[Advice]Sky Unlimited Fibre vs Plusnet Unlimited Fibre

[Chronictank]

Sorry for this i know its been asked many times but I can't really find threads that answered all my queries to my satisfaction.
Plusnet is a hefty 18 month contract so I don't really want to go into without seeking some advice.

Asking people on both services what their expriences are so I can decide,
How do you find the reliability?
How is the performance during peak times on both services?
Have you had any issues, or are there things i should look out for?


Usage profile is a moderate downloader, heavy VPN access, i would like a nice Gaming experience

I have narrowed down my choices to the following packages due to their international call packages:
Based on monthly payments

Plusnet Fibre Unlimited

Costing
Minimum contract 18 months
Unlimited Fibre Broadband (estimated line speed 27Mbps) £ £19.99
Talk Anytime International £6.00
Line rental £13.99 (£10.49 12 month contract)
Voicemail (1571) Free
Monthly total £29.98 (£26.48 with 12 month line rental)

Advantages:
- Plusnet is essentially BT, so *potentially* higher speeds
- Better bang per buck


Disadvantages:
- Traffic Prioritization, however with the Unlimited Fibre product is not hard capped just shaped
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/download_speeds.shtml
Prioritization table can be found here:
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/traffic_management.shtml
To see what times things are managed on various packages: http://usergroup.plus.net/prodcomp1.php
- Costly to switch as your switch-over cost is based on per-month-of-subscription remaining

ISP Review Scores
ISP Review
160 Reviews, 4.5/10
Services 39%
Support 39%
Speed 42%
Value 47%
Review Centre
2/5 (410 Reviews), 26.3% recommended

Sky Fibre Unlimited

Costing
12 month contract
Sky Fibre Unlimited (estimated line speed: 27.1Mbps) £20
Sky Talk Anytime £5
Sky Line Rental £14.50
Voicemail (1571) Free
Caller display Free

Monthly total £39.50

Advantages:
No traffic shaping

Disadvantages:
Router is supposed to be terrible for wireless, not *that* big a deal as i have a repeater anyway
Seeing quite a few reports of slow-downs during peak times

ISP Review scores:
ISP Reviews
7.5/10 (84 reviews)
Services61%
Support54%
Speed64%
Value71%
Review Centre
1.9/5 (608 Reviews), 28.3% recommended

Is sky really worth the extra £10-£13 or so?

 

[Chronictank]

Did you include the caller display charge for Plusnet?

It was free with sky so added it, I haven't included it with Plusnet no

 

[Chronictank]

I went with Plusnet in the end after people reporting slow-downs on sky in my area whereas BT people seem to be ok.

Fingers crossed PN will be ok

Thanks all

 

[Chronictank]

Where did you read about Sky's router being bad for wireless?

Pretty much every forum where i was finding out about how the service was with Sky

 

[Chronictank]

I am signing up with the knowledge the line is being Prioritized, however given the state of play with sky in my area (slow downs during peak periods) i would rather my normal traffic chug along normally

@bobpullen
With prioritization say as an example for educational purposes

On my network (not plusnet side)
Computer a: downloading usernet files
Computer b: playing games

at the moment my router is set up to priorotize the traffic as i have no shaping on my current provider, with plusnet (as i will get a new router) will this be done on your end so i don't need a solution on my side anymore?

 

[Chronictank]

Sky FTTC slow down or ADSL slow down? As they are different.

Sky FTTC, they are on fibre
It only happens during peak times, rest of the time they say the service is great (based on 2 people i know who have subsequently switched to BT)

 

[Chronictank]

I have to admit, it's the first I've read of this.

Me too, glad i found out before being locked in a 12 month contract though

Bear in mind it may well be their own fault or other factors but I would rather avoid the whole troubleshooting cycle.

I think if i had Sky TV i would go with them, but I can't see any reason to justify paying more

Thanks all,
I will update the thread with how it goes so people searching will get the results too

 

[Chronictank]

for completeness
After installation I get the following results:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=23739756&postcount=151