Kitz Forum
Broadband Related => ISPs => Topic started by: dorzb on August 20, 2019, 11:00:26 AM
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My current contract with BT ends in a few months time so I'm looking for a new ISP now. From my previous posts you'd know that I have got a very good and reliable line (Attainable Net Data Rate:39.386Mbps UP/102.336 Mbps Down).
Apart from BT, the exchange I'm connected to has 3 LLUs, TalkTalk, Sky, and Vodafone.
Vodafone: big NO from J0hn so I'll pass. :no:
Plusnet:
Pros:
1.kitz and J0hn are using Plusnet that seems to mean a lot! @kitz @J0hn ;D
2.Speed profile
3.Remote DLM reset
Cons:
1. I did some search myself and found out some said Plusnet have been moving their network from WBMC Shared to WBMC Dedicated, which causes high latency and packet loss. There have been quite a few posts on the Plusnet forums in the last couple of weeks complaining about latency and packet loss issue. This slightly puts me off.
2.Billing system. Lots of users have complained about their billing system. Someone even mentioned he'd not received any bills for a couple of months! (maybe this is a 'Pro' not a 'Con' then :P)
Sky:
Pros:
1.Good support
2.Best ISP supplied router (but I'm going to use my own anyway)
Cons:
1. Standard profile (does it matter though for I have such a good line?)
2. Netflix streaming not as good as other competitors
TalkTalk:
Pros:
1. Good results in the lastest Ofcom report(fast web browsing, low latency, packet loss and jitter and etc)
Cons:
1. Standard profile as same as Sky
2. No Remote DLM reset
So which one should I choose then? ???
Thanks in advance.
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Not sure where you got the information about Sky routers being good. They're not that good.
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dorzb,
I moved to PlusNet just under 3 months ago from BT (after many years) due to my profile being banded for the last 2 years, and got nowhere with them to get a DLM reset :rant:
PlusNet so far have been superb - got new email addresses 30 days before the handover so I could amend all my old BT email addresses as required, and changeover was seamless and carried out at 0630 in the morning!
Use my own modem here, and have found service to be reliable (40+ days on current connect) and quicker than my old BT one due to DLM being reset with change of ip :thumbs:
Also no problems with bills!!!
I can recommend them.
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dorzb,
I moved to PlusNet just under 3 months ago from BT (after many years) due to my profile being banded for the last 2 years, and got nowhere with them to get a DLM reset :rant:
PlusNet so far have been superb - got new email addresses 30 days before the handover so I could amend all my old BT email addresses as required, and changeover was seamless and carried out at 0630 in the morning!
Use my own modem here, and have found service to be reliable (40+ days on current connect) and quicker than my old BT one due to DLM being reset with change of ip :thumbs:
Also no problems with bills!!!
I can recommend them.
Hi navzptc ,
Thanks very much for sharing your experience with both BT and Plusnet. That's helpful.
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Not sure where you got the information about Sky routers being good. They're not that good.
Can't remember. Some said it's the best wifi among all ISP supplied routers. Modem-wise I think Zen's FRITZ!Box might be the best?
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I wouldn't choose a ISP based on what router they supply. ISP routers vary from very poor to average wrt wifi, definitely worth using your own if great wifi is a must. I suggest you choose an ISP based on cost & support as a vdsl2 line will perform more or less the same irrespective of ISP. FWIW I was with TalkTalk (both Business & Residential) on ADSL2+ and VDSL2 from 2008 to 2017 and never had any issues - the icing on the cake were the rock bottom prices.
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I wouldn't choose a ISP based on what router they supply. ISP routers vary from very poor to average wrt wifi, definitely worth using your own if great wifi is a must. I suggest you choose an ISP based on cost & support as a vdsl2 line will perform more or less the same irrespective of ISP. FWIW I was with TalkTalk (both Business & Residential) on ADSL2+ and VDSL2 from 2008 to 2017 and never had any issues - the icing on the cake were the rock bottom prices.
Thank you psychopomp1. In terms of cost and support I think Plusnet and TalkTalk are on a par with each other. Customers can request GEA report and remote DLM reset from Plusnet are the two things I like. I'm just a little bit concerned about their recent latency and packet loss issue.
PS: who's your current ISP? Amazing speed!
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Can't remember. Some said it's the best wifi among all ISP supplied routers. Modem-wise I think Zen's FRITZ!Box might be the best?
Oh. Well, that may be the case, but I've not used an ISP supplied router since... oh my word. A long, long time ago :)
In fact, when I took on my AAISP FTTC circuit, they didn't even supply me with equipment (my choice) as I have all my own, and I am much happier that way.
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I'm with an ISP called FluidOne. At the time (early 2017) i wanted FTTPoD, they were the only ISP offering it so had no choice but to go with them. Great ISP for speeds & support but not cheap! I'm paying > £300 /m though a large chunk of that will be paying off the installation costs of FoD. Around 10 months of my 36 months minimum term on FoD left :fingers:
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My experience with Plus was similar to navzptc's. Moved from BT to them; my line also needed a DLM reset which got done during the switch-over (BT weren't bothered). To be fair, that was my own fault for using a dodgy Vigor 130 on my line.
I had no problems during the 18 months that I was with them - support was excellent too. I should mention though, that my line is quite stable and syncs at the maximum speed. Eventually switched to Zen because I wanted IPv6, no other reason.
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. . . that was my own fault for using a dodgy Vigor 130 on my line.
I don't want to hijack dorzb's thread but the above caught my eye . . . hence this request for hp to take a look at crgbt's problem (https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,23780.msg401476.htm), when time permits, please.
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My experience with Plus was similar to navzptc's. Moved from BT to them; my line also needed a DLM reset which got done during the switch-over (BT weren't bothered). To be fair, that was my own fault for using a dodgy Vigor 130 on my line.
I had no problems during the 18 months that I was with them - support was excellent too. I should mention though, that my line is quite stable and syncs at the maximum speed. Eventually switched to Zen because I wanted IPv6, no other reason.
Thanks very much! I think I'll choose Plus then.
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I don't want to hijack dorzb's thread but the above caught my eye . . . hence this request for hp to take a look at crgbt's problem (https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,23780.msg401476.htm), when time permits, please.
Be my guest. ;D
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Leaving aside lowest pricing and supplied router quality as factors for choosing, I have stuck with Sky (either on Sky Broadband or NOW Broadband) for several years now, mainly for the modernity and robustness of its core network that supports the service. Reliability has been very high.
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all have their poor sides...
I would have said Plusnet but they have definitely gone downhill lately, billing issues are woefull, ive been affected many times and still am (over charges with me), also ive lost 10-15Mb overnight which wasnt resolved after an engineer visit, when I first signed up their router would drop throughput by 20Mbps after 4-5 days and wouldnt resolve unless I reboot it, then it would happen again 4-5 days later, they sent me a replacement which did the exact same, I put a BT HH5B in and the problem went away.
Talk Talk connections are ok when they work, but they have call centres in india and my dad said calling them was offputting due to the language barrier, he could not understand them nor them understand him, he had to spell out each word he was saying. theor online forums support is good (or used to be anyway)
Sky routers are carp (all ISP routers are), their support is no better than any other either, sky used to be a great ISP but not so much of late from what I can gather
best of luck!
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Would disagree on support from Sky. I rarely need it but they went above and beyond and got my dad's longstanding issue fixed once and for all today. Took us a few goes but we got there. Mainly ORs fault to be honest.
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I wouldn't choose a ISP based on what router they supply. ISP routers vary from very poor to average wrt wifi, definitely worth using your own if great wifi is a must. I suggest you choose an ISP based on cost & support as a vdsl2 line will perform more or less the same irrespective of ISP. FWIW I was with TalkTalk (both Business & Residential) on ADSL2+ and VDSL2 from 2008 to 2017 and never had any issues - the icing on the cake were the rock bottom prices.
I finally chose TalkTalk based on your post and I've been very happy so far. Thank you psychopomp1! ;D
============================================================================
VDSL Training Status: Showtime
Mode: VDSL2 Annex B
VDSL Profile: Profile 17a
G.Vector: Disable
Traffic Type: PTM Mode
Link Uptime: 0 day: 5 hours: 14 minutes
============================================================================
VDSL Port Details Upstream Downstream
Line Rate: 20.033 Mbps 80.147 Mbps
Actual Net Data Rate: 20.000 Mbps 79.999 Mbps
Trellis Coding: ON ON
SNR Margin: 18.3 dB 7.5 dB
Actual Delay: 0 ms 8 ms
Transmit Power: 7.1 dBm 12.5 dBm
Receive Power: 0.5 dBm 5.7 dBm
Actual INP: 0.0 symbols 3.0 symbols
Total Attenuation: 6.6 dB 6.7 dB
Attainable Net Data Rate: 39.137 Mbps 102.546 Mbps
============================================================================
VDSL Band Status U0 U1 U2 U3 D1 D2 D3
Line Attenuation(dB): 4.7 21.1 11.2 N/A 3.9 7.6 12.2
Signal Attenuation(dB): 4.7 7.3 10.4 N/A 4.4 7.5 12.2
SNR Margin(dB): 18.0 18.3 18.3 N/A 7.6 7.4 7.4
Transmit Power(dBm): 0.7 5.9 - 9.0 N/A 8.3 7.6 7.3
============================================================================
VDSL Counters
Downstream Upstream
Since Link time = 14 min 19 sec
FEC: 3852 0
CRC: 0 0
ES: 0 0
SES: 0 0
UAS: 0 0
LOS: 0 0
LOF: 0 0
LOM: 0 0
Retr: 0
HostInitRetr: 0
FailedRetr: 0
Latest 15 minutes time = 9 min 2 sec
FEC: 170 0
CRC: 0 0
ES: 0 0
SES: 0 0
UAS: 0 0
LOS: 0 0
LOF: 0 0
LOM: 0 0
Retr: 0
HostInitRetr: 0
FailedRetr: 0
Previous 15 minutes time = 15 min 0 sec
FEC: 204 0
CRC: 0 0
ES: 0 0
SES: 0 0
UAS: 0 0
LOS: 0 0
LOF: 0 0
LOM: 0 0
Retr: N/A
HostInitRetr: N/A
FailedRetr: N/A
Latest 1 day time = 1 hours 54 min 2 sec
FEC: 1898 0
CRC: 0 0
ES: 0 0
SES: 0 0
UAS: 0 0
LOS: 0 0
LOF: 0 0
LOM: 0 0
Retr: 0
HostInitRetr: 0
FailedRetr: 0
Previous 1 day time = 24 hours 0 sec
FEC: 4799 0
CRC: 0 0
ES: 10 0
SES: 10 0
UAS: 50 40
LOS: 1 0
LOF: 8 0
LOM: 0 0
Retr: 1
HostInitRetr: 0
FailedRetr: 0
Total time = 1 days 1 hours 54 min 2 sec
FEC: 83474 1
CRC: 37 0
ES: 22 0
SES: 20 0
UAS: 127 107
LOS: 2 0
LOF: 17 0
LOM: 0 0
Retr: 2
HostInitRetr: 0
FailedRetr: 0
============================================================================
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Nice attainable figures!
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In my view sky have been getting worse. Possibly to do with comcast takeover or thats just coincidence with timing.
Load's on their netflix servers going up, broken ipv6 when it used to work fine, outages at least once a week during dusk hours, probably down to their lack of mesh network so cannot avoid downtime on maintenance, prices have also been going up alarmingly fast. My non discounted fibre pro was more than aaisp's prices. There was at least a £20 month difference when I originally signed up.
But they do avoid pppoe which is nice, and in my city the latency is really low to london. Actual backhaul visible congestion also remains non existent (for my area).
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Well, I've had Sky FTTC since April 2012 - it's still as good as it was on day 1. It has gotten slower, but, that is not due to Sky. Crosstalk loss I mean.
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All three (plus BT and EE) were mentioned on BBC's 'Watchdog' last week.
Sky came out on top as the best of them.
My advice, if ever asked, is to choose their ISP based upon their after-sales service.
In most cases, it doesn't matter which ISP you use, their services get delivered down the same pair of high-end mega-twisted copper wires ... sometimes over our much-vaunted silver-copper wires ... which is where the highest percentage of a fault developing, exists.
Ergo, if you have an ISP that is good in this particular area ... the better IMO. :)
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I wouldn't choose a ISP based on what router they supply. ISP routers vary from very poor to average wrt wifi, definitely worth using your own if great wifi is a must. I suggest you choose an ISP based on cost & support as a vdsl2 line will perform more or less the same irrespective of ISP. FWIW I was with TalkTalk (both Business & Residential) on ADSL2+ and VDSL2 from 2008 to 2017 and never had any issues - the icing on the cake were the rock bottom prices.
What do you think the best router to go for is?