My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.

--
Les

On 16/03/14 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.


ADSL24

Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.

Try something like:
http://www.comparebroadband.co.uk/

There are the obvious companies to avoid - those with poor customer service
records.

--
Iain

On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.


Have a look at PlusNet - I use them both at my main home and at my
holiday flat. They're based in Sheffield - and speak English rather than
Indian when you phone them. Their on-line support system is quite good -
you can raise a support ticket to which they usually respond within a
reasonable time, or you can phone them.

Their prices are quite competitive, and they always do OK in Which?
reports, etc. You can get an even better deal if you move your phone
line to them as well as your internet service.
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...
On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.

Have a look at PlusNet - I use them both at my main home and at my holiday
flat. They're based in Sheffield - and speak English rather than Indian
when you phone them. Their on-line support system is quite good - you can
raise a support ticket to which they usually respond within a reasonable
time, or you can phone them.

Their prices are quite competitive, and they always do OK in Which?
reports, etc. You can get an even better deal if you move your phone line
to them as well as your internet service.

PlusNet PlusOne

--
Max Demian

On Sun, 16 Mar 2014 10:52:53 +0000, Roger Mills
wrote:

On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.


Have a look at PlusNet - I use them both at my main home and at my
holiday flat. They're based in Sheffield - and speak English rather than
Indian when you phone them. Their on-line support system is quite good -
you can raise a support ticket to which they usually respond within a
reasonable time, or you can phone them.

Their prices are quite competitive, and they always do OK in Which?
reports, etc. You can get an even better deal if you move your phone
line to them as well as your internet service.

I would recommend Plusnet, provided that you are not likely to call on
their support in the near future. I have been with them for 10 years
and been happy with performance and support, but last year they ran a
very successful marketing campaign of advertising and reduced prices
which resulted in such an increase in their customer base that
management and support services were swamped. They are still trying
to catch up, with a new support office in Leeds, but there is still a
way to go, as evidenced by the continuing feedback on their forum.

I am looking at Zen and A&A, who appear to have a very sound
reputation, both in the past and currently.
--
rbel

On Sun, 16 Mar 2014 09:41:08 +0000, Big Les Wade wrote:

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support

Depends a bit on:

What you use the net for.
How much you download (streaming video or iplayer etc down loads is
around 1 GB/hour viewed).
How technical you are. ie if you need support it's beacuse you have
already done all the normal fault finding stuff (reseated
connections, tried different modem/filter, checked line for noise
etc) and now need Level 2 or 3 assistance.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 16/03/2014 11:01, Max Demian wrote:
"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...
On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.

Have a look at PlusNet - I use them both at my main home and at my holiday
flat. They're based in Sheffield - and speak English rather than Indian
when you phone them. Their on-line support system is quite good - you can
raise a support ticket to which they usually respond within a reasonable
time, or you can phone them.

Their prices are quite competitive, and they always do OK in Which?
reports, etc. You can get an even better deal if you move your phone line
to them as well as your internet service.

PlusNet PlusOne


To get the best deal you probably need to move your phone to them as
well, and use the line rental saver. 12 month contract.

Look at the www.thinkbroadband.com web site.


--
Michael Chare

On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.

If support in the UK is important to you, and you want a service that
doesn't block stuff, treats you like an adult, try Zen Internet. No long
contract for ADSL and they also support top-end routers

On 16/03/2014 12:04, Martin wrote:


On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.

If support in the UK is important to you, and you want a service that
doesn't block stuff, treats you like an adult, try Zen Internet. No long
contract for ADSL and they also support top-end routers



What support is anyone likely to need?
I use sky and it just works.
Its also cheap, fast, no limits and they only block what the government
has insisted all ISPs do.

On 16/03/2014 11:01, Max Demian wrote:
"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...
On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.

Have a look at PlusNet - I use them both at my main home and at my holiday
flat. They're based in Sheffield - and speak English rather than Indian
when you phone them. Their on-line support system is quite good - you can
raise a support ticket to which they usually respond within a reasonable
time, or you can phone them.

Their prices are quite competitive, and they always do OK in Which?
reports, etc. You can get an even better deal if you move your phone line
to them as well as your internet service.

PlusNet PlusOne

They also have a news server!

--
Michael Chare

On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.


On the very first day that Sky announced the acquisition of Be, I must
have been one of the first customers to quit (for Plusnet) instead.

*smug*

Oh dear. I'm not hearing such great transition stories - just lock in.

--
Adrian C

On 16/03/2014 12:19, dennis@home wrote:
On 16/03/2014 12:04, Martin wrote:


On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.

If support in the UK is important to you, and you want a service that
doesn't block stuff, treats you like an adult, try Zen Internet. No long
contract for ADSL and they also support top-end routers



What support is anyone likely to need?
I use sky and it just works.

I have a private client who uses Sky. Try installing a different router
to the one they supply. It took three calls and 2 hours just to get the
router settings out of them and username/password for the Vigor. The
crappy routers they supply don't do what people need, multiple VPN
connections (IPSEC & Dial-up), VoIP out of the box, deep inspection
firewall, timed services for the kids, selective site and service
management you can group ...

Wait until something goes wrong with the connection and try and get
support for that lot. It also doesn't work out-the-box all the time,
I've seen multiple disconnects from PPP negotiation failures, so-called
always-on setting in their router not being always-on.

With Zen I've had one fault on my home circuit in 5 years, and 2 in ten
years at one of my clients (one of which was BT cutting through a bunch
of copper and fibre while digging up the road.
Its also cheap, fast, no limits and they only block what the government
has insisted all ISPs do.

On Sun, 16 Mar 2014 12:04:58 +0000, Martin wrote:

If support in the UK is important to you, and you want a service that
doesn't block stuff, treats you like an adult, try Zen Internet. No long
contract for ADSL and they also support top-end routers

Or A&A, though their simple Home::1 tariff has a 6 month minimum. Not
the cheapest provider but you get what you pay for IMHO. Support
doesn't start with "reboot windows" and if there is a line problem
they won't accept "fixed" from BT or TalkTalk until they have
confirmed with you that it really is fixed.

Plusnet is a BT Group company. They appear to be heavily into traffic
shaping to maintain a stable network and are only just starting to
trail IPv6. A&A don't traffic shape(*), aim to never be a bottleneck
and have had IPv6 for years... I don't know about Zen.

(*) Well you can opt to reduce how fast thier LNS's feed data to you
to leave a bit of space for realtime applications such as VOIP. AIUI
this is based on packet size, little ones get priority over big ones.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 16/03/2014 12:44, Dave Liquorice wrote:

Plusnet is a BT Group company. They appear to be heavily into traffic
shaping to maintain a stable network and are only just starting to
trail IPv6.

Plusnet don't traffic shape all accounts, and are pretty open (and
technical) about what they do when they do.

http://www.plus.net/support/broadban...nagement.shtml

A&A don't traffic shape(*), aim to never be a bottleneck
and have had IPv6 for years... I don't know about Zen.


--
Adrian C

On 16/03/2014 12:44, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Sun, 16 Mar 2014 12:04:58 +0000, Martin wrote:

If support in the UK is important to you, and you want a service that
doesn't block stuff, treats you like an adult, try Zen Internet. No long
contract for ADSL and they also support top-end routers

Or A&A, though their simple Home::1 tariff has a 6 month minimum. Not
the cheapest provider but you get what you pay for IMHO. Support
doesn't start with "reboot windows" and if there is a line problem
they won't accept "fixed" from BT or TalkTalk until they have
confirmed with you that it really is fixed.

Plusnet is a BT Group company. They appear to be heavily into traffic
shaping to maintain a stable network and are only just starting to
trail IPv6. A&A don't traffic shape(*), aim to never be a bottleneck
and have had IPv6 for years... I don't know about Zen.

Same with Zen you get what you pay for, they state there is no
contention on their networks. For IPv6 it's a sore point and people are
nagging them, that's the downside so far.

On 16/03/2014 11:01 Max Demian wrote:

"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...
On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.

Have a look at PlusNet - I use them both at my main home and at my holiday
flat. They're based in Sheffield - and speak English rather than Indian
when you phone them. Their on-line support system is quite good - you can
raise a support ticket to which they usually respond within a reasonable
time, or you can phone them.

Their prices are quite competitive, and they always do OK in Which?
reports, etc. You can get an even better deal if you move your phone line
to them as well as your internet service.

PlusNet PlusOne

PlusAnother

--
F

On 16/03/2014 11:30 rbel wrote:

On Sun, 16 Mar 2014 10:52:53 +0000, Roger Mills
wrote:

On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.


Have a look at PlusNet - I use them both at my main home and at my
holiday flat. They're based in Sheffield - and speak English rather than
Indian when you phone them. Their on-line support system is quite good -
you can raise a support ticket to which they usually respond within a
reasonable time, or you can phone them.

Their prices are quite competitive, and they always do OK in Which?
reports, etc. You can get an even better deal if you move your phone
line to them as well as your internet service.

I would recommend Plusnet, provided that you are not likely to call on
their support in the near future. I have been with them for 10 years
and been happy with performance and support, but last year they ran a
very successful marketing campaign of advertising and reduced prices
which resulted in such an increase in their customer base that
management and support services were swamped. They are still trying
to catch up, with a new support office in Leeds, but there is still a
way to go, as evidenced by the continuing feedback on their forum.

I've had pretty quick responses recently on enquiries both by ticket and
(free) phone.

They're still far more open and responsive than any other ISP or phone
company I've ever dealt with.

--
F

On Sun, 16 Mar 2014 12:19:36 +0000, "dennis@home"
wrote:

On 16/03/2014 12:04, Martin wrote:


On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.

If support in the UK is important to you, and you want a service that
doesn't block stuff, treats you like an adult, try Zen Internet. No long
contract for ADSL and they also support top-end routers



What support is anyone likely to need?
I use sky and it just works.
Its also cheap, fast, no limits and they only block what the government
has insisted all ISPs do.

For 10 years I had hardly any need to contact Plusnet support and on
the odd occassion that I did they were very helpful, then I decided to
change to a FTTC connection which resulted in major ongoing problems
which unfortunately coincided with their support infrastucture
problems.
--
rbel

On 16/03/2014 12:28, Martin wrote:


On 16/03/2014 12:19, dennis@home wrote:
On 16/03/2014 12:04, Martin wrote:


On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.

If support in the UK is important to you, and you want a service that
doesn't block stuff, treats you like an adult, try Zen Internet. No long
contract for ADSL and they also support top-end routers



What support is anyone likely to need?
I use sky and it just works.

I have a private client who uses Sky. Try installing a different router
to the one they supply.

I am using a Netgear dualband router not a sky one.
It took about 3 minutes to find the password and there is no need to
involve sky at all.
Its even easier now http://www.ph-mb.com/products/sky-calc will tell you
what it is.

It took three calls and 2 hours just to get the
router settings out of them and username/password for the Vigor. The
crappy routers they supply don't do what people need, multiple VPN
connections (IPSEC & Dial-up), VoIP out of the box, deep inspection
firewall, timed services for the kids, selective site and service
management you can group ...

There aren't many people that need that subset.
You missed out support for dual channel and dynamic dns which a lot more
people probably do need.


Wait until something goes wrong with the connection and try and get
support for that lot. It also doesn't work out-the-box all the time,
I've seen multiple disconnects from PPP negotiation failures, so-called
always-on setting in their router not being always-on.

Hmm, I have had a short period of disconnection while they replaced a
failed board in the DSLAM. They were very accurate with their definition
of the problem and the time scale.
YMMV.


With Zen I've had one fault on my home circuit in 5 years, and 2 in ten
years at one of my clients (one of which was BT cutting through a bunch
of copper and fibre while digging up the road.

I have had one fault, as above.

Its also cheap, fast, no limits and they only block what the government
has insisted all ISPs do.

On Sun, 16 Mar 2014 13:02:41 +0000, Adrian C wrote:

Plusnet don't traffic shape all accounts, and are pretty open (and
technical) about what they do when they do.

http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide
/traffic_management.shtml

I don't see a tarrif in the table that isn't shaped, ie all services
at the same "metal level".

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 16/03/2014 13:09, Martin wrote:

Same with Zen you get what you pay for, they state there is no
contention on their networks.

By its nature there is contention on all shared networks.
Even if you assign a VPN to each user they can't all send down one link
at the same time.
They don't even have control over the access network if they are using
one of the BT services and that bit may well suffer contention.
I doubt if they have the full bandwidth available to each user on the
access links unless they are renting fibre, they certainly won't if they
are using the BT access pipes as you couldn't a££ord it.

You had better ask them what they define as contention before accepting
that they don't have any.

In article ,
Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.

I've been with a few suppliers over the years - including several which
have been taken over and I've just stayed with them.

For my sort of use they've mostly performed ok - until something went
wrong. Like no broadband. They seemed to want to try every trick in the
book before passing on the problem to the company supplying the hardware -
ie BT - even although it was pretty obvious (to me) that it was a fault
outside my house. Like in every case the router showing a lack of incoming
signal.

I changed last time after getting silly emails from TalkTalk saying they
couldn't contact me by email. And deciding to start charge me for paper
billing - but not sending those paper bills. And so on.

I don't like Virgin having had horror storied from neighbours, so went for
BT which has fibre to the end of the road. So only about 100 metres of
copper to here.

So far so good - has worked perfectly for about 2 years. The equipment was
delivered and installed exactly when they said it would be and the
engineer left only after everything was working. Speed tests show it to be
very good - although I can't say I've notice much difference in practice.
Paying for the line rental a year in advance seemed to give a reasonable
deal too - I have a BT phone still.

Of course it will be only in event of a fault that I'll see if they are
actually better than all the others...

--
*Pride is what we have. Vanity is what others have.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Sun, 16 Mar 2014 13:31:22 +0000, dennis@home wrote:

Same with Zen you get what you pay for, they state there is no
contention on their networks.

By its nature there is contention on all shared networks.

True enough but I wrote "A&A don't traffic shape(*), aim to never be
a bottleneck and have had IPv6 for years..."

"bottleneck" is not the same as "contention".

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Sun, 16 Mar 2014 14:11:54 +0000 (GMT), Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Paying for the line rental a year in advance seemed to give a reasonable
deal too - I have a BT phone still.

Yep, just gone for that myself "BT Line Rental Saver" £141 up front
on credit card, 12 months, no refunds after 7 days, I don't think you
get any "free" calls but as calls are only made over the POTS line in
extremis that isn't a problem. Also took "BT Privacy with Caller ID
free for 12 months", that requires a new 12 month contract (see line
saver...), Caller ID even with Privacy at Home now costs £1.75/month.
The free if you made a couple of calls/month stopped in January.

Of course it will be only in event of a fault that I'll see if they are
actually better than all the others...

I have Total Care (£4.00/month) they fix things quick, not sure if
Total Care covers the internet side of the service or just the POTS.
All the faults I have had have been cleared on both the ADSL and POTS
when the line fault has been sorted. About 50% of the time the ADSL
still works (slowly) when the POTS is dead.

With FTCC the POTS side still goes how ever it used to go, it's just
that the VDSL is injected at the cabinet. Also note that the fibre
connecting that cabinet might not go to the same exchnage as the
POTS.

The above changes have reduced my BT bill from £21.74/month to, in
effect, £15.75/month. Without Total Care it would be in effect
£11.75/month.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.


Not "cheap" but not the most expensive.
Zen by a long shot is a clear winner.
Especially now with their recent doubling of download allowance.

1 month rolling contract.

I have a fibre connection, an ADSL+ connection and transferred all 3
telephone lines to them.

I have a plusnet account too but that can be a little "variable" with
regards to speeds etc. (same site as the ADSL+ connection)

Pete@

On 16/03/2014 11:30, rbel wrote:
On Sun, 16 Mar 2014 10:52:53 +0000, Roger Mills
wrote:

On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.


Have a look at PlusNet - I use them both at my main home and at my
holiday flat. They're based in Sheffield - and speak English rather than
Indian when you phone them. Their on-line support system is quite good -
you can raise a support ticket to which they usually respond within a
reasonable time, or you can phone them.

Their prices are quite competitive, and they always do OK in Which?
reports, etc. You can get an even better deal if you move your phone
line to them as well as your internet service.

I would recommend Plusnet, provided that you are not likely to call on
their support in the near future. I have been with them for 10 years
and been happy with performance and support, but last year they ran a
very successful marketing campaign of advertising and reduced prices
which resulted in such an increase in their customer base that
management and support services were swamped. They are still trying
to catch up, with a new support office in Leeds, but there is still a
way to go, as evidenced by the continuing feedback on their forum.

I am looking at Zen and A&A, who appear to have a very sound
reputation, both in the past and currently.

Have a look at IDNet as well - still fairly small and informal, UK
based. Slightly more expensive than PN and no news server.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

""Pet @ www.gymratz.co.uk ;¬)"" wrote in message
...
On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.


Not "cheap" but not the most expensive.
Zen by a long shot is a clear winner.
Especially now with their recent doubling of download allowance.

1 month rolling contract.

I have a fibre connection, an ADSL+ connection and transferred all 3
telephone lines to them.

I have a plusnet account too but that can be a little "variable" with
regards to speeds etc. (same site as the ADSL+ connection)

Another vote for Zen - we have fibre to cabinet and phone with them.

We are in a semi rural area, and recently (a) lot of trees fell onto cables,
and (b) a lot of ducts filled with water. There were several complaints in
the local paper of people waiting more than a month for BT/Openreach to fix
faults. Our (probably wet duct) fault was reported to Zen, who got onto
Openreach, who fixed it in three days. As a domestic customer you have no
clout with Openreach, but Zen do, and use it.

And they are cheaper, and have a Lancashire call centre, and don't make you
listen to silly scripts if it's clear you have an idea of what the problem
is.

Charles F

"dennis@home" posted
On 16/03/2014 12:04, Martin wrote:


On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.

If support in the UK is important to you, and you want a service that
doesn't block stuff, treats you like an adult, try Zen Internet. No long
contract for ADSL and they also support top-end routers



What support is anyone likely to need?
I use sky and it just works.

Good. But probably at some point it won't, and that's when you need
support.

I used to use Demon. Worked fine until one day they upgraded me to
ADSL-2+ or something and it stopped working. The Bombay support centre
people were useless. They never solved the problem, which was why I went
over to Be.

Separately I have also used BT broadband. So far the broadband has
worked OK but one day their SMTP server stopped posting my outgoing
emails. That took a couple of weeks for them to sort out even though it
was obvious that the problem was a misbehaving spam filter at their end.

Its also cheap, fast, no limits and they only block what the government
has insisted all ISPs do.

Do you have a Sky phone line and TV too?

--
Les

On 16/03/2014 17:14, Charles F wrote:

Another vote for Zen - we have fibre to cabinet and phone with them.


I'm with Zen for most things, but one broadband contract was with BE.
After taking over BE, Sky then offered us an increased price, so I rang
up and they immediately offered a 12 month contract at just £7.50/month.
The only snag is that they insist you use their routers, but everything
else has been OK-ish. When there was a fault on the line, they were
utterly clueless, but it got sorted by BT anyway.

GB posted
On 16/03/2014 17:14, Charles F wrote:

Another vote for Zen - we have fibre to cabinet and phone with them.


I'm with Zen for most things, but one broadband contract was with BE.
After taking over BE, Sky then offered us an increased price, so I rang
up and they immediately offered a 12 month contract at just
£7.50/month. The only snag is that they insist you use their routers,

I'd welcome such an offer. But when I contacted Sky about their
increased price they just said 'goodbye and good riddance'.

I still haven't been able to get a definitive statement of their prices.
Trying to get it out of their customer support chatroom thing was like
drawing teeth.

but everything else has been OK-ish. When there was a fault on the
line, they were utterly clueless, but it got sorted by BT anyway.


--
Les

On 16/03/2014 13:26, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Sun, 16 Mar 2014 13:02:41 +0000, Adrian C wrote:

Plusnet don't traffic shape all accounts, and are pretty open (and
technical) about what they do when they do.

http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide
/traffic_management.shtml

I don't see a tarrif in the table that isn't shaped, ie all services
at the same "metal level".


Umm, me bad. I had the wrong foot in my mouth. Here, trying the other
one ;-)

Plusnet DO do traffic shaping, but it's not applied equally to all
accounts. I'm on Plusnet unlimited fibre, and my traffic is prioritised
higher than those on the standard package and not rate limited.

Though in practical terms, I just want to download ISOs, stream TV and
drink text only usenet, facebook & email. OpenVPN & SFTP is as close as
I go outside what counts as standard packet use.

Plusnet works fine for that here. Basically I was paying £18/month for
Be, and the move to 3 times faster FTTC was for me worth an extra couple
of quid.

--
Adrian C

"Michael Chare" mUNDERSCOREnews@chareDOTorgDOTuk wrote in message
...
On 16/03/2014 11:01, Max Demian wrote:
"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...
On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.

Have a look at PlusNet - I use them both at my main home and at my
holiday
flat. They're based in Sheffield - and speak English rather than Indian
when you phone them. Their on-line support system is quite good - you
can
raise a support ticket to which they usually respond within a reasonable
time, or you can phone them.

Their prices are quite competitive, and they always do OK in Which?
reports, etc. You can get an even better deal if you move your phone
line
to them as well as your internet service.

PlusNet PlusOne

They also have a news server!

I think its better to keep that separate and to use news.individual.net
because its very reliable and auto filters the worst of the spam and
costs peanuts, just E10 a year.

On 16/03/2014 12:19, dennis@home wrote:
On 16/03/2014 12:04, Martin wrote:


On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.

If support in the UK is important to you, and you want a service that
doesn't block stuff, treats you like an adult, try Zen Internet. No long
contract for ADSL and they also support top-end routers



What support is anyone likely to need?
I use sky and it just works.
Its also cheap, fast, no limits and they only block what the government
has insisted all ISPs do.

They normally only insist that the "big five" ISPs block stuff - often
the smaller ones don't.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

.

I am looking at Zen and A&A, who appear to have a very sound
reputation, both in the past and currently.


+1 For Zen...
--
Tony Sayer

On 16/03/2014 18:46, Big Les Wade wrote:

"dennis@home" posted
On 16/03/2014 12:04, Martin wrote:
On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:

My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.

If support in the UK is important to you, and you want a service that
doesn't block stuff, treats you like an adult, try Zen Internet. No long
contract for ADSL and they also support top-end routers

What support is anyone likely to need?
I use sky and it just works.

Good. But probably at some point it won't, and that's when you need
support.

And you will get it.

We have Sky broadband, bundled with line rental (we kept our telephone
number) and TV services. About £60 a month for unlimited everything,
more or less (including telephone calls all around the world to
landlines, and even to mobiles in the USA).

I've had cause to use the support a couple of times - it's always there
and it's always helpful and effective. And free since we're calling on a
Sky line.

I used to use Demon. Worked fine until one day they upgraded me to
ADSL-2+ or something and it stopped working. The Bombay support centre
people were useless. They never solved the problem, which was why I went
over to Be.

Separately I have also used BT broadband. So far the broadband has
worked OK but one day their SMTP server stopped posting my outgoing
emails. That took a couple of weeks for them to sort out even though it
was obvious that the problem was a misbehaving spam filter at their end.

Its also cheap, fast, no limits and they only block what the
government has insisted all ISPs do.

Do you have a Sky phone line and TV too?

On 16/03/2014 19:12, Rod Speed wrote:


"Michael Chare" mUNDERSCOREnews@chareDOTorgDOTuk wrote in message
...
On 16/03/2014 11:01, Max Demian wrote:
"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...
On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.

Have a look at PlusNet - I use them both at my main home and at my
holiday
flat. They're based in Sheffield - and speak English rather than Indian
when you phone them. Their on-line support system is quite good -
you can
raise a support ticket to which they usually respond within a
reasonable
time, or you can phone them.

Their prices are quite competitive, and they always do OK in Which?
reports, etc. You can get an even better deal if you move your phone
line
to them as well as your internet service.

PlusNet PlusOne

They also have a news server!

I think its better to keep that separate and to use news.individual.net
because its very reliable and auto filters the worst of the spam and
costs peanuts, just E10 a year.

+1.

On 16/03/2014 09:41, Big Les Wade wrote:
My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

Any recommendations for a good cheap basic broadband supplier, in
particular one that provides e-mail customer support (I find their
websites impossible to use) and doesn't insist on tying me into a long
contract? I'm in London so plenty of infrastructure.


Can I suggest you consider BT Broadband? There may be cheaper
alternatives, but AFAIK none of them give you access to free wifi
hotspots throughout UK and Europe*.

I wouldn't know about the quality of their email support because I've
never needed to use it - I assume you mean Broadband support by email
rather than the level of support they give to their email services.


*Basically, when you connect your BT Home Hub (wifi) you assign a 512kb
'slice' to 'FON' users, and in return you get access to BT Openzone,
BT-wifi and FON networks elsewhere.

Even in small towns it'll mean you're probably not too far from a free
wifi.

I'm sorry to piggy-back a slightly different question on the
back of Les's, but I have an issue that I'd like to ask about.

I'm currently using adsl24, and have no really major
complaints about it, though it has recently been taken over
and what happens now is unknown. I have an "local link
unbundled" type of connection with them (if that is the
correct term).

I'm away in China for most of the year, and usually come
back for an extended holiday during the summer. I've kept
the adsl link on, but obviously, it is costing money that isn't
being used much (apart from email, which I can change)
but I kept it on for convenience.

Is there any ISP in the UK that will do a "pay as you go"
type adsl contract so that I can tell them that I am away for
all but 2 months in a year, I'd still like a wired connection,
and I'd only like to pay for usage when I am in the UK, but
I am content to pay a small "holding" amount when I am not?

I considered dongles, but reception inside the house is
not good, and I have found they are quite slow.

Any suggestions?

--
David D S: UK and PR China. (Native BrEng speaker)
Use Reply-To header for email. This email address will be
valid for at least 2 weeks from 2014/3/17 9:24:24

On Sun, 16 Mar 2014 09:41:08 +0000, Big Les Wade wrote:

My broadband supplier (Be) has been taken over by Sky and they've just
transferred my account over. Turns out Sky are going to charge me a 50
per cent 'supplementary charge' because I don't have their TV or phone
service - I'm on BT.

I would be fascinated to hear them try to explain exactly what extra value your
are getting for your premium 'supplement'!

Mike
--
http://www.corestore.org
'No greater love hath a man than he lay down his life for his brother.
Not for millions, not for glory, not for fame.
For one person, in the dark, where no one will ever know or see.'