I need an alternative to Virgin Media for fast Broadband &T

[AC43]

Hi all about move house and I can't get Virgin Media at the new place *sigh*.

So I'm looking for another way to get (very) fast broadband and (basic) TV package

SSE, Plusnet and BT are offering 76Mb/s

So I could either

(1) get one of them + Sky for the TV package

OR

(2) go for BT for everything.

Any advice from those who have recently taken one of these options?

Thanks in advance

[AC43]

maccas99 said:

I'm with Plusnet for internet and phone and I get an 80mbps connection. They get my vote, not had any problems and service is rock solid. Something to factor in is all the support for Plusnet is onshore with the majority of BT/Sky offshore...

Interesting; onshore support is attractive.

I could do them + Sky.

Thanks.

(although I bet they use BT fibre under the covers and will call Outreach to bollx up the install......tell me I'm wrong.....)

[AC43]

maccas99 said:

AC43 said:

Interesting; onshore support is attractive.

I could do them + Sky.

Thanks.

(although I bet they use BT fibre under the covers and will call Outreach to bollx up the install......tell me I'm wrong.....)

If you rely on a BT phone line for internet, then there is no alternative. Openreach will take care of everything from the moment the cable leaves your premises to the cabinet and beyond.

Oh God. Every house move bar in the last 10 years (and there have been a few) have involved awful customer service and cock ups from BT and/or Openreach........the only smooth one was Virgin.

It gets worse - when I try to click through on deals from Plus or for BT Infinity the original "congrats you're covered" becomes "sorry you're not".......so looks like neither Virgin nor BT cable is available (!!).

Struggling to comprehend how this is possible in NW2 in 2016.

Sound like I need to make some calls.

Not sure my household can funcion on 10Mb/s........gulp

[AC43]

Cybertronian said:

Informed Sky, who should have also informed Openreach that I had no physical line from the house to the telegraph pole. Openreach engineer arrives and appears surprised we didn't have a line from the house to the pole - either he didn't check his notes, or he had no notes because Sky hadn't told him. Informs us that the pole we needed to hook up to was of the metal variety, which meant he wasn't able to scale it without the use of a cherry picker and that would require a further 2 to 3 weeks to arrange and obtain!

Cancelled the order entirely and booked in with Virgin. Sadly, earliest they could get to me was in 2 weeks. They were scheduled to turn up between 8am and 12pm if I recall and were on the scene at around 08:05 and done within an hour or so. 50meg onnection is plenty fast for my needs (was on 11meg ADSL at previous property) and the supplied router is the best freebie example I've had without splashing out on something myself.

My most recent experience with Openreach was when the guy turned up very late on a cold, wet and windy December 23rd. Firstly his "equipment wasn't working properly". Then he "needed his colleague to help". Then "he had the wrong ladder". Finally it became "too dark". I was left with no TV and no broadband for 10 days over Christmas and New Year.

Merry Christmas. Not.

[AC43]

colin_p said:

I don't envy you.

That statement makes me feel slightly ill

colin_p said:

Virgin have their moments but if something goes wrong it doesn't cost you a penny.

Yup totally agree. They've moved one of the installs for free. Replaced a remote control. Also free. Replaced at least one modem. Free.

colin_p said:

Contrast this with any of the providers who use BTs network. I left sky after about 20 years over this where a fault occured on the phoneline with it becoming noisey after they had done and it was established that something had been upgraded in the exchange.

Oh God. BT. Noisy lines. I'd forgotten about that issue from many many years ago. I'm felling nauseous now.

colin_p said:

With Virgin, phone them say its broke, they either fix it off site, usually very quickly or do send an engineer but the best bit is it you don't pay.

Yes, fantastic customer-centric ethos. Makes people like me hugely loyal.

colin_p said:

The only downside is no sky atlantic but that is a small price to pay.

That doesn't bother me. Not really interested in Sky content.

fking dreading the reaming I'm about to get from fricking BT/Openreach.

Also for "up to 20Mb/s"......

[AC43]

colin_p said:

AC43,

I really feel your pain. Have you considered, well, err, not moving house

Edited by colin_p on Monday 13th June 22:45

Ha ha - too late for that now!

I bumped into one of the dads from my daughter's school today who confirmed the worst. He's an Openreach engineer who knows the area and he told me that the cabinet that serves my street is not fibred up. And God knows when it will be.

All is not lost, though. The new plan is get basic broadband from Plusnet (10-2Mb). I'll sack off Sky (as it's only a platform to me I don't need it) and get a couple of Freesat boxes. The money that I save on cheesey Sky can them go on a couple of EE SIMS for me and the OH on which I can get 4G, Double 4G or 4G+.

That way, if the Plusnet broadband is struggling at times we can just hotspot through the phones.

And then at some point in the future I'll get the option of going fibre.

[AC43]

born2bslow said:

We moved last year, after 16 years of Virginmedia I was gutted to learn it's not available in our area, although it is nearby so I'm bombing cablemystreet regularly. We chose Sky broadband and phone. Similar to others the phone line sucks, constant crackling makes it difficult to hear people a lot of the time. Recently we finally got a BT engineer out, who told us sky had to do a lift and shift to sort the issue. Sky have simply refused and are going through a whole ream of tests (again) to try and fix it. We even shelled out for new phones to make sure they weren't the problem, because of the threat of a bill regarding faulty equipment.

Internet is utter dog st after years of fibre, FTC but the cabinet where the fibre ends is over a mile away. Ironically there are Virgin fibre cabinets at the end of our road less than 500m away, so close yet so far.

We've been in 12 months and finally got them to send us a new router, the previous 2 had been refurbs and were pieces of st in new shiny boxes (common practice according to the BT engineer). Finally, got a stable connection but it's slower than a turd sliding down the leg of some slim fit jeans...if the kids are streaming video either YouTube or on the fire stick, I can forget online gaming...I thought i'd prepared myself knowing I'd be disappointed, but the reality is such a huge shock and frustration. First world problems I realise, but so annoying.

I understand BT are protected in their stty service because Virgin can't serve new developments for up to 5 years in some areas. Great work BT...out fking standing

Groan. I was planning to encourage the kids to use Chomecasting on the main TV
To make up yhd gap in TV content when I go Free sat. Maybe not........

[AC43]

AAAAAAAARGH!

At someone else's place I've just tried the Plusnet service that I'm going to have.

Firstly I couldn't get Spotify to stream unless I went down to the very basic quality setting. Not a good sign.

This place is a rental so I I was guessing maybe 2 or 3Mb/s.

So then I fired up Ookla.

It took so long to fire up I though the Internet was broken.

And then the full horror dawned; this was 15.81 Mb/s. Pretty much the maximum I can ever expect.

I've just lost 95% of the internet.

AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!

Edited by AC43 on Saturday 18th June 20:02

[AC43]

All that jazz said:

Anything involving BTs wet string will result in a whole pile of grief and heart ache. If you want even something vaguely reliable from BT you need to part with ££££ for a leased line from them. In short if you want a reliable internet connection for sensible monies, either get Virgin or don't move house if Virgin isn't available. Choosing Plusnet, Zen or any other of the resellers makes absolutely no difference to the end product. The only thing that's different is that they answer the phone in less than 30 mins and they talk nicely to you; it's still BTs wet string at the end of the day.

My BIL who lives in a village in Norfolk resorted to getting two lines and doubling them up in his router. The thing is that costs £50 a month just to get "up to" 34 Mb/s. And I have to buy a router (and 2 x Freesat boxes while I'm at it).

Whereas I was paying something like £100 a month for 150 Mb/s (about to become 200....0, unlimited downloads (I'll to 200 Gb this month), the big kahuna TV package and a mobile. and all the kit was free.

fk.

[AC43]

fk me. Sunday lunchtime test. So slow I can't actually get Ookla to fire up on my laptop.

My phone tells me I have all of 10.3 Mb/s download and a mighty 0.94 Mb/s of upload.

What the juddering fk.

I think I'll pop out later and catch TB waiting for the new fangled steam locomotive.

[AC43]

allnighter said:

there is no better than Virginmedia.

Yeah I know. I'm been on Virgin for 6 years now. Before that BT Infinity and before that BT Wet String.

At the end of the day I'm moving house and there's nothing I can do about it.

(apart from getting some EE 4G double speed as a backup. and huge data bills. and having to unlearn the internet)

[AC43]

allnighter said:

AC43 said:

allnighter said:

there is no better than Virginmedia.

Yeah I know. I'm been on Virgin for 6 years now. Before that BT Infinity and before that BT Wet String.

At the end of the day I'm moving house and there's nothing I can do about it.

(apart from getting some EE 4G double speed as a backup. and huge data bills. and having to unlearn the internet)

Sorry I skipped the part where you clearly stated that you cannot get V.M in the new place, my bad, and that really sucks.

No worries. And yes it does really suck. I was assuming the whole area is at the very least fibered by now. I've lived round here for donkeys and have moved a fair few times. And a cursory glance at the broadband switching websites encourages that view. until you click all the way through, that is..

[AC43]

Upadate.

Talk Talk all you can eat broadband ordered.

First Freesat box ordered

And today I found today that EE do an all you can eat data plan 4G SIM only deal - going to get that.

At the end of the day that means I can stream as much Spotify at the highest quality setting as I want. For me, that's the killer app.

I can also use it as a 30Gb/month hotspot back up for when the Talk Talk broadband isn't cutting it.

And, handily. I can also use it for Google Maps when I'm out and about.

So far I'm still £60/month better off which in six months will have paid for the 2 x Humax boxes.

So it's not all bad.

[AC43]

All that jazz said:

AC43 said:

And today I found today that EE do an all you can eat data plan 4G SIM only deal - going to get that.

I am 99% sure they offer no such thing. Please provide link to the deal.

You can have AYCE data along with 200, 400 or 600 minutes of calls.

http://store.three.co.uk/view/content/basket?ID=12...

The caveat is that they cap hotspot data at 30Gb/month.

Edited by AC43 on Tuesday 21st June 16:13

[AC43]

All that jazz said:

AC43 said:

All that jazz said:

AC43 said:

And today I found today that EE do an all you can eat data plan 4G SIM only deal - going to get that.

I am 99% sure they offer no such thing. Please provide link to the deal.

http://store.three.co.uk/view/content/basket?ID=1242

Link shows a 404 error and that's 3, not EE.

My mistake; meant to type 3 not EE.

3 do AYCE data on 4G.

(just Google it)

[AC43]

All that jazz said:

As for streaming Spotify "at the highest quality I want" with Talk Talk broadband :

You've not used Talk Talk before, have you?

I guess you haven't read most of the thread. It's not a very long one but here's the summary;

I tried Talk Talk broadband at the weekend and it was, indeed st. But that didn't surprise me as back in the mists of time I used BT broadband over twisted copper. Which is the same thing.

I never watch movies and will move over to watching all my TV on Freesat. So that takes care of that.

I stream tons of music off my phablet and that is my personal priority - hence going for 3 AYCE data.

And it gives me a tethering back up if the Talk Talk is wheezing. Which it will be.

Edited by AC43 on Tuesday 21st June 16:49

[AC43]

All that jazz said:

AC43 said:

All that jazz said:

As for streaming Spotify "at the highest quality I want" with Talk Talk broadband :

You've not used Talk Talk before, have you?

I guess you haven't read most of the thread. It's not a very long one but here's the summary;

I tried Talk Talk broadband at the weekend and it was, indeed st. But that didn't surprise me as back in the mists of time I used BT broadband over twisted copper. Which is the same thing.

I never watch movies and will move over to watching all my TV on Freesat. So that takes care of that.

I stream tons of music and that is my personal priority - hence going for 3 AYCE data.

I bet you wish you'd confirmed VM availability before moving though.

Not really. It's a detached house on a good plot in a quiet cul de sac. Close to the tube, close to the kid's schools. I can turn into another really nice 4/5 bedder over the next couple of years. The comms issue is a PITA but will resolve itself over time. The bigger picture is the house/plot/location.

[AC43]

Udpdate;

I move in on Friday but as it's a probate the owner has given me access to try to sort a few things out.

The Talk Talk wet string is apparently activated but all the phone sockets are dead. Need a sparks.

I have one Humax Freesat box but will be amazed if the coax's are any good. See above.

However I do now have my unlimited data 3 4G SIM and the last time I looked I was getting 71Mb/s download. There's a 30Gb/month limit on tethering but I can monitor that on the app (much easier to set up and monitor than Vodaphone and Virgin Mobile).

I've also got a work phone on Vodaphone 4G (although 90% of the time it seems to be 3G or less) and that's running at just below 40Mb/s. No idea what the data limit is but that's a second tether.

Plus there's my wife's mobile.

So at least we'll be online/on Spotify/able to work at home from the get go.

Just need to scale back on the 200Gb/month streaming habit...

[AC43]

Update; I've been in a few days now and have been managing fine with two tethered mobiles and one Freeview HD TV.

It's slightly irritating having to revert to Bluetooth for Spotify (I can't walk out of the room with my phone in my pocket). I can't pause/rewind/record TV. And the kids can't stream much video but guess what? They just end up doing something more productive.