Is 18 months so bad?

If you've got Sky and you go for Sky Broadband, you're stuck always having their TV package whether you want it or not. Other ISP's seem to do a minimum of 12 months, so is 18 months so bad?

18 month at £6 a month for basic broadband, or £16/£20 a month for unlimited (which apparently actually means unlimited), who can actually match it without forcing you to take a phone or tv package?

Mobile phone contracts are 12 or 18 months (or longer), often the longer you choose the better the deal, it's the same here isnt it. Margins are squeezed, recouping "free" hardware costs takes longer, etc.

How many times would an issue with broadband actually be the ISP's fault? Isnt it much more likely to be a problem with BT, etc?

I'm sure if you want to leave because you have a genuine problem that is PN's fault and not just because you want to save a few ££ each month, PN would probably (on a case by case basis) look at this (and no, I'm not a PN person, I'm just speaking as someone who would consider this common sense and good customer service).

Lets face it, Joe Public is (in the main), not the kind of person who cares about who they get their broadband from, they just want a reliable and good service. I've had very very few problems with my broadband, and when I have it's not been PN's fault. My only complaint about PN is they have to treat everyone as a dumb user and go through the scripts, and most of us on here will be far from dumb users.

Anyway, I've been with PN for over 5 years now, and on the one occasion I was tempted to move ISP's they got me to stay, and I'm 95% certain I'm going to sign up for the unlimited package now for 18 months and save a few quid each month.

Anyway, thought I'd show some support for PN, so now, as the Human Torch would say "Flame On"....

Other ISP's seem to do a minimum of 12 months

I think you need to look around a little more...

I didnt mean all, should have said some (or even most)

I've had a quick mooch about the usual suspects, all seem to be 12 month minimum contracts although there are a few that offer a 30 day money back guarantee.

As I'm luckily on the right kind of exchange (i.e. busy and with competition), Unlimited would cost me £16 a month, without any other ties (like a phone or TV package, e.g. O2, Sky) I dont think it can be beaten at the moment.

should have said some (or even most)

I'm not even sure I'd agree with "most", though I'll admit I haven't done an exhaustive check.

the usual suspects

Ah... the ones who advertise extensively and are thus well known to the public.

Do some research on the ISPs listed on the main site, especially the smaller ones, you might get a surprise...

You seem to be talking about those with headline "Unlimited", but haven't said so. If that's the case you may have a point.

But overall far more ISPs offer monthly contracts than 12-month I think.

And the Plusnet Unlimited can certainly be beaten as I for one would just not want to know about all that throttling on an 18-month contract. Similarly for Value - no thanks.

We all know Unlimited doesnt actually mean Unlimited. Sky say Unlimited, but mean that unofficially you can use quite a large amount before you run into trouble (if at all).

PN's website actually says it's unlimited usage, but your traffic will be shaped, honesty up front, finally! How many others that offer Unlimited truly mean it?

There are contracts out there for 1 month still from other ISP's, I've just had a look about and comparison sites like USwitch let you sort by minimum contract length too.

Were I on a faster connection I'd be less interested in it, but I'm a heavy user on a 2Mb link, so I see no real issues with the shaping.

Personally, if you are in a cheap exchange area and have a line speed of about 2Mb or below then I can't see a better broadband package about, £16 a month for truly unlimited.

Is 18 months so bad?

Well, yes if you're not sure you will still have a job in a few months, and there is plenty of that feeling going around at the moment. Losing employment in a few months, and still owing Plusnet (in this case) over a years subs, at £19.99/month = £250+, doesn't seem like a very shrewd move to me.

What happen if you drop dead next day after signed up 18 months contract ? Meaning the next 18 months bill will be unpaid !!! even if plusnet had disabled internet connection on the telephone line. 18 x £19.99 = £359.82 unpaid bill.

Edited by adslmax (Wed 18-Feb-09 08:45:06)

The same as with providers that have 12 month contracts, and your mortgage, car loan, credit card debts etc

Not sure max perhaps you could kindly carry out the experiment for us and get someone to report back.