Hey!Broadband Home Worker, worth the extra?

Currently my only option for FTTP is Hey!Broadband and I have been hearing bad things regarding support, use of CGNAT, poor latency due to going via Spain! ETC.

If I go with them, a static IP would be a must, but my main question is regarding their "Home Worker" option, it costs much more and in my book you get what you pay for. So with that in mind, is it worth the higher cost? Anyone have any experience of it and does it fix any of the problems of the standard "Home" user option?

Many Thanks!

I don't have it, but just read the blurb.

You'd need the "pro" contract to get a static IP, and the 1 day SLA is for "response" only. That said, getting a response from their support has become increasingly unlikely over time.

For a home worker, I'd want an SLA for a fix, not a response.

There's no difference between the connection supplied as far as I can tell, so you'd only be paying more for someone to acknowledge an issue.

That being said, it's not really "that" much more monthly.

Thanks for the response Andy, I'm really not sure if I should go for Hey Broadband at all, been waiting for ages for FTTP, but hearing too many horror stories, same reason I have left Virgin gigabit alone, which is also available,
BT laying fibre near me seems along way off.

I wouldn't write them off completely - teething issues are to be expected, and cables get damaged etc.

If I were in your shoes, I'd order the home product from Hey!, and either a backup VDSL service from another ISP, or a 4/5G solution.

On the whole I'm pretty happy with my connection, more so with the price!

You can get 900 with Zen for £40 with static ipv4 and V6. Hey seem expensive

In reply to a post by wiggsc00:

You can get 900 with Zen for £40 with static ipv4 and V6. Hey seem expensive

Sadly not, as BT have yet to install any FTTP in my area, so far only HeyBroadband is available as they lay their own cables apparently.

In reply to a post by wiggsc00:

You can get 900 with Zen for £40 with static ipv4 and V6. Hey seem expensive

I think that pricing only applies if they're using CityFibre to get to you. On Openreach the price shows as £55.

In reply to a post by Pink3rton:

In reply to a post by wiggsc00:

You can get 900 with Zen for £40 with static ipv4 and V6. Hey seem expensive

Sadly not, as BT have yet to install any FTTP in my area, so far only HeyBroadband is available as they lay their own cables apparently.

This isn't strictly correct. It's not HeyBroadband who lay their own cables, but Fibre & Wireless. They have quite a few partners who you might be able to take a service with -- not just Hey!Broadband.

In reply to a post by behuk:

In reply to a post by Pink3rton:

In reply to a post by wiggsc00:

You can get 900 with Zen for £40 with static ipv4 and V6. Hey seem expensive

Sadly not, as BT have yet to install any FTTP in my area, so far only HeyBroadband is available as they lay their own cables apparently.

This isn't strictly correct. It's not HeyBroadband who lay their own cables, but Fibre & Wireless. They have quite a few partners who you might be able to take a service with -- not just Hey!Broadband.

Yeah, I realise its F&W, Sadly Community fibre isnt available, not sure who else to try?

Thanks for the heads up behuk, looking on the F&W site I can see other ISPs, some which are showing up as available.
https://fwnetworks.co.uk/partner-with-us/current-par...

Best recommendation out of this lot?

Why do you feel you need a static IP? It's only going to really benefit if you are self-hosting services. Are you sure you don't mean a public IP? You'll get one of those at no extra charge on request. Last time I asked, they will add a static IP to the 'Home' package for £5/month extra.

The benefits of having a Home Worker option really revolve around the '1 day SLA'. I would ask them to confirm what the SLA is for. If it's time to first response, that's good for physical issues but less so for service issues. If it's time to resolution then it might be worth it for you if you depend on your connection for work. As an alternative a VDSL or cellular connection as a backup might be more cost effective. Plusnet were £20/month last time I checked.

HB! are a young ISP but they are beginning to mature. Their network is run from Spain and whilst some traffic takes some bizarre routes sometimes (looking at you AWS), they don't route all traffic through Spain.

Edited by nofappingway (Thu 25-Jan-24 11:27:38)

In reply to a post by nofappingway:

Why do you feel you need a static IP?

Mainly for PLEX and RDP.

RDP! Yikes, hope you know what you're getting yourself into there

Doesn't Plex stream without needing to be exposed?

FWIW, public IPs on Hey change once, maybe twice per year in my experience so coupled with a DDNS service, you don't really need a static IP for personal access back to your network.

In reply to a post by nofappingway:

RDP! Yikes, hope you know what you're getting yourself into there

Doesn't Plex stream without needing to be exposed?

FWIW, public IPs on Hey change once, maybe twice per year in my experience so coupled with a DDNS service, you don't really need a static IP for personal access back to your network.

I use RDP for work and have it locked down to my IP. Maybe I dont need static, I'm just used to having it!

So are you recommending Hey?

I have certainly experienced two of your concerns

support
poor latency due to going via Spain!

I pay the £5 for a static IP address so avoid the CGNAT issue.

But I have not regretted the purchase once - when its working (which is most of the time) its fabulous, fast, reliable and good value.

I have a 4G solution on standby, rather than paying for their Home Worker option

John

Thanks for all the replies, I have gone for standard 900 install with static IP, installation booked for next week. Fingers crossed all will be good!