Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[N0STIE]

Hi guys!

Haven't been here for long time. Finally can return to this great community again!

I just got a new house that supports VDSL speeds between 68-80mps and 20mbps of upload and looking for decent ISP that will give me lowest latency possible. I also need it to be reliable (stable) so no Virgin Media definitely. I've had BT as my last ISP around year ago and had very stable service all round with 9-12ms to BBC and around 43/8 Mbps. Price is also an important factor - I wouldn't want to pay more than £35pm including rental and would prefer 12 months contract. I've moved to another area (same town) where I can get almost full speeds. I would take BT again but their price for fibre 2 is ridiculously high. I live in North West Liverpool if that helps.

Could you guys recommend an ISP that would suit me the best? Latency is most important factor.

Thank you!

[burakkucat]

Do you really need a 80/20 Mbps DS/US service? Or could you "come down a notch" to the 55/10 Mbps DS/US product?

If a minimised monthly outlay is a prerequisite then A&A or Zen would have to be ruled out. Who else is available? Apart from BT, there is Sky, Plusnet, Vodafone and TalkTalk. (And all the others who I have forgotten.)

Perhaps if you could draw up a more comprehensive list of your requirements, we might be able to provide a more focused suggestion list.

[N0STIE]

I can come down to 55/10 if the price is competitive enough. If it's only £5 difference I'd rather go for 80/20.

Well, more comprehensive list hmm:
- lowest latency possible (most important)
- good customer service
- reliability
- stability
- speed not lower than 40/10 but would rather go for 55/10 or 80/20
- ISP that will allow me to use my tp link td w9980 router
- price isn't that important but wouldn't pay more than £35 Inc line rental for 80/20 so if better ISP offers 55/10 for the price of 80/20 I'd go for it rather than dealing with terrible customer service despite their 80/20
-12 month contract but can be 18 month if ISP is very good

In fact latency reliability and stability are key for me. Speed that would handle smart IPTV, 2 laptops, 3 phones and 1 gaming pc connected at the same time most devices will be connected without any or minimal increase in latency. I know I am bit demanding but well..

Need to find out the cabinet type. I reckon Huawei would be better than eci? Is there any way to find it remotely?

[j0hn]

FTTC cab - How to lookup location & type of DSLAM

[N0STIE]

Thanks @j0hn found it

It's cabinet 41, it also says 41 on PCP and there is fibre cabinet just next to it. Unfortunately ECI one It's roughly 200-210 metres from my house.

[j0hn]

Follow this part of the guide, as there's still a slight bit hope.

https://kitz.co.uk/adsl/cabinet-lookup.htm#fttc_cab_info

Check the info on codelook and see if it says anything about your cabinet being expanded.

Many ECI cabinets also have a Huawei cabinet next to them as they install a Huawei when the ECI is full.
Codelook tells you if there is a 2nd cabinet or if 1 is due to be installed.

Google maps likely wouldn't show any recently installed 2nd cabinet.

[kitz]

lowest latency possible (most important)

If you are on an ECI cab and no hope of Huawei with G.INP & xDB, then I would be looking at an ISP which uses the 'Speed' profile.
Unfortunately that limits you to AAISP, BT, Plusnet, Zen and I think ID-net.

ISP that will allow me to use my tp link td w9980 router

.

I'd be tempted to swap out for a BCM based chipset modem.  I'm on a ECI and was able to get ~6Mbps-7Mbps more sync speed (and less errors) using a Zyxel VMG8324 over my TDW9980.

[N0STIE]

There is only 1 Huawei cabinet around this area and is roughly 500-550m from my house so can't be this.

@kitz

I suppose speed profile gives the lowest latency?

Which one would you go with from the ones you said based on my requirements?

[chenks]

you rule out virgin due to reliability?
virgin is more or less reliable than any other ISP.

I was with plusnet previously (80/20) and it was reliable, i then moved to virgin (200/10) and that is also just as reliable and stable. any speed test i do always exceeds 200Mbps down. no matter which ISP you use you'll always experience something at some point though.

but plusnet and virgin have shocking CS (although both have decent support forums), but most ISPs do unless got with an ISP that is significantly more expensive than the "norm" (ie AAISP).

the cost i pay for 200/10 is the same as what i was paying for 80/20 (combined internet and landline).

[N0STIE]

I know virgin always gives higher latency than VDSL. I spoke to some of the neighbours, they all agreed having issues being with virgin - unstable speed at evening, dropouts etc. I wouldn't go for it, too much bad experience with them in the past. I spoke to plusnet CS they claim they use Standard Profile not speed.. confused

[chenks]

i'd avoid plusnet if i was you.
shambles of a company.

[psychopomp1]

I'd be tempted to swap out for a BCM based chipset modem.  I'm on a ECI and was able to get ~6Mbps-7Mbps more sync speed (and less errors) using a Zyxel VMG8324 over my TDW9980.

Not always a good idea to use a BCM modem on an ECI cabinet. I've heard of a few cases where people have obtained a better (more stable) connection by using Lantiq based modems such as a BT Homehub or Netgear D7800 when connected to a ECI cab.

[kitz]

I spoke to plusnet CS they claim they use Standard Profile not speed.. confused

Plusnet definitely use Speed profile for NGA (FTTC) and Standard profile for WBC (ADSL2+).
Unfortunately the profile names for the 2 different products can get confusing as you can see here.

[kitz]

Not always a good idea to use a BCM modem on an ECI cabinet. I've heard of a few cases where people have obtained a better (more stable) connection by using Lantiq based modems such as a BT Homehub or Netgear D7800 when connected to a ECI cab.

Most of the reg users on this forum who are on ECI cabs use BCM based modems.  I have a couple of TD-W9980's which give ~3Mbps less sync than a HG612 which in turn gives ~3Mbps less sync than a VMG8324-B10A.

The VMGxxxx-B10A's tend to be best performers due to the additional inbuilt noise filters and it's why they are so popular. 

There are a few lines where a  lantiq chip may work better, but from what I've seen they tend to be longer lines.   My own line has always performed better with a BCM even in the days of adsl2+.   

I think it may be a similar situation to adsl whereby the 2Wire 2700's were fantastic modems for long lines and why they were always something in Walters Wheelbarrow.   Yet the 2700's were absolute total garbage for short lines.   Back then BE users on short lines loved the old ST585's because they gave a speed boost, whilst someone on a short line would say the ST585 was crap.

Because line estimates are 68-80 Mbps then its not a long line so if NOSTIE does go for the 80Mbps package, then a BCM could mean the difference between getting the full 80Mbps or not.

[j0hn]

I spoke to plusnet CS they claim they use Standard Profile not speed.. confused

They do... but kitz is also 100% correct.
What?!?

Plusnet use BT Wholesale, as do BT Retail.
They exclusively use BT Wholesale terminology wrt their DLM policy.

BT Wholesale and OpenReach call the exact same thing 2 different names that crosses over in the most confusing way.

OpenReach         -           BT Wholesale
Speed                  =           Standard
Standard             =           Stable
Stable                  =           Super Stable

BT provision on both Speed and Standard.
They mainly provision on Speed.

If you ask them they will always reply with the BT Wholesale terminology, which causes no end of confusion.

edit: for clarification I always use the OpenReach terminology, as it's an OpenReach service. I believe other members also use their terminology.

BT Wholesale are only involved with certain ISP's on FTTC so it doesn't make sense to use their naming.