Best broadband deals?

[williamalex1]

Thinking about changing away from Virgin as we don't use their TV service and hardly use the landline.
So, I am looking for the best broadband-only deal, mainly for streaming sports, movies and normal computer wi-fi use, no gaming.
TIA

 

[RichA]

Worth checking if any of the smaller full fibre companies have hit your area yet. Relative to the big companies they're virtually giving it away to get new customers. I recently switched to LitFibre.

 

[backwoodsman]

As above - check out if you have smaller companies providing service in your area.

Have just dropped Virgin at £64/mth and taken up with Community Fibre at £22 per month (both were for 150mbs - which is more than enough for two people using internet, streaming & no gaming). CF are only local to regions of London (I think) but there may be similar providers in your neck of the woods

(Ok, Virgin also provided TV and phoneline but the TV was only the same channels as Freeview, and we didn't want/use the landline).

 

[PJ87]

As above - check out if you have smaller companies providing service in your area.

Have just dropped Virgin at £64/mth and taken up with Community Fibre at £22 per month (both were for 150mbs - which is more than enough for two people using internet, streaming & no gaming). CF are only local to regions of London (I think) but there may be similar providers in your neck of the woods

(Ok, Virgin also provided TV and phoneline but the TV was only the same channels as Freeview, and we didn't want/use the landline).

My BT is 70mbps, I have BT sport (or tnt sport) phone line and BT TV £60 a month

Community fibre will offer me 1gb WiFi plus full house coverage via mesh (which would be good to upgrade the WiFi) £30 per month then tnt sport £30 per month

We don't use the landline , we don't really watch bt TV anymore (Freeview is built into the TV and free sat.. we have an old sky dish so works from that) and use all the apps for watching TV

Seems silly not to switch when my contract ends

 

[KenL]

I've used Plusnet for years, always had good service. call centre too.

 

[cliveb]

I've used Plusnet for years, always had good service. call centre too.

When was the last time you had to call them?
My mother-in-law has been with Plusnet for ages. They were originally a small independent outfit and when you called them you spoke to an actual technician and could have a sensible conversation.
Then BT bought them and their service is now as bad as any of the other big ISPs.

 

[rudebhoy]

The daughter moved into a flat 6 weeks ago. She signed up with Sky who came out to install a few days later. It didn't work and despite numerous phone calls and promises, it's still not working. Turns out they subcontracted it to OpenReach and are blaming them for messing it up. An absolute shambles.

 

[KenL]

When was the last time you had to call them?
My mother-in-law has been with Plusnet for ages. They were originally a small independent outfit and when you called them you spoke to an actual technician and could have a sensible conversation.
Then BT bought them and their service is now as bad as any of the other big ISPs.

About a year ago.

 

[williamalex1]

Worth checking if any of the smaller full fibre companies have hit your area yet. Relative to the big companies they're virtually giving it away to get new customers. I recently switched to LitFibre.

I checked out the smaller providers and best broadband only deals in my area.
Best seems to be Virgin who offer a 24 month deal, first 6 months @ £15 then £30 for the next 18.
Averaging around £26 a month.
Now to find out if the deal is available for existing customers.

 

[CliveW]

The only supplier in this neck of the woods is 4G!

 

[PJ87]

The only supplier in this neck of the woods is 4G!

Starlink

High-speed internet. Available almost anywhere on Earth.

www.starlink.com

It's Available UK wide now I believe

 

[ThinBullet]

I've had so many issues with an LLU companies who weren't BT.

For example TalkTalk, who went down so much, and I always had to get an OpenReach engineer out, and they always blamed my internal wiring, and tried to charge me £180, but the underground access hatch feed from the box was flooded and no one checked.
Left them for Sky, and with them, they put whole IP ranges on a testing subnet, with a reduced speed. Takes people a while to notice and when they do they just say you were on a testing line and they forgot to switch it back.

I left them for BT, and i've never had issues since. I just think any company who put their hardware into the BT cabinet, is going to end in problems, and you get what you pay for with BB in the UK. Cheaper doesn't always mean stable, and it can be a nightmare to resolve as you move through the tiers of support to get to speak to someone who can actually diagnose the problem properly.

BT even support me having my own router (USG) and modem (Draytek) connected. Try that with TalkTalk or Sky and they refuse to even conversate with you.

BUT, I work from home so a stable connection is important for me, so if you can cope with potential fallout and hours talking on the phone for a cheaper deal then cool. I just can't be bothered with it all.

 

[Crazyface]

Despite everything Virgin at THE BEST for broadband. Just ring them up and get a deal that suits you. We reduced our down to £30 including Tv but next time don't need TV so will be hoping for about £26. They are the best and fastest. Cable wins everytime.

 

[CliveW]

Starlink

High-speed internet. Available almost anywhere on Earth.

www.starlink.com

It's Available UK wide now I believe

Unfortunately we are surrounded by trees and do not have an uninterrupted view of the sky where the satellites are so Starlink can't guarantee uninterrupted video, web browsing or video calls etc. At £470 initial cost plus £75 a month it is a tad expensive.

 

[jim8flog]

I currently am with a full fibre to house company but when the intro period finishes I am seriously considering getting a 5G wireless router with a sim card slot. The only contract will then be for a sim.
One advantage is that they are portable.

When it comes to land line most companies are now going VOIP as Open Reach ends the use of hard wired landlines.

 

[jim8flog]

.


BT even support me having my own router (USG) and modem (Draytek) connected. Try that with TalkTalk or Sky and they refuse to even conversate with you.

Funny that. When I was with Talk Talk they refused to supply a new router when theirs went down. I simply fitted an unlocked BT hub followed by a Belkin one when I needed WIFI.

 

[williamalex1]

Can someone explain how full fibre broadband works when existing incoming cables are just the original normal wires.

 

[PJ87]

Can someone explain how full fibre broadband works when existing incoming cables are just the original normal wires.

Fibre to the cabinet then copper to the houses

However they are slowly replacing with fibre options for real full fibre

 

[cliveb]

Fibre to the cabinet then copper to the houses

However they are slowly replacing with fibre options for real full fibre

There are a number of small(ish) outfits providing fibre to the home in various locations around the country.
My understanding is that none of the network involved has OpenReach's grubby paws on it.

I am with a bunch called Jurassic Fibre, who cover various towns in Dorest, Devon & Somerset.
I can confirm that there is an actual fibre optic cable coming into my house - no copper involved.
I only have their slowest speed (150Mbps) because I don't need any more. It's currently £20 a month, but that was an introductory offer. (Normally £25).
1Gbps is available for £39. The service seems very reliable, so I have no idea how good their customer support is (because I haven't needed to call).

OpenReach also provide FTTP in places. Interestingly, I see that they claim they could supply it to my house, even though I'm pretty certain they haven't installed anything in the road

 

[williamalex1]

Is 11Mbps download speed as offered by Shell Energy enough to stream sports and movies ?