[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]
On 28/05/2021 12:26, Gordon Henderson wrote:
On Fri, 28 May 2021, Jon Davey via list wrote:Hi all. Well the email heading says it all really. I'm looking to move from talktalk as my bill seems to be increasing each and every money !.... -- (sent using CLAWS mail)With few exceptions all ISPs are UK wide.The exceptions are the ones laying their own fibre - e.g. Gigaclear. Just google for them if interested although often there are things like local advertisements to let people know they're available.So unless Virgin cable is available it's an ISP who uses the BT wholesale network, or similar - e.g. BTW for the last mile copper (or fibre) then a wholesale carrier bake to their own HQ. (which may be BT or others)You need to shop around and pick one. Remember that price isn't always a good indicator. It used to be that you could pay a little more and get good service but I do not believe that to be the case anymore.Also see what they're bundling - I've no idea about TT - but do you get online TV/movies, sports/music channels, etc. ? And if-so, do you really need them?E.g. I used to be with Zen - it was more expensive than my current ISP and their support was terrible - to the point that after several months of bad service I dumped then, then it took them another few months of discussion for them to eventually admit their failing and offer me a refund - by which time I've moved house. Their main failing is that they never listened to me when someone unknown to me (and them) tried to take over my phone line and internet service. Despite phone calls and emails they failed to stop it and I was left without phone and Internet service. I will never use, nor recommend Zen.Right now I am paying less than I paid to Zen and my line speed is over twice as fast and I get an uptime of 4+ weeks. With Zen my line was resetting almost daily.I use an no-frills ISP, so have my own modem, router, Wi-Fi access points, etc. and am capable of doing my own first-line support (but I also used to run my own ISP, so easy for me). They also don't handle voice calls, so I get service via an SoGEA connection. I have a phone line but no phone number. It's data only. Who needs a fixed phone line these days anyway? I've been carrying my phone with me for decades now.https://1310.io/I have their slowest offering and only get 75Mb/sec. (a limitation of my exchange), but they're not for everyone.
This matches my experience - for a long, long time (hmm since early London so maybe 20 years now I guess) I have _only_ cared about the internet line coming into my property and nothing else. No extra services, no bundled crap, no phone line or number, no TV, no nothing. I want maximum internet with minimum crap and I'm prepared to pay for it.
To this day I've kept it up - like Gordon I carry my only phone in my pocket and have done for a long time. Like Gordon I'm my own 1st level support and expect to handle any and all problems that come my way. I do have a "landline" number but it's been delivered purely over the internet service for a long time (and I route it to my mobile anyway most of the time).
The only difference really is I'm lucky enough to have Virgin coverage here so I have cable, and I get the biggest+fastest option they offer and upgrade every opportunity I get. I cannot recommend them enough.
And finally someone who agrees with me about Zen! Zen have not been a small high quality family run ISP for a long, long time and I don't know why people still think they are. Zen absolutely suck and if I'm unlucky enough to find new clients still using them the first thing to do is move them away. Their customer support still has a good reputation for being polite and quick to answer in my experience which is something... but they lack the technical ability to actually fix any of their many, many mistakes. Avoid.
The same goes for TalkTalk and PlusNet: both are bargain, cut rate terrible ISPs. By all means feel free to use them but as a consequence you will enjoy bargain cut rate internet. They have both elevated over-subscription to a previously unheard of pinnacle and frequently struggle to deliver a single webpage at crunch times during the day (mid afternoon to early evening particularly).
As far as I know there is literally only one really high quality "boutique" style ISP left in the UK now and someone else mentioned them: Andrews & Arnold (https://www.aa.net.uk/). They are extremely unusual in as much as they actually seem to care about what they're doing.
-- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG https://mailman.dcglug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq