Business Fibre, anyone got it?

I've currently got a nice stable Xilo TTB ADSL2 connection but there are times when it struggles with a growing family's web based activity. Can anyone tell me their experience of TTB's fibre service?

Good so far

had problem getting my static ip working

phoned support and it was quickly resolved.

Yes, i moved to TTB fibre from their residential offering and its excellent. Its almost on a par with AAISP but without the eye watering prices. For £48 pm i get:

1) A truly unlimited 80/20 FTTC connection with line speeds at all times

2) 4 static IP addresses

3) Top class UK based phone support 8am-8pm 7 days a week

4) Unlimited calls to 01/02/0845/0870 & mobiles from my landline

5) Unlimited calls to 01/02/0845/0870 & mobiles from my mobile using the TTB app

In reply to a post by epyon:

Good so far

had problem getting my static ip working

phoned support and it was quickly resolved.

Excellent, good to hear

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

Yes, i moved to TTB fibre from their residential offering and its excellent. Its almost on a par with AAISP but without the eye watering prices. For £48 pm i get:

1) A truly unlimited 80/20 FTTC connection with line speeds at all times

2) 4 static IP addresses

3) Top class UK based phone support 8am-8pm 7 days a week

4) Unlimited calls to 01/02/0845/0870 & mobiles from my landline

5) Unlimited calls to 01/02/0845/0870 & mobiles from my mobile using the TTB app

The package I'm looking at is the same but without free calls (which is fine as more than enough credit on my mobile contract) and one static IP for £33.50. So with a small saving on my current line rental with BT, this works out the same as my existing TTB LLU ADSL2 connection (with Xilo).

It does sound like a bit of a no brainer as they say though I would be contracted to Talk Talk for two years rather than my free agent status now, which is a bit of a worry. Moving my line rental over to Talk Talk is a bit of a concern should I wish to change the arrangement end of contract, though I don't know why other than paranoia.

What is the actual instalation procedure, is a self instal option offered?
A bit of a daft question perhaps but it would be residential use, is there a requirement in the sign up procedure to provide business credintials?

Thanks

Edited by deleted (Tue 07-Apr-15 08:51:55)

In reply to a post by bernado:

The package I'm looking at is the same but without free calls (which is fine as more than enough credit on my mobile contract) and one static IP for £33.50. So with a small saving on my current line rental with BT, this works out the same as my existing TTB LLU ADSL2 connection (with Xilo).

It does sound like a bit of a no brainer as they say though I would be contracted to Talk Talk for two years rather than my free agent status now, which is a bit of a worry. Moving my line rental over to Talk Talk is a bit of a concern should I wish to change the arrangement end of contract, though I don't know why other than paranoia.

What is the actual instalation procedure, is a self instal option offered?
A bit of a daft question perhaps but it would be residential use, is there a requirement in the sign up procedure to provide business credintials?

Thanks

Yes, i know its not ideal being tied into a 2 year contract but TTB allow you 2 free house moves in that period so not a big deal unless you lead a gypsy lifestyle or move abroad.TT LLU covers 96% of the population.

When i had my 80/20 FTTC service installed ~ 12 months ago, an engineer visit was required but not sure if this is still the case - give them a call to find out. Personally i still prefer an engineer visit as he can move the master socket req'd (if necessary) and above all, whilst he is still there you can run speed tests to make sure you are getting the right speeds based on your line length, ie any line issues can be attempted to be resolved there & then.

Sent you a PM as well

Edited by deleted (Tue 07-Apr-15 09:42:16)

Thanks for that, most helpful. I'll look out for your PM.
Re use - thinking about it I do work remotely from home via a virtual network during the week, so I would consider that a business requirement anyway

Edited by deleted (Tue 07-Apr-15 09:54:31)

In reply to a post by bernado:

I've currently got a nice stable Xilo TTB ADSL2 connection but there are times when it struggles with a growing family's web based activity. Can anyone tell me their experience of TTB's fibre service?

I have a number of teleworkers on TTB fibre project. The positives of the service has been eluded to for the £48 service which I would recommended but not as my first choice. Having mobile numbers as part of the calling package is particularly useful if your home has a poor mobile signal. Extensive usage of this facility can save a small fortune. Another positive is that TTB CS speak the kind of English I can understand.

The negatives, wholly from my own experiences, are:
1) If the FTTC engineer installation is not "to the book" then it can take days, if not forever, to get it resolved. This especially applies to 'Kelly' install errors.
2) When you have no broadband service contact with CS is only through a 0800 number. It costs a fortune to call them from a mobile although I believe that mobile calls to 0800 numbers will be free at some point in the future.
3) A very abrasive verification process of who the caller is, with no alternative credentials accepted against the questions being asked. It is imperative that other callers speaking on behalf of the account holder are registered with TTB immediately the account/service is established.
4) CS ranges for being appalling to absolutely brilliant. Sometimes the 'script kiddy' always needs to seek advice on every question/issue raised but trying to escalate your problems to a more informed person is impossible.
5) CSs assumption is that the caller has no technical ability to identify a problem and won't help if you don't do initial procedures which could adversely upset your installation requirements.
6) The customer portal section of the TTB web site is not very comprehensive for ALL the information that would be useful.
7) You may need the TTB supplied router to be available to resolve an issue even if it's not related to the router itself.
8) You are lead to believe that only Direct Debit payments are acceptable. Alternative payment methods are however available.
8) Minimum contract periods in excess of 12 months are unpalatable. However this is tempered with "free house moves".

Of course you may never need to contact CS and your service proves to be absolutely perfect so none of the above would apply to you! Would you get a better CS experience from another ISP. Yes if you are prepared to pay a much higher monthly subscription than £48.

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

.....
8) Minimum contract periods in excess of 12 months are unpalatable.....

Yes this is of course the worry when I would be leaving a perfectly decent connection for no other reason than my needs have begun to outgrow it. From that less than glowing account based on your experience it could be a regreattable move, though others clearly have had a more positive time of things.
More food for thought at least so thank you for your input

In reply to a post by bernado:

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

.....
8) Minimum contract periods in excess of 12 months are unpalatable.....

Yes this is of course the worry when I would be leaving a perfectly decent connection for no other reason than my needs have begun to outgrow it. From that less than glowing account based on your experience it could be a regreattable move, though others clearly have had a more positive time of things.
More food for thought at least so thank you for your input

Don't get me wrong; I have quite a few teleworkers using TTB connecting to the office and I can remotely connect to them successfully as well. Currently all connections using TTB are working to the high standard I need and expect, it is just that if an initial installation has a poor element to it, I found it an uphill struggle to get it resolved/fixed quickly, if at all. Likewise if the service drops, then the automatic assumption by TTB is that the fault is at the customer site and to be told in one instance to reset the teleworker's router to factory defaults would involve a considerable amount of effort to restore the router's customisation.

One very confusing issue with TTB is that there is only one tariff for FTTC which is 80/20. You can't save a few bucks by opting for a 40/10 service, as you can with other ISPs. But like I said, I find the £48 tariff to be very competitive for what you get. Don't let my comments get in the way of choosing TTB, I only wanted to make you aware of what my experiences have been.

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

One very confusing issue with TTB is that there is only one tariff for FTTC which is 80/20. You can't save a few bucks by opting for a 40/10 service, as you can with other ISPs. But like I said, I find the £48 tariff to be very competitive for what you get. Don't let my comments get in the way of choosing TTB, I only wanted to make you aware of what my experiences have been.

Can you tell me which other business ISPs offer the 40/10 service? Think you're getting residential & business ISPs mixed up...Every business will want the highest download/upload speeds possible and for that reason ISPs (on their business tariffs) will just sell the max speed product.

Edited by deleted (Tue 07-Apr-15 15:37:53)

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

One very confusing issue with TTB is that there is only one tariff for FTTC which is 80/20. You can't save a few bucks by opting for a 40/10 service, as you can with other ISPs. But like I said, I find the £48 tariff to be very competitive for what you get. Don't let my comments get in the way of choosing TTB, I only wanted to make you aware of what my experiences have been.

Can you tell me which other business ISPs offer the 40/10 service? Think you're getting residential & business ISPs mixed up...Every business will want the highest download/upload speeds possible.

I assume this page means what it says:
https://www.zen.co.uk/business/

There is something you are ignoring with your comment and that is while the cabinet may well support 80/20, you might only get sub 40/10 at your premises. So if you match the tariff with what is actually available to you then it makes sense to opt for other packages available to save a few bucks. Right? Next comment?

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

Can you tell me which other business ISPs offer the 40/10 service?

BT Business Infinity: http://business.bt.com/broadband-and-internet/fibre-...

Are the business speeds / latency that much difference to the consumer product or is it essentially the UK customer support you pay the extra for ?

In reply to a post by barker04:

Are the business speeds / latency that much difference to the consumer product or is it essentially the UK customer support you pay the extra for ?

I can't see how a comparison test could be carried out but I <b>believe</b> that there are lower contention values for business users. You can also report faults 24/7 which should see an earlier attempt to resolve the problem.

I'm on the TTB Simply with Fibre package without the calls which is £19.00 a month plus the line rental of £14.50 making it £33.50 per month
I didn't bother with the phone calls package as my mobile contract has unlimited calls included

When TalkTalk took over the old Freedom2Surf customers, they put them on the business not residential package and I've stayed on this ever since.
They originally said that TTB customers get preference over the residential customers, so there would never be any slowdowns at peak times, which is absolutely correct in my case.
I have always got full download and upload speeds at any time of the day.

When on the ADSL Max package I synced at 8128, then 23717 on ADSL 2 and now 79999 on the fibre package and I've only had to call Support once because one of the copper cables in the street cabinet had snapped.
This was fixed the same day by an Openreach engineer.

As far as the fibre connection was concerned, an Openreach engineer made the connections at the exchange and then the street cabinet before calling at the house to check everything was OK.
He even fitted a new master socket faceplate.

I did contemplate looking at the current residential fibre packages from TT which are much cheaper (£5 pm for 6 months then £10 after that plus line rental), but as I value a stable connection with full 80/20 and with a fast Support service and priority over residential lines, I decided the TTB extra £9 per month was worth it.

I have to say that TTB have been excellent in the time I've been with them and I would have no problem in recommending them to other people

Standard talktalk 38/2 fibre is £13.50 per month you forgot the cost of the simply part

Thanks for that, most helpful

Yep I moved from TT residential Fibre to TT Business a month ago because I needed a static IP and a business quality of service!

Be warned it can be terrible, I have had nothing but problems now for over two weeks with a bad network connection, packet drops etc. see my thinkbroadband quality checker

Quality Monitor

Customer service not good at all, I have had a ticket raised with them for over two weeks and posted them ping logs/speed tests over that period. Still no response or action apart from when I commented on Twitter which did get someone to ring me to appease me, but since then nothing.

I can see this going on for a long time, so If your business relies on broadband think again before jumping for TT Business I don't think its a Business Quality service.

Edited by deleted (Sat 18-Apr-15 10:40:26)

Yikes, that graph looks terrible, what exchange is this?

Sorry for the late reply but as you can imagine took a while to get on the net

It Cleveleys exchange....

So the service was ok when your were on TT residential and it turned bad when you moved to TT business?

Yep was quite good on TT Res a few problems I had with line drops but no where near as bad as this. Its more about the fact this is supposed to be a business quality service and the customer support or fix time seems no different.....

Well your not paying for SLA or enhanced care

most "business" packages are normal home packages with uk call centres thats about it maybe some different T+Cs

and also line drops is the lines problem not who you are with unless its a backhaul/exchange problem

its openreachs property not talktalks

Edited by epyon (Sun 19-Apr-15 14:24:52)

In reply to a post by epyon:

its openreachs property not talktalks

And TalkTalk's responsibility to hassle Openreach when it goes wrong.

In reply to a post by epyon:

Well your not paying for SLA or enhanced care

And yet on AAISP you get TT business backhaul with quality support where all this feels included. A&A have a reputation for chewing BTO's [censored] when things go wrong.

Edited by deleted (Sun 26-Apr-15 21:42:53)