� is a UK call-centre.

You pays your money and takes your choices... are you expecting problems? Otherwise BT is an obvious choice - works for me.

You say increased usage is your main concern. Then why not leave your line where it is to keep Mum happy, then just stick to ADSL2+, but with someone unlimited. Pulse8 XL home unlimited ADSL2+ is £19 (Cheaper than Zen). You would save £6, go up to unlimited, would not be tied-in to a contract (Unlike Plusnet) and would gain good customer service.

Edited by professor973 (Fri 15-Jan-16 13:11:33)