Zen? PlusNet? Maybe another?

Hey all, looking for some help/guidance,

Recently since Pipex got taken over by Tiscali my connection has seriously went down hill in my opinion (i left Tiscali to join Pipex a few years ago because Tiscali were so bad). I mainly use Broadband for playing online games - quite alot since other family members also do this. Other than this theres not usually a great deal of downloads however as i have a hobby/career in creating web applications this would also need to be considered. So its important to me that the connection is still performing quite well even at peak times. There can be up to 4 devices connected to the router but mostly just browsing web - with some youtube style viewing. I would keep my current router so hardware is not an issue, i think 2MB is about the max on my line so a service that can provide around this number would be ideal (higher the better but i know iam limited by what the line can support). No more than around �25 a month.

The two providers i can see currently that seem to stick out are Zen and PlusNet, Zen seem to have good level of reliability and speed and PlusNet have a package designed around gamers where they claim to prioritize game traffic.

Looking at online reviews iam stuck between which one to go for, yet still open to other suggestions, if anyone knows a service they think could meet my needs then any help or guidance you can provide is greatly appreciated!

ZEN PACKAGE @ http://www.zen.co.uk/Broadband/athome.aspx not sure to go for the 8000 LITE or 8000 ACTIVE

PLUS NET PACKAGE @ http://www.plus.net/residential/broadband/bbyw_pro.shtml?WT.svl=bbywpro_ban

Thanks all!
Martyn

got to be honest the Plussnet package looks good if you can live with that kind of usage....
But options you want and option are a plenty..
I think IDnet would be a good one for you to look at, as well as one of the entanet reseller like ADSL24,Vivaciti,UKFSN, to name a few as thay bundle in a good hosting package...
It would be nice if you could tell us what available at you exchange samknows you never know there might be other options that you not thought of ..

JUST a quicky Vivaciti also resell IDnet packages so they would be a good places to have a look and i can speak as one of there soon to be X customers there customer support is really good but i have SKY LLU at my exchange, and thats the only reason im leaving them

Edited by deleted (Thu 27-Mar-08 07:20:08)

Thanks for your response!

I already have a dedicated hosting package that i will be keeping due to the services it supports such as JSP etc, so hosting isnt as much of an issue as i doubt i would ever use the hosting provided.

The link to information you asked about my exchange can be found @ http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/ESTNT

Are LLU providers always better? As i see that AOL provide this service for my exchange but my personal experience with them has been horrible and it would have to be a really good service for me to sign up with them.

Thats my thoughts on the plusnet package im not sure if i would be under there usage and would get expensive quickly if i was!

So why would you recommend IDNet and Vivaciti? just from personal experience? I seen that Vivaciti actually state there service offers low pings however they dont really say why theres would be different from any others? at least plusnet stated they claim this as they prioritize gaming traffic?

Arggghhhh decisions, decisions! So i take it you are not so keen on the Zen option?

Thanks again for your time.
Martyn

Are LLU providers always better? No. Sky/UKOnline and Be/O2 LLU are good. Talk Talk highly variable. The rest are to be steered clear of at the moment it seems.

This comparison and this one are useful.

Entanet do not sell direct to residential customers, only through resellers. vivaciti is one.

Nearly all the top ten in the second comparison are Entanet resellers. In the first one they are all lumped together. The way the low pings are maintained on Entanet are by the ALT system, explained here by another Entanet reseller. The customers are happy as they get huge allowances for the money and if you sync under 4Mbps then you aren't likely to notice it happening.

Re Zen, I'm not sure I would recommend them at the moment. There are a few dodgy reports around IIRC, as though they may be going downhill a little. They used to fight IDNet for top spot.

Hello there,

On our Network we prioritise different types of traffic in different ways. On our "Pro" package we ensure that all of the traffic is prioritised to ensure that your connection will run as quickly as our network will allow it to. If the usage limits are a concern, you can schedule large downloads to off peak period of the day or alternative you can purchase additional bandwidth should you wish to do so.

Please do let me know if you have any queries surrounding the products that we offer

also need to add in that there are a lot of options you get when setting up your connection with entanet like you can have a single static ip with NAT or a free block of 8 IPs with no NAT,, you can also set your own host name for your connection..
Im going to miss some of my options,, always liked connection to a IRCD server and seeing my own domain in my hostmask...
Im not sure its worth you paying the extra for a connection with IDnet as you say you can only sink at 2mb , so why pay for a better over all speed if you cant connect at them speeds..
Im going to put it on the line...I don't see you being any more happy with another ipstream isp connect with a entanet reseller on Home30 bundle, and you will be asking your self why didnt i do this earlier...
O yes nearly forgot no 12 month contracts 1 month rolling contract so if you don't like the service you can leave..
And when i asked for my MAC to leave i had it in my email in box with in three hours...

Off on a side issue that I spotted first time round but left it as it wasn't important at the time.

In reply to:

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i think 2MB is about the max on my line

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Post your line stats sometime - if you don't know how to get them look here or here.

Also then see if anything changes if you connect through the test socket inside the master socket. See here for how to get to it, and also do as it says re any connections on pins 1,3,4,6. You should only have 2 and 5 connected.

How good are your filters? The best at the moment seems to be the xf-1e from ADSL Nation.

Thanks for the link to information on ALT, that helps me alot. So two more questions...

Are there any big differences between the Entanet resellers? or are all around the same performance wise and for reliability? I like the look of Vivaciti but there product listings on their site is very poor as as i cant get information on the differences between the packages? when i enter my phone number because i already have a service! not a good site!

So would you recommend the likes of Vivaciti over the plusnet gamer option? Right away i see that the download limits on Vivaciti are far superior to plusnet?

i got to agree about vivaciti web site, as some of the user portals on other reseller web sites are alot better adsl24 and ukfsn from what other user have said are much better featured..
But telephone support at vivacity is very good nearly always get to speak with carl and being that im a people person and like to talk on the phone rather than email suited me better..
There is no difference in performance between the reseller, but do look at adsl24, UKFSN , as there packages may be more clear ...

Actualy UKFSN has got loads of info on there website, click on the support tab and have a read