Well, I've had a slowly dropping SRN(ratio) (from 8 to 5) for the last few weeks (months?) and decided to phone mumble-mumble this pip-emma
Got through about 4 levels (or so) of press x to get ...
to be told it would be at least 20 minutes before I could get to talk to a 'real' person, and it was better to call between 12 noon and 4:30 pm - it was 15:30!!!!
Oh! I hung up ...
So do I go for 100GB from A&A for 25 UKP or Unlimited from Zen at 21.40 UKP?
What are either like for getting stuff fixed? (I know A&A are supposed to be the dog's dnagly bits ...)
POTS is fine, quiet line check is ... well ... quiet.
There has been a small drop in syc speed but the loop attenuation is still
I was with A&A some time back and they were good then, AFAIK they are still good. I'd consider them again, but they are just to expensive for me to justify (FTTC and 500GB a month) compared to the all you can eat mainstream ISP's.
Since 1991 I've only had to make 3 phone calls to an ISP for support so my experience may not be that relevant for someone who requires more hand holding.
One support call was to Zen where on realising that I may have been clued up on what I was taking about the person at the other end of the line didn't go though a script and immediately concluded that my lack of broadband wasn't due to my end of the link. The telecom problem was sorted within 24hours.
A second problem with Zen was when one of my email accounts was compromised and they suspended it. They had the courtesy of phoning me up and leaving a sensible message on my answer-phone about what had happened and why. A quick phone call to Zen sorted the solution to problem and they phoned me back soon afterwards to confirm 'problem sorted'
I recommend them.
One thing to consider is that Zen are a 9 to 5 Monday to Friday [1] for support/rectification BUT in my experience seldom required.
[1] I've not checked before writing the support hours and it may have changed since I last looked.
Well if the Zen unlimited uses the English meaning of the word "unlimited" ie without limits (of any sort) rather than a marketing use of the word(*).
I tried to check on the Zen site but can't find a £21.40 unlimited offer, neither can I find a clear definition of "unlimited".
Do Zen provide a raw full fat connection to the internet or do they traffic shape or block or filter things?
AA are very good and persistent, they don't let BT get away with anything. AIUI Zen have a similar reputation, comment from others?
Slow degradation of the line won't be an easy one to get accepted as a fault unless the sync speed is now consistently below the FTR (Fault Threshold Rate).
(*) ie there are unspecified limits associated with an "Acceptable Use Policy".
I'm on a Zen 50G lite account but no port restrictions at any time and I cannot identify any throttling. Fixed IP.
In the past I've had I had a f2surf account which worked well until talktalk acquired it. It then became very much estate agent speak. No port blocking = we turn of this port during peak hours but you can use it 10pm to 6 am. Unlimited access = but only when we don't randomly switch off the ports. Open and honest support = except when we lie to you.
Zen are not cheap, but our experience has only been good, and we have been with them eight years now.
Two(?) years ago in January - with much flooding and high winds the next village to us had two trees fall across multi line BT cables, taking out two blocks each of 10 to 20 houses - most on BT contracts. The BT delays on repair became something of a cause célèbre in the local papers - one group in desperation eventually eventually rejoining the cable themselves, only to be threatened with prosecution by BT, the other eventually getting their connection back two months later.
At about the same time our line (ADSL at the time) became noisy (POTS) and intermittent on the internet. It sounded like a wet joint to me in a flooded duct (I've heard similar spitting and spats on long phantom powered mic lines) so phoned Zen. They decided I probably had a good idea of the fault, didn't bother with the script, got onto BT, and the problem was cleared in two visits over the next three days - something of a contrast to the story above. As a residential BT customer you absolutely have no clout with Openreach - but Zen do.
When we decided to go to FTC a year later Zen arranged the whole thing with BT, who turned up when they were supposed to, found an existing fault (one leg of our copper pair down to earth), installed the converter box, and came back the next day to check the speeds was up to scratch and stable. Day after that Zen phoned to see if all was well and that I was happy.
I have no experience with A&A, but from our experience with Zen, I would heartily recommend them.
There was an item on one of the newspapers "consumer champion" sites about some guy who on ordering BT infinity discovered it was a "diy job"! (his words) and beyond him
Eh!
What is this "BT infinity" if its more difficult that just plugging in a power supply and three cables (and how can it possibly be made any simpler?)
An installer fits the equipment and checks you have a connection to your computer. Or that's what happened here. Very efficient. I have a few on this LAN, so did have to make some alterations there.
With mine, there are two mains powered boxes - one before what looks like a fairly normal router. Dunno if it's all in one these days.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.