Internet and the Phone.

[Erfolg]

We have started the process of moving house.

At present the house is not connected to the hard wired/Copper system as operated by "Out reach".

The house receives a signal via a aerial, the signal is amplified via a Labgear distribution system. The TV should be OK.

However that does mean that we have no phone or Internet connection.

Where we are at present is served by Virgin. The area we have moved to does not have a cable network, I have been told.

So what are the options? Which service providers are to be avoided, which provide a good cost effective service.

A foot note, i am no fan of "British telecom", having been a customer some years back. i was left disconnected by a fault for some several weeks. Lots of promises as to compensation and repair were made. This happened three times. Thereafter I relied on my mobile phone.

Any ideas?

[Wingman]

Yep BT have the worlds worst customer service - you always get the impression that retail customers are just a nuisance to them! Erfolg you can go here to see who provides broadband in your new area and also what kind of speed you will possibly get then you can make your choice from that. I'm with TalkTalk and they have been OK - sorted out a speed problem I had and even sent me a spare router but I've heard others complaining about them but then I've heard lots of complaints about Virgin as well - I guess it's horses for courses and pot luck

Edited By Wingman on 22/02/2016 19:01:06

[Martin Whybrow]

We used to have Virgin before we moved but the village we moved to isn't serviced by Virgin, so we've gone over to ADSL. We are using PlusNet and I've generally been impressed with their service, the one let down we had was due to BT OpenReach failing to arrive for a scheduled appointment, but that can't be blamed on PlusNet. Since we moved in, the village has had fibre installed, so we switched over and it's improved our broadband speeds significantly (and it also reduced the price slightly).

[Tony Smith 7]

We've been with Plusnet since last June and their service stinks. The only thing they did right was to give me something in writing permitting me to leave prior to the end of the contract without penalty.

As for the original question, I'm not clear which house is being referred to where - will the new house have an Openreach copper line available? If not that seriously reduces your options, which would be either Cable, Satellite or 4G unless there's something else on offer locally. Is BT providing FTTH/FTTP in the area?

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

PlusNet, never had an issue

John

[kc]

I suppose the question is whether there is any need to have landline when it alone costs about 200 pound a year plus whatever is charged for broadband after the first year presently 240 pounds for BT. So 440 pounds a year. Maybe it is possible to just use a mobile?

And what will Erfolg be charged to install a landline if there is none existing?

[Neil67]

PlusNet - in my experience, customer service poor despite their advertising blurb. If you can get through to their customer service department expect to spend a lot of time listening to dreadful music. And if they pass you to another department you go back to the end of the queue and more music. They blame everybody else for faults, ie it's BT, it's offcom, it's your installation et al.

[Lee Damms]

Erfolg, I've always been with BT and had no problems, perhaps I've been lucky. I think when things go wrong they can all be bad. The only thing I would say is deal with a firm that has onshore fault reporting if you can find one and that doesn't guarantee anything even then, sorry to be so cynical.

Regards Lee

[Erfolg]

The cost of a landline connection is bothering me. I know of one users being quoted a few thousand pounds, for a connection. That is until getting a BT quote, then the cost was nominal.

I am on Virgin Cable at present. It is not available in St. Annes.

As for the others, having the names and some idea as to what the options are is what I needed. The first step in understanding options and what is supplied. This is something I have not had an interest, as NTL then Virgin, have never failed above a couple of hours, perhaps 5 times in many many years.

[cymaz]

I'm with Sky phone and broadband. Never had a problem, their customer service is great. They always try to help and you always get some sort of resolution.

My router has been playing up by dropping out the Internet now and again. Phoned them up.." oh, she said I see it's nearly 7 years old, I will speak to my supervisor ". A few days later new router, cable and filters and free !

Forgot to mention, I'm quite near the exchange.....that really doesn't help Erfolg....sorry

Edited By cymaz on 22/02/2016 22:13:08

[Tony Harrison 2]

I've used Zen (Bradford) as my ISP for some years now, since I need professional Net access and Zen are professionally recommended: they often score top place among UK ISPs. Their tech support and customer service have always proved excellent. Recommended.

Phone? I moved my formerly BT landline account to Zen, who are cheaper & better. For mobile, I was with Orange/EE for 15 years but dumped them in favour of Three after an extended trial. So far, so good - and Three offers very good foreign service, no extra charges for the increasing amount of time I spend in France. Again, recommended.

rgds Tony

[flight1]

All the main providers are about the same with service they have all mucked someone about and given good service, also they all use open reach and the same wires into the house unless you have fiber optics available

plus net is owned by BT. shop around for the best package for your needs and pay line rental upfront for a saving (they all do it).

The other option is to see if 4G is good in your aria and go for a mobile data contract easily got for about the cost of the average land line rental l£17/month i see £20 for unlimited data/ texts and 200 min to unlimited calls. I will be going that way as soon as 4g gets to my location

as for tv if the terrestrial signal is no good for good free view reception you can install freesat which is the same as free view but via the sky satellite. you don't need a sky box for this. others are available.

Edited By flight1 on 23/02/2016 00:00:37

[Kevin Wilson]

I have been with Sky for 15+ years and not had a problem.
My experience has been the same as Cymaz, totally positive and always helpful.
I can recall three failures of service, one BT external wiring, one internal wiring diagnosed by BT and a router failure which was rectified by Sky sending a new router foc and within a day or two.

Most of the providers rely on BT for that final hop into the home. So can suffer many the same issues.

[Jon Laughton]

I am with BT and have had problems and yes the customer service has been truly appalling (I am being kind!) Their call centres in India are too remotely located and out of touch so no wonder they are being repatriated after so many complaints.....Why do I stick with them - well because if there are problems with the physical network they own it and so operate it for any provider: a neighbour who has Sky had this problem with neither side prepared to admit fault. After a month of arguing BT finally admitted it was their problem...seems they cannot argue with themselves (I hope).

When the broadband is working it is fine....I don't envy you moving house though!

Edited By Jon Laughton on 23/02/2016 07:58:11

[Dai Fledermaus]

Been with PlusNet for several years now and found them excellent, broadband almost faultless. Previously we were with TalkTalk and they were a disaster. As others have said it's pot luck. Get the best deal you can where you can.

[Allan Bowker]

Plusnet for me, customer service is very good and their network is quick.
Zen are the best, but you will pay for the privilege.

I tried Sky for a year but they do not allow you to use your own router (which for was a problem) and their network is not as good as Plusnet. Sky and TalkTalk use their own equipment at the exchange and tend to have a high contention ratio (swamped with subscribers).

Most ISP's are BT wholesale resellers unless you are in an area where a company has its own independent telecoms network (like Virgin Media).

Edited By Allan Bowker on 23/02/2016 14:00:09

[Peter Jenkins]

Erfolg, the bad news is that BT Openreach (or not so open with not so much reach) is responsible for the "last mile". In other words, every other provider has to go via the telephone wire that connects your house to the telephone/broadband network. Openreach is also responsible for the roll out of broadband where there is no cable - which generally means outside cities and the bigger towns.

Sorry - but that's the way it is until the Government decides to separate Open Reach from BT.

[John Helling]

If only a temp measure as moving house.

Try mobile WiFi, I use 3 mobile when I am in my caravan away from home, on Pay as you go it's cost effective for temp connection.

True it is slower than brosdband, but better than nothing and no contract.

All the best

John H

[Tony Harrison 2]

Posted by Peter Jenkins on 23/02/2016 14:23:55:

Erfolg, the bad news is that BT Openreach (or not so open with not so much reach) is responsible for the "last mile". In other words, every other provider has to go via the telephone wire that connects your house to the telephone/broadband network....

This is key. A short time ago my Devon village got fibre-optic to the green cabinet, after years of my wondering when (or if) this would happen. We now have a reasonable 20mbps or so download speed, rather than the maximum and highly erratic 6.5 mbps formerly. But it still varies according to the weather! Those 300m between the green cabinet and my house make all the difference, reliant as they are on BT's rubbish hardware that is decades old - the final bit is a dangly wire into my roofspace from a condemned telephone pole with a metal box on top, the door of which has been known to fly open in strong winds and let the rain in...

Especially since my ISP is Zen, BT/Openreach are practically impossible even to contact, let alone deal with.

rgds Tony

[Stuart Z]

Hi

A BT user for many years and been happy with the service. I guess I've been lucky but nothing to really complain about

[Erfolg]

Seems that I will be loosing a lot not having Virgin media available. They have been very good over the many years including when NTL.

So at the end of the day it seems that i need to use BT. So where does talktalk etc come in?

It does seem I have been in a protected bubble for these years, and now its has been popped, by BT

[Robert Parker]

Hi Erfolg,

I changed over to BT just before Christmas from Sky. It has been not a pleasant experience from the start and not a lot of improvement since then.

I was with Sky for many years. I live in Powys and it is rural, sheep out number the people. I was fed up of the slow broadband speed I was getting around 12-15, however, after changing over to BT claiming I would get upto 24 they did point out that it would take a few days for the speed to "settle" after I changed over. 8 weeks on the other day I got a disappointing 1.7!!!!!!

I thought about upgrading to fibre with a staggering speed in my area of 72. As I am now an existing customer this offer is not available to me apparently.

So I am now going to have to sit it out until December when the contract runs out and go back to Sky at least the speed although what appeared to be slow it was constant.

Sorry I just wanted to get it off my chest but if it helps at all.

Regards

Robert

[Engine Doctor]

Hi Robert. From what you say, it sounds as if you have been mis-sold you broadband by BT. If they cannot deliver the goods then take action against them and get out of the contract. They are bullies . Get some advice from OFCOM ,or Citizen advice. Make a noise and get the problem sorted. The "New customer" get out is another annoying tactic that large companies use; poorly treated overcharged customers subsidising new customers is wrong. Paying for rubbish for a year is wrong especially if they are not trying to sort it.

Edited By Engine Doctor on 25/02/2016 10:24:50

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Have you complained to BT about this, Robert? What was the minimum estimated speed when you applied for service?

[Robert Parker]

Hi Both,

BT point out that the broadband speeds are upto ...... and no minimum speed quoted, crafty.

I did phone customer services last year but after an hour or so of have you tried unplgging the router and swapping Ethernet cables etc etc I had had enough it was very difficult with the language issue having to repeat everything that I said. I assume their customer services centre is not UK based.

I would like to talk about it to BT and I would like to upgrade to superfast broardband. You think that an existing customer who wanted to upgrade to a more expensive product they would be more than willing to accept.

Regards

Robert