Broadband Provider recommendations

[UnderOpenSky]

Aye, the thing that really puts me off is as I'm an online/MMO gamer, I've always avoided using wifi - download speed doesn't actually count for much with gaming (well except for downloading patches!), but latency does and typically a wired ethernet connection to a router is better when you're in the middle of combat, even with a slow dl speed (and as you rightly guess, my PC doesn't have wifi, I'd need a USB adaptor for it).

I mean yes, but I seem to remember your not a twitch gamer. I'd be very suprised if most people could notice the difference between wired and WiFi, for gaming, assuming the WiFi connection is decent. That said 4g/5g routers can have an ethernet port. I'd be more concerned about latency from the cellular connection.

 

[Epona]

I mean yes, but I seem to remember your not a twitch gamer. I'd be very suprised if most people could notice the difference between wired and WiFi, for gaming, assuming the WiFi connection is decent. That said 4g/5g routers can have an ethernet port. I'd be more concerned about latency from the cellular connection.

I very much notice the difference between using a wireless and a wired mouse though.

 

[cupid_stunt]

They haven't cabled our road either.
Max speed we can get is BT fibre to the cabinet, 30 meg dl speed.

Have you checked that recently?

I've just just looked up my old address, excluding Virgin and those using the new CityFibre network, so just providers using the [BT] Openreach network - fibre to the cabinet and crap old copper telephone wires into the home, many are offering more than 30Mb, eg. -

PlusNet (ironically owned by BT, but with better deals & customer service) - 66mb @ £26.99pm
Sky - 61mb - £27.00pm
TalkTalk - 77mb - £28.00pm

- no set-up fees for those three, and I guess they all have their own equipment in the local phone exchange, hence better speeds.

BT - 36mb - £33.99pm + £31.99 set-up fee!

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/compare-broadband-deals/

 

[Epona]

Have you checked that recently?

I've just just looked up my old address, excluding Virgin and those using the new CityFibre network, so just providers using the [BT] Openreach network - fibre to the cabinet and crap old copper telephone wires into the home, many are offering more than 30Mb, eg. -

PlusNet (ironically owned by BT, but with better deals & customer service) - 66mb @ £26.99pm
Sky - 61mb - £27.00pm
TalkTalk - 77mb - £28.00pm

- no set-up fees for those three, and I guess they all have their own equipment in the local phone exchange, hence better speeds.

BT - 36mb - £33.99pm + £31.99 set-up fee!

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/compare-broadband-deals/

No, it's the cabling between the cabinet and our home that is the upper limit (even BT originally said they could do us 50 meg connection but then said ah sorry no, you won't get more than 30).
Also regularly drops out because, according to the Openreach guy who came round to test it, some of the cabling is near to a drain and when it rains and there's a lot of run off from the street, it causes problems.
That is the only connection available here, no companies have put in cable along our road, and I suspect the reason for it is because it's a pedestrianised estate and there is some holdup with the council as it's part of the housing estate, rather than being highways agency (not sure of the ins and outs of it, but the highways agency remit doesn't go further than about 20m off from the main road, where the actual road ends).

 

[cupid_stunt]

No, it's the cabling between the cabinet and our home that is the upper limit (even BT originally said they could do us 50 meg connection but then said ah sorry no, you won't get more than 30).
Also regularly drops out because, according to the Openreach guy who came round to test it, some of the cabling is near to a drain and when it rains and there's a lot of run off from the street, it causes problems.
That is the only connection available here, no companies have put in cable along our road, and I suspect the reason for it is because it's a pedestrianised estate and there is some holdup with the council as it's part of the housing estate, rather than being highways agency (not sure of the ins and outs of it, but the highways agency remit doesn't go further than about 20m off from the main road, where the actual road ends).

I get no other companies have put in cable along your road, but other companies operate over the Openreach network with their own equipment in the local exchange, I am not sure I made myself clear on that, in my last post.

One advantage of using a different provider, is they are better at harassing Openreach to fix problems on their crappy network, you shouldn't be getting drop outs like that, if there's a problem with cabling that's near to a drain, they need to bloody fix it, that's their purpose in life!

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

Community Fibre keep putting stuff through the door. Now when I check it's gone from 'we're there soon' to 'we don't have any plans'.

just checked and the message for me has upgraded to:
"

Sorry, we don’t offer service at the address you checked and we don’t have any plans to build here.​

"
thanks for all the leaflets...

i live in a flat in an estate so it probably gets complicated

 

[magneze]

I wonder if they've stopped their roll-out of services all over.

Bit shit really. Virgin Media really need competition.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I wonder if they've stopped their roll-out of services all over.

Bit shit really. Virgin Media really need competition.

Openreach now do Fibre to the Premises in many places, so they can offer similar performance. Which means I could now go with Zen when my contract expires and get similar speeds.

 

[wtfftw]

Useful/interesting site for seeing what is where

Better Internet Dashboard

Lookup and understand the fibre situation of an address within the UK, including multiple service provider checks, mobile data coverage, and planned roadworks.

bidb.uk

 

[Fez909]

Openreach now do Fibre to the Premises in many places, so they can offer similar performance. Which means I could now go with Zen when my contract expires and get similar speeds.

I've just had a new connection installed this morning. It was CityFibre who did the install, FTTP. The engineer said they use Openreach and it's pretty good!

 

[cupid_stunt]

I've just had a new connection installed this morning. It was CityFibre who did the install, FTTP. The engineer said they use Openreach and it's pretty good!

That's strange, in Worthing CityFibre has installed their own network, and use Openreach to do the final installs.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I've just had a new connection installed this morning. It was CityFibre who did the install, FTTP. The engineer said they use Openreach and it's pretty good!

View attachment 434692

Whish I could get uploads like that. My downloads are closed, but nobody offers anything like that.

 

[Fez909]

Whish I could get uploads like that. My downloads are closed, but nobody offers anything like that.

Yeah, most providers were ~1gb download, and between 20mb 200mb for uploads.

I chose Vodaphone purely for the upload speeds. I've been with Virgin for years and tbh, they're fine, but their upload speeds are terrible compared to downloads.

Wasn't even that expensive, either.

£45/month for the internet, with a £5 discount for some reason I forget. And then if I switched my mobile phone to them I got another £4 discount, and their SIM deal they were offering was better than the one I was on, so I did the switch.

So it's £36/month after discounts for 910mb up and down, and £10/month for 100GB data on a 5G SIM. Not too shabby.

 

[Fez909]

Yeah, most providers were ~1gb download, and between 20mb 200mb for uploads.

I chose Vodaphone purely for the upload speeds. I've been with Virgin for years and tbh, they're fine, but their upload speeds are terrible compared to downloads.

Wasn't even that expensive, either.

£45/month for the internet, with a £5 discount for some reason I forget. And then if I switched my mobile phone to them I got another £4 discount, and their SIM deal they were offering was better than the one I was on, so I did the switch.

So it's £36/month after discounts for 910mb up and down, and £10/month for 100GB data on a 5G SIM. Not too shabby.

Another plus point for them (YMMV) is that they installed the fibre from the telephone pole, following the old analogue phone signal. So no digging was needed in the garden.

And speaking of phones, you get a "digital landline" that works from the router. I haven't got a non-mobile phone and haven't ever had one, but considering getting one for work, seeing as I work from home. Then I can stop giving out my personal phone number.

Anyone got any experience with these?

 

[scifisam]

If anyone's considering Sky broadband, I can send you a Friends and Family code. Each person needs a different code, so you'd need to PM me.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Anyone got any experience with these?

Digital lines or just landlines in general. I honestly just don't think either are worth it anymore. I wanted a phone line put into my garden office (digi or real) and the bloke who installed my power just told me it wasn't worth it. This was quite a while ago before I had fibre. . . but he was right. I still had a land line at home for a while, but all work calls since have all been done via video calling, WhatsApp or mobile. The only bonus for me would be the handset. . . . and that isn't even a worry now because I use bone conductor headphones. It's like living in the future.

 

[Fez909]

Digital lines or just landlines in general. I honestly just don't think either are worth it anymore. I wanted a phone line put into my garden office (digi or real) and the bloke who installed my power just told me it wasn't worth it. This was quite a while ago before I had fibre. . . but he was right. I still had a land line at home for a while, but all work calls since have all been done via video calling, WhatsApp or mobile. The only bonus for me would be the handset. . . . and that isn't even a worry now because I use bone conductor headphones. It's like living in the future.

True, I use Slack / Teams / Zoom for 99% of calls, so you're probably right.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Yeah, most providers were ~1gb download, and between 20mb 200mb for uploads.

I chose Vodaphone purely for the upload speeds. I've been with Virgin for years and tbh, they're fine, but their upload speeds are terrible compared to downloads.

Wasn't even that expensive, either.

£45/month for the internet, with a £5 discount for some reason I forget. And then if I switched my mobile phone to them I got another £4 discount, and their SIM deal they were offering was better than the one I was on, so I did the switch.

So it's £36/month after discounts for 910mb up and down, and £10/month for 100GB data on a 5G SIM. Not too shabby.

My torrent ratios would be even better and I'd share Plex with more people. i guess most people just don't need that upload and I should be happy my downloads are quick.