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[Jon21]

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.

[Alex Atkin UK]

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.

[meritez]

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.

[Alex Atkin UK]

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.

[Jon21]

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.

[Weaver]

You have to decide exactly what you really want, if it is to spend the minimum amount of money possible than go for that.

[Jon21]

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.

[benji09]

    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.........

[meritez]

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.

[Alex Atkin UK]

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.

[Jon21]

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.

[meritez]

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.

[jaydub]

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.

[Jon21]

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.

[j0hn]

You can switch from SOGEA back to a PSTN+DSL package.

A new number would be assigned.