Reliable ISP with good tech support

Hi,

I've had FTTP for over a month and speeds have been erratic, most of the speed tests I've done have normally been below 20MB on a 500MB line. the ones to the ISP's own servers have usually been OK.

OR been out and swapped the ONT once as found fault and another time it was an "Ethernet TCC parameters breaching thresholds", they rebuilt the line and the issues were still there, now speed tests sent me to Manchester servers after the router rebooted and speeds even slower.

They have agreed to release me from my contract and looking for an ISP that is reliable and has good tech support in case the issues persist.

I think SKY is purely a price decision, but happy to pay a bit more for the assurance if the issue is there they will try and fix it. Budget is max £45

Thanks

A&A ISP ?

Are you saying you are with Sky currently? If the underlying issue is with the OR network to your property then changing to a different OR-based ISP may still have the same problem, but of course you're looking for an ISP which will chase it all the way through to resolution with OR.

£45 per month with Aquiss will get you 300/50 FTTP, but the first 6 months are half price, and the contract is only 12 months, so an average of £33.75 per month over the first year, and no price rise at end of contract. You need to provide your own router though.

Support is UK-based and responsive - it's not unusual for Martin the MD to answer tickets personally. He's also active on this forum.

In reply to a post by Ahmedg:

Hi,

I've had FTTP for over a month and speeds have been erratic, most of the speed tests I've done have normally been below 20MB on a 500MB line. the ones to the ISP's own servers have usually been OK.

OR been out and swapped the ONT once as found fault and another time it was an "Ethernet TCC parameters breaching thresholds", they rebuilt the line and the issues were still there, now speed tests sent me to Manchester servers after the router rebooted and speeds even slower.

They have agreed to release me from my contract and looking for an ISP that is reliable and has good tech support in case the issues persist.

I think SKY is purely a price decision, but happy to pay a bit more for the assurance if the issue is there they will try and fix it. Budget is max £45

Thanks

Zen every time as they are excellent with their technical knowledge and are once again the ONLY Which? Recommended Broadband Provider!

In reply to a post by NICK_ADSL_UK:

In reply to a post by Ahmedg:

Hi,

I've had FTTP for over a month and speeds have been erratic, most of the speed tests I've done have normally been below 20MB on a 500MB line. the ones to the ISP's own servers have usually been OK.

OR been out and swapped the ONT once as found fault and another time it was an "Ethernet TCC parameters breaching thresholds", they rebuilt the line and the issues were still there, now speed tests sent me to Manchester servers after the router rebooted and speeds even slower.

They have agreed to release me from my contract and looking for an ISP that is reliable and has good tech support in case the issues persist.

I think SKY is purely a price decision, but happy to pay a bit more for the assurance if the issue is there they will try and fix it. Budget is max £45

Thanks

Zen every time as they are excellent with their technical knowledge and are once again the ONLY Which? Recommended Broadband Provider!

Pulled my last line from Zen a couple years ago after multiple emails went unanswered.
When I did get an answer over the phone I was told I could indeed get a "lift & shift" but moving my master socket would be chargeable if there was no fault.
Getting a good rep answering you is pot luck. Not the company they used to be.

I'm happy for you that you still have a good experience with Zen.
Have a quick read of the Zen sub forum and you will see that your are in the minority now.

No buddy, currently with VF, was tbinking Sky due to the price.

Onestream are doing 900 for 35, tempted by it

Edited by Ahmedg (Sun 04-Feb-24 14:43:38)

If your still having speed issue and VF can't sort them you really need your next ISP needs to be a provider who is good at getting issues resolved. Sky is not one to go for at this point.

They have waived early cancellation, TBH, am tempted to just see the next 6 to 12 moinths as City fibre are building and inching towards me, but than speeds terrible today

Thank you all for your recommendations

You might think Cityfibre will be there in 6 to 12 months, but it could be 2 years, or 3 years, or never. Altnets are all reconsidering their spending plans.

It's more a question of, how important is reliable home broadband to you over the next year? Then work out what you're prepared to pay over 12 months to get it.

In reply to a post by Ahmedg:

No buddy, currently with VF, was tbinking Sky due to the price.

Onestream are doing 900 for 35, tempted by it

The 900 for £35 is CityFibre areas only I believe. Checking my own address and my old one the prices and packages are quite different as one has CityFibre the other Openreach only.

You want a reliable ISP with good tech support perhaps you should not be thinking about price as the priority. Cheap/fast/good - pick two.

True, but when some are double, can really ignore it totally in the current climate.

Hopefully find a decent mid point.

Zen has taken some criticism recently for poor response. I can only quote from my experience this weekend. Looking at current price offers I noticed that Zen now supplies a Fritz!Box 7530AX router if you are on the 900 FTTP service which I am. When I originally signed up to Zen they only offered the basic 7530 (which does not support WiFi 6) to Openreach customers although they were giving the AX version to City Fibre customers. As the laptops in my house support WiFi 6, I sent a message to Tech Support on Sunday afternoon, not expecting a reply. To my surprise I got a reply within the hour, querying why I wanted the change, to which I replied. Early this morning I had an email advising that a 7530AX was on its way to me.
As everyone is quick to complain about bad service, it is good to be able to report excellent service.

Whereas I sent a message to Zen technical support last Thursday, which would have been very simple to reply to, and there's been no response at all. I wonder how they decide which messages to reply to and which to ignore?