Current Go-To Broadband provider? Still Zen?
- Thread starter kindai
- Start date
Never causes me particular issue but I probably don't view so many ad-laden sites so perhaps not the best sample - newspaper site suffer the worst from what I do look at. I do love the way the ITV hub skips over the adverts when watching on catchup because it can't serve them to me!
Not possible to change DNS on a Sky hub I'm afraid.
Ah shame. So to the person that asked, if you're on Sky with their router and you wish to take advantage of such a device you'll need to specify static IP addresses on the devices you want to protect and use the PiHole as their DNS when putting the IP address in.
Yes you can.
As long as it has the entry to set option 61, you're good to go.
+1 For Plusnet. Even after my recent slamming issue. Plus net tried everything they could to help me and gave me a couple of free months, waved reconnection fees etc.
A few years ago my Internet began to slow. I posted on their forums asking about BT Profiles and speeds etc, hoping to work out what was wrong socially without a support call. Within 2 hours someone from PlusNet replied to the thread that they had checked my line, found a discrepancy and reset things back to 14Mbit. I didn't even ask for their help, but they fixed the issue in 2 hours.
I have not dealt with Sky, but Plusnet call centres are in the UK and Ireland and they seem to go out of their way to help you.
Reliability is quite often down to the BT infrastructure, but in the 5 or 6 years I have been online with Plusnet I have experienced two outages. One was only for an hour the other was all evening (due to a failure in the network hosting their PPP and authentication servers). That makes it well over the 99.9% reliability.
A few years ago my Internet began to slow. I posted on their forums asking about BT Profiles and speeds etc, hoping to work out what was wrong socially without a support call. Within 2 hours someone from PlusNet replied to the thread that they had checked my line, found a discrepancy and reset things back to 14Mbit. I didn't even ask for their help, but they fixed the issue in 2 hours.
I have not dealt with Sky, but Plusnet call centres are in the UK and Ireland and they seem to go out of their way to help you.
Reliability is quite often down to the BT infrastructure, but in the 5 or 6 years I have been online with Plusnet I have experienced two outages. One was only for an hour the other was all evening (due to a failure in the network hosting their PPP and authentication servers). That makes it well over the 99.9% reliability.
On routers, just a word of caution if you like your privacy.
ISPs have been tending towards the "Managed LAN" model. They give you a hub which has your router, switch and Wifi AP all in one. However this is managed by the ISP. Not only that but they can ping onto your LAN. They can tell what devices are connected and their IP etc. They can even change your Wifi Password.
Having worked in this industry (on OLT/ONT management software) I seen the UI for an American ISP tech support system. It drew a network map of the household in question showing devices connected, their IP, bandwidth used, determined hardware type and even the OS installed in some cases. It also showed previously connected devices.
Their argument for this is to provide support for CPE (customer premise equipment), so when Mrs Jones phones up and says, "My son's new laptop won't connect to the internet", they can go take a look, rummage around, make changes to the config and even advise them of the Wifi password.
In some cases, such as Phone, Internet and TV bundles (for example) they can even "log on" to some devices in your house and make changes.
My advice... if your like you privacy is to buy a basic router and place it in front of the supplied Hub. Use NAT networking and your own Wifi APs. The ISP will then only see that one device and be unable to punch through it without deliberate hacking. If you have a managed device in your home then it is the only thing that should be connected to their hub, if you have to. Your Virgin TV box might be an obvious one, I'm not sure.
ISPs have been tending towards the "Managed LAN" model. They give you a hub which has your router, switch and Wifi AP all in one. However this is managed by the ISP. Not only that but they can ping onto your LAN. They can tell what devices are connected and their IP etc. They can even change your Wifi Password.
Having worked in this industry (on OLT/ONT management software) I seen the UI for an American ISP tech support system. It drew a network map of the household in question showing devices connected, their IP, bandwidth used, determined hardware type and even the OS installed in some cases. It also showed previously connected devices.
Their argument for this is to provide support for CPE (customer premise equipment), so when Mrs Jones phones up and says, "My son's new laptop won't connect to the internet", they can go take a look, rummage around, make changes to the config and even advise them of the Wifi password.
In some cases, such as Phone, Internet and TV bundles (for example) they can even "log on" to some devices in your house and make changes.
My advice... if your like you privacy is to buy a basic router and place it in front of the supplied Hub. Use NAT networking and your own Wifi APs. The ISP will then only see that one device and be unable to punch through it without deliberate hacking. If you have a managed device in your home then it is the only thing that should be connected to their hub, if you have to. Your Virgin TV box might be an obvious one, I'm not sure.
I personally prefer the Billion routers. Due to reliability, support and reputation. I must have spent a few months researching the routers to use on Sky. A lot complained about stability issues/bugs/lockups with both Asus and Netgear.
Some also recommended TPLink for Sky.
A lot went with the Billion BiPAC 8800NL. http://www.billion.uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13297
I decided to go with the Billion BiPAC 8900AX-2400.
I thought I would reignite this thread as both superfast broadbands with virgin and sky have given me headaches.
Been with sky for about 18yrs with the exception of a 12 month period where i was with virgins 350mb service, which was down more times than i can count.
Anyway, Gigabit fiber is now in my area and i stayed with Sky and opted for their fastest 900mb service. Within the first week, speeds were all over the place mainly ranging between 290-450mb. Having called them, they advised they would raise a ticket with Openreach. The speeds are now higher but still consistently below their advertised minimum guarantee of 600mb. I usually average around 550mb.
Anyway, ive cancelled while in the cooling off period and im opting to go for either Zen or Plusnet but thought i would throw it out there if anybody else has any recommendations?
Cheers
Chris
Been with sky for about 18yrs with the exception of a 12 month period where i was with virgins 350mb service, which was down more times than i can count.
Anyway, Gigabit fiber is now in my area and i stayed with Sky and opted for their fastest 900mb service. Within the first week, speeds were all over the place mainly ranging between 290-450mb. Having called them, they advised they would raise a ticket with Openreach. The speeds are now higher but still consistently below their advertised minimum guarantee of 600mb. I usually average around 550mb.
Anyway, ive cancelled while in the cooling off period and im opting to go for either Zen or Plusnet but thought i would throw it out there if anybody else has any recommendations?
Cheers
Chris
Soldato
- Joined
- 24 Sep 2007
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- 5,189
I'm with Zen and they have been fine for me.
Of the major providers, I would probably also consider BT, plusnet, and maybe EE too (for their discounts on mobile SIMs).
Of the major providers, I would probably also consider BT, plusnet, and maybe EE too (for their discounts on mobile SIMs).
Cheers, I think im edging towards Zen to be honest.
I think it has a friend referral option when signing up, not sure if that would give you any sort of discount, but id be more than happy to put you down if you get some kind of benefit from it?
Soldato
- Joined
- 24 Sep 2007
- Posts
- 5,189
I don't think I'm allowed to do that here, but thanks anyway.
Anyway, re Zen, they perhaps aren't quite as good as they used to be 10 years ago (not miles ahead like they used to be), but any premium you're paying is basically going towards their customer service and the performance of their own network. When I've had to phone them (rarely) I've been able to get hold of them quite quickly and sort things out.
Perfect, i think the extra £10 a month over sky will be worth it.