High Usage ISP Recommendation

We have been using Eclipse Internet since the dawn of time (2002) but have outgrown our current product and since they are no longer in the residential ISP market we need to look elsewhere for a new broadband connection.

Currently we are using up the 100GB/month that Eclipse give us and use quite a lot more than that as we have unlimited overnight downloads which is when we try to download games/software etc. We'd use even more if we weren't limiting ourselves all the time.

We currently pay £30/month and pay BT for phone/line rental on top of that, and are on an ADSL 2+ line, connected directly to the exchange so there's no chance switching to fibre. We get line speeds of around 5Mbps which isn't great but seems to be all that the line can take, I know a new ISP won't change this unfortunately!

We have a ASUS RT-N66U router which is magic compared to all our previous routers and I'd rather not use an ISP who insist you use their own hardware - I just want to plug a new username and password into the ASUS if possible.

Can anyone recommend us a decent reliable package?

Thanks.

Hi, I used to use Eclipse, but found their service was dire and it seems they provide comms for premier inn and that service was so bad that could not even get a signal to log on

http://www.merula.net/broadband/premium.php

currently paying £30 per month for I think FTTC on an 80/20 line using their supplied kit which is a couple of routers behind the sofa, it is a legacy product and so unlimited data

tech support is good, no need to speak to a script monkey on the odd occasion that the net falls over

Looks like I have been a customer since 06/10/2006, I could get cheaper and find some sites on a block list, but the line is good

http://beta.speedtest.net/result/5102392439

kadi

I assume that you have checked if you can get FTTC as quite a few 'new' cabs have been placed in some parts of the country to provide FTTC services to EO lines ( Direct to exchange). You don't say where you are.

It is worth checking every couple of months.

BT is £5 per month for the first year, I doubt you can beat that without moving your line rental elsewhere.

only join a provider that offers unlimited downloads solves the problem

Have a look at what ZEN have to offer you: https://www.zen.co.uk/home-office/

If you want much cheaper packages and unlimited usage then it's a choice of BT, Plusnet and if your exchange has LLU provision then there is Sky and [cough] TalkTalk.

A couple of resellers if suitable to have a look at are:-
http://www.aquiss.net/broadband-unlimited-premium.php

https://www.uno.net.uk/packages/soho-broadband/ (Edit: just noticed you'll need to add VAT to the prices)

Packages/bundles of broadband and line rental+calls from the one service provider tend to be cheaper.

I and my neighbours are connected to a 20CN exchange so can only get ADSL, most but not me use BT as their ISP although one person with a holliday home does use Eclipse.

Edited by Apprentice (Sun 21-Feb-16 15:29:16)

In reply to a post by knicol46:

only join a provider that offers unlimited downloads solves the problem

not that simple (some don't buy enough capacity or have hidden FUP to slow you down)

Edited by leexgx (Sun 21-Feb-16 20:07:20)

In reply to a post by leexgx:

In reply to a post by knicol46:

only join a provider that offers unlimited downloads solves the problem

not that simple (some don't buy enough capacity or have hidden FUP to slow you down)

It is that simple, he has a 5mbit line, none of the big providers will be slowing him down. Even if he maxes out his line non stop all month, he's only at 1.6TB. There are people doing that in a day on fibre.

Even AAISP, on their new 1TB package, only slow you down to 3mbit after that - which is not much of a slowdown for him.

OP, with a 5mbit line, I'd just go to BT/Plusnet/Talktalk. Possibly TT Business for better support.

In reply to a post by Apprentice:

Have a look at what ZEN have to offer you: https://www.zen.co.uk/home-office/

Thanks for that - Zen look pretty decent and meet all my requirements so I've gone with them!

Very expensive choice. BT, Sky and even TalkTalk do not throttle or slow speeds down at peak hours. Also a lot lot cheaper. You can do all peer to peer etc with no slowdowns.

At only 5Mbps with any of the major ISPs you would never feel a slowdown. Hell I don't even get a slowdown on fibre optic speeds with BT.

Any ISP will be better CS than Eclipse that is for sure - I've experienced that before.

You can always reconsider though. If not, Zen will be just fine too - albeit pricey.

Also hear Plusnet isn't bad either.

We often exceed 1TB usage a month on BT, as we are a big house. I personally do not use the connection much nowadays, I am not really home much, but we have netflix 4K streaming most evenings in the front room which uses around 8Gb an hour and we stream around 3 hours in a typical evening. That's around 25Gb just from Netlix a day... Also have 2 PS4s and they download full games of 50Gb on the regular + updates. Connection never been throttled or slowed down on anything.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Mon 22-Feb-16 23:57:13)

Odd to see a Plusnet user recommend Zen

Also hear Plusnet isn't bad either

If you don't mind waiting for them to properly fix a networking problem for 12mths or being deafened by their distorted on hold music or have routing peering links change and take the scenic route frequently , I player ITV ect buffer at peak times ,

Time to move ISP - I just did and I am a lot happier

Had trouble with VM peak time utilisation slowdowns.

I switched from Eclipse ADSL2+ to Sky unlimited on 6th Jan. I was getting about 11Mbps but even so YouTube would lag some of the time. With the Sky hub my speed has improved to 18Mbps and never any video lag. SNR margin is 3, before it was 12.

I believe you can extract your username and password from the Sky hub to use in your own router.

You left sky?

Anyways i've been with TTB for a long while had a few hiccups but can't recommend them enough.

I would stay well away from retail talktalk products though.