Kitz Forum
Broadband Related => ISPs => Topic started by: Jon21 on April 21, 2021, 11:19:36 AM
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Apologies for starting new topics with regards to different ISP's.
I was with Sky before joining Zen and they seemed to be fine at the time. My minimum term with Zen has now expired and I'm considering my options. I've seen a deal via uSwitch for Sky, that is £25 a month and no setup fee. It's £28 a month on Sky's website, plus setup fees. Is anyone using them? I've not come across many reports of issues, other than the usual Wifi issues from the supplied equipment.
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For me it tends to come down to a static IP and I just feel better with an ISP that isn't doing content filtering. There's just less to go wrong between me and the Internet.
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That's kind of expensive compared to other deals that include content filtering and no static ip on the Uswitch
Vodafone is £22 for the same service with no setup fee
Origin is £23.49 ditto
Now broadband is Sky, same price £25 but only a 12 month contract not 18 months also no setup fee.
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I'd check with Origin though as when I was last with them they used CG-NAT by default but they did switch you to static IP on request.
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I'd check with Origin though as when I was last with them they used CG-NAT by default but they did switch you to static IP on request.
Not really read much about Origin tbh. Kind of stuck between staying with Zen, going for a cheaper option like a mass market ISP or say, going with Uno who are kind of middle ground price wise between Zen and Sky, Vodafone, TalkTalk etc. Except Uno would no doubt be on a par with their technical knowledge as Zen.
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You have to decide exactly what you really want, if it is to spend the minimum amount of money possible than go for that.
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You have to decide exactly what you really want, if it is to spend the minimum amount of money possible than go for that.
True and whilst price isn't a major factor in the choice, I do sometimes wonder why I pay the extra £10 a month to Zen for, compared to say the Sky deal mentioned. I guess the potentially better customer service. Wouldn't of thought any of the mass market ISP's would suffer congestion issues now. Well, maybe Virgin still do but that would be localised.
Static IP - nice to have but I only really find it useful for the Thinkbroadband BQM. Can use a DDNS to get around any changes to the IP address.
IPv6 - again a nice to have but not essential.
Content filtering - I'm guessing this is if an ISP potentially blocks a website? I don't think I've ever had that issue.
Latency - purely going from a BQM, Sky had the lowest latency, 9-10ms, when I was previously with them. Zen were initially around 10-11ms but it increased to around 14ms. Presumably a routing change. Nothing major but I do occasionally play some first person shooters.
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I am with Sky. My broadband speed is pretty constant, and where I live, the speed is more than I really need. Running my Sipgate VOIP line over my broadband normally provides really good quality calls, unlike when I used a V.M. line a few years ago. When I have had broadband faults on my line in the past, it was not Sky that let me down.........
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The bigger ISPs usually end up having to comply with DMCA requests, while the smaller players don't have this limitation.
Do you want the phone line, SOGEA can cost less from some providers.
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The bigger ISPs usually end up having to comply with DMCA requests, while the smaller players don't have this limitation.
Even Zen have to pass on DMCA reports if they are informed that one of their customers has pirated something. I had one a few years back when I wanted to see what the quality of a 4K Bluray was to see if it was worth buying a UHD Bluray player.
What they don't have to do is content filtering, which is great as I know Plusnet once blocked a whole domain just because one page on it hosted something dodgy. I don't like the idea that legitimate sites can accidentally get blocked, even if its eventually resolved.
The stupidity of the modern web is some US sites I have to use a VPN to bypass the GDPR restrictions, as they can't be bothered to implement the opt-out mechanisms.
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Do you want the phone line, SOGEA can cost less from some providers.
I’d have no problem going with SOGEA. There’s never a phone plugged in. Wasn’t sure which ISP’s provide it though, other than iDNET.
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I’d have no problem going with SOGEA. There’s never a phone plugged in. Wasn’t sure which ISP’s provide it though, other than iDNET.
Gamma have just launched SOGEA, only 80/20 and comes with 1 static ip address.
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I’d have no problem going with SOGEA. There’s never a phone plugged in. Wasn’t sure which ISP’s provide it though, other than iDNET.
Look at Aquiss. Respected ISP and they do a very cost effective FTTC Broadband only option.
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Look at Aquiss. Respected ISP and they do a very cost effective FTTC Broadband only option.
I think you still need line rental with someone for that option? Unless I’ve read it wrong which is definitely possible lol. They are a local company as well, so would consider supporting them.
Quite like the 1 month contract with the iDNET SOGEA option. Pretty much the same price as Zen.
Edit: What happens if I went for a SOGEA product and then later wanted to migrate to another provider? I think the phone number is "lost" when going to SOGEA? Would I have to go for another SOGEA product or would a new number be assigned to the line? I'm not in anyway attached to the phone number, due to not using it.
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You can switch from SOGEA back to a PSTN+DSL package.
A new number would be assigned.
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You can switch from SOGEA back to a PSTN+DSL package.
A new number would be assigned.
The real question is, for how long? I'd assume being able to move back will be suspended some time in advance of PSTN switch-off, so that as many people as possible will migrate off PSTN before having to force the rest to do so.
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I think you still need line rental with someone for that option? Unless I’ve read it wrong which is definitely possible lol. They are a local company as well, so would consider supporting them.
I had assumed it was their SOGEA offering, but looking again, I think you may be right (although it doesn't definitively say you need line rental with another provider).
Another option is Freeola. £24.98 a month with silent line rental. You still have a phone line and can receive incoming calls, just not make outgoing calls. 30 day contracts for FTTC like IDNet.
I am an IDNet customer so not putting you off that option at all. I like the fact that they have a number of backhaul providers and will shift you to a different backhaul to try and resolve any problems. They have moved me from TTB to Zen and eventually BTw backhaul to resolve single thread speed test issues. In general their support has been exemplary when needed, however we did have three days of slow internet over the Easter weekend that they never found a cause for. I found some Sky customers on NextDoor who were having similar problems, so almost certainly it was down to an OR issue of some sort, however they were unable to shed any light on it.
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You can switch from SOGEA back to a PSTN+DSL package.
A new number would be assigned.
Thanks j0hn.
I had assumed it was their SOGEA offering, but looking again, I think you may be right (although it doesn't definitively say you need line rental with another provider).
Another option is Freeola. £24.98 a month with silent line rental. You still have a phone line and can receive incoming calls, just not make outgoing calls. 30 day contracts for FTTC like IDNet.
I am an IDNet customer so not putting you off that option at all. I like the fact that they have a number of backhaul providers and will shift you to a different backhaul to try and resolve any problems. They have moved me from TTB to Zen and eventually BTw backhaul to resolve single thread speed test issues. In general their support has been exemplary when needed, however we did have three days of slow internet over the Easter weekend that they never found a cause for. I found some Sky customers on NextDoor who were having similar problems, so almost certainly it was down to an OR issue of some sort, however they were unable to shed any light on it.
I'll drop Aquiss a message, see if they do SOGEA. I've also asked IDNet about which backhaul they use, came back that it was BTw for the SOGEA product. Perhaps they use BTw for most (all?) customers now?
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Aquiss use Entanet as their supplier afaik, so will be tied to the Entanet (or is it CityFibre) offerings.
IDNet used to use Zen wholesale as their default backhaul, I suspect because it was cheaper for them, but don't know whether that is still the case.
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Andrews and Arnold were talking about their long-standing desire to sell lines with no phone service, something which is completely useless since they don’t provide telephone support - they make you use VoIP or simply buy a voice service elsewhere.
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Heard back from Aquiss. They don't do SOGEA as yet. They are definitely an option though. Over 12 months, the price works out around the same as I'm paying Zen (with the 3 months @£22, then £42 for Option 3 + phone). Noticed last night that the place I work at use Entanet or a reseller of them, not sure who. It's only an ADSL2+ line but it's been rock solid as far as I can tell.
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I've gone with Sky in the end. Was kindly given a friend and family code which has brought the price down to £23 month. Was waiting for a local FTTP provider (Exascale) to possibly drop a flyer through the letterbox, this is apparently how they are announcing new areas, according to their Twitter feed. But even if this area is going to be covered, it's probably realistically at least a year away.
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I still remember us getting the Virgin Media flyer, then they got bought out and the expansion stopped at the park. :(
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I'm with Sky and it's fine, had for 9 years now.