What's your broadband speed?
Discussion
We all know speed matters...
I'm currently on Virgin Media and have been for years. Broadband performance is good (30Mbps down/10Mbps up according to speedtest.net) and I've had very few problems, but it's quite expensive considering we don't use the TV service and barely use the landline.
Having heard good things about Zen internet I'm tempted to switch to them, but according to their site I could expect speeds of 10 down/1 up. We're a household of 4 including 2 teenagers so I guess we're quite heavy users, there's always a PS4 game, Zoom/Whatsapp video call, Netflix streaming etc going on. Do you reckon 10Mbps would be sufficient?
I would really be interested to hear from anybody who uses Zen internet - they've got a good reputation as far as I can see and I suspect they may be being a little conservative with their speed estimates.
I'm currently on Virgin Media and have been for years. Broadband performance is good (30Mbps down/10Mbps up according to speedtest.net) and I've had very few problems, but it's quite expensive considering we don't use the TV service and barely use the landline.
Having heard good things about Zen internet I'm tempted to switch to them, but according to their site I could expect speeds of 10 down/1 up. We're a household of 4 including 2 teenagers so I guess we're quite heavy users, there's always a PS4 game, Zoom/Whatsapp video call, Netflix streaming etc going on. Do you reckon 10Mbps would be sufficient?
I would really be interested to hear from anybody who uses Zen internet - they've got a good reputation as far as I can see and I suspect they may be being a little conservative with their speed estimates.
Zen (and anyone for that matter other than Virgin and a few small players) uses BT copper and/or fibre network. So their speeds depend on what copper/fibre network is like in your area. Virgin uses its own cable network and is likely to be quicker than copper/fibre unless you have ftth.
BT (FTTH/P) (average over a few mths on 5ghz WiFi)
Ping 10
Down 991mbps
Up 152mbps
The up should be quicker and I’ve no idea why it isn’t but it’s not a deal breaker.
Zen offered the same package for almost the same price - they claimed their router was better but the contract was longer.
I would be sceptical that 10mb would be enough for your household needs tbh
Ping 10
Down 991mbps
Up 152mbps
The up should be quicker and I’ve no idea why it isn’t but it’s not a deal breaker.
Zen offered the same package for almost the same price - they claimed their router was better but the contract was longer.
I would be sceptical that 10mb would be enough for your household needs tbh
I went from PlusNet to BT to Zen.
Got bored of having the extra TV, etc... Just went with plain old broadband.
The quality is good, uptime is good.
Their router is a bit shonky.
It handles 2 adults and 2 children. TV, gaming (Xbox) and business use.
I'd go back to PlusNet if needed, but am happy with Zen.
I wouldn't go back to BT - mostly because of all the extras they add in and then charge you for.
Got bored of having the extra TV, etc... Just went with plain old broadband.
The quality is good, uptime is good.
Their router is a bit shonky.
It handles 2 adults and 2 children. TV, gaming (Xbox) and business use.
I'd go back to PlusNet if needed, but am happy with Zen.
I wouldn't go back to BT - mostly because of all the extras they add in and then charge you for.
Thanks for the replies all, plenty to think about there. It looks like the copper in my area might be a bit flaky so I'll probably stay with VM, but I'll give them a call and see if I can get rid of the TV package. I'm quite impressed at the numbers some of you are getting. I'm sure Hull is lovely but it would be a big upheaval to get better download speeds 
@eps, the VM router is also a bit shonky (putting it kindly), I've got it in bridge mode with my own Draytek router. One of the things that attracted me to Zen was that they're not sniffy about you using your own router.
@eps, the VM router is also a bit shonky (putting it kindly), I've got it in bridge mode with my own Draytek router. One of the things that attracted me to Zen was that they're not sniffy about you using your own router.
BT FTTC, ex exchange only line.
16 down, 1 up, ping 26M.
Working from home full time now, and it’s just about adequate, usual office stuff, Teams, Amazon client etc. Drags though when Onedrive needs to do a gig or two of syncing. Or when I need to upload a really big file. Would love to have higher but it isnt going to be happening.
16 down, 1 up, ping 26M.
Working from home full time now, and it’s just about adequate, usual office stuff, Teams, Amazon client etc. Drags though when Onedrive needs to do a gig or two of syncing. Or when I need to upload a really big file. Would love to have higher but it isnt going to be happening.
Somethings not right there.
We are on the base TV, Phone, Broadband package and the broadband is 100MB.
Ring them and just check you are getting what you should.
You might be more satisfied if you are getting the speed others are for the same package.
Personally the reliability and actually getting 100mb all the time is worth it. Pings are nice and low for gaming too, and it never seems to slow down at supposedly busy periods, and there certainly arent any download limits.
If you are in a good connection area, I wouldnt jump ship too quick thinking the grass is greener.....
We are on the base TV, Phone, Broadband package and the broadband is 100MB.
Ring them and just check you are getting what you should.
You might be more satisfied if you are getting the speed others are for the same package.
Personally the reliability and actually getting 100mb all the time is worth it. Pings are nice and low for gaming too, and it never seems to slow down at supposedly busy periods, and there certainly arent any download limits.
If you are in a good connection area, I wouldnt jump ship too quick thinking the grass is greener.....
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