Zen vs TalkTalk vs Plusnet vs BT vs Sky (Fibre)

I understand prices vary, but I am looking for a Fibre 80/20 (or close) package around £35 inc vat or less. Service quality is more important than cheapness. I just want a service that gives a constant speed around the clock with no frequent slow down or limits, truly unlimited needed, no port throttling or peak times.

Any idea which are best for this out of those 5 providers ?

Edited by BlizzardUK (Thu 28-Jan-16 17:24:10)

Any requirements re the phone package?

Sorry, I should have mentioned, no phone line, I will stick with my current phone provider for that (Sky Talk).

That cuts out BT and TalkTalk then, unless you have amazing gift of the gab. It also, I think, rules out any of the introductory offers from Plusnet, and it definitely incurs an extra £2.50pm from them.

Edited by RobertoS (Thu 28-Jan-16 20:04:37)

Sorry again, I will try and clear things up I use BT for my phone line provider bill, but I pay Sky for my calls (but keep BT as my line rental). I should have mentioned this in detail but didn't want to confuse things, but now I need to clarify given what you said. Or are you saying that just getting my calls elsewhere also cuts out BT and others ?

Edited by BlizzardUK (Thu 28-Jan-16 20:14:18)

Did you see my edit about Plusnet as well?

Whatever happened to the good old days where ISPs didn't need you to be with them for phone lines too. So I would have to take my callplan back from Sky then unless I want a limited choice or extra penalty fees ?

What is the Zen package like ? They seem to do one for £35 without a phone line or £30 with.

It's pretty well only BT, Sky and TT that absolutely require it. But I'm still trying to understand how you have line rental with BT but calls with Sky Talk. Is that legacy products with both?

In either case I think you may be paying through the nose.
Re Zen, I don't really know. I don't monitor the Zen forum here but occasionally see complaints in more general ones where they seem to give in easily if BT Wholesale or Openreach play awkward.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

It's pretty well only BT, Sky and TT that absolutely require it. But I'm still trying to understand how you have line rental with BT but calls with Sky Talk. Is that legacy products with both?

In either case I think you may be paying through the nose.
Re Zen, I don't really know. I don't monitor the Zen forum here but occasionally see complaints in more general ones where they seem to give in easily if BT Wholesale or Openreach play awkward.

Maybe the OP's exchange has the legacy Easynet LLU kit in it, in which case line rental would remain on the BTWr3 platform , also i didn't think that sky would provide calls only myself ,a new one on me too,

Think about it for a moment in so much as if your service all comes from one source then the blame game when there is a fault can't be played.

I am with Zen and find that they provide a good overall service, true there is room for improvement particularly for sorting out unusual/non-standard installation issues but for most help desk queries your call will be answered reasonably promptly with an English speaking person at the other end of the line.

I have a call package from them of 5000 minutes but be aware call charges outside the package to odd ball numbers, like 0700, are more expensive than most providers.

I also use their VoIP service but frustratingly it is for outgoing calls only and therefore not a fully fledged '2nd' line. On that facility you automatically get 1000 free minutes to 01/02/03 numbers.

Contract length is 12 months. You have to purchase a router either from Zen or any other 3rd party supplier. They do provide email facilities but if you decide to have your own domain name, hosted by a 3rd party, then that's fine with Zen. Your connection can be used for business purposes without breaking T&Cs.

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

Think about it for a moment in so much as if your service all comes from one source then the blame game when there is a fault can't be played.

Yes that maybe to an extent as they can still place the blame with BTOR,
But it does prevent the merry -go -round with different bb and voice provider's that can occur,sometimes depending on what you say to each at the end of the day

But having different providers can and does save you money, bundles are often not the cheapest especially if you remove any promotions that are used by the big players to entice people into their lair

I too am with Zen for BB and currently have the PTSN service with Pulse 8

Why you directed your last at me i don't know ??

Unless it is the very old legacy Sky Talk that used to cost £5 a month and they simply took over the call side of things and not the line itself.

But I would have assumed they kicked people off that some time ago.

In reply to a post by BlizzardUK:

Whatever happened to the good old days where ISPs didn't need you to be with them for phone lines too. So I would have to take my callplan back from Sky then unless I want a limited choice or extra penalty fees ?

What is the Zen package like ? They seem to do one for £35 without a phone line or £30 with.

Well Sky line rental is £17.40 + £8.00 for the talk package and £30 for 80/20 broadband, no traffic shaping, £55.40.

BT works out at £55.94 (LR + Fibre + Talk package).

Zen works out at £53.50 (LR + Fibre + Talk package).

Pulse8 works out at £45 (LR + Fibre, no inclusive calls).

I haven't included activation and line transfer fees.

I think Zen and plusNet allow you to have your phone line with another provider for a charge but these days my preference would be to have line and fibre with the same provider to avoid the situation where I have one blaming the other and so on.

Don't forget the call charges with Pulse8 are laughably low. 1ppm in peak, 0.8ppm off-peak, no setup charge, per-second billing.

The saving on the line rental and call package from the biggies typically buys over 700 minutes per month of UK landline calls.

Aquiss, vivaciti and uno offer similar low cost line & calls.

The reason I get my calls via Sky is because I have Sky TV but I didn't want to move line rental over to Sky as it makes it more annoying to move back again if I cancel Sky, I will always want a phone network but might not always want Sky TV. However I thought just having the calls with Sky would not be too hard to transfer back if needed. They were also £2 cheaper for calls at the time, may not be now, not sure.

Another reason I am with Sky for calls is I am charged just £8 a month for inclusive calls 24/7 and for mobile calls, so I know my calls will only cost me £8 a month if I stay within 1 hour calls. I don't think BT or anyone else offers inclusive mobile phone calls.

So the total including £17.99 BT line rental is £26.

This is what I get for £8 a month from Sky for callplan (excluding £17.99 BT line rental)............

UK daytime 7am-7pm Unlimited
UK Evening 7pm-7am Unlimited
UK Weekend all day Sat-Sun Unlimited
0845 and 0870 Numbers - Unlimited
UK Mobiles - Unlimited
International - 2p per minute to 22 popular destinations

That's fair enough, but what I didn't and don't understand is how you were able to order it. I can only think it is what we call a legacy product, something that is no longer available but people on it can keep it.

Back to ISP choice. If you went to Sky they would expect you to take Sky line rental. You might get out of that if in an annual contract with BT with a long time to run. The tendency with BT these days I believe is to pay off such contracts for potential customers in order to get them. Which just shows how much they and others are fleecing people. I don't know if Sky do the same.

Do you need those goodies with the call plan is the point as well. If the cost of no call plan with a cheaper supplier comes to less overall than your £26pm then you are could save money. Do you particularly want your phone with BT?

Quote: I haven't included activation and line transfer fees.

Hmm, those fees can make significant huge difference to first year costs.

To answer your question: Why you directed your last at me i don't know ??

Does it really matter that my post was not in a nice neat for the thread as a whole. I don't think so.

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

Quote: I haven't included activation and line transfer fees.

Hmm, those fees can make significant huge difference to first year costs.

Indeed but I think the OP needs to look at those. Taking BT fibre wouldn't incur them as the OPs line is already with them. I think Sky is around £55, not sure about the other players.

Depends on what offers might be available etc.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Don't forget the call charges with Pulse8 are laughably low. 1ppm in peak, 0.8ppm off-peak, no setup charge, per-second billing.

The saving on the line rental and call package from the biggies typically buys over 700 minutes per month of UK landline calls.

Aquiss, vivaciti and uno offer similar low cost line & calls.

Agreed, I tend to use my mobile anyway or one of those 1p a minute numbers if I need to make an international call. My last Pulse8 bill for calls was 15p

Re FTTC set charged, I'd forgotten those too. Plusnet charge £50 if not with their line rental. Zen don't but add £4.40pm to the monthly charge rather than Plusnet's £2.50.

Plusnet minimum term 18 months, Zen 12 months, Pulse8broadband no minimum term but £75 setup, sadly introduced because when it was free people started taking advantage by joining then leaving after a month to go to something like BT for the Sport/TV/free national wifi.

Edited by RobertoS (Fri 29-Jan-16 09:01:35)

Doesn't really matter who the line rental is with and who the phone bill is paid to if there are no issues with the line.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

But I'm still trying to understand how you have line rental with BT but calls with Sky Talk. Is that legacy products with both?

Carrier Pre-Selection/CPS?

Not as popular now that their is LLU but it was once.

No, it's a product sort of mentioned in Sky's T & Cs, but can't be used with BT Basic, and the OP is paying Sky £8pm for it. What I can't find is how you would order it.

He also seems to be using one of those with it.

Not entirely true. Inherent internal wiring issues may be inhibiting the best performance which a non technical user night be totally unaware of. Choosing the right ISP with an engineer install might double the current speed "enjoyed". How does a non-technical user know that there is no issues with his line?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

That cuts out BT and TalkTalk then, unless you have amazing gift of the gab.

I called BT a few months back and inquired whether I can get a broadband only deal as I was on a prepaid phone line rental with a different provider at the time. The chap I spoke to said that they don't normally do broadband only deals but he can speak to his manager and ask what they can offer me, and then will call me back.

He did call back and said that it is not advertised anywhere but they can offer me broadband only deal at £33 per month (or similar - can't remember exactly).

I didn't accept the offer but wanted to highlight the fact that they are flexible if you ask.

I reckon you are looking for something like ZEN fibre to the premises...

Unlimited Fibre 2 (FTTP) Up to 80Mbps Download Speed £25.00 per month when taken with £17.00 monthly line rental. £38.75 per month when taken without line rental.

Edited by deleted (Sat 30-Jan-16 09:31:03)

It was probably an earlier report by you and I think at most two others, more likely just one, that gave rise to my reference to "the gift of the gab". I agree it can be done, but it is very rare we hear of such a case.

We have in the last few months heard of (I think both) BT and Sky paying off the outstanding contract instead for the customer, so as to lock them into themselves.

Edited by RobertoS (Sat 30-Jan-16 09:40:00)

In reply to a post by E7er:

I reckon you are looking for something like ZEN fibre to the premises...

Unlimited Fibre 2 (FTTP) Up to 80Mbps Download Speed £25.00 per month when taken with £17.00 monthly line rental. £38.75 per month when taken without line rental.

That is native FTTP, which would require the poster to be in such an area. It isn't FTTPoD. Assuming he has been offered FTTC on TalkTalk and Sky websites, they aren't.

Edited by RobertoS (Sat 30-Jan-16 09:43:52)

The BT packages for phone only or broadband only are branded "Solus". Just ask for them by name.

That's interesting to know that they prepared to pay off new customer's existing contracts in some cases. Puts customer in a driving seat and something that is welcome, if it helps to exit a terrible service essentially penalty free.

Interesting. I've just noticed reference to "Solus" products, including Solus Broadband on BT Broadband page on Quidco.

How do you proceed from there if you want to do it via Quidco? Will it take you to the page where you can select broadband only option?

Best to give it a try and find out.

You don't know but if it is internal then you will be charged even if you are with the same supplier for both phone and BB.

The internet is awash with information explaining how to disable extension sockets very easily and without stepping on OR wiring.