FTTC ISP Suggestions Please

Looking at options for a FTTC ISP to go on an existing BT line (not my line and there's no desire to change phone providers).

For what you get for the money once you factor in installation costs and hardware costs, "Unlimited BT Infinity 2" looks like a pretty compelling option.

However, having had flawless service from O2 for years then having a bad patch with Sky I'm cautious that the mass market ISPs are great when things work but can be next to useless when they don't.

That's balanced out with whether I really want to pay £100-200/year more for the likes of Zen or A&A just on the off-chance of needing technical support - which I won't unless it's something on the ISP or phone line side of things.

Appreciate any thoughts as with FTTC in particular I'm committed for at least 12 months regardless of supplier.

Plusnet? BT, only cheaper
http://www.plus.net/home-broadband/fibre/broadband-o...

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

Plusnet? BT, only cheaper
http://www.plus.net/home-broadband/fibre/broadband-o...

Once you factor in their £50 activation fee it's about even and rightly or wrongly I've been around here long enough to remember the "good old days" of Plusnet to be a little cynical - happy to be convinced and as I said I'm not convinced BT would be that much better.

So is cost now the driving factor? I'm uncertain what your criteria are.

In reply to a post by hutchingsp:

However, having had flawless service from O2 for years then having a bad patch with Sky I'm cautious that the mass market ISPs are great when things work but can be next to useless when they don't.

Same with BT. I moved from BE to BT Infinity 2 and mine has been flawless, but if it broke I'd be using the twitter team rather than the helpdesk.

I would suggest plusnet, as I'm slowing coming round to that being my next ISP, they're cheaper than BT and have changed radically since being acquired by BT.

AAISP is a very good ISP but don't underestimate the usage you will use on a higher speed connection. I find myself using 140GB a month on average on fibre 48meg, but on BE (14meg) I would use probably 40GB a month. AAISP would be very expensive for me, even on their Home::1 plan. (shame as I like ISPs with 'clue').

In reply to a post by jchamier:

I would suggest plusnet, as I'm slowing coming round to that being my next ISP, they're cheaper than BT and have changed radically since being acquired by BT.

AAISP is a very good ISP but don't underestimate the usage you will use on a higher speed connection. I find myself using 140GB a month on average on fibre 48meg, but on BE (14meg) I would use probably 40GB a month. AAISP would be very expensive for me, even on their Home::1 plan. (shame as I like ISPs with 'clue').

I think as per my other post that once you factor in the £50 connection they're about £26 the same as BT?

I guess one thing with Plusnet is that they appear to take quite an active part in various broadband communities - I may have a long memory about some of their early tricks but I know they always had plenty of reps around who seemed eager to help.

It's a fair point too on using more on a faster connection - not sure that's strictly true, but I've never liked caps simply because they make you conscious of usage - I used to be with AAISP before they did the likes of Home::1 and remember the "joys" of a day off work using up a month of peak allowance - I'd love to go back with them as they're the best ISP I've ever used but factoring in connection we're talking £20/month more by my maths.

In reply to a post by hutchingsp:

once you factor in installation costs and hardware costs, "Unlimited BT Infinity 2" looks like a pretty compelling

The BT Homehub 5 has a major firmware issue, resulting in it rebooting itself of its own accord (sometimes several times a day, often every day). BT have been aware for at least two months and seem in no hurry to fix it.

In reply to a post by vimto_girl:

In reply to a post by hutchingsp:

once you factor in installation costs and hardware costs, "Unlimited BT Infinity 2" looks like a pretty compelling

The BT Homehub 5 has a major firmware issue, resulting in it rebooting itself of its own accord (sometimes several times a day, often every day). BT have been aware for at least two months and seem in no hurry to fix it.

With sky and bt fibre I would always recommend getting an external modem so the end user can change the router when needed.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

In reply to a post by vimto_girl:

In reply to a post by hutchingsp:

once you factor in installation costs and hardware costs, "Unlimited BT Infinity 2" looks like a pretty compelling

The BT Homehub 5 has a major firmware issue, resulting in it rebooting itself of its own accord (sometimes several times a day, often every day). BT have been aware for at least two months and seem in no hurry to fix it.

With sky and bt fibre I would always recommend getting an external modem so the end user can change the router when needed.

Are you saying the Homehub doesn't have the reboot issue when used with an external modem? I'm sceptical that is the case, but I do have an openreach modem on the way so can test this.

In reply to a post by vimto_girl:

Are you saying the Homehub doesn't have the reboot issue when used with an external modem? I'm sceptical that is the case, but I do have an openreach modem on the way so can test this.

I'm not 100% but I think adslmax tested this fairly recently. Well worth a try. The bug is obviously in BT's software and they need to fix :-/