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Home Broadband

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    Home Broadband

    Anyone have any recommendations for home broadband?

    Im currently with BT on infinity 2 getting 75MB/s but they have just put their prices up and bundled all of the services into one charge (To obscure the line rental and call packages)

    In short Im paying £57 a month now and the only service that we use is the broadband, I called them up and the best that they can do is dropping the cost to £44.50 which pisses me off no end because they have a new customer offer on at the moment that is less than that - we have been with them 15 years, apparently thats worth nothing now.

    So What I need:
    • 75MB/s (Two kids streaming and I work from home so we need the bandwidth)
    • Uncapped - See above but also I have a dev server in 'the cloud' that I dont quite trust so have 20GB of backups being sent overnight to my home NAS drive.
    • Preferably no data/packet shaping I use torrents for various downloads (All legal of course) so could do with that remaining functional.


    If I can get a static IP that would be fantastic - but I know this is unlikely on a home package.

    BT meets all of these requirements but is just getting too expensive to justify now.

    I have been looking at Vodafone who seem to be decent value and say that they don't do any data/packet shaping/throttling and can offer the same speed that we get with BT.. for £30 a month (Almost half what we are paying now)


    Im open to any suggestions.

    #2
    i think plus net do a decent package and a static ip, though they are part of bt still

    though i switched to sky, as bt seemed incapable of taking the direct debit on consistent schedule
    Politicians are wonderfull people, as long as they stay away from things they don't understand, like working for a living!

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by portseven View Post
      i think plus net do a decent package and a static ip, though they are part of bt still

      though i switched to sky, as bt seemed incapable of taking the direct debit on consistent schedule
      Ill have a look at PlusNet - being part of BT is actually a plus for me, I know we can get a consistent decent speed, the only issue that I have with them is the cost, so if someone else is piggybacking on their infrastructure and offering cheaper prices Im all for it!

      I also thought about sky (Mainly because they absorbed o2 and I know they used to have a decent service round here) for the same price that we pay BT just for the broadband we can get a TV package too!

      Comment


        #4
        I'm on BT and my requirements are almost exactly the same as yours. The only extra problem is I use their mail address as my main one so would take years to transfer to a new one and I'd still be afraid of losing something.
        That said it's not something I worry about. There isn't much around that I get so much use out of for 50 quid a month and it's been pretty faultless over the two decades I've been with them. Swapping over to save a tenner or so a month just isn't worth it. I'd rather spend the time and switch my insurances and energy providers over every year and save more than that.
        Even though they are more expensive than most I think I'm getting good value so I'm happy to stay.
        'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
          I'm on BT and my requirements are almost exactly the same as yours. The only extra problem is I use their mail address as my main one so would take years to transfer to a new one and I'd still be afraid of losing something.
          That said it's not something I worry about. There isn't much around that I get so much use out of for 50 quid a month and it's been pretty faultless over the two decades I've been with them. Swapping over to save a tenner or so a month just isn't worth it. I'd rather spend the time and switch my insurances and energy providers over every year and save more than that.
          Even though they are more expensive than most I think I'm getting good value so I'm happy to stay.

          To be fair they have as you say been fairly faultless, I just resent the fact they keep putting the rate up and wont match the current price if I buy as a new customer.

          PlusNet have the same package for £33, thats a saving of almost £300 a year, its not massive but its something.

          Though your comment about email got me thinking about their additional services, I dont use the email but I do use the BTwifi access when Im out and about - I often find it more reliable than clients locked down guest networks! So I'd be losing that...

          Ill call BT back and see if they will move on the discount at all.

          Comment


            #6
            I thought the low prices for new customers happened everywhere now and just one of those things. Nothing for loyalty nowadays it seems.
            'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

            Comment


              #7
              I tend to switch every time the discount period is up. Normally BT to PlusNet then back to BT. I don’t use their email addresses, although most companies just let you keep it active even after you’ve stopped paying them for the broadband.
              BT wifi access is useful, but then again I have an O2 phone, so I get their access too.
              …Maybe we ain’t that young anymore

              Comment


                #8
                I was so glad that my new place has connection to the Independent Fibre Networks, no more BT/Openreach tulip. They even lowered the price by £3/month from January, whaaaat

                Don't know which part of the country they are covering, I suspect it's mostly London and almost exclusively new developments, but they are doing it right.

                Another excellent, unshackled from Openreach London only option is Hyperoptic - 150Mbps symmetrical for £31/month, £48 for 1Gbps (£60 after 12m)

                Comment


                  #9
                  A good starting place is to check what is available at your exchange then see what deals they're offering for what you need:

                  https://availability.samknows.com/br...xchange_search


                  Being in the sticks I'm stuck with BT and Plusnet (no local loop unbundling being taken up by Sky et al), so naturally I'm with Plusnet. Still 40 odd quid a month with telephone services included, but at least they've put fibre to the cabinet so I get better speeds than when I was living in town in a different part of the country.
                  Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to settle down. Until tomorrow, I'll just keep moving on.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Snarf View Post
                    Anyone have any recommendations for home broadband?

                    Im currently with BT on infinity 2 getting 75MB/s but they have just put their prices up and bundled all of the services into one charge (To obscure the line rental and call packages)

                    In short Im paying £57 a month now and the only service that we use is the broadband, I called them up and the best that they can do is dropping the cost to £44.50 which pisses me off no end because they have a new customer offer on at the moment that is less than that - we have been with them 15 years, apparently thats worth nothing now.

                    So What I need:
                    • 75MB/s (Two kids streaming and I work from home so we need the bandwidth)
                    • Uncapped - See above but also I have a dev server in 'the cloud' that I dont quite trust so have 20GB of backups being sent overnight to my home NAS drive.
                    • Preferably no data/packet shaping I use torrents for various downloads (All legal of course) so could do with that remaining functional.


                    If I can get a static IP that would be fantastic - but I know this is unlikely on a home package.

                    BT meets all of these requirements but is just getting too expensive to justify now.

                    I have been looking at Vodafone who seem to be decent value and say that they don't do any data/packet shaping/throttling and can offer the same speed that we get with BT.. for £30 a month (Almost half what we are paying now)


                    Im open to any suggestions.
                    You are paying £57 a month?

                    I am with BT, work from home and spoke to them when the black sale season was on and got the exact same package as you but for £30 a month fixed for 18 months.

                    This Jan I have noticed the same thing on telly. Surely you just need to ring them up and have a chat about it. Do the old I want to leave unless you give me a better service / cut my rates routine.

                    BTW I can't fault their service it goes down less than once a year, can Vodaphone and Vermin Media boast that?

                    Comment

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