[UK] Zen broadband feedback - or any broadband ISP actually

[Technique]

NOTE (this is important, so NOTE..................): ANYTHING LLU IS A NO GO AS THERE'S NOTHING UNBUNBLDED ON MY EXCHANGE!!!

I asked about broadband on another site & specified no LLU talk but everyone decided to start talking about it. It was a waste of time.

I'm currently with o2 on their Home Access (?20.50 per month as i'm an o2 mobile customer) package. It used to be ok but is so unbelivably slow now. The speeds during say 12pm-12am are awful & specific sites (such as YouTube) are painful to go on.

So i'm looking to move.

I came from Zen. They were amazing in the years i was with them. The only reason i moved was due to price. I've been with o2 since 2009, so Zen could've gone so much downhill in that time for all i know.

I wont entertain PlusNet, so don't even bother suggesting them. They were my first ISP & were brilliant when they were winning awards, but then they became slower than 56k. I guess they've sorted it by now, but i wont go back.

So MAIN QUESTION: Is do Zen broadband limit you like o2 seem to?

Other than this, i'm looking for 30GB per month & i'm looking to NOT be limited regarding my speed or what websites i visit. My line supports up to 8mb.

Speedtest.net had me as between 6-7mb before o2 went slow. Now i'm at about 2mb.

[Crisp]

I know SKY are truly unlimited.

[Technique]

I know SKY are truly unlimited.

I thought of Sky as we have TV with Sky

Except i've heard many negative things about Sky - their customer service & the speeds they provide. Same for TalkTalk.

I want as close to the 8mb as i can get. As i say, i know i can get between 6-7mb as i've had this before, consistently.

[-Alex-]

Had experience with Zen on a corporate level with connections on multiple sites about 2 years ago... found them to be very poor and promptly changed ISPs.

[Crisp]

No offence but... damn your exchange sucks!

Didn't realise Lancashire was right in the middle of the desert. Is there no chance you'll be getting Infinity this year? I can see there's no FTTC date set.

[DrakeN2k]

most ISP are based on BT which you wont get magical higher max speeds on o2 or Zen as there all based on the same line. if your area is 4mbps you are only going to get 4mbps no matter what company.

Virgin has the best broadband in the UK atm. but when you go cable you its hard to go back. well you need to pay a fee.

note : i know its not available.

[Technique]

I live in a small village in Lancashire though.

When the UK decided it was time to start catching up with the rest of the world regarding broadband - we were way down the priority order list. As you can see - enabled in 2004.

If i check my nans phone number on samknows which is only 5 miles down the road, but is a City, then they had broadband enabled in 2001. They also have cable, 4 enabled LLU services & then this:

" ADSL status:

Enabled as of 31/07/2001 ADSL Max status:

Enabled as of 31/03/2006 SDSL status:

Enabled as of 30/11/2004 21CN WBC status:

Enabled FTTC status:

RFS date set : 01/03/2012

"

And that is only 5 miles down the road.

So are you telling me that i will see NO speed change whatsoever, by changing to ANY other ISP?

As said, my line supports 8mb. Before o2 decided to go slow on me i was getting 6-7mb, but now i'm getting 2mb. So you're telling me that ANY isp in the land will only give me 2mb? Despite what i've just said (8mb line, previously hitting 6-7mb).

[hjf288]

Your line should hit under 8Mbit in usage but you need an ISP that won't traffic manage you.. O2 are providing their services over BTs wholesale network because they don't have LLU there, hence why it sucks (o2 have traffic management)..

You could try: http://www.goscomb.net/connectivity/broadband/consumer

Even though it states 24Mbit, your max would be 8 but with a short contract length, you could try it out and see how it goes...

[Site Lab]

Have you had a look at satellite broadband? (Ive never tried it and I don't know if it is actually available in the UK cheaply, just a suggestion as It could get you better speeds...)

[DrakeN2k]

Well if your cable can only handle 8mbps that's all it can do. virgin uses different "cables" which tend to be higher.

where I live (major city) BT ISP the max they can offer me is 5mbps, I can get up to 50mbps with Virgin which is the ISP im on.

When BT roles out fibre in your area it will allow a higher max mbps

_______

As said, my line supports 8mb. Before o2 decided to go slow on me i was getting 6-7mb,

who knows why that is, maybe more people are now using the exchange now.

[Technique]

Your line should hit under 8Mbit in usage but you need an ISP that won't traffic manage you.. O2 are providing their services over BTs wholesale network because they don't have LLU there, hence why it sucks (o2 have traffic management)..

You could try: http://www.goscomb.n...adband/consumer

Even though it states 24Mbit, your max would be 8 but with a short contract length, you could try it out and see how it goes...

Looking into that, the supplier is listed as BE http://www.ispreview.co.uk/isp_list/ISP_Detail_Fixed_Line_Broadband.php?Goscomb-Technologies-99 who are my suppliers now, so i imagine there'd be no difference.

Yes i guess more people could be on the exchange now. I think i'll give Zen a whirl all the same, as they're only 1months contract. If i don't like it, i can always return to o2 & save ?5 per month.

[dancedar]

Tbh If consider giving plusnet another go. So what if you had slow speed or problems before, this is tech and things change fast, excluding them from your search is like cutting off your noise to spite your face.

[willdev]

ADSL24 and Vivaciti are great!

[paulbeattie87]

You'd be best looking and asking around at http://thinkbroadband.com. It's dedicated to UK broadband and the goings on around it. Which provider to choose really depends on what you want to do with the connection e.g. Bit Torrent, amount of usage, whether you'll accept any form of traffic management and how much you want to pay. Generally the amount you pay from an ISP using the wholesale backhaul correlates to the quality of the connection e.g. Zen and AAISP have a great reputation and fast speeds but you will pay for this speed and service. AFAIK Zen are around ?30 per month for a 50GB usage package but that comes with no traffic management etc, BT on the other hand are around ?25 for an "unlimited" package.

You're on a "market 1" exchange for BTW/Openreach. See this thread for some info and recommendations on ISPs. http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/which_isp/3957480-market-1-resident-best-just-go-with-bt.html

Tbh If consider giving plusnet another go. So what if you had slow speed or problems before, this is tech and things change fast, excluding them from your search is like cutting off your noise to spite your face.

Plus net have never really recovered from the mess they made for themselves in around 2005/6. It was their own making, now they're pretty much just BT Retail broadband with another name on it.

[44MLX]

I got BT Broadband on Option 3, Unlimited download and up to 20mbs internet.

Check this link: http://www.uswitch.com/broadband/packages/

It shows great cheap deals.

[PurpleHaze420]

I'll also throw some weight behind Sky's broadband service. I can't speak highly enough for it, it is firstly truly unlimited which is a massive must, secondly the speeds are excellent at all times of the day and finally the down time is so little I'd rank it as pretty much non-existent.

Ok, I will admit there customer service isn't great sometimes, i can say this also having been a former employee of there's, although the main issue with it is getting through to the correct person for the correct type of problem. Tracking back to my initial paragraph though, as the downtime and issue's experienced with them are so very little this shouldn't be a major issue though.

[Shaun N.]

Again, I'm with Sky and have been for nearly 4 years. Never had an issue with them. Next to no downtime.

[paulbeattie87]

For those suggesting Sky you really should read the OPs, very large notice that he does not have LLU as an option.

Sky are well known for running a good LLU network, of which I use. Their connect product is about as bad as O2 Access, both are severely limited, throttled and congested products. It's also not unlimited, it has a 40GB cap.

[Technique]

Thanks Paul. I guess i could put it in flashing lights & some people still wouldn't get it. I have it with eBay adverts. Advertise something as faulty & put it in bright colours, repeating myself & then get a reply when i ask "do you know this is faulty" ... errrr no, sorry.

Plus net have never really recovered from the mess they made for themselves in around 2005/6. It was their own making, now they're pretty much just BT Retail broadband with another name on it.

Yeah that's about the time i jumped ship. They turned horrendous. I don't know what went on because before that they were brilliant.

Regarding o2 - i'm 2 years in now, so i've served my 12 month contract. I got an email from them saying if i wait 7 days from requesting the MAC code then i wont be charged, but i will be if i move within the 7 days.

What's this all about? I've served my 12 months. So i now have to wait until Sunday to provide a new ISP with my MAC?

[ToneKnee]

The reason your O2 connection sucks is that it's using the BT network. I would of suggested BeThere or Sky, but can't even get them. I'd go with the best BT internet provider.

[~Johnny]

I'd go with Sky simply because it's something like ?7.50 a month for their unlimited/16MB Broadband if you're a TV customer :p (BUT, I believe they now force you take their Sky Line Rental as well, even if you're not getting Sky Talk)

[paulbeattie87]

Thanks Paul. I guess i could put it in flashing lights & some people still wouldn't get it. I have it with eBay adverts. Advertise something as faulty & put it in bright colours, repeating myself & then get a reply when i ask "do you know this is faulty" ... errrr no, sorry.Yeah that's about the time i jumped ship. They turned horrendous. I don't know what went on because before that they were brilliant.

Regarding o2 - i'm 2 years in now, so i've served my 12 month contract. I got an email from them saying if i wait 7 days from requesting the MAC code then i wont be charged, but i will be if i move within the 7 days.

What's this all about? I've served my 12 months. So i now have to wait until Sunday to provide a new ISP with my MAC?

It could be that O2 automatically put you onto another 12 month contract when the one you first signed up to finished. BT Retail are one company who do this, rather than putting you onto a rolling 1 month contract at the end of the initial period they automatically put you onto a 12 month contract. Be very wary of this with whomever you choose if you're looking for flexibility after any minimum terms. The likes of AAISP, Zen and ADSL24 tend not to have minimum terms anyway which gives you the ultimate flexibility.

As for Plus net turning crap it's the same problem O2 have. PN decided that it would be cheaper to implement traffic shaping which although they were transparent about what was shaped, when and why it caused a big backlash. Many other ISPs at the time such as BT Retail (BT Total Broadband), Pipex and the like all shaped but didn't say what they shaped or when. The whole problem came to a head when PN didn't buy more centrals when required and just continued to shape even more, cutting usage allowances down to the bone for customers. In the end lots of folks left and the network improved but the situation AFAIK is still much and such the same. Being owned by BT Retail they're probably going to be under similar budget constraints as BTR themselves. The adverts on TV for BB and calls for less than the cost of a cup of coffee don't exactly instill me with confidence in their product either.

The reason your O2 connection sucks is that it's using the BT network. I would of suggested BeThere or Sky, but can't even get them. I'd go with the best BT internet provider.

It has got absolutely nothing to do with the BT network, it's all to do with the amount of centrals O2 have purchased from the BT network to theirs. The BT Wholesale network has more than amble bandwidth available on it. Centrals are expensive which is why most BT ISPs tend to throttle. Ultimately the problem lies with O2 regardless of the price of centrals. You really need to read up on how the UK broadband network is setup and resold, divided etc.

For a start BT is a group of companies, the ones concerned here are BT Retail whom provide telephone service, broadband and vision to end users. BT Wholesale run the telephone exchanges, the backhaul from these, the core BT Wholesale network for telephony as well as broadband service. Finally you have BT Openreach who maintain the "last mile" from the line card forward.

I'd go with Sky simply because it's something like ?7.50 a month for their unlimited/16MB Broadband if you're a TV customer :p (BUT, I believe they now force you take their Sky Line Rental as well, even if you're not getting Sky Talk)

You really should read, it's an invaluable life skill :laugh:

[Technique]

Thanks again Paul

I'd go with Sky simply because it's something like ?7.50 a month for their unlimited/16MB Broadband if you're a TV customer :p (BUT, I believe they now force you take their Sky Line Rental as well, even if you're not getting Sky Talk)

How do you work out it's ?7.50?

When i looked into things a while ago, i couldn't get it at that price as i don't have anything LLU on my exchange (as i explained in big wiriting in my first post). So unless things have changed.......?

So back to the question - how do you work out it's ?7.50 for me?

[dragon2611]

If you have the budget then AAISP, they will not throttle your connection however they will charge for usage, they aim never to be the bottleneck

AAISP are one of the few ISP's still around that believe in offering a quality service rather than selling it cheap and piling people on.

Only reason I'm not using them myself is because with our usage they'd work out rather expensive and I can get BE/Sky LLU (Of which I have both)

If LLU services wern't available I'd probably have AAISP along side a cheaper throttled ISP if only so I don't have to worry about other people in my household's usage.

[scaramonga]

O2 throttle bandwidth constantly, thats why I left them. Moved to Xilo and never looked back :) Truly unlimited and no throttling whatsoever ;)