Warning long post.
Well, we have had zzoomm for I think it is 3 weeks now.
Ordering process.
Very easy. Quick to sign you up. the original offer was i think it was £65 a month for a 1gb up and down. 6 months free. (2-year contract) £20 install fee and i think there was also a £10 admin fee.
We had to wait 2 weeks. but during that time the offer changed for all the plans. so we thought why not and went for the 2gb up and down for £19.99 for the first 3 months then £65 per month after for a 12-month contract with free installation and no admin fee. so we switched to the new package. we did this via both email and telephone.
Install day.
O have read so many nightmare stories about how they install it(dodgy installs the mess they make and leave, so we were dreading it)but for us, it was a pleasure. They turned up in the morning 10 am. Two lads who were really nice and helpful. they explained what they had to do and roughly how long it would take. (just over an hour).
They suggested a route from our nearest telephone pole (for want of a better name) this would go across the road and come to our property on the left-hand side and asked what we thought. i did point out it would have looked silly going to the left corner of our property and then a long run of cable to where they were going to install the outside box. So I said i didn't really want that. and suggested the right-hand side it would be less noticeable. he looked and agreed. So that is what they did.
So off he went to start work with the cable on the pole. Meanwhile, the other guy asked where we wanted the inside box(The modem I showed him. this was fine.
Btw we had no choice where the white box went. he basically said it had to go there. So anyhow he then proceeded to fit the outside white box. then drilled a hole for the cable to come into the house. fitted the modem to the wall. Whilst he drilled the hole for the cable to come i asked him if he could add another hole for a cable i needed to put through for our ring video doorbell. He was nice enough and did it for us. This all took approx 40 mins to complete.
The test phase
Once the above had been finished he then got a tablet out and we had to wait around 25 mins for the initial boot-up and firmware updates. This seemed to take a very long time. once that had finished he then did a speed test. he was getting a constant 900 mb up and down. He then showed me and i was erm we are supposed to be on the 2gb connection (he had no idea of what package we were having and then said they do not have a way of testing that package(strange i thought) He then said it might take a while to initialize and gradually the speed would go up and sync to what we had ordered. To be honest we was just happy we had internet. With that was the installation finished.
Use and customer services
A few days on we still were only receiving 900mb up and down. so we phoned up and explained what had happened they confirmed we was indeed on the 2gb package and escalated it to the tech support team.
A few days later still on the same 900mb package so again on the phone. i was advised to email the tech support team and then was assigned a tech assistant.
Now here comes the OMG moment that was so obvious and we never thought of it and nor did the tech support on the phone.
In an email from tech support, he said we won't be able to utilize the 2gb connection because we need to be connected via the 2.5gb port on the back on the supplied router. And then suggested we try that. reboot the router and modem and see how we get on with that, again waited, and yup still the same 900mb. so i sent another email to the tech guy. explaining what we had tried.
Another email in my inbox(reply from the tech guy) I opened up the email and then read " We can see you're currently only connecting at 1000mb. which means that the highest speed you will get is what you are currently getting 900mb. facepalm time. We won't be able to get the 2gb package our house utilizes cat 5e cables and 1gb switches.
Shopping time.
I needed a 2.5gb lan card and also a 2.5gb switch. and we also got some new cat 7 cables.
So i got a 2.5gb card and some new cat7 cables ordered. they arrived. (next day) i then eagerly plugged in the card and routed the new cat 7 cable, I then did a speed test. yup still getting 900mb by this time I'm getting fed up lol.i then shoot off another email. and again explain what i have done. he then replies " I've had to do some work on the back end try again and let me know how it goes" Again i did a speed test and my eyes lit up. wooohooo 2.1 gb down. then i go off and make a coffee and come back and the upload speed is only 200mb. I then have to send off another meail. and again he replies "it should be now fixed and tells me to try again" this i do and finally 2.1 gb up and down. Finally.
We then researched for a 2.5gb switch we got an 8 port one. £190 later it arrives.
Connect up my pc and 2 sons pcs, i was getting the 2.1gb speeds but my 2 sons were only getting 900mb(They both have newer computers than me so their motherboards both have 2.5gb ports on) So i unplug my nice new shiny cat 7 cable into the witch and up to each of there computers and bang they were both getting the 2.1gb speed off my cable.
So again had to order 2 more cat 7 cables. they arrived and worked perfectly.
But this is not the end of it.....
We had an email of zzoomm that there was scheduled maintenance and the internet would go down for some time. on the day of the maintenance the internet goes down but only for 40 mins it comes back up and again we were only getting 900mb. Again i have to email them they reply nothing was wrong there end and it's all fine. but around 20 mins after i had emailed them it went back up toi 2.1gb down. but again the upload speed was 200mb. again i had to email them they then reply nothing wrong there end.by this time i am not a happy chappy. I then email them stating how I'm not happy with the service and hoping i do not have to email them every time there is maintenance.
they replied and said no we should not and they apologized. 2 Weeks in and not a single problem since.
Thank you for reading my very long post.
