[Technology] Moving away from BT

[jakarta]

Possibly this is granny sucking eggs type of question but after many, many years of being overcharged I have decided that I am going to ditch BT for my landline and broadband.

Suggestions as to a better provider please?

 

[Chicken Run]

Possibly this is granny sucking eggs type of question but after many, many years of being overcharged I have decided that I am going to ditch BT for my landline and broadband.

Suggestions as to a better provider please?

They will all piss u off eventually, do u have Virgin Media in your neighbourhood?

 

[jakarta]

They will all piss u off eventually, do u have Virgin Media in your neighbourhood?

No have checked and clearly in the wilds of Sullington we are beyond the pale....

 

[Weststander]

Broadband - Zen. Award winning, we've never had any technical issues, they supply their router and for £35 per month unlimited as far as I'm aware. Keep the BT hardware (line to internal box) as Zen use that. No need for a landline phone these days ... some may disagree.

Make the move for better broadband | Why should you move on?

Join the UK's best broadband provider today for access to Ultrafast speeds up to 900Mbps.

www.zen.co.uk

 

[South Stand Bonfire]

Possibly this is granny sucking eggs type of question but after many, many years of being overcharged I have decided that I am going to ditch BT for my landline and broadband.

Suggestions as to a better provider please?

I’ve just done the same but more for better Sport/TV options. Have gone to Sky for their broadband and Sky Sports package for about £75 a month combined.

 

[South Stand Bonfire]

Possibly this is granny sucking eggs type of question but after many, many years of being overcharged I have decided that I am going to ditch BT for my landline and broadband.

Suggestions as to a better provider please?

You’ll probably find though they try and insist on telephone via the internet now though unless you have emergency needs.

 

[schmunk]

Other than Virgin, which uses its own network, the other landline / broadband providers all use the same (Openreach / Community Fibre) cabling between your house and the exchange.

This means there is no meaningful difference in service quality between any of them - buy on price / router offered (unless you're using your own).

Watch out for mid-contract price rises - these have been regulated to an extent, but all this really means is they need to tell you upfront, not that they won't increase your monthly price!

 

[happypig]

Whoever you chose will be using BT infrastructure to deliver service as there are no altnets in Sullington.
Beware of going for the cheapest though, if something goes wrong you will rue the decision.

 

[dstanman]

Moved from BT to Sky around 6months ago. Couple of reasons for changing, BT were dearer, their contract was 24months rather than 18 months and they would not offer 500M which sky would despite it being over same network.

Only issue we have is Wi--fi in the house is not as good as we had with BT. Assume this is due to router performance

 

[Mr deez]

Broadband - Zen. Award winning, we've never had any technical issues, they supply their router and for £35 per month unlimited as far as I'm aware. Keep the BT hardware (line to internal box) as Zen use that. No need for a landline phone these days ... some may disagree.

Make the move for better broadband | Why should you move on?

Join the UK's best broadband provider today for access to Ultrafast speeds up to 900Mbps.

www.zen.co.uk

That pretty interesting, I'm also out of contract with BT in the summer and I hoped to also save some money - but looking at Zens pricing, that's barely any different to BT TBH.

 

[happypig]

Moved from BT to Sky around 6months ago. Couple of reasons for changing, BT were dearer, their contract was 24months rather than 18 months and they would not offer 500M which sky would despite it being over same network.

Only issue we have is Wi--fi in the house is not as good as we had with BT. Assume this is due to router performance

Sky routers are cheap and cheerful. If you want better wifi, buy a better router

 

[bluenitsuj]

I moved everything to EE recently after being with BT forever.

Much cheaper on everything and no issues.

 

[happypig]

I moved everything to EE recently after being with BT forever.

Much cheaper on everything and no issues.

EE is wholly owned by BT

 

[bluenitsuj]

EE is wholly owned by BT

Obviously. Different pricing/deals though, hence why I moved.

 

[beorhthelm]

Plusnet. it's the same as BT, including the access to BT sports any other services, without the price. they'll tell you in advance when the prices are going up, stay on a "contract" for 12 mth to avoid the highest tariffs.

 

[PascalGroß Tips]

Broadband - Zen. Award winning, we've never had any technical issues, they supply their router and for £35 per month unlimited as far as I'm aware. Keep the BT hardware (line to internal box) as Zen use that. No need for a landline phone these days ... some may disagree.

Make the move for better broadband | Why should you move on?

Join the UK's best broadband provider today for access to Ultrafast speeds up to 900Mbps.

www.zen.co.uk

Hi ... how long have you been with Zen?

We've been with VM since Nynex put cable down in the early 90s. I still have approximately 6 months left on my current deal, but it clashes with a couple of holidays - so want to get things sorted before we go away. I'm more determined than ever to actually leave VM - but nervous about who to go with as so many conflicting reviews for the likes of Plusnet, EE, Vodafone etc. I've only heard positive comments about Zen - albeit from only a few people as they do seem to be a bit more expensive than Plusnet etc.

I just called Zen to see what would be involved as we've never had a BT line in our house having had VM put in when we moved into this house (a new build) in 2001. I just had to press 1 for not being an existing customer - they then answered in a split second (like the good old First Direct days). So that was impressive. The chap said they would make the fibre connection direct to out house and that it would take up to 15 working days from date of order. So I like the idea of everything going through a UK call centre and no mid contract price increases.

I'll do more research - but they do sound like a good option.

Anyone else with Zen??

 

[Beanstalk]

Plusnet. it's the same as BT, including the access to BT sports any other services, without the price. they'll tell you in advance when the prices are going up, stay on a "contract" for 12 mth to avoid the highest tariffs.

I lived in a place that Virgin couldn't get to for a year and went with Plusnet. Mostly good service, few issues here and there and the router was crap but it worked without many issues and was around the £30 per month mark which seems to be the reasonable standard now.

Saying that, I don't think I would be able to go back from fibre. 40mbps is fine most of the time, but I found it infuriating that my home internet was considerably slower than the 5G download speeds I got on my iPhone. Unlike many on here, I've had nothing but a great service from Virgin over the years, every 18 months I see what better deal I can get elsewhere, ring them up and get them to match it and they always do. I've heard some horror stories but think if you live in a city, and just stick with their broadband only package they're pretty good.

 

[Weststander]

Hi ... how long have you been with Zen?

We've been with VM since Nynex put cable down in the early 90s. I still have approximately 6 months left on my current deal, but it clashes with a couple of holidays - so want to get things sorted before we go away. I'm more determined than ever to actually leave VM - but nervous about who to go with as so many conflicting reviews for the likes of Plusnet, EE, Vodafone etc. I've only heard positive comments about Zen - albeit from only a few people as they do seem to be a bit more expensive than Plusnet etc.

I just called Zen to see what would be involved as we've never had a BT line in our house having had VM put in when we moved into this house (a new build) in 2001. I just had to press 1 for not being an existing customer - they then answered in a split second (like the good old First Direct days). So that was impressive. The chap said they would make the fibre connection direct to out house and that it would take up to 15 working days from date of order. So I like the idea of everything going through a UK call centre and no mid contract price increases.

I'll do more research - but they do sound like a good option.

Anyone else with Zen??

Hi, I just looked, exactly 12 years. Yes they normally use the BT hardware to the filter. They supply their router, it's so easy, in the past I remember tech issues with routers. We also have a Zen booster box upstairs at £10 pcm because the 'youngsters' are pounding broadband with live gaming ... only to assist them. I just ran a download speed check, 70Mbps. We don't have fibre optic, the 70 is fine.

With fibre, that'll be fantastic for you. Not once have we had a complaint or issue with Zen.

We also have VirginMedia, this is purely for TV, have been with them since the age dot. 18 months ago our deal was up, I negotiated (very rare fore me, I usually can't be bothered) a tiny price rise, even though their set up now comes mandatory with their router. Real download speeds are up to 200Mbps.

So we have two broadband options!

 

[PascalGroß Tips]

Hi, I just looked, exactly 12 years. Yes they normally use the BT hardware to the filter. They supply their router, it's so easy, in the past I remember tech issues with routers. We also have a Zen booster box upstairs at £10 pcm because the 'youngsters' are pounding broadband with live gaming ... only to assist them. I just ran a download speed check, 70Mbps. We don't have fibre optic, the 70 is fine.

With fibre, that'll be fantastic for you. Not once have we had a complaint or issue with Zen.

We also have VirginMedia, this is purely for TV, have been with them since the age dot. 18 months ago our deal was up, I negotiated (very rare fore me, I usually can't be bothered) a tiny price rise, even though their set up now comes mandatory with their router. Real download speeds are up to 200Mbps.

So we have two broadband options!

Thanks ... 12 years is a long time, so that's reassuring.

 

[Nitram]

I’ve been with Sky for a number of years having changed from BT based on price initially. I’ve found Sky reliable and the customer service is good.
Last month I upgraded to Full Fibre 300mbps. The router was also upgraded to the new Wi-Fi Max hub and a pod (mesh extender).
We have a fairly large older property which always had some occasional dropout in signal but since changing to the new option we get a strong signal in all rooms and the garden. Speed test shows 300mbps in all areas.
Cost is £34.50 for broadband and £8 for Wi-Fi Max hub/pod. A total discount of £11 pm.
Sky waived the Open Reach connection charge of £90 for the full fibre connection.