Broadband Internet & ISP Recommendations?

Virgin has been pretty good where I am, solid speeds (at what is promised) and fixed pretty quickly the times I've had issues (I've had it for 7 years) but I know people a few streets over from me have had a nightmare with it so who knows.

Personally I'd view Virgin as the best broadband option if you can get fibre, in my experience it's stable and there is no throttling. I'd also pay the few quid extra for their basic tv package (it's only an extra £3 or so a month I think). The Tivo box is pretty good for recording and has iplayer, etc nicely integrated.

In terms of Wi-Fi though they're all a bit shit. Options are generally to move the position of your router, use an extender (which don't tend to be great) or invest in a better wi-fi point. The Uni-fi ones seem to be the forum recommendation https://www.ubnt.com/products/#default

Been looking at going to Virgin from Sky recently. I tried seeing what they would offer me for staying but free boxsets and £10 a month saving wasn't really enough incentive.
It looks like I can get fibre so will probably go for the 100mbps.

Are you on mac or pc? I've heard a couple of reports that there can be issues with macs using the Virgin router. I use an old MBP for viewing netflix at home as well as a newer mac for work. These are both close to where my router would be so is it more of a range problem?

Sorry, I don't use the Virgin router or a mac so I'm probably not the best to answer that.

I've just signed up with EE. Switch seemed to go smooth. £18 a month AND apparently I get a £150 pre paid mastercard after paying my second month. Just checked an they are still offering a £75 card. Seems to good to be true but we will wait and see. They also give you up to £50 if you leave your old supplier early and have to pay an exit fee.

If my card comes through I'm buying new wheels. Didn't think switching broadband would land me a £5 monthly saving and new hoops.

Anyone have any experience with Zen Internet?
https://www.zen.co.uk/

seems they have fibre broadband in my area, and are as cheap as virgin/Talk Talk..

I've been using Plusnet for about 7/8 years. Pay £8.74 a month (after referral discount) for 'Plusnet Unlimited' - says I used 20GB last month. No idea about speed, but I rarely have issues with buffering on Netflix, for example.

Recently 'upgraded' to plusnet fibre

Speed seems to have gone up a lot using the online speed tests but the connection seems to drop/ hang very regularly. The light on the router stays the same however on my VPN app I can see the speed drop to '0'. I the then either refresh the vpn or wait and it picks back up. Seems better with the vpn off but still hangs. I've tried Turningbtge router off and on, refreshing the 'auto' channel on the router too.
Any other ideas before I spend hours trying to call plusnet?

Cheers

Edit:just split he 2.4 and 5ghz connections and that seems better

When you did a speed test did your router make a 'hmm' sound? Because apparently mine did. Recently upgraded to plusnet fibre. Speeds seem ok

I followed these instructions then switched every device over to 5ghz where possible, stopped connection dropping
https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/2-4ghz-and-or-5ghz-best-practice/td-p/1351950

I've had Virgin Vivid 200 for a couple of years and the price just creeps up - supposed to be 49.99 per month (After starting at 35 for 12 months). Now it's £56.44.

It's decent. It's generally reliable and fairly fast (but not 200mb fast). I'm moving house tomorrow and toying with switching. What other fibre providers can get serious speeds? I send and receive a LOT of data from home. Easy 35gb a day on weekdays. I'm with Vodafone on my mobile contract so figure there must be some package savings to be had but my understanding is they only go up to 60mb or something which is quite a dip.

You can't get any other provider over Virgin co-axial (if the new place even has it...) so that may be your only option.

BT are the only other general provider that offer anything close with their new 'ultra fast' FTTC offering. That maxes out at 100Mb but I think you get money back from your bill if it ever drops below that.

From what i remember your new place is an old place (if you get what i mean) which means there's no way you'll have anything like hyperoptic installed already either.

PlusNet can do 80GB, I've downloaded >35GB in a day no problem.
You need to check what you can get in your new postcode on somewhere like this https://www.broadband.co.uk/checker/

Also according to a mate, Virgin are very amenable to dropping prices under threat of changing provider.

I'm just about to move from BT Fibre, which for me is now pushing £70, with landline and BT Sport, to Zen, which has the same broadband speeds for £37. OH's brother has been with Zen for years and is a fan of their customer service and tech support.
In their blurb, they mention it's unlimited downloads, but your case could test how unlimited is unlimited..

^^^ & ^^ Virgin just knocked a tenner off and can connect me on Thursday, installation and admin fees waived. Rolling contract too so no tie in. That'll do.

Only other ISPs in the area topped out at 70mb. 7 people in the city have registered interest in Hyperoptic : )

Zen will be fine, they're about as good an ISP as you can get. They're based in Rochdale and I was chatting to a couple of their customer support people in a boozer in Manchester a few years ago, they all seemed happy and even proud to be working there. Unusual in this day and age.

I registered interest in Hyperoptic in 2013 when we moved to Hither Green.
They installed the 1Gbit lines in our block of flats 3 months after we moved out at the end of 2015.

Fuck you Hyperoptic.

I've been trying to get Hyperoptic installed in our block for a while. We are a block of 70 1930s flats that is located a stupidly long way from exchange and also a very long way from a green box for london which means we can get 30 Mbps broadband at best.

Hyperoptic is happy to install for free but its like pulling teeth trying to get the freeholder to approve installation. Thankfully we are buying the freehold at the moment so hopefully this will become a shit load easier in the coming months.

Still on the live chat with Virgin. She's pushed back from installation on Thursday to Friday, now it's on Monday...... ... .......

Now it's back to Thursday! wadu hek

We have the top BT home package here.
Downloaded 200GB some days, never throttled or chucked off.
Uploading huge amounts too, no problems.
Would recommend

Maybe wrong thread etc. but what are my options with getting internet from one end of the house to the other? Long Victorian job.

Ethernet - would love but need something more immediate for now. i.E. something that can be ordered on Amazon tonight and arrive tomorrow ideally.

Or....

Something I plug into a socket somewhere in the middle of the house?

Or....? I've seen actual wall sockets that seem to have extenders built in, I guess so you're not taking up a plug space.

Other?

What wifi options do I have that are the least likely to show signs of hobbling speeds - office is foolishly at the back of the house :/

Ooh, just discovered this thread: https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/302722/?offset=150

Am thinking of ditching Sky (BB and TV @125pm) for EE just BB @£31.

I already have Amazon Prime - this means I can watch their content via BB on a tv?

Should I then buy a freesat device and a hard drive recorder thing (a humax for example) and spend another fiver a month on netflicks?

What is Plex? Kodi?

i'm so out of touch i cant even spell netflix correctly.