Zen Static IP Address

[the-evaluator]

Good points.

I'm not sure about running my own email. I suppose running it myself would be cheaper, but it seems like a little troublesome.
I might try Proton Free.Then that gives me the option to expand the service I get from them in the future.

There's degrees of running it yourself. In the past I've run my own mail server initially at my house on the end of a Zen ADSL connection (which I really wouldn't recommend). These days I can't be bothered so my domains have lived in Office 365 for quite a few years. Find a hosting company that you like and go with that, cost will be minimal for the hosting and the domain itself.

ProtonMail are fine, I've used them in the past. I seem to remember you can bring your own domain name over them them too.

 

[Purdy]

Aquiss.

Gave them a look based on this thread + ISPReviews

Been very good communication thus far (sort of expected when being a 'potential' customer to be fair), explained our moving in situation to them and they even called back to make sure they fully understood it in regards to preparing to submit the activation request to BT/network.
Moving into a new property and having no idea if the previous owners have notified Sky with enough notice to have their ONT disconnected by day I move in is an absolute ********, potentially no internet for a while.

 

[SpellowHouse]

Researching this, it seems that IDNET and Aquiss are the new Zen. They have both overtaken Zen in ratings. Zen are increasing the number of customers they have, but it seems that service is slipping as they do that.

IDNET are cheaper than Aquiss, and they provide email, whereas Aquiss do not. Both supply free static IP's.

I am now very seriously looking at Proton Mail, just to make them independent of my ISP. Unfortunately, the free service only has one email and the VPN doesn't work with P2P so that means it would have to be the paid service. There is a small additional cost, but I can negate that by reducing the speed of my service. I really don't need 300mbps.

The Proton service looks pretty good, I like the service and the app. It includes all sorts of extras such as tracker blocking and so on. The only thing that makes me wary of it is the way they spend so much time looking at what you are doing. Kinda another promise of privacy that doesn't include themselves.

One thing I really do not like about IDNET is that at the end of your contract you fall back to their standard monthly contract, which is significantly more expensive. This means you have to remember, when the year or two years is up, to sign up for another 12 or 24-month contract. If you don't the bills will be a lot, lot more. That's just poor behaviour on their part. Aquiss are much better in that regard in that they just continue at the same contract price you were paying before.

 

[the-evaluator]

I found Proton Mail to work just fine, I had zero problems with it.

If you want absolute privacy then you're never going to get it. Even if you run your own mail server on your own VM or physical server then you'd still have to consider the privacy of the emails you've been sent and have sent - what privacy policy is in place at the company running the email system for the other side of the email conversation?

As for not liking that IDNET drop you back to standard rates at the end of the contract, is it really that difficult to set yourself a note in a calendar somewhere and then deal with it nearer the time? I expect they'll notify you in advance anyway as it's in their interest to have you contracted for a longer period albeit at a lower rate. I think your expectations are somewhat unreasonable.

 

[SpellowHouse]

I found Proton Mail to work just fine, I had zero problems with it.

If you want absolute privacy then you're never going to get it. Even if you run your own mail server on your own VM or physical server then you'd still have to consider the privacy of the emails you've been sent and have sent - what privacy policy is in place at the company running the email system for the other side of the email conversation?

As for not liking that IDNET drop you back to standard rates at the end of the contract, is it really that difficult to set yourself a note in a calendar somewhere and then deal with it nearer the time? I expect they'll notify you in advance anyway as it's in their interest to have you contracted for a longer period albeit at a lower rate. I think your expectations are somewhat unreasonable.

I am not really concerned about privacy, I just dislike companies amassing data on me, because I really hate targetted adverts.

Well, I don't think my expectations are that unreasonable, in that I don't know any other company that changes your rate once you fall out of the contract. These aren't special introductory offers or anything. Neither Zen or Aquiss change the rate once the contract ends.

Anyway, as yet, I am still thinking about it all. I may yet stick with Zen if the rumours about next year's price increases are true.

Oh, another point. I emalled Zen, IDNET and Aquiss, asking various questions. IDNET and Aquiss replied the same day. Zen took a week.

 

[Infidelus]

Zen, in my experience, are really bad at replying to emails. I've waited between 1 and 3 weeks for responses from them in the past and I don't think I've ever had a reply from them in less than 3 or 4 days.

I would be curious if IDNET & Aquiss allow you to set your own reverse DNS or block any ports as these are features I take in to consideration when selecting an ISP as I do run my own mail (Mail-in-a-Box) & web services (Nextcloud, Bitwarden etc) from home.

 

[On Holiday]

Running your own mail from home is grim.
What happens when a mail provider blacklists your entire ASNs IP addresses? Or your ISP one day decides to block mail ports?

They're such common industry practices (and for good reason too) that it'd be unjust to complain to your ISP in those eventualities.

You can get decent hosted mail from £10/year which certainly saves a lot of headaches.

 

[Caged]

Host your own mail server if you want (I wouldn't) but at least use a smart host

 

[SpellowHouse]

Host your own mail server if you want (I wouldn't) but at least use a smart host

As you say, I would rather pay someone to do it, lol.

 

[Infidelus]

When I was with Plusnet my IP address got added to one of the spam lists on occasion for no good reason, but contacting the provider got it removed very quickly. I've not had any issues at all with Zen and I'm quite happy hosting my stuff from home. If it ever stops suiting me I'll probably look around for a VPS but as it's been working well for me for the last 6 years or so for my limited needs I see no good reason to change at the moment .

 

[SpellowHouse]

IDNet list ex-VAT prices on their site, if I look at Openreach 900 Mbps IDNet is £47.50+VAT a month on an 12 month contract which is more expensive than Aquiss and doesn't take into account that you would get 6 months half price with Aquiss.

You might be looking at City Fibre prices which will be cheaper than Openreach, and Aquiss don't do City Fibre at present.

Also, IIRC IDNet use Zen as backhaul, and Zen have had some pretty epic issues in some areas post Plexus migration.

Can I ask you, do Aquiss normally have such good deals? I mean if I could renew every year with the deal they have at the moment then I would probably go for them.

Proton seem to be much better than my existing VPN, albeit more expensive. This would also separate email from my ISP which is probably a good thing. The only thing stopping me moving is the lifetime price I have with Zen. By all accounts, prices are going to keep on going up, which would mean that a move would make little sense. But if I could secure a good deal with Aquiss every year, then I would go for it.

 

[ChrisD.]

Can I ask you, do Aquiss normally have such good deals? I mean if I could renew every year with the deal they have at the moment then I would probably go for them.

Proton seem to be much better than my existing VPN, albeit more expensive. This would also separate email from my ISP which is probably a good thing. The only thing stopping me moving is the lifetime price I have with Zen. By all accounts, prices are going to keep on going up, which would mean that a move would make little sense. But if I could secure a good deal with Aquiss every year, then I would go for it.

They do the new customer deal and that's it. Once it's lapsed, you would be on the regular price. If you downgrade your package, you start a new 12 month contract, albeit without the new customer discount.

Unlike a lot of ISPs, what they list on their site is what you pay. Beside the new customer discount, I've paid the same since it was activated last summer.

 

[SpellowHouse]

They do the new customer deal and that's it. Once it's lapsed, you would be on the regular price. If you downgrade your package, you start a new 12 month contract, albeit without the new customer discount.

Unlike a lot of ISPs, what they list on their site is what you pay. Beside the new customer discount, I've paid the same since it was activated last summer.

I see.

I spoke to Aquiss earlier today, and they did say that a number of people moving to them from Zen complained of Zen latency problems. The only thing that somewhat puts me off is the increased cost.
Aquiss are disproportionally expensive at lower speed services. It basically equates to getting half the speed for the same money I am paying now, and that's a little hard to swallow. IDNET on the other hand, their pricing is much more proportional. If I went for their service, I would actually save money.

 

[SpellowHouse]

I am leaning towards Aquiss and Proton.
My service will be slower, and a little cheaper than I am paying now, but offers improved functionality. Of course it also has a fixed IP. The one HUGE loss is the price-lock. I am expecting a price hike next year, but hopefully it will not turn out to be too much of a disaster.

 

[SpellowHouse]

Ah, OK, cancel plan A. I phoned up Zen to stop everything, and they offered me a deal I just couldn't refuse. Way better than anyone else, even including introductory deals.

However, in all this I have had chance to try out Proton, so I will be moving my VPN to them.

 

[Conanius]

I'm considering a move to Zen (I have BT FTTP at the moment, house also wired for Virgin Media which was awful).

I assume I can do a switch and not change any equipment (I use a Unifi Dream Machine as my Router).... is that right?

 

[ChrisD.]

I'm considering a move to Zen (I have BT FTTP at the moment, house also wired for Virgin Media which was awful).

I assume I can do a switch and not change any equipment (I use a Unifi Dream Machine as my Router).... is that right?

I would suggest reading up on their recent history.

Aquiss would be my vote.

 

[Conanius]

I would suggest reading up on their recent history.

Aquiss would be my vote.

I think you're just up the road from me - Are you using them OK?

 

[ChrisD.]

I think you're just up the road from me - Are you using them OK?

I made some posts in this thread. I left them over 18 months ago I think and wouldn't be in a hurry to sign up with them again.

 

[Conanius]

I meant Aquiss