Is cheap broadband ok?

Motormanical · 13 Jul 2019 at 16:37

I'm looking for broadband connection for my holiday flat. Nothing fancy but enough to get email, some browsing etc.

I'm with BT in my main home but the cheapest BT connection is £24.99 for 10 Mb.

However, I've noticed shopping around that some providers offer it way cheaper.

For example, if you look at the price list below, it shows the Post Office at £15.90pm running at 11Mb. That's £9pm cheaper than BT and slightly faster.

https://www.pocketrate.com/broadband

Am I missing something? Has anybody had experience with the Post Office broadband or the cheaper alternatives?

How are the Post Office doing this so cheap? It also includes line rental so I can't see the downside.

Any advice or help would be appreciated.

Thanks

bremen1874 · 13 Jul 2019 at 18:00

The speed, for the most part, will depend on the technology (ADSL or VDSL) not the provider. Until the connection is actually active any quoted speeds are guestimates. The 'average' speeds quoted should be ignored. You need an estimate based on an address or phone number.

No problem going with a cheap provider. The biggest difference will be the quality of technical support and customer service. As you're with BT at home that's obviously not one of your primary concerns.

Check for cashback offers before deciding who is actually the cheapest.

Motormanical · 13 Jul 2019 at 19:03

bremen1874 said:
The speed, for the most part, will depend on the technology (ADSL or VDSL) not the provider. Until the connection is actually active any quoted speeds are guestimates. The 'average' speeds quoted should be ignored. You need an estimate based on an address or phone number.

No problem going with a cheap provider. The biggest difference will be the quality of technical support and customer service. As you're with BT at home that's obviously not one of your primary concerns.

Check for cashback offers before deciding who is actually the cheapest.

Thanks for this. Yes that’s what I was thinking. It’s essentially the same infrastructure being used.

If anyone has any experience with post office broadband that would be great.

lltfdaniel · 13 Jul 2019 at 19:03

I was thinking this that you use 4g broadband.

one without a contract and has unlimited tethering or put the sim card in a 4g router maybe perhaps if that is possible?

You should be able to get 10-20mbps from this varying on the signal.

Will cost £18.75 per month and you can cancel anytime if your not happy with the service which is a good thing.

https://smarty.co.uk/basket/unlimited

Terminal_Boy · 13 Jul 2019 at 19:18

I bet that the T&Cs for that deal don’t mention average throughput, ping or contention ratio at all.

lltfdaniel · 13 Jul 2019 at 19:21

Terminal_Boy said:
I bet that the T&Cs for that deal don’t mention average throughput, ping or contention ratio at all.

Well you can cancel anytime, which is a plus i think.

Terminal_Boy · 13 Jul 2019 at 19:30

lltfdaniel said:
Well you can cancel anytime, which is a plus i think.

Unless you have full 4G signal indicated indoors where you plan to place the router, don’t even bother.

The primary limiting factor in 4G (and 5G for that matter) data speeds is channel quality, a complex algorithm based on received signal strength, received signal quality, interference and path loss.

Weak signal = low throughput.

zipp0r · 13 Jul 2019 at 21:52

post office re-sell talktalk which is an ok cheap isp

pp111 · 21 Jul 2019 at 09:51

The last thing I would do is go cheap. The reason is nothing to do with the physical performance of the broadband, rather for me it's down to customer support. I used to be be with Talktalk for example, and they were horrific. I was honestly scared to phone them because they usually managed to screw everything up. They once managed to completely disconnect me when I tried to change the package and I had no internet for two weeks while they reconnected me. This is not a technical thing, their technical staff are fine, it was entirely down to CS and Sales not understanding what I was saying. I am afraid that if the ISP's CS and Sales are outside of the UK then there is a real chance you are going to have problems. Some agents understand the words but they don't understand the sentences. So every single time I would select a company that has CS and Sales based in a country who's primary language is English. It is so critically important that they completely understand what you are going on about if you have a problem.

lltfdaniel · 21 Jul 2019 at 11:21

pp111 said:
The last thing I would do is go cheap. The reason is nothing to do with the physical performance of the broadband, rather for me it's down to customer support. I used to be be with Talktalk for example, and they were horrific. I was honestly scared to phone them because they usually managed to screw everything up. They once managed to completely disconnect me when I tried to change the package and I had no internet for two weeks while they reconnected me. This is not a technical thing, their technical staff are fine, it was entirely down to CS and Sales not understanding what I was saying. I am afraid that if the ISP's CS and Sales are outside of the UK then there is a real chance you are going to have problems. Some agents understand the words but they don't understand the sentences. So every single time I would select a company that has CS and Sales based in a country who's primary language is English. It is so critically important that they completely understand what you are going on about if you have a problem.

That is why I went with Zen internet.

Their customer service is good in my experience, and zen was recommended to my sister she also had a good experience with Zen customer service.

Because zen customer service is good, I call their CS with confidence.

Dan.

MartinPrince · 21 Jul 2019 at 11:29

Motormanical said:
I'm looking for broadband connection for my holiday flat. Nothing fancy but enough to get email, some browsing etc.

I'm with BT in my main home but the cheapest BT connection is £24.99 for 10 Mb.

However, I've noticed shopping around that some providers offer it way cheaper.

For example, if you look at the price list below, it shows the Post Office at £15.90pm running at 11Mb. That's £9pm cheaper than BT and slightly faster.

https://www.pocketrate.com/broadband

Am I missing something? Has anybody had experience with the Post Office broadband or the cheaper alternatives?

How are the Post Office doing this so cheap? It also includes line rental so I can't see the downside.

Any advice or help would be appreciated.

Thanks

I went with the P.O for my mum last week so I'll soon find out. I wouldn't worry too much because all the issues on her line were sorted out when she was on Sky with the BT Engineer coming out and swapping out some old componenets that were causing issues. For the last couple years she's had trouble free internet so it should be a bit like your gas and elec with changing provider but hardly noticing anything different apart from who you're paying.

BowdonUK · 21 Jul 2019 at 12:48

I'd say yes, as they mostly use the same networks.

I wouldnt say the Post Office broadband is small. It's reasonably sized with as good a reputation as anyone else.

DIABLO · 21 Jul 2019 at 15:35

To the people recommending Zen did you even read his post? All he wants is basic Internet access for a holiday Flat for basic web browsing and Email which even the most cheapest of the cheap ISP is perfectly capable of providing.

lltfdaniel · 21 Jul 2019 at 16:12

DIABLO said:
To the people recommending Zen did you even read his post? All he wants is basic Internet access for a holiday Flat for basic web browsing and Email which even the most cheapest of the cheap ISP is perfectly capable of providing.

Yes i wasn't replying to the op but just wanted to mention zen cs to @pp111 .

If i was in his shoes, i would go with mobile 4g or 5g broadband really regarding the op.

Dan.

ScoTTyBEEE · 21 Jul 2019 at 19:56

Get 4g sim and take it with you, ditch bt.

Vodafone do unlimited everything for 20 quid a month.

b0rn2sk8 · 21 Jul 2019 at 20:33

Except the latency on 4g is pretty horrific and 5G doesn't exist or work indoors.

Cheap fixed line internet is more reliable, consistent, cheaper and you are supplied with the hardware needed...

Any consumer ISP will be fine, Talk Talk, Plusnet etc. sign up via Quidco and get some cash back!

ScoTTyBEEE · 21 Jul 2019 at 21:44

I’ve been on 4g for over a year, I can’t say it feels any different to fixed.

lltfdaniel · 22 Jul 2019 at 21:23

Har har, i found the ops post here > https://forums.thinkbroadband.com/general/t/4621569-is-cheap-broadband-ok.html .

Watson23 · 26 Jul 2019 at 11:31

Sky is far better, cheaper and reliable than BT and UK support no Indian call centres during office hours.