| Sysop: | Amessyroom |
|---|---|
| Location: | Fayetteville, NC |
| Users: | 23 |
| Nodes: | 6 (0 / 6) |
| Uptime: | 52:02:55 |
| Calls: | 583 |
| Files: | 1,139 |
| Messages: | 111,529 |
Our Plusnet contract expires in a couple of months. Now that PN are
closing their email servers and offloading it to Greenly who will start charging in 2 years, we are thinking of changing to a different ISP.
We want an ISP with British-accented support staff who do not have that strange mixture of clueless-yet-supercilious attitude of overseas
technical support, who want to go through everything in grinding detail
even though I've briefed them on "this works; this doesn't work" to
prevent them wasting time on things I've already tried.
Either ISP-only or ISP-plus-telephone. If we go for ISP only, we'd
probably switch back to BT for phone.
We don't need web-hosting: we've already got that, and we may decide to
use the email accounts with that web hosting for everything,to avoid
being tied to an ISP to keep email accounts.
So which are the ISPs to go for and which are the ones to avoid? Price
is important: we currently pay -u43 for ISP and phone (unlimited phone calls). So that is the price to beat.
Our Plusnet contract expires in a couple of months. Now that PN are
closing their email servers and offloading it to Greenly who will start charging in 2 years, we are thinking of changing to a different ISP.
Our Plusnet contract expires in a couple of months. Now that PN areTry Zen. if you can accommodate a Lancashire accent....
closing their email servers and offloading it to Greenly who will
start charging in 2 years, we are thinking of changing to a different
ISP.
We want an ISP with British-accented support staff who do not have
that strange mixture of clueless-yet-supercilious attitude of
overseas technical support, who want to go through everything in
grinding detail even though I've briefed them on "this works; this
doesn't work" to prevent them wasting time on things I've already
tried.
Either ISP-only or ISP-plus-telephone. If we go for ISP only, we'd
probably switch back to BT for phone.
We don't need web-hosting: we've already got that, and we may decide
to use the email accounts with that web hosting for everything,to
avoid being tied to an ISP to keep email accounts.
So which are the ISPs to go for and which are the ones to avoid?
Price is important: we currently pay -u43 for ISP and phone (unlimited
phone calls). So that is the price to beat.
On Wed, 6 Aug 2025 17:05:58 +0100
NY <me@privacy.net> wrote:
Our Plusnet contract expires in a couple of months. Now that PN are
closing their email servers and offloading it to Greenly who will
start charging in 2 years, we are thinking of changing to a different
ISP.
We want an ISP with British-accented support staff who do not have
that strange mixture of clueless-yet-supercilious attitude of
overseas technical support, who want to go through everything in
grinding detail even though I've briefed them on "this works; this
doesn't work" to prevent them wasting time on things I've already
tried.
Either ISP-only or ISP-plus-telephone. If we go for ISP only, we'd
probably switch back to BT for phone.
We don't need web-hosting: we've already got that, and we may decide
to use the email accounts with that web hosting for everything,to
avoid being tied to an ISP to keep email accounts.
So which are the ISPs to go for and which are the ones to avoid?
Price is important: we currently pay -u43 for ISP and phone (unlimited
phone calls). So that is the price to beat.
Try Zen. if you can accommodate a Lancashire accent....
Our Plusnet contract expires in a couple of months. Now that PN are
closing their email servers and offloading it to Greenly who will start >charging in 2 years, we are thinking of changing to a different ISP.
We want an ISP with British-accented support staff who do not have that >strange mixture of clueless-yet-supercilious attitude of overseas
technical support, who want to go through everything in grinding detail
even though I've briefed them on "this works; this doesn't work" to
prevent them wasting time on things I've already tried.
Either ISP-only or ISP-plus-telephone. If we go for ISP only, we'd
probably switch back to BT for phone.
We don't need web-hosting: we've already got that, and we may decide to
use the email accounts with that web hosting for everything,to avoid being >tied to an ISP to keep email accounts.
So which are the ISPs to go for and which are the ones to avoid? Price is >important: we currently pay -u43 for ISP and phone (unlimited phone
calls). So that is the price to beat.
Our Plusnet contract expires in a couple of months. Now that PN are
closing their email servers and offloading it to Greenly who will start charging in 2 years, we are thinking of changing to a different ISP.
We want an ISP with British-accented support staff who do not have that strange mixture of clueless-yet-supercilious attitude of overseas
technical support, who want to go through everything in grinding detail
even though I've briefed them on "this works; this doesn't work" to
prevent them wasting time on things I've already tried.
Either ISP-only or ISP-plus-telephone. If we go for ISP only, we'd
probably switch back to BT for phone.
We don't need web-hosting: we've already got that, and we may decide to
use the email accounts with that web hosting for everything,to avoid
being tied to an ISP to keep email accounts.
So which are the ISPs to go for and which are the ones to avoid? Price
is important: we currently pay -u43 for ISP and phone (unlimited phone calls). So that is the price to beat.
NY <me@privacy.net> wrote:
Our Plusnet contract expires in a couple of months. Now that PN are
closing their email servers and offloading it to Greenly who will start
charging in 2 years, we are thinking of changing to a different ISP.
We want an ISP with British-accented support staff who do not have that
strange mixture of clueless-yet-supercilious attitude of overseas
technical support, who want to go through everything in grinding detail
even though I've briefed them on "this works; this doesn't work" to
prevent them wasting time on things I've already tried.
How about Plusnet? Never been a customer but they supposedly have
support from Sheffield. Seem to tick all your other boxes.
You are well advised not to take ISP email as it's a ball and chain to prevent you moving - using a third party like your existing domain host is a good plan. At least with that you can switch email host at will if you
don't like them.
Either ISP-only or ISP-plus-telephone. If we go for ISP only, we'd
probably switch back to BT for phone.
What kind of connection do you have? You can't order a copper landline any more. If you are on FTTC or FTTP you either take your ISP's 'digital voice' product or you take broadband from 'whoever' plus a third party VOIP
product. I don't think you can take a standalone landline from BT any more unless you take their minimalist broadband + digital voice product on a second line (-u30.20pm, or -u48.20pm with unlimited minutes)
Not sure if you can still order copper phone if you're on ADSL that can't support digital voice.
However you may be able to keep your existing PN phone setup - you can't
take a new phone with PN but not sure what they're doing for customers with phones who renew their contract.
We don't need web-hosting: we've already got that, and we may decide to
use the email accounts with that web hosting for everything,to avoid
being tied to an ISP to keep email accounts.
So which are the ISPs to go for and which are the ones to avoid? Price
is important: we currently pay -u43 for ISP and phone (unlimited phone
calls). So that is the price to beat.
If you were to go with a third party VOIP provider:
PN at ~-u25-30 per month
A&A at -u1.44 per month for a VOIP phone number
Leaves about -u10-15 a month in the kitty for phone calls on a 1.8p/min (landline) or 4.8p/min (mob) basis
or:
PN -u25-30 per month
Voipfone -u3.60 pm for a VOIP phone number
Voipfone minutes packages starting at -u2.88 for 250 landline minutes
Do VOIP providers generally offer to migrate your existing STD-code- specific phone number, or do you have to have a new non-geographic phone number
On 06/08/2025 17:57, Theo wrote:
NY <me@privacy.net> wrote:
Our Plusnet contract expires in a couple of months. Now that PN are
closing their email servers and offloading it to Greenly who will start
charging in 2 years, we are thinking of changing to a different ISP.
We want an ISP with British-accented support staff who do not have that
strange mixture of clueless-yet-supercilious attitude of overseas
technical support, who want to go through everything in grinding detail
even though I've briefed them on "this works; this doesn't work" to
prevent them wasting time on things I've already tried.
How about Plusnet? Never been a customer but they supposedly have
support from Sheffield. Seem to tick all your other boxes.
You are well advised not to take ISP email as it's a ball and chain to
prevent you moving - using a third party like your existing domain host is a >> good plan. At least with that you can switch email host at will if you
don't like them.
Either ISP-only or ISP-plus-telephone. If we go for ISP only, we'd
probably switch back to BT for phone.
What kind of connection do you have? You can't order a copper landline any >> more. If you are on FTTC or FTTP you either take your ISP's 'digital voice' >> product or you take broadband from 'whoever' plus a third party VOIP
product. I don't think you can take a standalone landline from BT any more >> unless you take their minimalist broadband + digital voice product on a
second line (u30.20pm, or u48.20pm with unlimited minutes)
So if the technology remains the same (we have FTTC) and you change ISP,
you have to migrate to digital telephone if the phone service is
currently provided by the ISP rather than BT and you transfer it from
one ISP to another or to BT? I didn't know that.
Do ISPs provide an Ethernet to analogue phone converter box to allow an >existing DECT phone system to be used? We'd probably factor in the cost
of a small UPS to power the router and the Ethernet to analogue phone >converter box, so we had a working phone during power cuts. We used to
get a plague of them every autumn when the overhanging branches started >shorting the HV feed to our village - loads and loads of 5-seconds cuts >which was just long enough to force all digital equipment to reboot.
I've always used ISP mail up to now, ever since we've had ADSL/VDSL, but >we're thinking of weaning ourselves off that and using our third party >mailboxes which come with our web hosting. Hosting was another thing
that PN used to provide but no longer do: when we had to cancel our old >contract and take out a new one when we moved house, PN wouldn't give us >hosting on the new broadband package. So they are removing services that >used to be bundled in "for free" but they are not reducing the price...
Not sure if you can still order copper phone if you're on ADSL that can't
support digital voice.
I didn't know that. I thought that any xDSL connection was fast enough
to support digital voice.
However you may be able to keep your existing PN phone setup - you can't
take a new phone with PN but not sure what they're doing for customers with >> phones who renew their contract.
We don't need web-hosting: we've already got that, and we may decide to
use the email accounts with that web hosting for everything,to avoid
being tied to an ISP to keep email accounts.
So which are the ISPs to go for and which are the ones to avoid? Price
is important: we currently pay u43 for ISP and phone (unlimited phone
calls). So that is the price to beat.
If you were to go with a third party VOIP provider:
PN at ~u25-30 per month
A&A at u1.44 per month for a VOIP phone number
Leaves about u10-15 a month in the kitty for phone calls on a 1.8p/min
(landline) or 4.8p/min (mob) basis
or:
PN u25-30 per month
Voipfone u3.60 pm for a VOIP phone number
Voipfone minutes packages starting at u2.88 for 250 landline minutes
Ah, I wasn't sure how VOIP calls were charged. I naively thought that
VOIP would be cheaper than analogue... Or that there would be tariffs
which gave unlimited calls (no call setup or per-minute cost).
Do VOIP providers generally offer to migrate your existing
STD-code-specific phone number, or do you have to have a new
non-geographic phone number (with all the hassle of trying to work out
all the people/companies who need to be informed of a new number).
On 06/08/2025 17:57, Theo wrote:
NY <me@privacy.net> wrote:
Our Plusnet contract expires in a couple of months. Now that PN are
closing their email servers and offloading it to Greenly who will start
charging in 2 years, we are thinking of changing to a different ISP.
We want an ISP with British-accented support staff who do not have that
strange mixture of clueless-yet-supercilious attitude of overseas
technical support, who want to go through everything in grinding detail
even though I've briefed them on "this works; this doesn't work" to
prevent them wasting time on things I've already tried.
How about Plusnet?-a Never been a customer but they supposedly have
support from Sheffield.-a Seem to tick all your other boxes.
You are well advised not to take ISP email as it's a ball and chain to
prevent you moving - using a third party like your existing domain
host is a
good plan.-a At least with that you can switch email host at will if you
don't like them.
Either ISP-only or ISP-plus-telephone. If we go for ISP only, we'd
probably switch back to BT for phone.
What kind of connection do you have?-a You can't order a copper
landline any
more.-a If you are on FTTC or FTTP you either take your ISP's 'digital
voice'
product or you take broadband from 'whoever' plus a third party VOIP
product.-a I don't think you can take a standalone landline from BT any
more
unless you take their minimalist broadband + digital voice product on a
second line (-u30.20pm, or -u48.20pm with unlimited minutes)
So if the technology remains the same (we have FTTC) and you change ISP,
you have to migrate to digital telephone if the phone service is
currently provided by the ISP rather than BT and you transfer it from
one ISP to another or to BT? I didn't know that.
Do ISPs provide an Ethernet to analogue phone converter box to allow an existing DECT phone system to be used? We'd probably factor in the cost
of a small UPS to power the router and the Ethernet to analogue phone converter box, so we had a working phone during power cuts. We used to
get a plague of them every autumn when the overhanging branches started shorting the HV feed to our village - loads and loads of 5-seconds cuts which was just long enough to force all digital equipment to reboot.
I've always used ISP mail up to now, ever since we've had ADSL/VDSL, but we're thinking of weaning ourselves off that and using our third party mailboxes which come with our web hosting. Hosting was another thing
that PN used to provide but no longer do: when we had to cancel our old contract and take out a new one when we moved house, PN wouldn't give us hosting on the new broadband package. So they are removing services that used to be bundled in "for free" but they are not reducing the price...
Not sure if you can still order copper phone if you're on ADSL that can't
support digital voice.
I didn't know that. I thought that any xDSL connection was fast enough
to support digital voice.
However you may be able to keep your existing PN phone setup - you can't
take a new phone with PN but not sure what they're doing for customers
with
phones who renew their contract.
We don't need web-hosting: we've already got that, and we may decide to
use the email accounts with that web hosting for everything,to avoid
being tied to an ISP to keep email accounts.
So which are the ISPs to go for and which are the ones to avoid? Price
is important: we currently pay -u43 for ISP and phone (unlimited phone
calls). So that is the price to beat.
If you were to go with a third party VOIP provider:
PN at ~-u25-30 per month
A&A at -u1.44 per month for a VOIP phone number
Leaves about -u10-15 a month in the kitty for phone calls on a 1.8p/min
(landline) or 4.8p/min (mob) basis
or:
PN -u25-30 per month
Voipfone -u3.60 pm for a VOIP phone number
Voipfone minutes packages starting at -u2.88 for 250 landline minutes
Ah, I wasn't sure how VOIP calls were charged. I naively thought that
VOIP would be cheaper than analogue... Or that there would be tariffs
which gave unlimited calls (no call setup or per-minute cost).
Do VOIP providers generally offer to migrate your existing
STD-code-specific phone number, or do you have to have a new
non-geographic phone number (with all the hassle of trying to work out
all the people/companies who need to be informed of a new number).
On 06/08/2025 17:36, Davey wrote:
On Wed, 6 Aug 2025 17:05:58 +0100
NY <me@privacy.net> wrote:
Our Plusnet contract expires in a couple of months. Now that PN are
closing their email servers and offloading it to Greenly who will
start charging in 2 years, we are thinking of changing to a
different ISP.
We want an ISP with British-accented support staff who do not have
that strange mixture of clueless-yet-supercilious attitude of
overseas technical support, who want to go through everything in
grinding detail even though I've briefed them on "this works; this
doesn't work" to prevent them wasting time on things I've already
tried.
Either ISP-only or ISP-plus-telephone. If we go for ISP only, we'd
probably switch back to BT for phone.
We don't need web-hosting: we've already got that, and we may
decide to use the email accounts with that web hosting for
everything,to avoid being tied to an ISP to keep email accounts.
So which are the ISPs to go for and which are the ones to avoid?
Price is important: we currently pay -u43 for ISP and phone
(unlimited phone calls). So that is the price to beat.
Try Zen. if you can accommodate a Lancashire accent....
As a Yorkshireman, that's fighting talk!
Thanks. I'll investigate them.
I would suggest the OP investigates Spusu. They are cheap compared to
some others, are an Austrian owned company but operate in the UK from a
base in N7, they are helpful and civilised when you talk to them, and
they run on EE.
That do?
MoneySupermarket has a Spusu deal thatrCOs not on SpusurCOs web site:
1GB of 5G data.
1 month contract.
Unltd texts.
Unltd minutes.
-u2.90/mth monthly cost.
Uses EE's network.
No price rise in 2025.
Free delivery.
And they do eSIM.
Spike wrote:
MoneySupermarket has a Spusu deal thatrCOs not on SpusurCOs web site:
1GB of 5G data.
1 month contract.
Unltd texts.
Unltd minutes.
-u2.90/mth monthly cost.
Uses EE's network.
No price rise in 2025.
Free delivery.
And they do eSIM.
They don't have Google Pixels on their list of Wifi-calling phones ...
Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:Yeah, not sure why Woody swerved from ISPs to MNOs/MVNOs
Spike wrote:
MoneySupermarket has a Spusu deal
They arenrCOt an ISP, in the conventional use of the word, either.
Tweed wrote:
Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
Spike wrote:
MoneySupermarket has a Spusu deal
They arenrCOt an ISP, in the conventional use of the word, either.Yeah, not sure why Woody swerved from ISPs to MNOs/MVNOs
Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
Spike wrote:
MoneySupermarket has a Spusu deal thatrCOs not on SpusurCOs web site:
1GB of 5G data.
1 month contract.
Unltd texts.
Unltd minutes.
-u2.90/mth monthly cost.
Uses EE's network.
No price rise in 2025.
Free delivery.
And they do eSIM.
They don't have Google Pixels on their list of Wifi-calling phones ...
They arenrCOt an ISP, in the conventional use of the word, either.
On Thu 07/08/2025 08:13, Tweed wrote:
Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
Spike wrote:
MoneySupermarket has a Spusu deal thatrCOs not on SpusurCOs web site:
1GB of 5G data.
1 month contract.
Unltd texts.
Unltd minutes.
-u2.90/mth monthly cost.
Uses EE's network.
No price rise in 2025.
Free delivery.
And they do eSIM.
They don't have Google Pixels on their list of Wifi-calling phones ...
They arenrCOt an ISP, in the conventional use of the word, either.
Explain please.
So if the technology remains the same (we have FTTC) and you change ISP,
you have to migrate to digital telephone if the phone service is
currently provided by the ISP rather than BT and you transfer it from
one ISP to another or to BT? I didn't know that.
Do ISPs provide an Ethernet to analogue phone converter box to allow an existing DECT phone system to be used? We'd probably factor in the cost
of a small UPS to power the router and the Ethernet to analogue phone converter box, so we had a working phone during power cuts. We used to
get a plague of them every autumn when the overhanging branches started shorting the HV feed to our village - loads and loads of 5-seconds cuts which was just long enough to force all digital equipment to reboot.
I've always used ISP mail up to now, ever since we've had ADSL/VDSL, but we're thinking of weaning ourselves off that and using our third party mailboxes which come with our web hosting. Hosting was another thing
that PN used to provide but no longer do: when we had to cancel our old contract and take out a new one when we moved house, PN wouldn't give us hosting on the new broadband package. So they are removing services that used to be bundled in "for free" but they are not reducing the price...
Not sure if you can still order copper phone if you're on ADSL that can't support digital voice.
I didn't know that. I thought that any xDSL connection was fast enough
to support digital voice.
Ah, I wasn't sure how VOIP calls were charged. I naively thought that
VOIP would be cheaper than analogue... Or that there would be tariffs
which gave unlimited calls (no call setup or per-minute cost).
Do VOIP providers generally offer to migrate your existing
STD-code-specific phone number, or do you have to have a new
non-geographic phone number (with all the hassle of trying to work out
all the people/companies who need to be informed of a new number).
NY wrote:
Do VOIP providers generally offer to migrate your existing STD-code-
specific phone number, or do you have to have a new non-geographic
phone number
I changed from plusnet FTTC and PSTN to plusnet SoGEA (basically FTTC without PSTN) I then migrated my old number to Voipfone who I already
had other numbers with.
On 06/08/2025 18:58, Andy Burns wrote:
NY wrote:
Do VOIP providers generally offer to migrate your existing STD-code-
specific phone number, or do you have to have a new non-geographic
phone number
I changed from plusnet FTTC and PSTN to plusnet SoGEA (basically FTTC without PSTN) I then migrated my old number to Voipfone who I already
had other numbers with.
But be aware that the timing is crital. You can't migrate your phone
number while it's attached to an FTTC service.
Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:
On 06/08/2025 18:58, Andy Burns wrote:
NY wrote:
Do VOIP providers generally offer to migrate your existing STD-code-
specific phone number, or do you have to have a new non-geographic
phone number
I changed from plusnet FTTC and PSTN to plusnet SoGEA (basically FTTC
without PSTN) I then migrated my old number to Voipfone who I already
had other numbers with.
But be aware that the timing is crital. You can't migrate your phone
number while it's attached to an FTTC service.
Surely what you do is get the new internet connection (presumably
FTTP) and then migrate the old landline number that the FTTC ran on to
VOIP on the FTTP service. The FTTC expires at the same time but you
don't care any longer.
On 08/08/2025 11:46, Chris Green wrote:
Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:
On 06/08/2025 18:58, Andy Burns wrote:
NY wrote:
Do VOIP providers generally offer to migrate your existing STD-code- >>>>> specific phone number, or do you have to have a new non-geographic
phone number
I changed from plusnet FTTC and PSTN to plusnet SoGEA (basically FTTC
without PSTN) I then migrated my old number to Voipfone who I already
had other numbers with.
But be aware that the timing is crital. You can't migrate your phone
number while it's attached to an FTTC service.
Surely what you do is get the new internet connection (presumably
FTTP) and then migrate the old landline number that the FTTC ran on to
VOIP on the FTTP service. The FTTC expires at the same time but you
don't care any longer.
What I did was order FTTP with ZEN who sent me a Fritz!Box with VOIP capability, Then I set up VOIP on that with a free account and voip
number from voipfone.co.uk. Once that was working I migrated my landline
to voip at which point my FTTC from Plusnet automatically ceased.
I would say whilst the support is good, the same package from plusnet is
a lot cheaper, but you can't have a fixed IP on FTTP
Dave
Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:
On 06/08/2025 18:58, Andy Burns wrote:
NY wrote:
Do VOIP providers generally offer to migrate your existing STD-code-
specific phone number, or do you have to have a new non-geographic
phone number
I changed from plusnet FTTC and PSTN to plusnet SoGEA (basically FTTC
without PSTN) I then migrated my old number to Voipfone who I already
had other numbers with.
But be aware that the timing is crital. You can't migrate your phone
number while it's attached to an FTTC service.
Surely what you do is get the new internet connection (presumably
FTTP) and then migrate the old landline number that the FTTC ran on to
VOIP on the FTTP service. The FTTC expires at the same time but you
don't care any longer.
Or just do what all the kids (and us) have done. Ditch the landline and associated number and just use our mobile phones.
Tim+ wrote:
Or just do what all the kids (and us) have done. Ditch the landline and
associated number and just use our mobile phones.
5G is non-existent here, 4G coverage isn't particularly bad, but nowhere near reliable/fast/cheap enough to replace unlimited FTTx, having both
is worth it for me.
The Plusnet FTTP prices seem to increase by an alarming amount each year if their website is to be believed. The monthly amount goes up by -u4 each
year.
On 08/08/2025 16:27, Tweed wrote:
The Plusnet FTTP prices seem to increase by an alarming amount each year if >> their website is to be believed. The monthly amount goes up by -u4 each
year.
I've never gone over about 29 quid a month with Plusnet. Just before the
18 or 24 month contract expires, I ring them up, and (to coin a recent
well used phrase by a certain president ) Make a Deal. My fee simply
yo-yos between 25 and 29/mth.
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 08/08/2025 16:27, Tweed wrote:
The Plusnet FTTP prices seem to increase by an alarming amount
each year if their website is to be believed. The monthly amount
goes up by -u4 each year.
I've never gone over about 29 quid a month with Plusnet. Just
before the 18 or 24 month contract expires, I ring them up, and (to
coin a recent well used phrase by a certain president ) Make a
Deal. My fee simply yo-yos between 25 and 29/mth.
I got really fed up with having to do this with Virgin Media. Since
IrCOve been with IDNet my pricing has remained constant.
On Sat, 9 Aug 2025 17:46:47 -0000 (UTC)
Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> wrote:
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 08/08/2025 16:27, Tweed wrote:
The Plusnet FTTP prices seem to increase by an alarming amount
each year if their website is to be believed. The monthly amount
goes up by -u4 each year.
I've never gone over about 29 quid a month with Plusnet. Just
before the 18 or 24 month contract expires, I ring them up, and (to
coin a recent well used phrase by a certain president ) Make a
Deal. My fee simply yo-yos between 25 and 29/mth.
I got really fed up with having to do this with Virgin Media. Since
IrCOve been with IDNet my pricing has remained constant.
Zen has a valid reputation for not increasing its prices. I had one
landline with them from 2010 until 2022, and the price never changed.
I had another at a different place from 2010 to 2023, and that was the
same.
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 08/08/2025 16:27, Tweed wrote:
The Plusnet FTTP prices seem to increase by an alarming amount each year if >>> their website is to be believed. The monthly amount goes up by -u4 each
year.
I've never gone over about 29 quid a month with Plusnet. Just before the
18 or 24 month contract expires, I ring them up, and (to coin a recent
well used phrase by a certain president ) Make a Deal. My fee simply
yo-yos between 25 and 29/mth.
I got really fed up with having to do this with Virgin Media. Since IrCOve been with IDNet my pricing has remained constant.
On Sat 09/08/2025 18:46, Tweed wrote:
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 08/08/2025 16:27, Tweed wrote:
The Plusnet FTTP prices seem to increase by an alarming amount each year if
their website is to be believed. The monthly amount goes up by -u4 each >>>> year.
I've never gone over about 29 quid a month with Plusnet. Just before the >>> 18 or 24 month contract expires, I ring them up, and (to coin a recent
well used phrase by a certain president ) Make a Deal. My fee simply
yo-yos between 25 and 29/mth.
I got really fed up with having to do this with Virgin Media. Since IrCOve >> been with IDNet my pricing has remained constant.
VM is a pain. I was a beta tester on dial up with what was then NTL
around Y2K and found the system quite good - and I'm still with them.
BUT the thing most people overlook is reliability. In now just about 25 years with them I have only had I think four outages. One Boxing Day
(when we had TV with them) the picture froze all day, a car drove into
the street cab at the top of our road (c 120m) and we were off broadband
for four days but we did get compensation, and on one occasion when my original NTL hub decided to go slow they sent a chap around two days
later and he fitted me a (Netgear) Hub2 which was brilliant. (They have since declared the ub2 obsolete about three months ago and sent me a
Hub4 - which has not impressed me so far.)
If I changed supplier (and since the beginning of the pandemic we have
been City Fibred with a choice of about 18 different providers including IDNet) the only thing that would put me off them is that they are owned
by Curry's, a company that I detest.
Woody <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> wrote:
On Sat 09/08/2025 18:46, Tweed wrote:CityFibre is not owned by Currys if that is what you mean.
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 08/08/2025 16:27, Tweed wrote:
The Plusnet FTTP prices seem to increase by an alarming amount each year if
their website is to be believed. The monthly amount goes up by -u4 each >>>>> year.
I've never gone over about 29 quid a month with Plusnet. Just before the >>>> 18 or 24 month contract expires, I ring them up, and (to coin a recent >>>> well used phrase by a certain president ) Make a Deal. My fee simply
yo-yos between 25 and 29/mth.
I got really fed up with having to do this with Virgin Media. Since IrCOve >>> been with IDNet my pricing has remained constant.
VM is a pain. I was a beta tester on dial up with what was then NTL
around Y2K and found the system quite good - and I'm still with them.
BUT the thing most people overlook is reliability. In now just about 25
years with them I have only had I think four outages. One Boxing Day
(when we had TV with them) the picture froze all day, a car drove into
the street cab at the top of our road (c 120m) and we were off broadband
for four days but we did get compensation, and on one occasion when my
original NTL hub decided to go slow they sent a chap around two days
later and he fitted me a (Netgear) Hub2 which was brilliant. (They have
since declared the ub2 obsolete about three months ago and sent me a
Hub4 - which has not impressed me so far.)
If I changed supplier (and since the beginning of the pandemic we have
been City Fibred with a choice of about 18 different providers including
IDNet) the only thing that would put me off them is that they are owned
by Curry's, a company that I detest.
I had VM for about as long as you did. They offered much faster speeds than any OpenReach offering round here (who have still not installed fibre). But in the last decade or so VM went mad with pricing. Not only annual hikes, they occasionally went for two increases in a year.
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 08/08/2025 16:27, Tweed wrote:
The Plusnet FTTP prices seem to increase by an alarming amount each year if >>> their website is to be believed. The monthly amount goes up by -u4 each
year.
I've never gone over about 29 quid a month with Plusnet. Just before the
18 or 24 month contract expires, I ring them up, and (to coin a recent
well used phrase by a certain president ) Make a Deal. My fee simply
yo-yos between 25 and 29/mth.
I got really fed up with having to do this with Virgin Media. Since IrCOve been with IDNet my pricing has remained constant.
On Sun 10/08/2025 07:18, Tweed wrote:
Woody <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> wrote:
On Sat 09/08/2025 18:46, Tweed wrote:CityFibre is not owned by Currys if that is what you mean.
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 08/08/2025 16:27, Tweed wrote:
The Plusnet FTTP prices seem to increase by an alarming amount each year if
their website is to be believed. The monthly amount goes up by -u4 each >>>>>> year.
I've never gone over about 29 quid a month with Plusnet. Just before the >>>>> 18 or 24 month contract expires, I ring them up, and (to coin a recent >>>>> well used phrase by a certain president ) Make a Deal. My fee simply >>>>> yo-yos between 25 and 29/mth.
I got really fed up with having to do this with Virgin Media. Since IrCOve >>>> been with IDNet my pricing has remained constant.
VM is a pain. I was a beta tester on dial up with what was then NTL
around Y2K and found the system quite good - and I'm still with them.
BUT the thing most people overlook is reliability. In now just about 25
years with them I have only had I think four outages. One Boxing Day
(when we had TV with them) the picture froze all day, a car drove into
the street cab at the top of our road (c 120m) and we were off broadband >>> for four days but we did get compensation, and on one occasion when my
original NTL hub decided to go slow they sent a chap around two days
later and he fitted me a (Netgear) Hub2 which was brilliant. (They have
since declared the ub2 obsolete about three months ago and sent me a
Hub4 - which has not impressed me so far.)
If I changed supplier (and since the beginning of the pandemic we have
been City Fibred with a choice of about 18 different providers including >>> IDNet) the only thing that would put me off them is that they are owned
by Curry's, a company that I detest.
I had VM for about as long as you did. They offered much faster speeds than >> any OpenReach offering round here (who have still not installed fibre). But >> in the last decade or so VM went mad with pricing. Not only annual hikes,
they occasionally went for two increases in a year.
Sorry, my error. Since the comment to which I was responding was about
IDNet I presumed readers would link my comment to IDNet - who are owned
by Curry's.
On 09/08/2025 18:46, Tweed wrote:
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 08/08/2025 16:27, Tweed wrote:
The Plusnet FTTP prices seem to increase by an alarming amount each year if
their website is to be believed. The monthly amount goes up by -u4 each >>>> year.
I've never gone over about 29 quid a month with Plusnet. Just before the >>> 18 or 24 month contract expires, I ring them up, and (to coin a recent
well used phrase by a certain president ) Make a Deal. My fee simply
yo-yos between 25 and 29/mth.
I got really fed up with having to do this with Virgin Media. Since IrCOve >> been with IDNet my pricing has remained constant.
It's only 5-10 mins every 18 to 24 months though ! I don't like playing their games either, but life is to short to be dogmatic about these things
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 09/08/2025 18:46, Tweed wrote:
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 08/08/2025 16:27, Tweed wrote:
The Plusnet FTTP prices seem to increase by an alarming amount each year if
their website is to be believed. The monthly amount goes up by -u4 each >>>> year.
I've never gone over about 29 quid a month with Plusnet. Just before the >>> 18 or 24 month contract expires, I ring them up, and (to coin a recent >>> well used phrase by a certain president ) Make a Deal. My fee simply
yo-yos between 25 and 29/mth.
I got really fed up with having to do this with Virgin Media. Since IrCOve >> been with IDNet my pricing has remained constant.
It's only 5-10 mins every 18 to 24 months though ! I don't like playing their games either, but life is to short to be dogmatic about these things
ItrCOs not just playing the game though, itrCOs having to deal with a company that you *know* will try and rip you off every 18 months or so. I have no interest it supporting a company with such business practices.
Tim+ <timdownieuk@yahoo.co.youkay> wrote:
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 09/08/2025 18:46, Tweed wrote:
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 08/08/2025 16:27, Tweed wrote:
The Plusnet FTTP prices seem to increase by an alarming amount each year if
their website is to be believed. The monthly amount goes up by -u4 each >>>>>> year.
I've never gone over about 29 quid a month with Plusnet. Just before the >>>>> 18 or 24 month contract expires, I ring them up, and (to coin a recent >>>>> well used phrase by a certain president ) Make a Deal. My fee simply >>>>> yo-yos between 25 and 29/mth.
I got really fed up with having to do this with Virgin Media. Since IrCOve >>>> been with IDNet my pricing has remained constant.
It's only 5-10 mins every 18 to 24 months though ! I don't like playing >>> their games either, but life is to short to be dogmatic about these things >>>
ItrCOs not just playing the game though, itrCOs having to deal with a company
that you *know* will try and rip you off every 18 months or so. I have no >> interest it supporting a company with such business practices.
VM is the worst because you can't actually ring up and ask how much to
commit for a new contract. You have to cancel - not just threaten to
cancel, actually cancel. Then wait for a callback to offer you a deal. If the callback never came (or you couldn't take the call) the cancel would go through unless you called a second time to un-cancel.
In my case the only alternative was 11Mbps ADSL (no FTTC) so they had me
over a barrel, and they knew it.
Theo
Woody <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> wrote:
On Sun 10/08/2025 07:18, Tweed wrote:
Woody <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> wrote:
On Sat 09/08/2025 18:46, Tweed wrote:CityFibre is not owned by Currys if that is what you mean.
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 08/08/2025 16:27, Tweed wrote:
The Plusnet FTTP prices seem to increase by an alarming amount each year if
their website is to be believed. The monthly amount goes up by -u4 each >>>>>>> year.
I've never gone over about 29 quid a month with Plusnet. Just before the >>>>>> 18 or 24 month contract expires, I ring them up, and (to coin a recent >>>>>> well used phrase by a certain president ) Make a Deal. My fee simply >>>>>> yo-yos between 25 and 29/mth.
I got really fed up with having to do this with Virgin Media. Since IrCOve
been with IDNet my pricing has remained constant.
VM is a pain. I was a beta tester on dial up with what was then NTL
around Y2K and found the system quite good - and I'm still with them.
BUT the thing most people overlook is reliability. In now just about 25 >>>> years with them I have only had I think four outages. One Boxing Day
(when we had TV with them) the picture froze all day, a car drove into >>>> the street cab at the top of our road (c 120m) and we were off broadband >>>> for four days but we did get compensation, and on one occasion when my >>>> original NTL hub decided to go slow they sent a chap around two days
later and he fitted me a (Netgear) Hub2 which was brilliant. (They have >>>> since declared the ub2 obsolete about three months ago and sent me a
Hub4 - which has not impressed me so far.)
If I changed supplier (and since the beginning of the pandemic we have >>>> been City Fibred with a choice of about 18 different providers including >>>> IDNet) the only thing that would put me off them is that they are owned >>>> by Curry's, a company that I detest.
I had VM for about as long as you did. They offered much faster speeds than >>> any OpenReach offering round here (who have still not installed fibre). But >>> in the last decade or so VM went mad with pricing. Not only annual hikes, >>> they occasionally went for two increases in a year.
Sorry, my error. Since the comment to which I was responding was about
IDNet I presumed readers would link my comment to IDNet - who are owned
by Curry's.
The ISP IDNet is independent and has been around almost as long as the consumer Internet.
And they are up to their old tricks again. IrCOve just looked up their current offerings. 24 month contract with an 11 percent price rise after 6 months. And then another similar rise at 18 months.
IrCOve had AAISP at another location for 15 years. It has never gone up in price. It started off as reassuringly expensive and is now looking fairly standard.
Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:
On Sat, 9 Aug 2025 17:46:47 -0000 (UTC)Zen are carefully wording their offering these days. No price rises during the contract. Their currently advertised contract length is I8 months. So thatrCOs a potential hike every 18 months. This is very different from their original promise of no price rise whilst you remained a customer.
Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> wrote:
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 08/08/2025 16:27, Tweed wrote:
The Plusnet FTTP prices seem to increase by an alarming amount
each year if their website is to be believed. The monthly amount
goes up by -u4 each year.
I've never gone over about 29 quid a month with Plusnet. Just
before the 18 or 24 month contract expires, I ring them up, and (to
coin a recent well used phrase by a certain president ) Make a
Deal. My fee simply yo-yos between 25 and 29/mth.
I got really fed up with having to do this with Virgin Media. Since
IrCOve been with IDNet my pricing has remained constant.
Zen has a valid reputation for not increasing its prices. I had one
landline with them from 2010 until 2022, and the price never changed.
I had another at a different place from 2010 to 2023, and that was the
same.
Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> wrote:
And they are up to their old tricks again. IrCOve just looked up their
current offerings. 24 month contract with an 11 percent price rise after 6 >> months. And then another similar rise at 18 months.
Another trick is that they changed their website based on whether you were
on a Virgin IP or not - the new customers deals were hidden away so you couldn't find them (they may have been accessible if you knew where to
look).
IrCOve had AAISP at another location for 15 years. It has never gone up in >> price. It started off as reassuringly expensive and is now looking fairly
standard.
Does the price match the new customer price, or are you grandfathered onto
an existing deal? eg the new customer deal for VDSL with 1TB cap is -u45pm.
Theo
On 09/08/2025 21:06, Tweed wrote:
Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:
On Sat, 9 Aug 2025 17:46:47 -0000 (UTC)Zen are carefully wording their offering these days. No price rises
Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> wrote:
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 08/08/2025 16:27, Tweed wrote:
The Plusnet FTTP prices seem to increase by an alarming amount
each year if their website is to be believed. The monthly amount
goes up by -u4 each year.
I've never gone over about 29 quid a month with Plusnet. Just
before the 18 or 24 month contract expires, I ring them up, and
(to coin a recent well used phrase by a certain president ) Make
a Deal. My fee simply yo-yos between 25 and 29/mth.
I got really fed up with having to do this with Virgin Media.
Since IrCOve been with IDNet my pricing has remained constant.
Zen has a valid reputation for not increasing its prices. I had one
landline with them from 2010 until 2022, and the price never
changed. I had another at a different place from 2010 to 2023, and
that was the same.
during the contract. Their currently advertised contract length is
I8 months. So thatrCOs a potential hike every 18 months. This is very different from their original promise of no price rise whilst you
remained a customer.
Agreed. I've been with Zen since June 2016 and the price has stayed
the same, more or less (it was copper ADSL2 at the start. I few years
ago I changed to FTTC, and that was slightly cheaper). When I am
forced to change to "Digital voice" no doubt the cost will go up a
bit, but it's the 18-month contracts which I am concerned about.
On Sun 10/08/2025 09:59, Tweed wrote:
Woody <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> wrote:
On Sun 10/08/2025 07:18, Tweed wrote:
Woody <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> wrote:
On Sat 09/08/2025 18:46, Tweed wrote:CityFibre is not owned by Currys if that is what you mean.
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 08/08/2025 16:27, Tweed wrote:
The Plusnet FTTP prices seem to increase by an alarming amount each year if
their website is to be believed. The monthly amount goes up by -u4 each
year.
I've never gone over about 29 quid a month with Plusnet. Just before the
18 or 24 month contract expires, I ring them up, and (to coin a recent >>>>>>> well used phrase by a certain president ) Make a Deal. My fee simply >>>>>>> yo-yos between 25 and 29/mth.
I got really fed up with having to do this with Virgin Media. Since IrCOve
been with IDNet my pricing has remained constant.
VM is a pain. I was a beta tester on dial up with what was then NTL
around Y2K and found the system quite good - and I'm still with them. >>>>>
BUT the thing most people overlook is reliability. In now just about 25 >>>>> years with them I have only had I think four outages. One Boxing Day >>>>> (when we had TV with them) the picture froze all day, a car drove into >>>>> the street cab at the top of our road (c 120m) and we were off broadband >>>>> for four days but we did get compensation, and on one occasion when my >>>>> original NTL hub decided to go slow they sent a chap around two days >>>>> later and he fitted me a (Netgear) Hub2 which was brilliant. (They have >>>>> since declared the ub2 obsolete about three months ago and sent me a >>>>> Hub4 - which has not impressed me so far.)
If I changed supplier (and since the beginning of the pandemic we have >>>>> been City Fibred with a choice of about 18 different providers including >>>>> IDNet) the only thing that would put me off them is that they are owned >>>>> by Curry's, a company that I detest.
I had VM for about as long as you did. They offered much faster speeds than
any OpenReach offering round here (who have still not installed fibre). But
in the last decade or so VM went mad with pricing. Not only annual hikes, >>>> they occasionally went for two increases in a year.
Sorry, my error. Since the comment to which I was responding was about
IDNet I presumed readers would link my comment to IDNet - who are owned
by Curry's.
The ISP IDNet is independent and has been around almost as long as the
consumer Internet.
There is confusion around - and I fell into the trap!
IDNet is independent, accepted.
ID Mobile - which looks very similar - is a wholly owned subsidiary of Currys - who I still detest!
Our Plusnet contract expires in a couple of months. Now that PN are
closing their email servers and offloading it to Greenly who will start >charging in 2 years, we are thinking of changing to a different ISP.
We want an ISP with British-accented support staff who do not have that >strange mixture of clueless-yet-supercilious attitude of overseas
technical support, who want to go through everything in grinding detail
even though I've briefed them on "this works; this doesn't work" to
prevent them wasting time on things I've already tried.
Either ISP-only or ISP-plus-telephone. If we go for ISP only, we'd
probably switch back to BT for phone.
We don't need web-hosting: we've already got that, and we may decide to
use the email accounts with that web hosting for everything,to avoid
being tied to an ISP to keep email accounts.
So which are the ISPs to go for and which are the ones to avoid? Price
is important: we currently pay -u43 for ISP and phone (unlimited phone >calls). So that is the price to beat.
On 06/08/2025 17:05, NY wrote:
Our Plusnet contract expires in a couple of months. Now that PN are
closing their email servers and offloading it to Greenly who will
start charging in 2 years, we are thinking of changing to a different
ISP.
We want an ISP with British-accented support staff who do not have
that strange mixture of clueless-yet-supercilious attitude of overseas
technical support, who want to go through everything in grinding
detail even though I've briefed them on "this works; this doesn't
work" to prevent them wasting time on things I've already tried.
Either ISP-only or ISP-plus-telephone. If we go for ISP only, we'd
probably switch back to BT for phone.
We don't need web-hosting: we've already got that, and we may decide
to use the email accounts with that web hosting for everything,to
avoid being tied to an ISP to keep email accounts.
So which are the ISPs to go for and which are the ones to avoid? Price
is important: we currently pay -u43 for ISP and phone (unlimited phone
calls). So that is the price to beat.
If you have the option of one of the Alt-Nets in your area, check out the reviews (but also make sure you understand what you need to do to keep your landline number if you want that. City fibre or OpenReach (FTTP or FTTC)? I see a lot of love for Zen and Aquiss. I'd go with one of them if I didn't have the decent Alt-Net option.
On 10/08/2025 22:17, Jason H wrote:If County Broadband appear in your area, reach for the aforementioned bargepole. 'Describing them as 'Cowboys' does a dis-service to the
On 06/08/2025 17:05, NY wrote:
Our Plusnet contract expires in a couple of months. Now that PN
are closing their email servers and offloading it to Greenly who
will start charging in 2 years, we are thinking of changing to a
different ISP.
We want an ISP with British-accented support staff who do not have
that strange mixture of clueless-yet-supercilious attitude of
overseas technical support, who want to go through everything in
grinding detail even though I've briefed them on "this works; this
doesn't work" to prevent them wasting time on things I've already
tried.
Either ISP-only or ISP-plus-telephone. If we go for ISP only, we'd
probably switch back to BT for phone.
We don't need web-hosting: we've already got that, and we may
decide to use the email accounts with that web hosting for
everything,to avoid being tied to an ISP to keep email accounts.
So which are the ISPs to go for and which are the ones to avoid?
Price is important: we currently pay -u43 for ISP and phone
(unlimited phone calls). So that is the price to beat.
If you have the option of one of the Alt-Nets in your area, check
out the reviews (but also make sure you understand what you need to
do to keep your landline number if you want that. City fibre or
OpenReach (FTTP or FTTC)? I see a lot of love for Zen and Aquiss.
I'd go with one of them if I didn't have the decent Alt-Net option.
Unfortunately the only Alt-Net I have is Virgin, and, well I'm
afraid, '.....bargepole' applies there (for physical and billing
reasons).
It's a shame, the village I'm in entered some sort of bidding process
about 10 years to have Virgin fibre it up, which they 'won', so the
roads are now full of fibre tubes buried about 50mm below the road
surface, and regularly exposed when a pot hole forms. Cowboys.
That seems to have kept Gigaclear and Giganet away from us, they are
both, (yes both !) in neighbouring areas.
So I carry on waiting for Openreach FTTP.........................
Unfortunately the only Alt-Net I have is Virgin, and, well I'm
afraid, '.....bargepole' applies there (for physical and billing
reasons).
It's a shame, the village I'm in entered some sort of bidding process
about 10 years to have Virgin fibre it up, which they 'won', so the
roads are now full of fibre tubes buried about 50mm below the road
surface, and regularly exposed when a pot hole forms. Cowboys.
That seems to have kept Gigaclear and Giganet away from us, they are
both, (yes both !) in neighbouring areas.
So I carry on waiting for Openreach FTTP.........................
If County Broadband appear in your area, reach for the aforementioned bargepole. 'Describing them as 'Cowboys' does a dis-service to the
bovine species.
On 11/08/2025 10:38, Davey wrote:
Unfortunately the only Alt-Net I have is Virgin, and, well I'm
afraid, '.....bargepole' applies there (for physical and billing
reasons).
It's a shame, the village I'm in entered some sort of bidding process
about 10 years to have Virgin fibre it up, which they 'won', so the
roads are now full of fibre tubes buried about 50mm below the road
surface, and regularly exposed when a pot hole forms. Cowboys.
That seems to have kept Gigaclear and Giganet away from us, they are
both, (yes both !) in neighbouring areas.
So I carry on waiting for Openreach FTTP.........................
If County Broadband appear in your area, reach for the aforementioned
bargepole. 'Describing them as 'Cowboys' does a dis-service to the
bovine species.
Say what you like about Openreach, but a least they have higher
standards (at least as far as the DP) Proper street cabinets, that
cannot be easily prised open, and cables and ducting buried 350-450mm deep.
Although, I have seen some atrocities down the front of some people's houses, that I would personally never accept
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 11/08/2025 10:38, Davey wrote:
Unfortunately the only Alt-Net I have is Virgin, and, well I'm
afraid, '.....bargepole' applies there (for physical and billing
reasons).
It's a shame, the village I'm in entered some sort of bidding process
about 10 years to have Virgin fibre it up, which they 'won', so the
roads are now full of fibre tubes buried about 50mm below the road
surface, and regularly exposed when a pot hole forms. Cowboys.
That seems to have kept Gigaclear and Giganet away from us, they are
both, (yes both !) in neighbouring areas.
So I carry on waiting for Openreach FTTP.........................
If County Broadband appear in your area, reach for the aforementioned
bargepole. 'Describing them as 'Cowboys' does a dis-service to the
bovine species.
Say what you like about Openreach, but a least they have higher
standards (at least as far as the DP) Proper street cabinets, that
cannot be easily prised open, and cables and ducting buried 350-450mm deep. >>
Although, I have seen some atrocities down the front of some people's
houses, that I would personally never accept
CityFibre installed here two years ago. They seem to have done a good job, using properly laid ducting to decent street cabinets. Everything is ducted here, OR telephone (no fibre yet), VM (ex Diamond Cable) and now CF. CF
used my existing OR duct to get from their cabinet to my house, about a 150 metre run. CFrCOs model is similar to OR, ie wholesaling to ISPs. That means you can choose a quality ISP, rather than being stuck with the AltnetrCOs in house ISP where prices will inevitably be jacked up (see VMrCa) and you get stuck behind Carrier Grade NAT. Mind you, they are doing a terrible job of selling the service. So far, in two years, werCOve had just three leaflets from three different very obscure ISPs trying to sell a connection. The
sort of leaflet that comes with all the other junk in MondayrCOs post that goes straight in the bin. No wonder take up is less than the industry had hoped for.
On 11/08/2025 14:38, Tweed wrote:
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 11/08/2025 10:38, Davey wrote:
Unfortunately the only Alt-Net I have is Virgin, and, well I'm
afraid, '.....bargepole' applies there (for physical and billing
reasons).
It's a shame, the village I'm in entered some sort of bidding process >>>>> about 10 years to have Virgin fibre it up, which they 'won', so the
roads are now full of fibre tubes buried about 50mm below the road
surface, and regularly exposed when a pot hole forms. Cowboys.
That seems to have kept Gigaclear and Giganet away from us, they are >>>>> both, (yes both !) in neighbouring areas.
So I carry on waiting for Openreach FTTP.........................
If County Broadband appear in your area, reach for the aforementioned
bargepole. 'Describing them as 'Cowboys' does a dis-service to the
bovine species.
Say what you like about Openreach, but a least they have higher
standards (at least as far as the DP) Proper street cabinets, that
cannot be easily prised open, and cables and ducting buried 350-450mm
deep.
Although, I have seen some atrocities down the front of some people's
houses, that I would personally never accept
CityFibre installed here two years ago. They seem to have done a good
job,
using properly laid ducting to decent street cabinets. Everything is
ducted
here, OR telephone (no fibre yet), VM (ex Diamond Cable) and now CF. CF
used my existing OR duct to get from their cabinet to my house, about
a 150
metre run. CFrCOs model is similar to OR, ie wholesaling to ISPs. That
means
you can choose a quality ISP, rather than being stuck with the
AltnetrCOs in
house ISP where prices will inevitably be jacked up (see VMrCa) and you get >> stuck behind Carrier Grade NAT. Mind you, they are doing a terrible
job of
selling the service. So far, in two years, werCOve had just three leaflets >> from three different very obscure ISPs trying to sell a connection. The
sort of leaflet that comes with all the other junk in MondayrCOs post that >> goes straight in the bin. No wonder take up is less than the industry had
hoped for.
City Fibre are laying a fibre right through our village this week, but I don't know why ?-a Unless it's just passing through to somewhere else !
When the sun goes down a bit, I'll take a wander and see how deep !
A friend is about to sign up for 500/500 with Gigaclear for 22 quid/mth. Great, but as he said to me, impossible to know what it will rise to in
18 mths time !
On 11/08/2025 14:38, Tweed wrote:
Mark Carver <mark@invalid.com> wrote:
On 11/08/2025 10:38, Davey wrote:
Unfortunately the only Alt-Net I have is Virgin, and, well I'm
afraid, '.....bargepole' applies there (for physical and billing
reasons).
It's a shame, the village I'm in entered some sort of bidding process >>>>> about 10 years to have Virgin fibre it up, which they 'won', so the
roads are now full of fibre tubes buried about 50mm below the road
surface, and regularly exposed when a pot hole forms. Cowboys.
That seems to have kept Gigaclear and Giganet away from us, they are >>>>> both, (yes both !) in neighbouring areas.
So I carry on waiting for Openreach FTTP.........................
If County Broadband appear in your area, reach for the aforementioned
bargepole. 'Describing them as 'Cowboys' does a dis-service to the
bovine species.
Say what you like about Openreach, but a least they have higher
standards (at least as far as the DP) Proper street cabinets, that
cannot be easily prised open, and cables and ducting buried 350-450mm deep. >>>
Although, I have seen some atrocities down the front of some people's
houses, that I would personally never accept
CityFibre installed here two years ago. They seem to have done a good job, >> using properly laid ducting to decent street cabinets. Everything is ducted >> here, OR telephone (no fibre yet), VM (ex Diamond Cable) and now CF. CF
used my existing OR duct to get from their cabinet to my house, about a 150 >> metre run. CFrCOs model is similar to OR, ie wholesaling to ISPs. That means >> you can choose a quality ISP, rather than being stuck with the AltnetrCOs in >> house ISP where prices will inevitably be jacked up (see VMrCa) and you get >> stuck behind Carrier Grade NAT. Mind you, they are doing a terrible job of >> selling the service. So far, in two years, werCOve had just three leaflets >> from three different very obscure ISPs trying to sell a connection. The
sort of leaflet that comes with all the other junk in MondayrCOs post that >> goes straight in the bin. No wonder take up is less than the industry had
hoped for.
City Fibre are laying a fibre right through our village this week, but I >don't know why ? Unless it's just passing through to somewhere else !
When the sun goes down a bit, I'll take a wander and see how deep !
A friend is about to sign up for 500/500 with Gigaclear for 22 quid/mth. >Great, but as he said to me, impossible to know what it will rise to in
18 mths time !
Our Plusnet contract expires in a couple of months. Now that PN are
closing their email servers and offloading it to Greenly who will start charging in 2 years, we are thinking of changing to a different ISP.
We want an ISP with British-accented support staff who do not have that strange mixture of clueless-yet-supercilious attitude of overseas
technical support, who want to go through everything in grinding detail
even though I've briefed them on "this works; this doesn't work" to
prevent them wasting time on things I've already tried.
Either ISP-only or ISP-plus-telephone. If we go for ISP only, we'd
probably switch back to BT for phone.
We don't need web-hosting: we've already got that, and we may decide to
use the email accounts with that web hosting for everything,to avoid
being tied to an ISP to keep email accounts.
So which are the ISPs to go for and which are the ones to avoid? Price
is important: we currently pay -u43 for ISP and phone (unlimited phone calls). So that is the price to beat.
If you were to go with a third party VOIP provider:
PN at ~-u25-30 per month
A&A at -u1.44 per month for a VOIP phone number
Leaves about -u10-15 a month in the kitty for phone calls on a 1.8p/min (landline) or 4.8p/min (mob) basis
or:
PN -u25-30 per month
Voipfone -u3.60 pm for a VOIP phone number
Voipfone minutes packages starting at -u2.88 for 250 landline minutes
OFCOM claim that number transfers are seamless and can be achieved
during the 30 days after the relinquishing provider releases the number
Number transfer is clearly an administrative function, involving a
person clicking a button at a computer. There's no need for a
technician to go to an exchange and physically move wires. So I don't understand why the transfer from one ISP via BT to a VoIP provider takes
a week. Can anybody explain?
I went down this route a few months ago and ended up seriously looking
at Zen as I have the same concerns about offshore support. What kept me
with Plusnet was the deal I negotiated when I contacted them to discuss leaving.
On 13/08/2025 10:42, Andy Newman wrote:
I went down this route a few months ago and ended up seriously
looking at Zen as I have the same concerns about offshore support.
What kept me with Plusnet was the deal I negotiated when I
contacted them to discuss leaving.
I've been with Zen for over 9 years and their support is fine. My
broadband became intermittent on Friday afternoon and I emailed them, getting a case number by return. On Sunday around noon I got an email
to contact them to run some tests. At 1330 I rang them and got the
tests done. They contacted Openreach directly after the tests
confirmed an issue and arranged for them to call to check the
landline.