Bye bye Virgin Media

Post by Tweed
After more than 30 odd years with VM and their predecessors I’ve just
cancelled. CityFibre have just installed at my house and I get a far better
service at a much lower price. Lower latency, fixed ipv4 address, ipv6
range of addresses, twice the download speed, 20 times the upload speed,
all at 60% of the cost. I’ve been looking forwards to sacking them after
their recent series of prices rises. Over the past few years they’ve more
or less doubled the cost.

You got that one wrong. NTL didn't start in the Interweb game until 1990
- I should know as I was one of the first 300 beta testers my employer
having sold my dept to NTL as of 1st July 1999. What is more that was
dial-up - 0845 455 0520 as I remember. Telewest were much later.

I have been with them ever since through thick and thin and have only
had four outages in all that time. But like you the time is coming that
I have to consider moving as CityFibre piped our area in the first year
of lockdown - it was actually TT that set it off but CF bought the fibre
business off them. Add to that I am paying £42/m (inc discount!) for
50/5 (Interweb and a phone we never use) and can get 150 both ways for
about £27 on fibre, VM have written the annual uplift into the contract
so you can no longer use it as an excuse to leave without penalty, and
for that uplift they use the February RPI+3.9% - note RPI, not the lower
CPI that everyone else uses. This year my charge increased by 16.7%
where everyone else was about 14%! My contract expires 29th Dec - I hate
to think what it will cost me after that. Oh, and you have to keep a
limited service going for 3 months after termination to catch all of
your emails - and its chargeable!

The downside is that none of the SPs on CF provide e-mail services so
you end up having to change your email addresses to such as
Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail or something like Mythic Beasts which is chargeable
and needs some in-depth understanding how to set it up. If you use VM
for phone as well your range of fibre providers drops to just a couple -
like Zen or A&A - as none of the others have such. Yes I know you can
get a VoIP account but it is just another thing to go wrong and (more to
the point) to have to hand drive demarcation points when things go wrong.

I wouldn't mind staying with VM, after all it is very reliable, but
their charges are just getting silly.

Tweed

2023-11-17 21:27:18 UTC

You got that one wrong. NTL didn't start in the Interweb game until 1990
- I should know as I was one of the first 300 beta testers my employer
having sold my dept to NTL as of 1st July 1999. What is more that was
dial-up - 0845 455 0520 as I remember. Telewest were much later.
I have been with them ever since through thick and thin and have only
had four outages in all that time. But like you the time is coming that
I have to consider moving as CityFibre piped our area in the first year
of lockdown - it was actually TT that set it off but CF bought the fibre
business off them. Add to that I am paying £42/m (inc discount!) for
50/5 (Interweb and a phone we never use) and can get 150 both ways for
about £27 on fibre, VM have written the annual uplift into the contract
so you can no longer use it as an excuse to leave without penalty, and
for that uplift they use the February RPI+3.9% - note RPI, not the lower
CPI that everyone else uses. This year my charge increased by 16.7%
where everyone else was about 14%! My contract expires 29th Dec - I hate
to think what it will cost me after that. Oh, and you have to keep a
limited service going for 3 months after termination to catch all of
your emails - and its chargeable!
The downside is that none of the SPs on CF provide e-mail services so
you end up having to change your email addresses to such as
Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail or something like Mythic Beasts which is chargeable
and needs some in-depth understanding how to set it up. If you use VM
for phone as well your range of fibre providers drops to just a couple -
like Zen or A&A - as none of the others have such. Yes I know you can
get a VoIP account but it is just another thing to go wrong and (more to
the point) to have to hand drive demarcation points when things go wrong.
I wouldn't mind staying with VM, after all it is very reliable, but
their charges are just getting silly.

I had one of NTL’s first dial up packages and then their 512kbit/sec cable
modems. Prior to that I was running a dial up modem running Trumpet Winsock
via a Diamond Cable phone line. So I’ve been with VM’s predecessors for
quite a while.

If you don’t wish to sort out your own email and/or landline there’s still
a number of ISPs who will offer everything, eg IDNet. I happen to be using
them via CF, but only for the broadband. Never used IDNet before getting
the CF connection, however I can’t speak too highly of them. Sensible
answers to customer service queries by return of email by people who know
what they are talking about. Routing/peering seems very good as well with
very low latency.

Woody

2023-11-18 08:43:16 UTC

You got that one wrong. NTL didn't start in the Interweb game until 1990
- I should know as I was one of the first 300 beta testers my employer
having sold my dept to NTL as of 1st July 1999. What is more that was
dial-up - 0845 455 0520 as I remember. Telewest were much later.
I have been with them ever since through thick and thin and have only
had four outages in all that time. But like you the time is coming that
I have to consider moving as CityFibre piped our area in the first year
of lockdown - it was actually TT that set it off but CF bought the fibre
business off them. Add to that I am paying £42/m (inc discount!) for
50/5 (Interweb and a phone we never use) and can get 150 both ways for
about £27 on fibre, VM have written the annual uplift into the contract
so you can no longer use it as an excuse to leave without penalty, and
for that uplift they use the February RPI+3.9% - note RPI, not the lower
CPI that everyone else uses. This year my charge increased by 16.7%
where everyone else was about 14%! My contract expires 29th Dec - I hate
to think what it will cost me after that. Oh, and you have to keep a
limited service going for 3 months after termination to catch all of
your emails - and its chargeable!
The downside is that none of the SPs on CF provide e-mail services so
you end up having to change your email addresses to such as
Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail or something like Mythic Beasts which is chargeable
and needs some in-depth understanding how to set it up. If you use VM
for phone as well your range of fibre providers drops to just a couple -
like Zen or A&A - as none of the others have such. Yes I know you can
get a VoIP account but it is just another thing to go wrong and (more to
the point) to have to hand drive demarcation points when things go wrong.
I wouldn't mind staying with VM, after all it is very reliable, but
their charges are just getting silly.

I had one of NTL’s first dial up packages and then their 512kbit/sec cable
modems. Prior to that I was running a dial up modem running Trumpet Winsock
via a Diamond Cable phone line. So I’ve been with VM’s predecessors for
quite a while.
If you don’t wish to sort out your own email and/or landline there’s still
a number of ISPs who will offer everything, eg IDNet. I happen to be using
them via CF, but only for the broadband. Never used IDNet before getting
the CF connection, however I can’t speak too highly of them. Sensible
answers to customer service queries by return of email by people who know
what they are talking about. Routing/peering seems very good as well with
very low latency.

Isn't IDNet part of Currys? I don't particularly like the fact that
their pricing is excluding VAT either!

Tweed

2023-11-18 09:05:55 UTC

You got that one wrong. NTL didn't start in the Interweb game until 1990
- I should know as I was one of the first 300 beta testers my employer
having sold my dept to NTL as of 1st July 1999. What is more that was
dial-up - 0845 455 0520 as I remember. Telewest were much later.
I have been with them ever since through thick and thin and have only
had four outages in all that time. But like you the time is coming that
I have to consider moving as CityFibre piped our area in the first year
of lockdown - it was actually TT that set it off but CF bought the fibre
business off them. Add to that I am paying £42/m (inc discount!) for
50/5 (Interweb and a phone we never use) and can get 150 both ways for
about £27 on fibre, VM have written the annual uplift into the contract
so you can no longer use it as an excuse to leave without penalty, and
for that uplift they use the February RPI+3.9% - note RPI, not the lower
CPI that everyone else uses. This year my charge increased by 16.7%
where everyone else was about 14%! My contract expires 29th Dec - I hate
to think what it will cost me after that. Oh, and you have to keep a
limited service going for 3 months after termination to catch all of
your emails - and its chargeable!
The downside is that none of the SPs on CF provide e-mail services so
you end up having to change your email addresses to such as
Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail or something like Mythic Beasts which is chargeable
and needs some in-depth understanding how to set it up. If you use VM
for phone as well your range of fibre providers drops to just a couple -
like Zen or A&A - as none of the others have such. Yes I know you can
get a VoIP account but it is just another thing to go wrong and (more to
the point) to have to hand drive demarcation points when things go wrong.
I wouldn't mind staying with VM, after all it is very reliable, but
their charges are just getting silly.

I had one of NTL’s first dial up packages and then their 512kbit/sec cable
modems. Prior to that I was running a dial up modem running Trumpet Winsock
via a Diamond Cable phone line. So I’ve been with VM’s predecessors for
quite a while.
If you don’t wish to sort out your own email and/or landline there’s still
a number of ISPs who will offer everything, eg IDNet. I happen to be using
them via CF, but only for the broadband. Never used IDNet before getting
the CF connection, however I can’t speak too highly of them. Sensible
answers to customer service queries by return of email by people who know
what they are talking about. Routing/peering seems very good as well with
very low latency.

Isn't IDNet part of Currys? I don't particularly like the fact that
their pricing is excluding VAT either!

Nope, I think you are confusing them with IDMobile.

https://www.idnet.com/#:~:text=Founded%20by%20our%20current%20directors,connectivity%20technology%20has%20to%20offer.

“Founded by our current directors, brothers Simon and Tim Davies in 1996,
IDNet has always been an independent business focusing on the best of what
internet connectivity technology has to offer.”

Their pricing is shown with or without VAT. There’s a button to switch
between the two on the relevant web pages.

There aren’t many ISPs from the mid 90s still around in their original
form. Andrews and Arnold are the only other one I can think of. I’m also a
customer of theirs, and they are very good too. The only reason I didn’t
choose them for my CF connection is they only offer 150Mb and 1000Mb speed
tiers. The former is too slow for my needs and I don’t really have any
equipment that can sensibly exploit the latter. IDNet offers 500 Mbit at a
compromise price.

Bob Eager

2023-11-18 11:01:13 UTC

Post by Tweed
There aren’t many ISPs from the mid 90s still around in their original
form. Andrews and Arnold are the only other one I can think of. I’m also
a customer of theirs, and they are very good too. The only reason I
didn’t choose them for my CF connection is they only offer 150Mb and
1000Mb speed tiers.

Interesting. I have an Openreach connection with AAISP, and I had a choice
of a number of speeds. I chose 300 Mb/s, as it was the same price as the
previous FTTC.

AAISP may be more expensive, but price rises are rare. More often, they
increase your download quota. Mine currently sits at over 45 TB per month.

Tweed

2023-11-18 11:29:44 UTC

Post by Bob Eager

Interesting. I have an Openreach connection with AAISP, and I had a choice
of a number of speeds. I chose 300 Mb/s, as it was the same price as the
previous FTTC.
AAISP may be more expensive, but price rises are rare. More often, they
increase your download quota. Mine currently sits at over 45 TB per month.

https://www.aa.net.uk/broadband/home1-cityfibre-services/

I did ask if there was going to be a 500ish service but the answer was no.
They seem to have taken their lead from CF’s wholesale pricing. They charge
a reduced rate for 150Mb and below, anything above 150Mbit is the same
cost. So far IDNet seem to be offering the same high quality of service as
A&A but at a lower cost (and no download caps)

Bob Eager

2023-11-18 13:09:22 UTC

Post by Bob Eager

Post by Tweed
There aren’t many ISPs from the mid 90s still around in their original
form. Andrews and Arnold are the only other one I can think of. I’m
also a customer of theirs, and they are very good too. The only reason
I didn’t choose them for my CF connection is they only offer 150Mb and
1000Mb speed tiers.

Interesting. I have an Openreach connection with AAISP, and I had a
choice of a number of speeds. I chose 300 Mb/s, as it was the same
price as the previous FTTC.
AAISP may be more expensive, but price rises are rare. More often, they
increase your download quota. Mine currently sits at over 45 TB per month.

https://www.aa.net.uk/broadband/home1-cityfibre-services/
I did ask if there was going to be a 500ish service but the answer was no.

I got mine in August last year, so perhaps something has changed.

Ah, I see. The CF option only offers two speeds; the OR one offers several
more. I went for OR.

Post by Tweed
So far IDNet seem to be offering the same high quality of
service as A&A but at a lower cost (and no download caps)

The download cap isn't a problem at 47TB/month! And I haven't had a price
rise in living memory, apart from 20p a month extra on VoIP numbers due to
increased termination costs.

Tweed

2023-11-18 13:25:01 UTC

Post by Tweed
There aren’t many ISPs from the mid 90s still around in their original
form. Andrews and Arnold are the only other one I can think of. I’m
also a customer of theirs, and they are very good too. The only reason
I didn’t choose them for my CF connection is they only offer 150Mb and
1000Mb speed tiers.

Interesting. I have an Openreach connection with AAISP, and I had a
choice of a number of speeds. I chose 300 Mb/s, as it was the same
price as the previous FTTC.
AAISP may be more expensive, but price rises are rare. More often, they
increase your download quota. Mine currently sits at over 45 TB per month.

https://www.aa.net.uk/broadband/home1-cityfibre-services/
I did ask if there was going to be a 500ish service but the answer was no.

I got mine in August last year, so perhaps something has changed.
Ah, I see. The CF option only offers two speeds; the OR one offers several
more. I went for OR.

Post by Tweed
So far IDNet seem to be offering the same high quality of
service as A&A but at a lower cost (and no download caps)

The download cap isn't a problem at 47TB/month! And I haven't had a price
rise in living memory, apart from 20p a month extra on VoIP numbers due to
increased termination costs.

Likewise, I’ve used A&A at another property for 16 years and have never
suffered a price rise. Their reassuringly expensive rates are becoming
reassuringly close to everyone else as time goes by. When VM wanted more
than A&A it was time to look elsewhere. Happily CityFibre turned up at the
right moment.

Davey

2023-11-18 13:34:15 UTC

On Sat, 18 Nov 2023 13:25:01 -0000 (UTC)

Post by Tweed
There aren’t many ISPs from the mid 90s still around in their
original form. Andrews and Arnold are the only other one I can
think of. I’m also a customer of theirs, and they are very good
too. The only reason I didn’t choose them for my CF connection
is they only offer 150Mb and 1000Mb speed tiers.

Interesting. I have an Openreach connection with AAISP, and I had
a choice of a number of speeds. I chose 300 Mb/s, as it was the
same price as the previous FTTC.
AAISP may be more expensive, but price rises are rare. More
often, they increase your download quota. Mine currently sits at
over 45 TB per month.

https://www.aa.net.uk/broadband/home1-cityfibre-services/
I did ask if there was going to be a 500ish service but the answer was no.

I got mine in August last year, so perhaps something has changed.
Ah, I see. The CF option only offers two speeds; the OR one offers
several more. I went for OR.

Post by Tweed
So far IDNet seem to be offering the same high quality of
service as A&A but at a lower cost (and no download caps)

The download cap isn't a problem at 47TB/month! And I haven't had a
price rise in living memory, apart from 20p a month extra on VoIP
numbers due to increased termination costs.

Likewise, I’ve used A&A at another property for 16 years and have
never suffered a price rise. Their reassuringly expensive rates are
becoming reassuringly close to everyone else as time goes by. When VM
wanted more than A&A it was time to look elsewhere. Happily CityFibre
turned up at the right moment.

My Zen rates (landline and ADSL) have never increased, since I started
with them in 2010, and they speak Lancashire English on the 'phone. On
the few occasions that I have had to ask for help, it has been quick and
accurate. My downloads have no monthly limit.
I have no reason to contemplate leaving an excellent supplier.

--
Davey.

Woody

2023-11-18 16:28:21 UTC

Post by Davey
On Sat, 18 Nov 2023 13:25:01 -0000 (UTC)

Post by Tweed
There aren’t many ISPs from the mid 90s still around in their
original form. Andrews and Arnold are the only other one I can
think of. I’m also a customer of theirs, and they are very good
too. The only reason I didn’t choose them for my CF connection
is they only offer 150Mb and 1000Mb speed tiers.

Interesting. I have an Openreach connection with AAISP, and I had
a choice of a number of speeds. I chose 300 Mb/s, as it was the
same price as the previous FTTC.
AAISP may be more expensive, but price rises are rare. More
often, they increase your download quota. Mine currently sits at
over 45 TB per month.

https://www.aa.net.uk/broadband/home1-cityfibre-services/
I did ask if there was going to be a 500ish service but the answer was no.

I got mine in August last year, so perhaps something has changed.
Ah, I see. The CF option only offers two speeds; the OR one offers
several more. I went for OR.

Post by Tweed
So far IDNet seem to be offering the same high quality of
service as A&A but at a lower cost (and no download caps)

The download cap isn't a problem at 47TB/month! And I haven't had a
price rise in living memory, apart from 20p a month extra on VoIP
numbers due to increased termination costs.

Likewise, I’ve used A&A at another property for 16 years and have
never suffered a price rise. Their reassuringly expensive rates are
becoming reassuringly close to everyone else as time goes by. When VM
wanted more than A&A it was time to look elsewhere. Happily CityFibre
turned up at the right moment.

Ah, but you are a long standing customer. They changed their MO a while
back. For new customers:-
They no longer keep the same prices as long as you stay with them;
They no longer provide an email service.

Davey

2023-11-19 00:17:22 UTC

snip

Post by Davey

Post by Tweed
Likewise, I’ve used A&A at another property for 16 years and have
never suffered a price rise. Their reassuringly expensive rates are
becoming reassuringly close to everyone else as time goes by. When
VM wanted more than A&A it was time to look elsewhere. Happily
CityFibre turned up at the right moment.

My Zen rates (landline and ADSL) have never increased, since I
started with them in 2010, and they speak Lancashire English on the
'phone. On the few occasions that I have had to ask for help, it
has been quick and accurate. My downloads have no monthly limit.
I have no reason to contemplate leaving an excellent supplier.

Ah, but you are a long standing customer. They changed their MO a
while back. For new customers:-
They no longer keep the same prices as long as you stay with them;
They no longer provide an email service.

It just goes to show how I got it right when I subscribed to them in
2010, then. We came back here from living abroad, and I asked people
here (East Anglia) who to use or who to avoid for an ISP. The universal
response was to avoid BT at all costs. I looked at who was available,
and Zen seemed to be good value. I do not regret the choice.
I don't use Zen's e-mail service anyway, although I think that, as an
existing customer, it might still be available to me.

For once, loyalty pays off, unlike with car insurance. I will happily
stay with them, based on my experience with them.

--
Davey.

Tim+

2023-11-18 19:18:51 UTC

Post by Davey
On Sat, 18 Nov 2023 13:25:01 -0000 (UTC)

Post by Tweed
There aren’t many ISPs from the mid 90s still around in their
original form. Andrews and Arnold are the only other one I can
think of. I’m also a customer of theirs, and they are very good
too. The only reason I didn’t choose them for my CF connection
is they only offer 150Mb and 1000Mb speed tiers.

Interesting. I have an Openreach connection with AAISP, and I had
a choice of a number of speeds. I chose 300 Mb/s, as it was the
same price as the previous FTTC.
AAISP may be more expensive, but price rises are rare. More
often, they increase your download quota. Mine currently sits at
over 45 TB per month.

https://www.aa.net.uk/broadband/home1-cityfibre-services/
I did ask if there was going to be a 500ish service but the answer was no.

I got mine in August last year, so perhaps something has changed.
Ah, I see. The CF option only offers two speeds; the OR one offers
several more. I went for OR.

Post by Tweed
So far IDNet seem to be offering the same high quality of
service as A&A but at a lower cost (and no download caps)

The download cap isn't a problem at 47TB/month! And I haven't had a
price rise in living memory, apart from 20p a month extra on VoIP
numbers due to increased termination costs.

Likewise, I’ve used A&A at another property for 16 years and have
never suffered a price rise. Their reassuringly expensive rates are
becoming reassuringly close to everyone else as time goes by. When VM
wanted more than A&A it was time to look elsewhere. Happily CityFibre
turned up at the right moment.

Just looked at IDNet and they undercut all the other ISPs that provide
fibre via OpenReach that I’ve found so far, but, my Zen rate FTTP is fixed
at about the same level and supposedly won’t increase.

Must admit I’m tempted by their offer. I used them to provide my mother
with the cheapest possible internet and found their customer service
excellent (and fast!).

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

Peter Johnson

2023-11-19 13:21:32 UTC

Post by Tim+
Just looked at IDNet and they undercut all the other ISPs that provide
fibre via OpenReach that Ive found so far, but, my Zen rate FTTP is fixed
at about the same level and supposedly wont increase.

I've been with Zen for just over 18 months, starting just before they
stopped the lifetime no price increase offer.
When the initial 18 month contract expired I upgraded the broadband
speed and was surprised that the no price increase was carried over.
(I appear to have both webspace and email on this account but I have
made no attempt to use either.)

Roderick Stewart

2023-11-19 14:26:37 UTC

On Sun, 19 Nov 2023 13:21:32 +0000, Peter Johnson

Post by Peter Johnson

Having been with Zen for years, I decided to upgrade to fibre if it
wouldn't be too expensive, so I enquired about this on what turned out
to be the last day of the 'price for life' deal, so I ordered it
straight away in the same phone call. They honoured the deal, and
because I'm paying the same for fibre internet as for VDSL, and their
VOIP service costs less than the line rental, I'm now actually paying
slightly less for about four times the downstream speed.

Rod.

Graham J

2023-11-19 15:44:46 UTC

Peter Johnson wrote:

[snip]

Post by Peter Johnson
I've been with Zen for just over 18 months, starting just before they
stopped the lifetime no price increase offer.
When the initial 18 month contract expired I upgraded the broadband
speed and was surprised that the no price increase was carried over.
(I appear to have both webspace and email on this account but I have
made no attempt to use either.)

I ordered a new FTTP service from Zen, which was installed on 6 March.

Their Customer Portal appears to show that I have webspace, FTP server,
and email; but this is in fact not true. When I challenged them they
admitted that this was an error and that these services had not been
provided automatically to new users for a year or more. However, they
enabled the email service using the parameters shown on their Portal,
for which I was pleased. I have no need for the webspace or FTP server.

For historical reasons I already had an account on their Customer Portal
- it may be that this also is a service that is not provided to new users.

--
Graham J

David Rance

2023-11-18 14:49:56 UTC

Post by Bob Eager

Interesting. I have an Openreach connection with AAISP, and I had a choice
of a number of speeds. I chose 300 Mb/s, as it was the same price as the
previous FTTC.
AAISP may be more expensive, but price rises are rare. More often, they
increase your download quota. Mine currently sits at over 45 TB per month.

https://www.aa.net.uk/broadband/home1-cityfibre-services/
I did ask if there was going to be a 500ish service but the answer was no.
They seem to have taken their lead from CF’s wholesale pricing. They charge
a reduced rate for 150Mb and below, anything above 150Mbit is the same
cost. So far IDNet seem to be offering the same high quality of service as
A&A but at a lower cost (and no download caps)

I can vouch for IDNet, having been with them since 2010. I've never had
any outages with them, the help desk was always helpful and prompt, and
I upgraded with them to full fibre at the end of August without a hitch.

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK

Philip Hole

2023-11-18 10:01:51 UTC

Post by Woody
The downside is that none of the SPs on CF provide e-mail services so
you end up having to change your email addresses to such as
Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail or something like Mythic Beasts which is chargeable
and needs some in-depth understanding how to set it up.

I moved from VM to MB.

Coming out of one VM package to another VM package was eye watering.

As for MB, their CS is email based with very rapid response and fixit fast.

Set up is a bit complicated but for a small sum they did everything for
me based on my wish list.

I was slightly nervous about using a small ISP but their accounts show
good steady growth and they are expanding their hardware and staff.
[And they get good reviews].

Flop

Tweed

2023-11-18 11:29:45 UTC

Post by Philip Hole

I moved from VM to MB.
Coming out of one VM package to another VM package was eye watering.
As for MB, their CS is email based with very rapid response and fixit fast.
Set up is a bit complicated but for a small sum they did everything for
me based on my wish list.
I was slightly nervous about using a small ISP but their accounts show
good steady growth and they are expanding their hardware and staff.
[And they get good reviews].
Flop

Forgive me but who are MB?

Philip Hole

2023-11-18 12:01:00 UTC

On 18/11/2023 11:29, Tweed wrote:

Forgive me but who are MB?

Post by Woody
Mythic Beasts

see https://www.mythic-beasts.com/

Flop

Jeff Gaines

2023-11-18 12:56:37 UTC

Post by Tweed
Forgive me but who are MB?

Post by Woody
Mythic Beasts

see https://www.mythic-beasts.com/
Flop

Highly recommended, I am transferring my stuff to them from Heart Internet.

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
Are you confused about gender?
Try milking a bull, you'll learn real quick.

Tweed

2023-11-18 12:27:56 UTC

Post by Philip Hole

I moved from VM to MB.
Coming out of one VM package to another VM package was eye watering.
As for MB, their CS is email based with very rapid response and fixit fast.
Set up is a bit complicated but for a small sum they did everything for
me based on my wish list.
I was slightly nervous about using a small ISP but their accounts show
good steady growth and they are expanding their hardware and staff.
[And they get good reviews].
Flop

Thanks. I’ve made a point of unbundling everything. Broadband, voip, pay
tv, mobile phone, email all are from different suppliers. Of course the
suppliers like to sell you bundles because it makes it harder to move.

Malcolm Loades

2023-11-19 15:38:38 UTC

Reading this thread has made me realise how lucky I am to live in the
Hampshire, Surrey, Dorset area. My 900 Mbps synchronous service with
Toob is on an 18 month contract at £25 (inc. VAT) per month, with no
in-contract price rises, increasing to £29 at the end of the initial
period. I've only had one outage when a neighbours tree fell in a storm
and broke the overhead cable which was replaced very quickly.

They don't offer a telephony service, e-mail etc. just a vanilla 900
Mbps (no other speed choices available) internet connection which suits
me fine but may not be everybody's kettle of fish.

Malcolm

Tweed

2023-11-19 17:14:42 UTC

Post by Malcolm Loades
Reading this thread has made me realise how lucky I am to live in the
Hampshire, Surrey, Dorset area. My 900 Mbps synchronous service with
Toob is on an 18 month contract at £25 (inc. VAT) per month, with no
in-contract price rises, increasing to £29 at the end of the initial
period. I've only had one outage when a neighbours tree fell in a storm
and broke the overhead cable which was replaced very quickly.
They don't offer a telephony service, e-mail etc. just a vanilla 900
Mbps (no other speed choices available) internet connection which suits
me fine but may not be everybody's kettle of fish.
Malcolm

Sounds good value. I’ve read they offer CGNAT by default and you have to
pay £8/month extra to get a routeable WAN address. Is this the case with
you?

Malcolm Loades

2023-11-19 19:01:45 UTC

Sounds good value. I’ve read they offer CGNAT by default and you have to
pay £8/month extra to get a routeable WAN address. Is this the case with
you?

Yes, it's true they use GNAT and a static IP is an extra £8 per month
which would make the monthly cost £33 which to me is still reasonable.
But it does appear dear at an extra 32%!

I run my own mailserver but only for outgoing mail (I think of it as
sending everything as tracked and signed for). My GNAT IP has not
changed since the day I joined Toob so it's included in my SPF record etc.

Malcolm

notya...@gmail.com

2023-11-18 17:03:07 UTC

You got that one wrong. NTL didn't start in the Interweb game until 1990

NT Hell UK founded 31 years ago. One [and the OP] could get cable TV from them thirty years ago.

They were poor, and [as you say] probably started as an ISP in the late 90's.

Their efforts to install cable / internet in our road and development were dire and they never did pass, but OTOH no pavement nor car park damage!

Post by Woody
- I should know as I was one of the first 300 beta testers my employer
having sold my dept to NTL as of 1st July 1999. What is more that was
dial-up - 0845 455 0520 as I remember. Telewest were much later.
I have been with them ever since through thick and thin and have only
had four outages in all that time. But like you the time is coming that
I have to consider moving as CityFibre piped our area in the first year
of lockdown - it was actually TT that set it off but CF bought the fibre
business off them. Add to that I am paying £42/m (inc discount!) for
50/5 (Interweb and a phone we never use) and can get 150 both ways for
about £27 on fibre, VM have written the annual uplift into the contract
so you can no longer use it as an excuse to leave without penalty, and
for that uplift they use the February RPI+3.9% - note RPI, not the lower
CPI that everyone else uses. This year my charge increased by 16.7%
where everyone else was about 14%! My contract expires 29th Dec - I hate
to think what it will cost me after that. Oh, and you have to keep a
limited service going for 3 months after termination to catch all of
your emails - and its chargeable!
The downside is that none of the SPs on CF provide e-mail services so
you end up having to change your email addresses to such as
Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail or something like Mythic Beasts which is chargeable
and needs some in-depth understanding how to set it up. If you use VM
for phone as well your range of fibre providers drops to just a couple -
like Zen or A&A - as none of the others have such. Yes I know you can
get a VoIP account but it is just another thing to go wrong and (more to
the point) to have to hand drive demarcation points when things go wrong.

Are you saying they block VOIP telephony?

Post by Woody
I wouldn't mind staying with VM, after all it is very reliable, but
their charges are just getting silly.

So are BT's...

David Wade

2023-11-18 17:50:24 UTC

Post by ***@gmail.com

You got that one wrong. NTL didn't start in the Interweb game until 1990

NT Hell UK founded 31 years ago. One [and the OP] could get cable TV from them thirty years ago.
They were poor, and [as you say] probably started as an ISP in the late 90's.
Their efforts to install cable / internet in our road and development were dire and they never did pass, but OTOH no pavement nor car park damage!

I chose to split mine to avoid being tied into a provider because they
lump both services into one contract.

Post by ***@gmail.com
Are you saying they block VOIP telephony?

Post by Woody
I wouldn't mind staying with VM, after all it is very reliable, but
their charges are just getting silly.

So are BT's...

Dave

T i m

2023-11-18 21:06:23 UTC

On 17/11/2023 20:50, Woody wrote:
<snip>

Post by Woody
Add to that I am paying £42/m (inc discount!) for
50/5 (Interweb and a phone we never use)

<snip>

Post by Woody
I wouldn't mind staying with VM, after all it is very reliable, but
their charges are just getting silly.

That's where I got to and started playing with 4G routers [1] with the
thought of jumping ship (CableTel > NTL > VM) as we were getting fibre soon.

Rang VM c/s, told them I could get better for less and they dropped my
bill from ~£42 to £23. ;-)

In the meantime I'm migrating all my ntlworld email accounts to my own
domain emails. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[1] I currently have a little Huawei B311 4G router here on Smarty
unlimited for £18/m as a backup / experimental BB service that I can
stream video on and daughter has dumped her Plusnet ADSL for Smarty 4G+
on my TP-Link MR600 and finds it faster, cheaper and more reliable.

(Still looking to see if I can use the Ethernet port on the B311 for LAN
so I can use the B311 as a wired alternative gateway, as I did the MR600).

Clive Page

2023-11-18 10:50:10 UTC

What company have you chosen for your Internet service?

I also live in a road recently wired up by City ibre and they keep emailing me to encourage me to switch to them, but all of the service providers that they offer are either companies that I've never heard of like Octaplus, Giganet, Yayzi, No One, Idnet or else ones that I have heard of but which have a truly awful reputation like Vodaphone. Or Andrews and Arnold who have a good reputation but their prices start at £37/month. I couldn't find a single one with a reasonable rating for customer service and a reasonable price. Which is why, for the moment I'm staying with Plusnet.

--
Clive Page

Jeff Gaines

2023-11-18 11:47:06 UTC

Post by Clive Page

What company have you chosen for your Internet service?
I also live in a road recently wired up by City ibre and they keep
emailing me to encourage me to switch to them, but all of the service
providers that they offer are either companies that I've never heard of
like Octaplus, Giganet, Yayzi, No One, Idnet or else ones that I have
heard of but which have a truly awful reputation like Vodaphone. Or
Andrews and Arnold who have a good reputation but their prices start at
£37/month. I couldn't find a single one with a reasonable rating for
customer service and a reasonable price. Which is why, for the moment
I'm staying with Plusnet.

Interesting. Our whole village has been dug up over the last year so
Giganet could lay fibre. They started selling a few months ago and we are
already hearing stories of poor service, and no option for a 'phone
although that seems quite common now.

I am with Plusnet and hoping they might start re-selling Giganet.

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
This joke was so funny when I heard it for the first time I fell of my
dinosaur.

Tweed

2023-11-18 11:56:36 UTC

Post by Jeff Gaines

Post by Clive Page

What company have you chosen for your Internet service?
I also live in a road recently wired up by City ibre and they keep
emailing me to encourage me to switch to them, but all of the service
providers that they offer are either companies that I've never heard of
like Octaplus, Giganet, Yayzi, No One, Idnet or else ones that I have
heard of but which have a truly awful reputation like Vodaphone. Or
Andrews and Arnold who have a good reputation but their prices start at
£37/month. I couldn't find a single one with a reasonable rating for
customer service and a reasonable price. Which is why, for the moment
I'm staying with Plusnet.

Interesting. Our whole village has been dug up over the last year so
Giganet could lay fibre. They started selling a few months ago and we are
already hearing stories of poor service, and no option for a 'phone
although that seems quite common now.
I am with Plusnet and hoping they might start re-selling Giganet.

This is the trouble with a lot of the alternative fibre providers, most
want to be monopoly ISPs as well. CityFibre adopt a different model being
wholesale only, much like OpenReach. They support a range of ISPs.

Andy Burns

2023-11-18 19:20:06 UTC

Post by Jeff Gaines
I am with Plusnet and hoping they might start re-selling Giganet.

With PN being owned by BT, I wouldn't hold your breath ...

Tweed

2023-11-18 11:51:06 UTC