Kitz Forum
Broadband Related => ISPs => Topic started by: highpriest on December 09, 2017, 11:26:21 AM
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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 does not have LLU presence at my exchange (STWINCH) according to Samknows.
They do now.
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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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 Looks like the Samknows database is slightly out of date.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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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..
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Didn't realise Sky offered static IPv4. Is that still available or was it a legacy offering with Pro?
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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.
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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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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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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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Can you access IPV6-only websites?
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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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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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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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I have full IPv6 capability on all my VPSes and services/websites I maintain (all for personal use).
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Part of this rant (http://www.revk.uk/2017/12/ipv6-world-leader-2017.html) caught my attention:
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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Any other comments from current Zen customers?
Also LLU vs BT Wholesale - does that make a real difference for the end user?
Thanks.
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All I know is that a friend of mine recently got FTTPod with Zen and he says his speeds are excellent and they don't drop below 260Mbps. He's only had it about 6wks though.
The congestion thing may be localised. They have been very busy this year upgrading ~450 exchanges. Bear in mind some of those may be head-end and take a FTTx feed from smaller exchanges, so I guess it could be a bit hit and miss if capacity in some areas was more than planned.
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All I know is that a friend of mine recently got FTTPod with Zen and he says his speeds are excellent and they don't drop below 260Mbps. He's only had it about 6wks though.
Are you sure that Zen are still selling FTTP On Demand? AFAIK they only sold it during 2013-2014 on a trial basis but happy to be proved wrong...
Or perhaps you meant native FTTP?
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That's what he told me. However he's a longstanding family friend and not au fait with dsl technology and I just took him at his word as he said his employers paid for it. He wants help setting up wifi extension and separate network for his home office, but as he's not local I've not seen it first-hand yet. I did ask for some photos of what he said was on the pole. As far as he is concerned he has the speed and that's all he cares about not how its provided.
Ive just done a BTw check on his line and it looks like you may be right as it says FTTP is available.
I do know he has the Zen 300Mbps package.
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ETA
Just had a thought... wouldnt the checker say FTTP available now anyhow? I've got to go out to an appt now, but if I get chance later I'll check some nearby addresses.
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Just had a thought... wouldnt the checker say FTTP available now anyhow? I've got to go out to an appt now, but if I get chance later I'll check some nearby addresses.
Correct, once FTTPoD is installed, the BT/OR dsl checker is updated to 'WBC FTTP' instead of showing 'FTTP on Demand'. Only way to know for sure if he has On Demand is to check the neighbours results. Btw is that screenshot his address or one of his neighbours? Because if its his address, it makes no sense at all as he already has FTTP installed!!
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I'm a current Zen customer, who used to be Plusnet customer.
The transfer from Plusnet went smoothly. I had a small issue with IPV6, which it transpired, needed a new linecard in the FTTC box - this was done in a matter of days with excellent customer service that kept me informed of progress.
I'm not on their backhaul network but have excellent speeds, 2ms better latency and IPV6.
That's about it!
Tim
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That's what he told me. However he's a longstanding family friend and not au fait with dsl technology and I just took him at his word as he said his employers paid for it. He wants help setting up wifi extension and separate network for his home office, but as he's not local I've not seen it first-hand yet. I did ask for some photos of what he said was on the pole. As far as he is concerned he has the speed and that's all he cares about not how its provided.
Ive just done a BTw check on his line and it looks like you may be right as it says FTTP is available.
I do know he has the Zen 300Mbps package.
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ETA
Just had a thought... wouldnt the checker say FTTP available now anyhow? I've got to go out to an appt now, but if I get chance later I'll check some nearby addresses.
Just thought of something else: if that screenshot is of his address, then he may not have FTTP/FTTPoD after all. His employer may have ordered a leased line for him from Zen (still pure fibre of course), in which case the BT checker would remain unchanged.
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I'm a current Zen customer, who used to be Plusnet customer.
The transfer from Plusnet went smoothly. I had a small issue with IPV6, which it transpired, needed a new linecard in the FTTC box - this was done in a matter of days with excellent customer service that kept me informed of progress.
I'm not on their backhaul network but have excellent speeds, 2ms better latency and IPV6.
That's about it!
Tim
Good to know, thank you Tim :)
Did you have any of those single-threaded download speed issues?
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Btw is that screenshot his address or one of his neighbours? Because if its his address, it makes no sense at all as he already has FTTP installed!!
Yes its his. I've run his immediate neighbours through the checker and it says the same. Moving a few houses away I got some really weird results, and a couple that returned no result at all ???
So I then tried the next street which also gave similar results. It's not a leased line for certain.
TBF when he first got it and was trying to describe what was on the pole I was even wondering if it was g.fast which is why I asked for photos. However his exchange whilst in the region of one of the original trials, is not one that I can see on the latest list and he is nearer Peterborough. Which is when he came back with on demand, but insisted it came from the pole. So gawd knows now, but I think the checker rules out g.fast.
Years ago I used to go down there a lot, but because of my limitations these days, he usually comes up here for family occasions or visits. Next time we speak, I shall nag again for photos rather than just listen to him brag about his speeds.