Yet another which ISP thread....

Help please, as I can't decide!

I'm looking to move my home broadband to FTTC (80/20) imminently, and away from my current ADSL provider. I'll not be moving the phone - so going for a standalone fibre product.

I had been going to move to Plusnet, but still not sure that mass market is my thing for this - especially as I think their user base must be growing at quite a rate, and I'd be tied to an 18 month contract. So, I'm now seriously thinking about either Andrews & Arnold or Xilo/Uno.

My understanding of the packages is:

Plusnet is £50 activation, £22.50/month (inc non-phone line surcharge), completely unlimited, minimal filtering, with QOS management. 18 month contract. Possibly capacity won't keep up with their growth? Total cost of contract £455. Plus another 5 quid for a static IP address.

AA Home:1 is £100 activation, £40/month for 100GB (no peak/off-peak). No filtering, or shaping. Shouldn't have capacity issues and I'd expect full speed any time of day/night. Only a 6 month contract. IPv6 (though not sure I care about that!) Total cost of contract £340.

XILO Fibre+ 125GB, £40 activiation, £37.99/month for 125GB peak, unlimited off-peak. Unsure on filtering. No shaping. 12 month contract. Capacity unlikely to be an issue? Total cost of contract £495.88


Presumably/hopefully, A&A and XILO offer a more resiliant service than mass market ISPs.

I'm leaning towards A&A as it's the shortest contract - though clearly the most expensive - and they have a reputation for sorting things out if there are problems. I last moved provider 7 years ago and had problems with that, and then when I moved on to ADSL2+ I had further problems - so I'm very nervous about making this change.


My big concern with A&A is the usage limit. Until very recently I struggled to use more than 5GB peak in a month, and probably not vast amounts more than that off-peak. However, my usage has increased quite a bit in the past 2 months or so - about 60GB total up/down last month, and I've used 6GB peak in a single day this month.

Can anybody give me pros and cons of any of the above ISPs please (with respect to FTTC)? Especially reliability and what support is like out of normal office hours? If my connection stops working at 8pm on Friday night, I'd really want somebody at the ISP to know that before Monday morning and see where the problem is and if they can do anything about it.

Is you exchange Market 3 or not?

Yes, it's market 3.

If its market three then that should open it up, we can do unlimited unrestricted, free activation for £37.20 on a 12 month if its for residential (no charge for a static IP)

Most ISP would have minimum of 12month contract.
Most have the phone and line requirement.
Look at the Zen broadband thread.
29.5 / month unlimited, static IP and incl no line supplement.
Whatever we say about our ISP does not necessarily mean that it will apply.

Or theres Aquiss they do a 12mth min term, free activation ,static IP as standard no filtering ,or shaping as far as i'm aware Aquiss fibre 80/20 unlimited £38.00 per month, is another option open to you,

THanks for the replies everyone. But you're not helping me to choose

In reply to a post by flippery:

Look at the Zen broadband thread.
29.5 / month unlimited, static IP and incl no line supplement.

Isn't that plus vat?

In reply to a post by tonytiger07:

THanks for the replies everyone. But you're not helping me to choose

We can only give you opinions. If it was me I would give zen a ring and discuss what you would expect from their offering. To me they have the expertise and muscle to supply what you are after. Price is also a plus.
It also depends on what other requirements you may wish to include within your package,
which may not be available eg BT Sport

This may help, zen user

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/fibre/t/4328957-int...

Edited by flippery (Wed 14-May-14 22:55:14)