Good Alternatives to BT Broadband?

[CutThroatJake]

I’d also recommend Zen Internet. Been with them for nearly 10 years.

Great support from their staff in Rochdale and (for me) pretty flawless service

 

[Mleabon]

EE? Same as BT but maybe a bit cheaper?

We are with EE for broadband and that gives you unlimited mobile data too. Obviously on EE sims.

 

[Guigsy]

Because downloads take seconds instead of minutes/hours

I'm just surprised that people download so much. For me it's literally only games and very specific work related files. What are people downloading so frequently?

 

[Coolcats]

We are with EE for broadband and that gives you unlimited mobile data too. Obviously on EE sims.

EE is BT it’s just a different package,and billing system, they are just using the EE brand as it looks sexy. if you have BT email you keep that and log in to the bt site

 

[Coolcats]

I'm just surprised that people download so much. For me it's literally only games and very specific work related files. What are people downloading so frequently?

Most don’t download that much we have 56 mb we run a business with it including lots of Zoom calls etc would we benefit from much faster broadband….probably not and most people don’t.

Even gaming you don’t need that much bandwidth.

If you have multiple family members all living disconnected lives streaming full HD at certain times of the day maybe but how many people live like that?

What broadband speed do I need for streaming?

What speed is a good speed?

www.techradar.com

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[Coolcats]

As you are ftc you can use any of the companies offering you ftc as they use the openreach BT wholesale Fiber network. Same as Bt sky talk talk EE. That all use the open reach BT wholesale Fiber network.

Openreach do not have a network they connect the bits together for whomever contract with them.

 

[Lenny HB]

I’m with PlusNet but I'll be leaving them as soon as my contract ends. I’ve been shafted by them on price. Currently, BT are cheaper for me than PlusNet so I’m switching to BT.

I'm paying £24/month for 145mb full fibre with Plusnet.

 

[dryad]

have been with plusnet throughout my internet journey through firstly waitrose, then john lewis and now directly to them..
never had a problem and if i've needed to ask anything, they are friendly, helpful people..

.

 

[seasideBill]

I know this isn't for everyone but when we left bt about 5 years ago we went with sky and now get everything through it, phone, broadband as well as TV, and it works fine. I don't know what it costs as my son pays for it, but performance wise I can't knock it.

Was with Sky for 10+ years..always had a silly game each renewal when I’d pretend to leave and they’d respond with a lower offer. However, this year they wouldn’t reward my loyalty with the same deal as a new customer so I walked. Shame because the service was good. Now with Onestream for half the price, but service not so good.

 

[Tombola]

Was with Sky for 10+ years..always had a silly game each renewal when I’d pretend to leave and they’d respond with a lower offer. However, this year they wouldn’t reward my loyalty with the same deal as a new customer so I walked. Shame because the service was good. Now with Onestream for half the price, but service not so good.

I was with them from the very start £18.50 full package, they had 1000s off me over the yeras from TV to Broad band etc, ended up over £100.00
shower of 8888ards , dont get a penny off me now after they wanted to charge me another full subscription for moving my didgibox to the static caravan at the weekend.

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[hja]

We are with phone coop. We don’t have fibre anywhere near us so don’t know their prices but for what we get they are very reasonable. Good support if needed. They phone you back when they say they will! Used to be with Zen when in Gtr Manchester, but couldn’t get them down here.

 

[Steve and Denise]

We have had BT halo for a long time now no problems £51.50 a month, with free BTsport whatever that is ? But it is ending soon so will be looking to renew with somebody.
Am I correct in assuming you still have a line rental payment to BT even if you go with other broadband suppliers, ours is included in the £51.50 package.

 

[Tonks]

BT are moving all non business customers over to EE over the next year. EE are a lot cheaper than BT

If that's the case I'll be leaving them. I've had good service from BT, but I left EE because the reception where I live was practically non-existent and doesn't appear to have improved. The phone would ring, and the minute I touched it, never mind actually picked up the call, the signal would drop out. I run a business from home so can't afford to have unreliable connectivity.

 

[canopus]

As has already been pointed out, you can go with providers Tom, Dick or Harry, but they all rely on the BT network and infrastructure ie cables incl FO, Telephone Exchanges, poles, cabinets, etc.
Generally, proximity to larger cities often determines the quality of most internet. In bigger cities companies like Virgin have their own FO networks.

 

[Fontie]

Have a look at this they may be in your area, fast speeds and very competitive.
https://www.youfibre.com/

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[Terry]

If that's the case I'll be leaving them. I've had good service from BT, but I left EE because the reception were I live was practically non-existent and doesn't appear to have improved. The phone would ring, and the minute I touched it, never mind actually picked up the call, the signal would drop out. I run a business from home so can't afford to have unreliable connectivity.

EE are still using the BT landline - nothing has changed for us except the mobiles sims have gone from 20 GB to unlimited for £10 - not changed sims or router- they did say we would change router but after speaking to EE they said if we’re happy to keep BT one Ok. If we do have a problem they would send us the latest /better version.
When I explained it a pain changing all the passwords etc he told us there’s an option to change password on router to the old password so nothing needs doing after the changeWe opted to keep existing

 

[StillGoing]

I'm paying £24/month for 145mb full fibre with Plusnet.

Please don’t get me started. I’m really cross with PlusNet. I’m paying way above that. They’ve cost me a lot of money. Complaints have got me nowhere so I’m voting with my feet. I do not trust them anymore. I was a happy customer for years and recommended them to others but not any more.

 

[canopus]

How long is the contract Terry?

 

[Terry]

How long is the contract Terry?

Hi Ken,
Two years but the sims are on a monthly rolling contract so IF anything better came along we can leave- I don’t envisage anything cheaper than unlimited for £10

 

[Landy Andy]

.

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[Terry]

Talk talk used to put there own boxes in BT exchanges and move your line over from bt box to theirs.

 

[canopus]

Gigaclear aren’t available where we live. You look as though you’re located in the Home Counties which is heavily populated and close to ‘that London’, hence my previous remark.

 

[fat haggis]

Openreach do not have a network they connect the bits together for whomever contract with them.

Who owns the fibre network in UK?


BT Openreach

Openreach operates the largest fibre broadband network in the UK as they've been the main incumbent provider and own most of the UK's telephone network.

 

[hja]

We have had BT halo for a long time now no problems £51.50 a month, with free BTsport whatever that is ? But it is ending soon so will be looking to renew with somebody.
Am I correct in assuming you still have a line rental payment to BT even if you go with other broadband suppliers, ours is included in the £51.50 package.

Our broad band with phone coop includes internet, landline and our mobiles and any chargeable calls all in one package. For us it is about £35 a month.

 

[BrochMike]

I'm sacking BT as my broadband provider.

Jim - has anyone asked why you are sacking them?

Price, service/supply issues , customer service?

Price: Uswitch are fairly reliable at finding best deals - and easy to swap if out of contract.

Supply issues - Unless a new, independent, fibre provider has recently installed something in your neck of the woods, you're unlikely to see improvement in service/supply (all the same wires)

Customer service - everyone will have their own experience - Uswitch can help with general ratings

As an aside, I negotiate regularly & get 70Mb/s for £22/mth (incl landline) from Vodafone but I am frustrated that my mum gets 1.0Mb/s and pays a fortune to Sky and still won't change....
Each to their own...

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[tinkertaylor]

Snap Chas. We also have everything through SKY including all sports and Netflix, telephone and unlimited ultra fast BB all for £129 per month. We still have a sky dish rather than one of their new smart screens.

I'm shocked at that price , £1550 a year!

 

[Coolcats]

Who owns the fibre network in UK?


BT Openreach

Openreach operates the largest fibre broadband network in the UK as they've been the main incumbent provider and own most of the UK's telephone network.

Erm no BT Group owns Openreach Bt owns the exchanges Bt owns the copper cable and the fibre. It’s a complex business with lots of subsidiaries

Even Openreach acknowledges this ‘We're a wholly owned subsidiary of BT Group and our customers are the 688 communications providers who sell phone, broadband and Ethernet services to homes and businesses.’

It may be disappointing but true.

BT runs the telephone exchanges, trunk network and local loop connections for the vast majority of British fixed-line telephones. Currently BT is responsible for approximately 28 million telephone lines in GB. Apart from KCOM Group, which serves Kingston upon Hull, BT is the only UK telecoms operator to have a Universal service Obligation, (USO) which means it must provide a fixed telephone line to any address in the UK. It is also obliged to provide public call boxes.[114]

When the exchanges aware closed and sold off the money goes to BT Group not Openreach.

 

[matbic]

Have a look at Zen Internet, Which recommended supplier and cheaper than BT with no mid term increases.

If you want a really good internet experience it’s important to separate out several things:

The “local loop” as it’s called - that’s the bit that actually goes in to your home and usually to a cabinet nearby. In the UK most of this is done by BT Openreach it’s a virtual monopoly.

Then there is the Internet Service Provider (ISP) they get your connection from the local loop to the internet - they are the ones you pay for access Finally the ISP will hand some of that money on to companies that connect all the ISPs together - these are the backbone providers.

The backbone is key - some ISP companies (BT and Zen Internet etc) run their own backbone others purchase access to it from others.

If you want to get a good internet connection the way the ISP connects you is basically dependant on how they are connected to all the other ISP’s all over the world.

tThe key issues is - how is your ISP connected to the internet or put it another way what backbones do they use.

IDnet use all the major backbone providers (BT, Zen etc) in the UK they are one of the very few who do. They also publish how busy there backbone links are:

Network Status | IDNet

www.idnet.com

I recommend them - definitely not the cheapest but absolutely rock solid.

Please make your own mind up. I am not connected to iDnet but I challenge you to find any other UK company with such transparent information about what you are actually paying for!

Hope this helps.

 

[Jim]

has anyone asked why you are sacking them?

Cutting my nose to spite my face.

They wrote to tell me my braodband was going up on 1st April, it's been on a DD forever and I was away and wasn't too bothered.

Anyway it came up the other day in my todo list to take a look. I checked my bill and it was £51.30 A quick compare the market and found that for half this price I could get the same service. I asked BT when I was out of contract because I think I can get this cheaper. Your contract ended March 2023 Sir. But if you renew now I can give you the same serve for £26.99

So you've charged me double for a year and put it up this April 1st, and I've had BT broadband since BT broadband existed, is that any way to treat a loyal customer!

My fault for not making a reminder for the contract ending, but after all those years, I won't pay BT another penny.

 

[fat haggis]

Erm no BT Group owns Openreach Bt owns the exchanges Bt owns the copper cable and the fibre. It’s a complex business with lots of subsidiaries

Even Openreach acknowledges this ‘We're a wholly owned subsidiary of BT Group and our customers are the 688 communications providers who sell phone, broadband and Ethernet services to homes and businesses.’

It may be disappointing but true.

BT runs the telephone exchanges, trunk network and local loop connections for the vast majority of British fixed-line telephones. Currently BT is responsible for approximately 28 million telephone lines in GB. Apart from KCOM Group, which serves Kingston upon Hull, BT is the only UK telecoms operator to have a Universal service Obligation, (USO) which means it must provide a fixed telephone line to any address in the UK. It is also obliged to provide public call boxes.[114]

When the exchanges aware closed and sold off the money goes to BT Group not Openreach.

We are not talking about copper lines and phone lines. It’s Fiber only. Jim is Fiber to cabinet and is looking to move to another supplier. All suppliers us the open reach Fiber network. FTC is not a clean as ftp not ad fast. But it’s still classed as the open reach Fiber network. It’s completely different.

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