Broadband/Phone/TV Dillema (FTTC or ADSL2+?)

Hi folks,

I'm trying to decide which ISP to go for. My exchange is St Peters (WMSTP). I'm approx. 500 meters from the nearest cabinet. I use approx. 50GB off peak and around 10GB peak pcm. I stream Netflix, iPlayer, watch lots of youtube, download music, and generally surf a lot during evenings and weekends. I don't tend to use torrents or p2p.

I'm currently with ADSL24 but have been experiencing extremely poor contention, slowing speeds, cut-outs etc. Been dealing with this for well over a year now so time to go, especially since the Coms acquisition. I'm currently with the Post Office for my home phone, and I think they're great, so ideally I'd rather stick with them, although I'm open to bb/phone/tv packages. I currently pay £13.25/pcm for my phone and £17.90 for ADSL24, total = £31.15/pcm.

I believe my exchange is FTTC enabled. So with that I've been poring over numerous ISP reviews and websites trying to find the best deal for me. There's a chance I may move house within the next 12 months, so I either need a short minimum term contract or one which can be moved. Here are my choices so far...

1. BT Infinity 2. This appears to be by far the cheapest option for FTTC. I'm attracted to the whole package including BT Sport which would be great for me since I enjoy watching football. I'd choose a phone line with weekend and evening calls included. All-in I'd be looking at £554 for the year which works out at £46/pcm. This includes activation and extras such as 1571 (if my maths are correct and there are no hidden charges!!!). Despite being tied into an 18 month contract, they allow you to move your contract to another premises which is great if I do choose to move house. That being said I'm fully aware of their appalling customer services, and I'm a bit concerned about the broadband connection itself. What is contention like? Do speeds drop out during peak hours? Is the router a piece of rubbish? Will Netflix stream well? I'm worried I'll tie myself in to a horror show.

2. ADSL2+ with Xilo (or possibly another ISP with a one month rolling contract). Staying on standard ADSL2+ means that my bills stay at pretty much the same as I'm paying now. I'd just hopefully get a better connection. I'm a bit confused as to whether BT's 21CN is better than LLU? I'm currently on LLU (I think owned by Talk Talk?). I currently get a max down/up of 6mbps/1mbps. If I change to Xilo BT21CN, does this mean I'll be eligible for speeds of up to 24mbps/2mbps? The only thing I'm worried about here is whether or not this will be enough for me. I obviously don't get TV included either. However the one month rolling contract does give me peace of mind.

3. FFTC with a smaller company like Xilo, AAISP, Aquiss, Zen etc. More expensive, 12 month contract (non-moveable - so I'd have to pay the remainder of the term if I did move), and obviously no TV. The upshot is I'd imagine I'd get a top class connection.

4. Sky Fibre. Like BT just seemingly more expensive. I personally find their website extremely un-user friendly and clear as mud (probably on purpose). I'd rather not give Mr. Murdoch any more money. Having said that I haven't heard many bad things about the broadband, and obviously TV would be a sweetener.

Any views?

Many thanks.

Hi, just to quickly say that I am also on WMSTP and live in the Norton area. I have been on BT Infinity for years getting very good speeds, but for the past few months I am seeing a download speed of 3 Mb/s from 8pm in the evening. At any other time I get a good 50Mb/s. It would seem that the WMSTP exchange in St. Peters has contention issues and a lack of backhaul capacity. I know of a few other people in the area with the same issue.

In reply to a post by Axle:

I believe my exchange is FTTC enabled.

But is your cabinet? Put your phone # in here: http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/ and post back all to bottom of table, but blank out your phone #.

I'm a bit confused as to whether BT's 21CN is better than LLU?

Not much in it these days. On a stable line BTw's WBC ADSL2+ can take NM down to 3dB with correspondingly faster speeds; not all LLU ISPs will allow that.

If I change to Xilo BT21CN, does this mean I'll be eligible for speeds of up to 24mbps/2mbps?

Eligible yes, but will your line length allow it? Unless you have a wiring fault you'll get much the same speeds as now, but post your current router stats and we'll see?