Spec me a new ISP

[BUDFORCE]

I'm interested in the suggestions for Zen.

They look to be among the dearer options?

It absolutely baffles me the attitude some people have.

This isn't directed at you I hasten to add.

But this is a hardware enthusiast forum, they do research in to the best possible PC hardware components, premium power supplies, high end tech.

......then skimp out on some ****** cheap ISP.

 

[ChrisD.]

It absolutely baffles me the attitude some people have.

This isn't directed at you I hasten to add.

But this is a hardware enthusiast forum, they do research in to the best possible PC hardware components, premium power supplies, high end tech.

......then skimp out on some ****** cheap ISP.

Doesn’t really apply in the same way. I’d choose PlusNet over Zen, their support are just as good and you don’t have to worry about your traffic being routed by the wrong ISP gateway.

If spending a premium then go with Aquiss.

As I said Zen are not what they were, yet they remain expensive.

When Zen moved me to their own internal network without notifying me they were doing so, my ping tripled and their attitude was very much ‘go away annoying customer’. Wouldn’t go near them now after that. Speeds tanked as well.

 

[JollyJamma]

Mostly agree, but 1gbps was only £1-2 more per month than 500mbps... So depends on the gap in price.

Ah well that's fair enough then, I'd also get a 1gig line for £2 a month more.

My cousin said that he went for the 1gig line and it was costing him £60 a month which was mental but he might have been a little confused and that included the phone contracts for him and his partner.

 

[BUDFORCE]

Doesn’t really apply in the same way. I’d choose PlusNet over Zen, their support are just as good and you don’t have to worry about your traffic being routed by the wrong ISP gateway.

If spending a premium then go with Aquiss.

As I said Zen are not what they were, yet they remain expensive.

When Zen moved me to their own internal network without notifying me they were doing so, my ping tripled and their attitude was very much ‘go away annoying customer’. Wouldn’t go near them now after that. Speeds tanked as well.

Yeah I mean my post wasn't exactly aimed at you either or saying Zen is necessarily better then plusnet.

But people do get some right ****** ISP's to save a few quid and are constantly moaning about poor service, yet sit on absolute top end premium hardware it makes no sense to me.

I hear good things about Aquiss, I would consider them. Plusnet, maybe, I know you have not had a good experience with Zen but I have been with them since 2008 and had no issues at all. I got a lifetime gaurantee price on 500 FTTP which works flawlessly so I cant fault them at all.

 

[MrRockliffe]

Yeah I mean my post wasn't exactly aimed at you either or saying Zen is necessarily better then plusnet.

But people do get some right ****** ISP's to save a few quid and are constantly moaning about poor service, yet sit on absolute top end premium hardware it makes no sense to me.

I hear good things about Aquiss, I would consider them. Plusnet, maybe, I know you have not had a good experience with Zen but I have been with them since 2008 and had no issues at all. I got a lifetime gaurantee price on 500 FTTP which works flawlessly so I cant fault them at all.

I think it comes down to the mentality of monthly committed payment vs one off costs.


I catch myself doing it sometimes.


“Oh but Aquiss is £2 a month more than Plusnet”

Also me: buys £15 of Biltong for one sitting



With internet it’s one of those things where you just want to remove that stress of rubbish service (physical service of internet and customer service)


Every time I had an issue with Virgin, nightmare to sort.

Dealing with Starlink - nightmare to sort.

 

[Haggisman]

Yeah I mean my post wasn't exactly aimed at you either or saying Zen is necessarily better then plusnet.

But people do get some right ****** ISP's to save a few quid and are constantly moaning about poor service, yet sit on absolute top end premium hardware it makes no sense to me.

I hear good things about Aquiss, I would consider them. Plusnet, maybe, I know you have not had a good experience with Zen but I have been with them since 2008 and had no issues at all. I got a lifetime gaurantee price on 500 FTTP which works flawlessly so I cant fault them at all.

I guess part of the argument is that a lot of the time it only really matters if something goes wrong and you need to actually contact support. Sure there are probably some poor ISPs with terrible routing and uptime, but most of them are just re-sellers of the same network, with the only difference being what it says on your bill and who you speak to when something goes wrong.

Your hardware analogy would only make sense if e.g.an RTX5060 had virtually the same performance as an RTX5090, and the only difference was that if your GPU ever broke, it would take a week to get a replacement for the 5060, whereas the 5090 had a 4hr swapout guarantee.

Sure, that peace of mind can be worth the money, but it's also potentially a huge waste of cash if nothing ever goes wrong.

“Oh but Aquiss is £2 a month more than Plusnet”

Also me: buys £15 of Biltong for one sitting

If it was only £2 then sure, but it's significantly more than that!

For 12 months on the gigabit openreach plan it's £320 with Plusnet vs £650 with Aquiss, that's more than double; £27.50/month, or almost 2 lots of Biltong

 

[robj20]

It absolutely baffles me the attitude some people have.

This isn't directed at you I hasten to add.

But this is a hardware enthusiast forum, they do research in to the best possible PC hardware components, premium power supplies, high end tech.

......then skimp out on some ****** cheap ISP.

I used to be the sort that happily went with the cheapest. It's only when you get bitten that you realise why they are cheaper.
I have had issues with BT, Sky and Plusnet, went with Aquiss and it was a breath of fresh air, now I'm with IDNET who are great as well.

 

[radderfire]

Back in the day when ADSL broadband was new, Zen was very much ahead in terms of customer service and product. They were a smaller company that competed on service, and the difference was quite stark. Nowadays, Zen has grown and other ISPs like BT and Plusnet have had time to improve and refine their products and the product and customer service difference has come down. However, when I've had to move my broadband to a new property, it's always been smooth with Zen, I've never had a reason or desire to switch, and I'm happy to pay the slight premium.

Back in the day, the budget broadband providers also had a higher risk of providing a really terrible experience with poor connectivity and poor customer service, as they were overloaded. I'd say this was no longer so extreme, so the gap has narrowed.

Plusnet is of course owned by BT.

Aquiss is probably the modern equivalent of Zen back in the day. A niche provider with a premium product and service.

 

[champ222]

Thanks guys. I managed the get that good deal that was quoted in original post with EE via uswitch. It seems top cashback has tracked with Uswitch, and there is mention of a Gift card also.... we'll see, but even that aside, its a much better deal than i'm getting with Virgin. i went for 1Gbs. not much more than the 500k. The higher upload speed will be handy too. My house is wired with CAT6.

Its getting installed on Saturday.

 

[MrRockliffe]

If it was only £2 then sure, but it's significantly more than that!

For 12 months on the gigabit openreach plan it's £320 with Plusnet vs £650 with Aquiss, that's more than double; £27.50/month, or almost 2 lots of Biltong

For me it was about £2 a month more over a 12 month period as Aquiss was 6 months half price

 

[inam22]

Grain broadband if you got them in your area.