Recommended broadband provider?
Discussion
I’m currently with BT at ~£30 a month for phone and internet. I never use the phone, so will be moving to a line only package. I get ~50Mb on the current line. Service has been fine.
Stick with BT, or move to someone else? House is wired for Virgin, although I don’t currently use anything from them… I don’t need a TV package.
Who would you recommend?
Stick with BT, or move to someone else? House is wired for Virgin, although I don’t currently use anything from them… I don’t need a TV package.
Who would you recommend?
May not help as you're already with BT but after trying various other providers, BT have been by far the best. Very reliable and a good router.
Can't really comment on Virgin as it was 15 years ago when we had them but it was absolute crap. Never in a million years was it 100mb or whatever they purported it to be and the router was rubbish too.
I sometimes think if it's not broken why fix/change it?
Can't really comment on Virgin as it was 15 years ago when we had them but it was absolute crap. Never in a million years was it 100mb or whatever they purported it to be and the router was rubbish too.
I sometimes think if it's not broken why fix/change it?
Everyone's circumstances (geography, wiring, distance to box in street etc) are different so its always hard to recommend suppliers. What's great for you may be absolute crap for someone down the street.
We have Virgin which offers 10x the speed of anyone else where I live for much the same price. Some say they are the worst ever for support, but I wouldn't know as I've never had cause to contact them. The router is supposedly crap, but it's bypassed by a Mesh system anyway. We take their BB only, have Sky for TV.
We have Virgin which offers 10x the speed of anyone else where I live for much the same price. Some say they are the worst ever for support, but I wouldn't know as I've never had cause to contact them. The router is supposedly crap, but it's bypassed by a Mesh system anyway. We take their BB only, have Sky for TV.
heisthegaffer said:
Can't really comment on Virgin as it was 15 years ago when we had them but it was absolute crap. Never in a million years was it 100mb or whatever they purported it to be
That's highly unusual. The underlying technology that Virgin use is rock-solid and you pretty much always get the speed they quote as it's not reliant on external factors or subject to distance degradation like you get with standard BT/Sky internet.But that aside: I'm in the "if it ain't broke..." camp. OP, what do you hope to gain from changing supplier?
deckster said:
That's highly unusual. The underlying technology that Virgin use is rock-solid and you pretty much always get the speed they quote as it's not reliant on external factors or subject to distance degradation like you get with standard BT/Sky internet.
But that aside: I'm in the "if it ain't broke..." camp. OP, what do you hope to gain from changing supplier?
It’s a good question, and I’m not sure I “need” to gain anything. Would faster be better? Possibly, but I don’t feel downloads are particularly slow at the moment. But, if Virgin (or whoever) are twice the speed for the same price, I’d probably go for the faster option unless the advice here is that they’re rubbish. But that aside: I'm in the "if it ain't broke..." camp. OP, what do you hope to gain from changing supplier?
The only difference between the providers in my experience is:
1. Customer service. But I've been lucky not to need them much over the years
2. Quality of the routers etc they supply (BT were excellent, Sky not so much)
If you don't use their customer service and have your own router etc then go for the cheapest. If you want/need to use their kit stick with BT.
1. Customer service. But I've been lucky not to need them much over the years
2. Quality of the routers etc they supply (BT were excellent, Sky not so much)
If you don't use their customer service and have your own router etc then go for the cheapest. If you want/need to use their kit stick with BT.
My advice would be to get the broadband package you require, then buy yourself a 3rd party router to ensure you get the performance you've paid for.
I pay for 100MB Virgin broadband, and get 108MB in every inch of my house, and around 90MB at the end of the garden. Don't think in the 5 years I've had it I've had to reset it once.
I pay for 100MB Virgin broadband, and get 108MB in every inch of my house, and around 90MB at the end of the garden. Don't think in the 5 years I've had it I've had to reset it once.
deckster said:
heisthegaffer said:
Can't really comment on Virgin as it was 15 years ago when we had them but it was absolute crap. Never in a million years was it 100mb or whatever they purported it to be
That's highly unusual. The underlying technology that Virgin use is rock-solid and you pretty much always get the speed they quote as it's not reliant on external factors or subject to distance degradation like you get with standard BT/Sky internet.But that aside: I'm in the "if it ain't broke..." camp. OP, what do you hope to gain from changing supplier?
Mr Pointy said:
deckster said:
That's highly unusual. The underlying technology that Virgin use is rock-solid and you pretty much always get the speed they quote as it's not reliant on external factors or subject to distance degradation like you get with standard BT/Sky internet.
Really? Contention - they don't provision 100Mb for every connected user & I've seen numerous complaints about slowdowns in service. But in the main, it's utterly reliable. Virgin have invested hugely in their network and at least in my area they appear to have masses of capacity. My 350Mb/s line can sit quite happily downloading 50GB games at over 40MB/s all day long. Well, I say that, but to be fair things come down so quickly the days of waiting all day are long gone
deckster said:
heisthegaffer said:
Can't really comment on Virgin as it was 15 years ago when we had them but it was absolute crap. Never in a million years was it 100mb or whatever they purported it to be
That's highly unusual. The underlying technology that Virgin use is rock-solid and you pretty much always get the speed they quote as it's not reliant on external factors or subject to distance degradation like you get with standard BT/Sky internet.But that aside: I'm in the "if it ain't broke..." camp. OP, what do you hope to gain from changing supplier?
We were at the end of a longish cul de sac of c. 40 Houses.
Then the water board accidentally chopped our cable so it felt doomed! We binned off as soon as we could after that.
Service depends on your area. People will have different experiences. My 100mbps Virgin connection became unusable on the weekends in London. Literally crawled below 2mbps and ping shot up to 10 seconds.
They said my area was over subscribed and just lopped my monthly cost by 80% for 3 months, after which they said capacity will improve. Which it did for a while, then went downhill again, got another discounted bill, then was good again after a couple of months, then I moved. Needless to say, I didn’t go back to Virgin.
Symmetrical FTTP is definitely the way forward. I would be looking for a service provider that does this.
They said my area was over subscribed and just lopped my monthly cost by 80% for 3 months, after which they said capacity will improve. Which it did for a while, then went downhill again, got another discounted bill, then was good again after a couple of months, then I moved. Needless to say, I didn’t go back to Virgin.
Symmetrical FTTP is definitely the way forward. I would be looking for a service provider that does this.
wyson said:
Service depends on your area. People will have different experiences. My 100mbps Virgin connection became unusable on the weekends in London. Literally crawled below 2mbps and ping shot up to 10 seconds.
They said my area was over subscribed and just lopped my monthly cost by 80% for 3 months, after which they said capacity will improve. Which it did for a while, then went downhill again, got another discounted bill, then was good again after a couple of months, then I moved. Needless to say, I didn’t go back to Virgin.
Symmetrical FTTP is definitely the way forward. I would be looking for a service provider that does this.
I’m in Windsor - BT are supposed to be doing FTTP here in 2024 I think. Virgin have their cable offering, but based on the thoughts in the thread I’ll take the answer as being better the devil you know. BT have been entirely fine, so I’ll stick with.They said my area was over subscribed and just lopped my monthly cost by 80% for 3 months, after which they said capacity will improve. Which it did for a while, then went downhill again, got another discounted bill, then was good again after a couple of months, then I moved. Needless to say, I didn’t go back to Virgin.
Symmetrical FTTP is definitely the way forward. I would be looking for a service provider that does this.
Cheers all.
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff