BT Broadband vs Zen..other ISP?

Soldato
Joined
14 Dec 2005
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wondering if there are any differences with throttling at peak times etc between different ISPs

looking to get the 'up to 76'/80/20/ infinity 2 package

they all seem to be roughly £30 a month for the top tier package
 
Associate
Joined
1 Apr 2009
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429
I'm with Zen, they don't throttle or have fair usage policy.

The best thing is you can pick up the phone and get through to someone who actually knows what they are talking about in a few seconds. No scripted foreign call centres to wade through if you have issues. That's worth it's weight in gold.
 
Soldato
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If it's a straight choice between the 2 then i would always go Zen, the support is 2nd to none if you have a problem as you talk to an actual tech and not some script monkey. I've been with them for what must be 10 years and not had a days outage due to Zen themselves.
 
Caporegime
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There's nothing between the two of them as far as the connection goes. If you need a static IPv4 then Zen can do that for you, BT would require you to take a business connection.

BT supply a better router as standard than Zen, probably not an issue if you're going to leave it in the box though.

Paying for a 'premium' ISP in case you have a problem, when all FTTC connections are identical at the physical layer, seems like a way to waste money. If your phone line breaks then it will take the same amount of time to fix it regardless of your ISP, unless you pay more again to have a different service level on the copper pair. If there's a massive routing issue then it's not the sort of thing a huge provider is going to sit on either.

The differentiation that was possible with LLU ADSL isn't really there any more in my experience. I'm not saying Zen is a bad choice, but choose them because of the features they can offer you, not because of some idea that it will be more reliable.
 
Soldato
OP
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Thanks, I'm with Zen just now for standard broadband (1up/17 down), can't remember the exact reasons but I researched it at the time and Zen were one of the best, even with their 200gb limit.

Seems that with fibre there's no difference with provider as long as it's working
 
Soldato
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You can get bad fibre; there's a SSE thread on here for example.

I personably still like PlusNet. They're cheap and you can get a static IP for a one off £5. There are often some very generous cashback offers as well.

They do seem to have had more recent problems with excessive wait times when you try to phone them. I've been with them for 3+ years and have needed to call them about twice over that time so I can live with it. Once you get through I've found them helpful and effective in dealing with queries.
 
Associate
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Im with Plusnet cant complain but off to pastures new to take advantage of cashback etc.
Was tempted by SSE but read the reviews and complaints.
Looked at Zen but bloody expensive :eek:
Settled on BT deal Unlimited Infinity 1 upto 52 mb @ £10 a month for 12 months.
Also get the £100 reward card and bt sport if you have a sky box.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Nov 2006
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3,133
I'm with Zen.

Static IP address, no usage limits, good tech support.

And when I've phoned them, they've been helpful and knowledgeable.

Yes, it's more expensive, but you get what you pay for.

This. I am also a satisfied zen customer for all the reasons mentioned in previous posts. Been with them for about 9 years now, and apart from a bt fudge up once - no disconnections in all this time. Imho, you do get what you pay for.
 
Soldato
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16,281
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Manchester
Zen were the only people able to help me with a broadband order when we moved into a new build, trying to transfer an existing BT broadband was a nightmare! Spent hours on the phone with BT and in the end they had no idea what fault/issue was preventing the order from going through, so I cancelled and paid off the contract in the end.

Next day 1 phone call to Zen and sorted, order was placed, all went through and no problem at all.
 
Associate
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Dark Side of the Moon
Im with Plusnet cant complain but off to pastures new to take advantage of cashback etc.
Was tempted by SSE but read the reviews and complaints.
Looked at Zen but bloody expensive :eek:
Settled on BT deal Unlimited Infinity 1 upto 52 mb @ £10 a month for 12 months.
Also get the £100 reward card and bt sport if you have a sky box.

Currently looking to do the exact same thing.
 
Soldato
OP
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14 Dec 2005
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went with Zen in the end

you don't get as many benefits/rewards plus there's an activation charge but they're the same price as BT for 80/20 - their line rental is also £2 cheaper
 
Permabanned
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There's nothing between the two of them as far as the connection goes. If you need a static IPv4 then Zen can do that for you, BT would require you to take a business connection.

BT supply a better router as standard than Zen, probably not an issue if you're going to leave it in the box though.

Paying for a 'premium' ISP in case you have a problem, when all FTTC connections are identical at the physical layer, seems like a way to waste money. If your phone line breaks then it will take the same amount of time to fix it regardless of your ISP, unless you pay more again to have a different service level on the copper pair. If there's a massive routing issue then it's not the sort of thing a huge provider is going to sit on either.

The differentiation that was possible with LLU ADSL isn't really there any more in my experience. I'm not saying Zen is a bad choice, but choose them because of the features they can offer you, not because of some idea that it will be more reliable.

That's not true, they effectively use their own backbone so will have a different contention ratio and other such things as they purchase dedicate bandwidth.

But yes, the main connection points are still owned by BT.
 
Associate
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The ISPs use LLU so some equipment in the exchange and the backhaul to their network and their network to the rest of the internet all is dependent on ISP. but it is the same fibre, cab and copper from the exchange to your house as with any ISP that uses Openreach.

I
 
Last edited:
Associate
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Oxford
I'm looking to make the move to Zen in the not too distant future. It's quite widely advertised about the multiple static IP addresses, but how do you go about using them? Do they supply a router where you can assign an external IP for a particular device?
 
Associate
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Cornwall
Zen here as well and its been great 9MB/s day and night.

They have never complained about how much i download either :D

Also as others have said their customer service is the best.
 
Associate
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Cheshire
wondering if there are any differences with throttling at peak times etc between different ISPs

looking to get the 'up to 76'/80/20/ infinity 2 package

they all seem to be roughly £30 a month for the top tier package

I used to be with BT and had no problems. I switched to Plusnet because they are cheaper. Plusnet are owned by BT so you are getting the same thing for a cheaper price.

I used to pay £30 a month with BT and now pay £20 a month with Plusnet.

 
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