Got a stupid question about broadband

manic111 · 24 May 2021 at 20:42

I'm moving into a new flat and need to arrange broadband. Virgin say that they will provide speeds of (eg) 100Mbps. BT say that they will provide speeds of (eg) 100 Mb.

Is this the same, or are Virgin showing megabits per second and BT megabytes?

hughtrimble · 24 May 2021 at 20:45

Mb is megabit, and they'll both be megabits per second. But check what their guaranteed speed is, as that's what they have to provide you with or issue you with compensatory payments.

The guaranteed speed is often a lot lower.

manic111 · 24 May 2021 at 20:47

Brilliant, cheers! It looks like Virgin are a lot quicker in my area, but BT offer speeds which are sufficiently quick for me and can get me online immediately without needing an engineer which is appealing. The current owners of the flat said that they had Sky and were unimpressed so I'm avoiding them. Anyone else I should look at?

The1nonly1 · 24 May 2021 at 21:40

Zen, Plus Net, BT. I've not used ZEN but people say it's good. I've never had issues with BT or Plus Net but others may have, not every experience will be the same. If you go with a company that uses the phoneline (not Virgin), the speeds will be pretty much the same.

Rainmaker · 24 May 2021 at 21:51

I know it was just an example, but you say 'BT eg 100Mb'... Openreach FTTC caps at around 80Mbps, so if it really is 100Mb or 300Mb or whatever, it'll be FTTP. I'd take that over VM any day. If it's FTTC versus VM then, area depending, I'd take VM for their gigabit (or at least 500Mb) offering. With VM you get 14 days to test the install and you can change your mind and cancel without penalty if it's rubbish once installed. You could then move over to BT based services instead.

manic111 · 24 May 2021 at 21:57

Rainmaker said:
I know it was just an example, but you say 'BT eg 100Mb'... Openreach FTTC caps at around 80Mbps, so if it really is 100Mb or 300Mb or whatever, it'll be FTTP. I'd take that over VM any day. If it's FTTC versus VM then, area depending, I'd take VM for their gigabit (or at least 500Mb) offering. With VM you get 14 days to test the install and you can change your mind and cancel without penalty if it's rubbish once installed. You could then move over to BT based services instead.

Yup, sorry, it was just an example. BT topped out around 65, whereas I could get the 1gb Virgin offering.

The1nonly1 · 24 May 2021 at 22:11

SPEEEED. If you can get 1Gb with Virgin but not anywhere close with BT, go with Virgin.

manic111 · 24 May 2021 at 23:47

Yup that's what I'm thinking. It's a bit more of a faff as I can't switch over without an engineer so may need to grab mobile broadband for a bit, but worth it!

pp111 · 25 May 2021 at 08:55

manic111 said:
Brilliant, cheers! It looks like Virgin are a lot quicker in my area, but BT offer speeds which are sufficiently quick for me and can get me online immediately without needing an engineer which is appealing. The current owners of the flat said that they had Sky and were unimpressed so I'm avoiding them. Anyone else I should look at?

Zen internet. They aren't cheap but their customer service is way better than any other company I know. It's worth a few quid extra to know they aren't going to cancel your service by accident or something equally stupid.