FTTP newbie - anything I need to know?

Haggisman

Haggisman

Haggisman

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After an awful customer service experience with VM last week*, I've finally binned them off after 11 years (they were the only option other than ADSL until 6 months ago), and signed up to Vodafone for £36/month for 910mb.

I assume they can install to a first floor room no problem?

I currently have the VM hub in modem mode, and use a Ubiquiti UCG-Ultra; I believe I can just ditch the Vodafone router, and connect this directly?

Anything else I should know/be aware of?

* I messaged them on WhatsApp on Thursday morning asking for a price to upgrade my existing 350mb to Gig1. No reply till Friday afternoon, when someone finally responded, asking me questions about my usage and whether I needed TV and phone. I reiterated that I just wanted a price to upgrade to Gig1. 10 minutes later they responded offering 350mb for £50/month.

I replied pointing out that I'd have to be stupid to take that offer as I was already on 350mb, but paying £27/month, and another 10 minutes later they replied saying that was the best he could do and asking if I wanted to go ahead with it.

I spend most of my day at work dealing with idiots, and I have better things to do with my spare time, so bye bye!
 
Why would you choose Vodafone if you don't like VM customer service? They aren't one of the better FTTP providers.

If you get the username/password out of them, you can use your own router.

Openreach will install the fibre and ONT to wherever is reasonable, but don't expect them to lift up any floorboards etc.
 
ChrisD. said:
Why would you choose Vodafone if you don't like VM customer service? They aren't one of the better FTTP providers.

If you get the username/password out of them, you can use your own router.

Openreach will install the fibre and ONT to wherever is reasonable, but don't expect them to lift up any floorboards etc.
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TBH just on the price - most of the other providers are £10+ more/month, plus Vodafone will pay my early termination fees and £90 from Quidco.

Who would you recommend instead? We currently have Sky TV, so could maybe get a bit of a discount with them?

No need to lift floorboards, ideally it would be in the same location as the current VM point - can they pull the coax out and use the same hole?
 
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Aquiss, PlusNet, EE, Sky (I think their capacity issues have been sorted). I'd sooner choose TalkTalk over Vodafone if I'm honest. Did you not do any research before you ordered?
 
I did, like I said, the other options are all 20-30% more expensive (except Plusnet who are only £2 more :p)

The other one I considered was Onestream, but I've never heard of them before?

Looking here, Vodafone seems pretty middle of the pack:

Best Broadband Providers UK - Broadband Customer Survey 2024 | The Independent

Discover the best broadband providers in the UK for 2024. Compare speeds, pricing & customer satisfaction from top providers like Hyperoptic, EE, Plusnet, Vodafone and more!
www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
 
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If price is your primary concern then don’t expect great customer service. But the issue with Vodafone is that they do have some capacity and routing issues in certain areas. The average review left for a company will be based on perceived performance from things like wifi and if the internet doesn’t go down often.
 
ChrisD. said:
If price is your primary concern then don’t expect great customer service. But the issue with Vodafone is that they do have some capacity and routing issues in certain areas. The average review left for a company will be based on perceived performance from things like wifi and if the internet doesn’t go down often.
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That will be true for any provider though surely? As for capacity and routing issues, where do I find out about these?
 
Didn't take long to use search in the thread. :)

Clean-Shot-2024-09-14-at-11-22-53-2x.png


As you have your own UniFi gateway, had you have asked before you ordered, most people here would have likely recommended Aquiss.
 
That's assuming I would have known to search for "routing" which I do now, thanks :)

Had a quick look at Aquiss, and while the headline rate of £55 is significantly higher, the introductory 50% off for 6 months, coupled with it being only a 12 month contract does make it more comparable - what are people's experiences with getting an ongoing discount out of their minimum period?

About to take the kids out, but I'll take a proper look later, thanks for the help so far
 
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Haggisman said:
Had a quick look at Aquiss, and while the headline rate of £55 is significantly higher, the introductory 50% off for 6 months, coupled with it being only a 12 month contract does make it more comparable - what are people's experiences with getting an ongoing discount out of their minimum period?
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IIRC, you can get loyalty discount again after 3 years staying with them. They are very good though, very quick to respond to emails, support tickets etc, and Martin (the owner) is very knowledgable. Static IPv4 and IPv6 as standard etc.
 
Usually just go for cheapest myself.
Would have stuck with FTTC if it had been cheaper.
Luckily youfibre is cheapest and best option here.

Never really had an issue with CS with any provider.
 
Static IP would be handy, although I'm currently able to work around that with DDNS. Vodafone can give me one for free anyway.

Having looked at the numbers, Aquiss would cost me an extra £210 over the first 12 months, or £320 over the 24 month term most other providers have.

While it's not going to break the bank under £20/month, it's not exactly an insignificant difference either.

From skimming through the thread it appears there's the possibility of taking out a new 12 month contract with the 50% off for 6 months, which would bring that difference down but I can't find anything to confirm that, so I'd potentially end up stuck paying £55/month or having to pay their £45 termination fee to move to another provider.
 
ChrisD. said:
Now compare how quick he responds, and how quick he'll get back to you if you have an issue with the broadband, compared to how long it took Vodafone to answer you.
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Cancelled my VF order and placed the order with Aquiss :)

Thanks for the help/advice

Edit: And have just had the installation appointment details come through for 30/09 :)
 
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God, Bing search is garbage. I'd never heard of Aquiss and "binging it" returned loads of hearsay about them and no actual link to Aquiss. This isn't the first time! Switching back to Google...
 
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