New Broadband choices, non-LLU?

Robbo · 4 Nov 2009 at 12:14

Given my recent problems with the O2 home access package, I now have my MAC code (http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18074696)!

I live in a village in Lincolnshire, our max as stated in the other thread is 8MB ADSL.

So with the above in mind, and wondering if anyone who is on 8MB ADSL anywhere else has any experiences, I need a new provider.

It needs to be unlimited, or 50GB+ (maybe looking at the £34mo Zen deal), but if its unlimited, needs a fair use policy that only caps p2p/usenet at peak times, so I can stream Sky Player and so on without any issues!

Anyone have any recommendations?

wij · 4 Nov 2009 at 12:43

If you're happy to look at Zen and don't mind their prices you won't find a better provider on the BTW network IMO.

Just moved my folks from ADSL24 over to Zen (they also live in a small village in Lincolnshire, close to Sleaford) and the service has apparently been much more consistent since the migration.

Robbo · 4 Nov 2009 at 12:48

wij said:
If you're happy to look at Zen and don't mind their prices you won't find a better provider on the BTW network IMO.

Just moved my folks from ADSL24 over to Zen (they also live in a small village in Lincolnshire, close to Sleaford) and the service has apparently been much more consistent since the migration.

Wouldnt happen to be Ruskington would it?

Thanks for the reply, Zen do seem to be the best option here.

branddaly · 4 Nov 2009 at 12:55

Zen are also now doing upto 16mb (they are not advertising it as such, as with most adsl2+ the average speed people get is still around 6mbps).

wij · 4 Nov 2009 at 13:24

Jamesftw said:
Wouldnt happen to be Ruskington would it?

Thanks for the reply, Zen do seem to be the best option here.

Nope, other side of Sleaford - a little place called Threekingham, as stated above Zen are now offering service via BT21CN (Basically ADSL2+ / upto 20Mbit) but I doubt that has been rolled out in your neck of the woods yet?

Zen are fantastic, I've long recommended their services to friends who have small businesses and need decent connectivity, I also use a lot of their services myself.

The only real gripe I guess (and IMO you get what you pay for) is that if you go over your monthly allowance the cost of extra bandwidth is very high (£1/Gb last time I looked) and there is no "free use" or off-peak periods.

Robbo · 4 Nov 2009 at 14:00

wij said:
Nope, other side of Sleaford - a little place called Threekingham, as stated above Zen are now offering service via BT21CN (Basically ADSL2+ / upto 20Mbit) but I doubt that has been rolled out in your neck of the woods yet?

Zen are fantastic, I've long recommended their services to friends who have small businesses and need decent connectivity, I also use a lot of their services myself.

The only real gripe I guess (and IMO you get what you pay for) is that if you go over your monthly allowance the cost of extra bandwidth is very high (£1/Gb last time I looked) and there is no "free use" or off-peak periods.

Sadly im sure we are stuck on 8MB max at the minute (confirmed on the Zen site), but im damn tempted to go with that at the minute, dont think there's anything better is there (to your knowledge)?

wij · 4 Nov 2009 at 14:04

Jamesftw said:
Sadly im sure we are stuck on 8MB max at the minute (confirmed on the Zen site), but im damn tempted to go with that at the minute, dont think there's anything better is there (to your knowledge)?

Not really, and at least as Zen are a good few quid more expensive than their competition it prices a lot of the really heavy users out of their market.

Also means that they have the money to spend on ensuring plenty of capacity for their existing customer base.

£35/month for 50Gb isn't the cheapest service around but I'd be happy to swear blind that the 50Gb you have paid for will come down at the best speed your line can deliver.

Also consistently low latency throughout the day and very good routing to other networks make their service top notch if you're into gaming at all.

All backed up by a rock solid and very knowledgeable customer support team who don't seem to have a script to read from as they actually know and understand what they talk about.

Robbo · 4 Nov 2009 at 14:12

wij said:
Not really, and at least as Zen are a good few quid more expensive than their competition it prices a lot of the really heavy users out of their market.

Also means that they have the money to spend on ensuring plenty of capacity for their existing customer base.

£35/month for 50Gb isn't the cheapest service around but I'd be happy to swear blind that the 50Gb you have paid for will come down at the best speed your line can deliver.

Also consistently low latency throughout the day and very good routing to other networks make their service top notch if you're into gaming at all.

All backed up by a rock solid and very knowledgeable customer support team who don't seem to have a script to read from as they actually know and understand what they talk about.

Yeah, for years people have said Zen are the best (especially people around here) and they are vastly better than everyone else.

I'm tired of being on a crappy line with a company that farts about with traffic management, I'd rather just pay a bit more and get a proper service as I use my internet frequently for various things like Sky Player, Gaming, etc

wij · 4 Nov 2009 at 14:29

Changing provider won't change your line as at the end of the day they're delivered using the same technology and bit of copper, but at least the quality of service should go up considerably.

Robbo · 4 Nov 2009 at 14:34

wij said:
Changing provider won't change your line as at the end of the day they're delivered using the same technology and bit of copper, but at least the quality of service should go up considerably.

Yeah I didnt quite write that properly, by line I meant provider, the only problem we get around here is traffic shaping crap, remove that and its all fine

wij · 4 Nov 2009 at 14:57

Jamesftw said:
Yeah I didnt quite write that properly, by line I meant provider, the only problem we get around here is traffic shaping crap, remove that and its all fine

Well I think you'll be very happy with Zen's service. I personally have some hosting from them, also a couple of boxes colocated and use them to provide our DSL and leased line services at work.

Sure they're not the cheapest and we pay over the odds for some things but in the last 6 years we've never once felt compelled to look elsewhere and generally they are prepared to negotiate a bit on prices to match like for like competition.

At the end of the day it's also only a 1 month contract on the ADSL so if it doesn't work out for you then you can get out quickly and go elsewhere, though if there is a problem I'd say Zen will genuinely try and fix things.