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Author Topic: Yet Another Zen Thread  (Read 5806 times)

highpriest

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Yet Another Zen Thread
« on: December 09, 2017, 11:26:21 AM »

So my 18 month contract with Plusnet is coming to an end in January and I'm considering what ISP to move to next. I like having a static IP address (more than one would be nice but not essential) and I'd love to have native IPv6. Plusnet's IPv6 roll-out plans appear to have stalled permanently.

Cannot fault the service I received from Plusnet though - it really has been brilliant, but I need IPv6.

So I'm seriously considering moving to Zen. Are there any other ISPs I should be considering? At £60 per month, AA is a bit too pricey for me. Our data usage is ridiculously high due to the amount of stuff we stream. Plusnet reckons we use between 500 and 600 GB a month, and that report now excludes Netflix and Youtube usage. So it is likely to be much higher.

Zen does not have LLU presence at my exchange (STWINCH) according to Samknows. Is that a factor at all?

Vodafone is another candidate, and I can get it for a great price, but their support is sketchy at best and I'm pretty sure they have no IPv6. Though they do appear to offer a static IPv4 address for no extra cost.

Any suggestions welcome.
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Zen | Zyxel VMG8324-B10A (with RFC4638 patch) | EdgeRouter PoE | UniFi AP AC Pro + Lite

kitz

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Re: Yet Another Zen Thread
« Reply #1 on: December 09, 2017, 12:05:36 PM »

Zen does not have LLU presence at my exchange (STWINCH) according to Samknows.

They do now.


Code: [Select]
STWINCH Winchester
32 Upper Brook Street
Winchester
SO23 8DG
stwinch.zen.net.uk

Child Nodes

STALSFD Alresford
STHRSTK Harestock
STICHAB Itchen Abbas
STMCHDV Micheldever
STSPSLT Sparsholt
STSSCOT Sutton Scotney
STTWYFD Twyford
STWINCH Winchester
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How to get your router line stats :: ADSL Exchange Checker

highpriest

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Re: Yet Another Zen Thread
« Reply #2 on: December 09, 2017, 02:04:36 PM »

Interesting. Thanks kitz. Looks like the Samknows database is slightly out of date.

How significant is it though? Are there any distinct advantages to having LLU?
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skyeci

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Re: Yet Another Zen Thread
« Reply #3 on: December 09, 2017, 02:28:20 PM »

even though my ipv4 with sky is static my ipv6 should not be but by using pfsense my ipv6 prefix has stayed the same since Feb 2017 regardless of downtime / reboots. the mod to pfsense allows you to hopefully hold on to it. so far so good..

highpriest

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Re: Yet Another Zen Thread
« Reply #4 on: December 09, 2017, 02:42:50 PM »

Didn't realise Sky offered static IPv4. Is that still available or was it a legacy offering with Pro?
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Ixel

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Re: Yet Another Zen Thread
« Reply #5 on: December 09, 2017, 03:00:29 PM »

Didn't realise Sky offered static IPv4. Is that still available or was it a legacy offering with Pro?

Pretty sure it is, the following link might be relevant.

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/7497-sky-fibre-pro-is-now-sky-fibre-max-as-price-drops-by-5

As for Zen, I was using them for a few years, all seemed fine until later this year where I experienced slow single threaded download speeds (as did some other customers on Thinkbroadband's forum in the Zen Internet section). When I needed support at the time I didn't quite get the support I should've had with a different FTTC related issue, but after leaving them a negative review on Trustpilot I was asked to contact quality assurance and a few weeks later I was called and had the option for it to be looked at. I respectfully declined however as I don't use that line for FTTC (since October 13th) as I ordered a second line from AAISP who sent four SFI engineers without hesitation and promptly (next day) at no expense to me. Three of those were escalated and although my line is still an odd anomaly in some way, it works fine on my DrayTek Vigor 2860Vac now :). I blame 70+ year old copper.

Zen however did call again the same day after getting in touch with me again and a manager authorised the FTTC contract to be ended early with no early termination cost to me. I hope to see something happen next week as I imagine this will need to go through a few various departments. So assuming they keep to their promise which I'm pretty sure they will, then the customer service in the end improved for me. Whether you wish to join Zen is your choice, just sharing my experience. I've kept Zen for now just for the line rental but may move to Pulse8 or another option for lower call costs later on. I had the choice of ending that contract with my FTTC contract early too but I said no line rental only is fine to continue.
« Last Edit: December 09, 2017, 03:02:36 PM by Ixel »
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highpriest

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Re: Yet Another Zen Thread
« Reply #6 on: December 09, 2017, 03:22:12 PM »

According to that link, the option to request a static IP is no longer available since the Pro offering has been withdrawn.

Those single thread speed problems are worrying. Is that still an ongoing issue, do you know?
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Ixel

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Re: Yet Another Zen Thread
« Reply #7 on: December 09, 2017, 04:01:54 PM »

According to that link, the option to request a static IP is no longer available since the Pro offering has been withdrawn.

Those single thread speed problems are worrying. Is that still an ongoing issue, do you know?

I honestly don't know unfortunately. Mine were mostly resolved from being near enough all day long to being around peak times (such as evenings).

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/zen/f/4509738-poor-single-thread-performance-problems-return.html was the large thread regarding slow single threaded download speeds. You could always post a message there to see if others are still suffering some issues perhaps.
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psychopomp1

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Re: Yet Another Zen Thread
« Reply #8 on: December 10, 2017, 02:12:04 PM »

Out of curiosity why do you "need" IPv6? My ISP (Fluidone) offers both native IPv6 and IPv4, I've gone for a single static IPv4 address yet not had any problems accessing any websites. Everything just works...
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Dray

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Re: Yet Another Zen Thread
« Reply #9 on: December 10, 2017, 02:23:50 PM »

Can you access IPV6-only websites?
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highpriest

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Re: Yet Another Zen Thread
« Reply #10 on: December 10, 2017, 03:00:32 PM »

Out of curiosity why do you "need" IPv6? My ISP (Fluidone) offers both native IPv6 and IPv4, I've gone for a single static IPv4 address yet not had any problems accessing any websites. Everything just works...

As Dray mentioned, there could be the odd website/service that is IPv6 only. In any case, I want to be IPv6 ready for the future. But the main reason for me is to learn IPv6 properly as I have never used it in anger in a "production" environment.
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psychopomp1

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Re: Yet Another Zen Thread
« Reply #11 on: December 10, 2017, 07:14:50 PM »

Can you access IPV6-only websites?

What are those?  ;) I say this because in my day to day browsing I've never come across any website which wouldn't let me in on my ipv4 connection. Like I said, I could get an ipv6 connection from my ISP but if it ain't broke...
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j0hn

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Re: Yet Another Zen Thread
« Reply #12 on: December 10, 2017, 09:00:23 PM »

Quote
but I need IPv6
It will be many many years before IPV6 is necessary to use a website/service. The only websites I've ever come across which need IPV6 are IPV6 test sites ::)
Granted it's a nice-to-have, but definitely not needed.
A couple ISP's that do offer IPV6 have awkward implementations of it.
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highpriest

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Re: Yet Another Zen Thread
« Reply #13 on: December 10, 2017, 09:28:24 PM »

I have full IPv6 capability on all my VPSes and services/websites I maintain (all for personal use).
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jelv

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Re: Yet Another Zen Thread
« Reply #14 on: December 11, 2017, 09:05:10 AM »

Part of this rant caught my attention:

Quote
The talk from Facebook was really interesting - IPv6 everywhere internally with just edge devices talking legacy IPv4 for those who are not up to date. They also report that IPv6 access has better performance.
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Broadband and Line rental: Zen Unlimited Fibre 2, Mobile: Vodaphone
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