Home Broadband Recommendations

[Brad Smith]

So having just moved into my first house I’m looking to get my broadband installed, I’m just not sure on which provider.

When I was living at home with my parents we had virgin 250mb broadband. Also set up a wifi mesh system and whilst the speeds were showing around 250mb, some times during the day speed would drop off, and sometimes loose connections to tv’s/ Firestick/ and sky box. So it didn’t seem that reliable or good to me. I know you can look at setting the virgin router up as a modem and then use your own router, will that improve the speeds.

Just wondering who people have chosen to go with, I do have access to all providers.

There is only 2 of us in the house with a few devices being used. So don’t think I need the likes of 500mb, just after one which is reliable with decent speeds.

 

[SC03OTT]

Zen - the UK's best broadband

As voted by Which? and PC Pro customers.

www.zen.co.uk

 

[donnylad]

I have zen and it’s amazing!

Never gone wrong touch wood, 500 down 100 upload, that isn’t even there too package.

I believe my price is guaranteed for life too.

 

[JackJack]

Been with ee for years with no issues, good deals if you have a phone/sim with them too.

 

[Jonnio]

Sky/BT have been reliable for us, Sky moreso. BT connection sometimes decides to shut off at 20:45 which is a PITA when I'm gaming.

I'm only on sub 100mb pauper speed though.

 

[Cub.]

Sky/BT have been reliable for us, Sky moreso. BT connection sometimes decides to shut off at 20:45 which is a PITA when I'm gaming.

I'm only on sub 100mb pauper speed though.

Sometimes………

You’re right. They’re super reliable at the 20:45 shut off 😂😂

 

[Jack!]

Genuine question;

As someone who has no issue streaming 4k and gaming with a sub 100mb connection, what do people need 500mb connections for?

Maybe if you've got a few kids all doing the same, but I get the impression a lot of people don't, but still want as much bandwidth as possible, without reason.

 

[The Psychedelic Socialist]

Genuine question;

As someone who has no issue streaming 4k and gaming with a sub 100mb connection, what do people need 500mb connections for?

Maybe if you've got a few kids all doing the same, but I get the impression a lot of people don't, but still want as much bandwidth as possible, without reason.

Downloading Linux distros.

I probably download around 100GB per day and I'm left with the choice of throttling the downloads to free up bandwidth for the family (with the downloads running all day), or suffering shitty streaming while the downloads finish.

(FWIW I'm on 74MB but I'd definitely see the benefit of full fibre)

 

[Jack!]

Downloading Linux distros.

I probably download around 100GB per day and I'm left with the choice of throttling the downloads to free up bandwidth for the family (with the downloads running all day), or suffering shitty streaming while the downloads finish.

(FWIW I'm on 74MB but I'd definitely see the benefit of full fibre)

That's very specific though, 99% of people won't even know what a Linux distro is.

 

[The Psychedelic Socialist]

That's very specific though, 99% of people won't even know what a Linux distro is.

Sorry, it's an old joke about why people torrent "to download the latest Linux distros".

It's never Linux distros

 

[Jack!]

Sorry, it's an old joke about why people torrent "to download the latest Linux distros".

It's never Linux distros

I haven't torrented in years tbh, but even when I did about 5 years ago on a 50mb connection or so, I could download a whole film in 2 minutes - are people just that impatient?

 

[The Psychedelic Socialist]

I haven't torrented in years tbh, but even when I did about 5 years ago on a 50mb connection or so, I could download a whole film in 2 minutes - are people just that impatient?

If you're looking at 4K Dolby Vision / HDR content, it soon racks up.

EDIT: If you were downloading a whole film, at 50mb in 2 minutes it would have been about 700MB in size, so probably a low quality 720p rip. A decent 4K DV rip runs 20-30GB, so several hours at those download speeds.

 

[Tim.]

Would folk recommend giving Virgin a swerve?

 

[Crybert]

Virgin is fine but there are comparables now. I’m with EE. They just piggyback on bt fibre. Can get 900 meg but just went with 500 and it’s been great

 

[SC03OTT]

Would folk recommend giving Virgin a swerve?

I was never that impressed with them. Seemed to be constantly throttled when you actually needed the speed. Their upload speeds are pants as well.

 

[Shocker]

I stay out in the sticks and only get bt on copper phone line
Or virgin on cable
Bt is shite with only 2meg up to 10meg
Virgin on cable gives you fast speeds ok but is so on and off that everything keeps dropping out and you have to reset everything
I made a complaint to the watchdog about virgins on and off service and won 2 years payments back
Virgin even admitted that their service was unreliable on letter and apologised
What I have noticed after the complaint
Is that my service is not so on and off
But the ping has gone from 3ms to over 40ms
I’ve noticed this has made online games rubbish
Pages take longer to find but with delay but atleast my devices don’t drop out now
I’m don’t know much about how it all works but I think by slowing the ping down has sorted out the cutting out problems but made the searching more slower but reliable

 

[seb]

Anyone got trooli yet? I can get it in my road but not sure. Just on BT currently which seems fine

 

[donnylad]

I have zen and they’re great, 500 down 100 up never missed a beat touch wood and guaranteed price for life 👌

 

[mace¬]

Bit of a silly question but I want to cancel my Vrigin package (£70) and just get Sky superfastish broadband. (£25)

Do I cancel my Virgin package and then sign up to Sky or sign up to Sky and then they'll do some magic and I then cancel my Virgin?

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

Bit of a silly question but I want to cancel my Vrigin package (£70) and just get Sky superfastish broadband. (£25)

Do I cancel my Virgin package and then sign up to Sky or sign up to Sky and then they'll do some magic and I then cancel my Virgin?

When I changed over from BT to SKY, SKY took care of everything.

I was swapping TV and broadband though so not sure if that makes a difference?

 

[Geddes]

I'm looking at possibility to change over next Month or two depends oon the prices. Been with Plusnet for quite a number of years. I know their share BT but i hear their new routers are good, better than the Plusnet ones. In my area it's sub 100mbps too, i'm currently getting around 67 but it's been up and down a lot and had engineers out to resolve why it's been going up and down.

In a previous post it's been mentioned that the BT connection shuts off at around 20:45, does that still happen? What's the story behind that, does it pop back up after a few mins and does it interfear with the connection dropping once in a while? I've never noticed it on my end as it's using BT

 

[Mr Underhill]

Bit of a silly question but I want to cancel my Vrigin package (£70) and just get Sky superfastish broadband. (£25)

Do I cancel my Virgin package and then sign up to Sky or sign up to Sky and then they'll do some magic and I then cancel my Virgin?

After April yes - https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/09/virgin-media-broadband-one-touch-switching/

 

[Geddes]

intresting read thank you

 

[boultonn]

Would check if Hyperoptic is available, ultra fast and cheaper per mbps than Zen and have never had a single issue in the last 2 years.

 

[mace¬]

Finally went to sign up for Sky and by the time I got down to it, the 56Mbps @ £25 a month through USwitch turned out to be 11MBs@£24 and then £35 after 6 months.

So.... next plan is to go just Broadband with Virgin.

Next Question.... I thought there was some law brought in that stopped companies offering "new Customer Only" deals? If I want their M250 package its £50 a month but new customer gets it for £15 for 6 months then £33 thereafter. Is that still legal?

 

[Gally]

From a service point of view Plusnet below me away. Not one single time do I ever feel they don't care or haven't followed through with a promiae. I was with them for 14 years in total. Had to move fully to BT as I have fibre to property now.

Best I can say depending on speeds and needs but based on service Plusnet were good.

 

[realnumber 1]

Finally went to sign up for Sky and by the time I got down to it, the 56Mbps @ £25 a month through USwitch turned out to be 11MBs@£24 and then £35 after 6 months.

So.... next plan is to go just Broadband with Virgin.

Next Question.... I thought there was some law brought in that stopped companies offering "new Customer Only" deals? If I want their M250 package its £50 a month but new customer gets it for £15 for 6 months then £33 thereafter. Is that still legal?

Could get Now broadband that's exactly the same as the Sky one you were after for £23. You even get the same router off them.

NOW Broadband Membership - Unlimited Home Broadband Provider

Get unlimited reliable broadband packages with speeds up to 76Mbps, all with no contract. Get in contact today and our dedicated team will deal with your current provider so you don't have to.

www.nowtv.com

 

[mace¬]

Could get Now broadband that's exactly the same as the Sky one you were after for £23. You even get the same router off them.

NOW Broadband Membership - Unlimited Home Broadband Provider

Get unlimited reliable broadband packages with speeds up to 76Mbps, all with no contract. Get in contact today and our dedicated team will deal with your current provider so you don't have to.

www.nowtv.com

Must be the exact as Sky as they only offer the same Brilliant package. They must not have the fancy cables to me yet.

 

[Geddes]

I've just gone over to BT past month for Line and Broadband, I went for the Fibre 2 and 47mbps-72mbps, pretty much axactly as my prevoius Plusnet package i had for a good few years. For a long time i been getting a wide range of speeds but did get above 70mbps at some instances. I been told my line is capable of around 70mbps, Had a sub contracter out today to check the router and line and been told I'm on the 55mbps Profile, I'm getting around 50mpbs speed also which is the minumum guarenteed speed. I'm just fustrated that i should be getting a bit more speed than what I'm getting, even if it goes up to around 65mbps I'll be happy. It's crazy that I'm getting speeds around the guarnteed speeds, i wonder if i could be put on a 80-20 Profile or something if there's one exist? Actually just had a look, looks like it's 40mbps guarenteed speed on thier website.

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

Guaranteed speeds are only if the device is connected to the router via cable isn't it? It's not WiFi speeds, or at least that's what I was told when questioning my PS4 only getting 30 or so download a few years back.

 

[Geddes]

yeah it's cabled, my pc and ps5 is cabled to the router, it's a double master socket too. It feels like I'm worse off going to BT on my current speeds than i was with Plusnet

 

[R3k1355]

I've just gone over to BT past month for Line and Broadband, I went for the Fibre 2 and 47mbps-72mbps, pretty much axactly as my prevoius Plusnet package i had for a good few years. For a long time i been getting a wide range of speeds but did get above 70mbps at some instances. I been told my line is capable of around 70mbps, Had a sub contracter out today to check the router and line and been told I'm on the 55mbps Profile, I'm getting around 50mpbs speed also which is the minumum guarenteed speed. I'm just fustrated that i should be getting a bit more speed than what I'm getting, even if it goes up to around 65mbps I'll be happy. It's crazy that I'm getting speeds around the guarnteed speeds, i wonder if i could be put on a 80-20 Profile or something if there's one exist? Actually just had a look, looks like it's 40mbps guarenteed speed on thier website.

I'm probably totally wrong, but doesn't it start off attempting to give you max speed, but then trims it down because of packet loss, noise and stuff?

Usually means the local telephone cables are kinda s**t.

 

[Geddes]

I'm not sure to be honest if it starts high orignally, but mine certainly didn't when i plugged in the new BT Router, it's been sitting around 50-55mbps for the last Month or so. I do know that the line adjusts to a stable speed.

Been getting mid to high 60's from Plusnet for a long time but the line resets itself frequently early hours every other week or two, I've kept records of the speeds almost every day past 10 Months as a record.

 

[Martin_172]

Would folk recommend giving Virgin a swerve?

For me the actual product is fantastic, I've had broadband with them for 20yrs or so and in that time have only had a 2 day outage due to a modem failure.

The customer service though is f**king terrible. I've only ever had to use it for issues with price rises but the full process is a nightmare. I lost the plot last time and ended up dropping to an internet only package on 50mb or something silly out of principle!, lasted 6 months and went back to the 1Gb package.

 

[R3k1355]

I'm not sure to be honest if it starts high orignally, but mine certainly didn't when i plugged in the new BT Router, it's been sitting around 50-55mbps for the last Month or so. I do know that the line adjusts to a stable speed.

Been getting mid to high 60's from Plusnet for a long time but the line resets itself frequently early hours every other week or two, I've kept records of the speeds almost every day past 10 Months as a record.

A BT man said the line would stabilise at a certain speed and stay there. He did a reset thing on ours after fixing a connector up a telegraph pole that apparently crumbled in his hands.

After that we got a stable line and a faster speed.

 

[Geddes]

A BT man said the line would stabilise at a certain speed and stay there. He did a reset thing on ours after fixing a connector up a telegraph pole that apparently crumbled in his hands.

After that we got a stable line and a faster speed.

Yeah , I’ve had a senior BT engineer out a few times in the past who’s been really helpful. Was hoping was him yesterday but it was a sun contractor who didn’t do much apart from look at the settings. The senior engineer did the same as you mentioned, he went up the pole and found a fuse had gone all dirty and basically was damaged and replaced it and it was back up to around 70mbps, this was last year now. The guy yesterday didn’t do a reset or whatever, I think it’s what I need. I think I’ve been capped at 55mbps

 

[Rich-D]

Just changed over the BT full fibre a couple of weeks ago, went with the 500mb package for £29.99 and 6 months free Gamepass, getting around 540mbps down & 69mpbs up when hardwired, very happy with that.

Was with Vodafone on the up to 74mb package, which started great in the upper 60's but the speed slowly decreased over the 2 years, they don't have IPV6 and they just put their prices up making it more expensive than what I've moved to!

 

[GiT]

We've been having a BT nightmare recently trying to Upgrade.

Apparently, the Cul-de-Sac is now cabled for stupid fast Full Fibre. It's also apparently a 1.8gbps trial area. We're currently on 35mbps FTTC, which works but not cutting edge.

Openreach have confirmed several times it's 100% ready to roll. BT continuously saying it's not available in the area.

4 hours of doing BTs job, they have agreed it actually is, but did the order for the cable link wrong and then started saying it wasn't available again.

Another 2 hours of kicking off, they admit their agent got the order completely wrong and have redone it.

So mega discount inbound.