Broadband Internet & ISP Recommendations?

Is the standard firmware much better than the CF one? The CF one seems pretty basic compared to what I have been using.

@Mr_Smyth I think it was you talking about buying nodes to go with a Community Fibre router. This might be of interest.

There's not a lot of difference, but you can access the web interface on the retail version, which gives you CA access (link at the bottom right of the screen).

I certainly had issues connecting CF nodes to my retail flashed MX4200.

If anyone needs a hand with the MX4200s, I'm a bit of an expert now.

I've also got a couple of wifi 5 nodes that I doubt I'll be using again if anyone is interested

Hm well i have 2 retail coming but they have long lead time despite being a prime purchase so i guess i’l get up and running with those 2 and see how they cope with an 80SqM flat on Three 5g and maybe not use the CF one when I do the switch, at least I have an option of @doubleodavey on call 24hr tech support...

Think I’m interested in those if no one else is, thanks !

Are you still happy with Zen, I was with them a few years ago for FTTC in a different area and the customer service was excellent, but their reviews seemed to have dropped a bit now.

I just saw an openreach engineer outside and he tells me i'll have full fiber available in 2 weeks. I'm very keen to move away from Virgin

I've recenter switched from VM to Zen.

Couldn't be happier. Fast, reliable (so far), the router supports Wireguard for me to connect to home server from out and about, static IP address, good good good.

The installation process was slick and took about two weeks from initial contact to packets flowing.

If you want to do it, then my advice would be to steel yourself for cancelling VM which was the only difficult part of the process and was like pulling teeth.

Make sure you call them at 8.01 am to avoid long hold queues. Stay polite but firm. Tell them that you are recording the call in case you need to provide it to the ombudsman. Tell them that you have already got a new broadband contract in place. I tried to refuse giving a reason for termination the first time I called and they hung up on me (after I had been on hold for over an hour!)

At one point I was tempted to say that I was cancelling due to a terminal diagnosis and I only had weeks to live, just to see if that made them actually shut the fuck up, stop two feigning system problems and just cancel the goddamn contract.

(There is an option to do it via post, which seems like it might be a good idea, but I assume you would just be sending a letter to an automated shredder.)

Thats good to know in advance, thanks. We had a lot of dropouts with VM lately so im going to use that as the basis of leaving. The other thing Ive said in the past is that I was moving out to a shared house that already has a VM contact so i wouldnt be needed the service.

Out of interest what modems do Zen give out for full fiber? When i was FTTC is was a Fritz!box which i loved.

I've recently switched to Plusnet fibre running on openreach. Got 1gb fibre to the house for £44 a month.

Do they have UK based customer services? Thats my main reason for picking Zen

Actually don't know, not had to contact them.

Yeah it's a Fritz!box. I have never used them before and felt a bit sceptical when it arrived.

Upgraded the firmware to get the Wireguard support and am now happy as Larry with it.

My FTTC speeds here are abysmal - otherwise I’d be back with Zen in a shot.

CS is UK based, and v proactive.

Top tip for Fritz!box, you can look on eBay for peoples older IPS provided ones for cheap, and then with a firmware update they can be used to make MESH networks. I have a fully wired unifi setup at home now so I only need a modem, but I have done half a dozen Fritz! Mesh networks for friends and family and all are rock solid.

CS

Qui?

Customer services.

ohhh thanks, i read it as a different ISP soz

Following some confused pissing about trying to get my Unifi Dream Machine to work with Community Fibre I twigged it today. I was thrown off by an initial period when wired connections worked but wi-fi didn't, fuck knows why that was happenning.

There are two things that need updating:
The DNS server, I'd looked at this a while back after someone suggested it and it needed changing from the Virgin one.
I needed to clone the CF router MAC address to the Dream Machine to get internet access.

Now I need to work out why the fuck my Plex is no longer remotely accessible which I predict will be a long, frustrating journey. EDIT - seems the problem is to do with CGNAT. Not sure what the solution is.

Yeh everything's been straightforward and working as expected for me. Where I am City Fibre provides the line not openreach but speeds are as expected and haven't had any problems so far.

Has anyone got any experience of complaining to Ofcom or the Communications Ombudsman? BT should have paid me automatic compensation of £9.33 for total loss of service for 25 days, that was back in July. Not only have they not issued the compensation, they claimed their records showed that I did not have a complete loss of service (not true, my phoneline was in multiple pieces having been eaten by a rat) and claimed they could only offer me £51 compensation because of this. Is it best to speak to Ofcom or the ombudsman? Whats the best way of escalating it with my provider?

Oooof, moving house in 2 weeks, 15 minutes drive up the road, in Derbyshire. My wife and I both work from home and have regular video meetings, so having a stable and relatively fast connection is important.

I had done an internet speed checker before we put an offer in, and it showed me similar levels of coverage to where I currently am. Full fibre and Virgin Media not available, so various providers offering up to their 67MB packages. Fine, I thought.

I rang up my current provider today (Vodafone), and they let me know that they'll not be able to move me on my current package, they will need to downgrade me. They can only guarantee a download speed of 12.6 Mbps, whereas my current is a guarantee of 52.5 Mbps. I've just done a speed test now and got 55 Mbps.

I thought this was just Vodafone being jerks, but have done the rounds through all the providers just now. The best I can find is a guaranteed 16.4 Mbps from Plusnet. I really don't think this is going to be enough for our needs.

Is there anything I can do to help speed up whatever internet I decide to order? I suspect the answer is no, but am feeling a little bit desperate for options. Am I right in thinking there's no point ordering a faster package (67 Mbps versus 35 Mbps) because it's the material/state of the line used to provide internet that's the limiting factor, not the internet package?

The broadband checker from A&A internet is very accurate, and there is a link on there to the BT wholesale checker. Will prob confirm what you already know to be honest. https://www.aa.net.uk/broadband/home1/
Yes to your other question, no point paying for a faster service that you can technically get.
With A&A you can get bonded lines to double your speed but it costs. I’m not with them but used to be - fantastic service.

Thank you, that's really helpful. Yeah, looks like the exchange is only capable of up to 32 Mbps, and I'm about half a mile from the exchange.

Thank you also for the A&A link - I'd never heard of them. It's £45 per month plus a £60 set-up cost, and there's a limit of 1TB per month. Will it really be worth the extra over, say Shell Broadband at £17/month for 12 months? Likely only a question I can answer, but I'd love to hear more about your experience and perspective.

A&A are very technically aware and capable. Especially if you have a problematic line, they will be able to sort things out well, and get the most out of it. If your line is just the speed it is, rather than has issues, A&A won’t be able to magic it faster. Likely that any other provider’s service will work just as well.
If faster internet is really important to you, look into bonded lines (will cost more), 4/5G routers with a mobile network, or maybe consider starlink. Just depends how much to bandwidth is worth it for you.
I was gutted when we moved and our place only has 40mbit/s download after being used to 80. Can’t justify the other costs though.

Sounds like you currently get VDSL/FTTC and the new place is ADSL only. If that is the case the only real way to get more bandwidth is to buy two lines. It's possible the local FTTC equipment is full and it will change as BT build out more capacity, someone clueful like A&A might be able to advise.

Thank you very much @JonD you have been very helpful. I've ended up in a bit of an internet wormhole since I posted this.

Currently best options are looking like National Broadband (uses 4g signal, and they will install an antenna that amplifies the signal to improve speeds for 300 quid) at 32 quid a month, Sky broadband (a few local residents have said they get acceptable speeds with this) at about 21 quid a month, and Skylink for 75 per month plus equipment costs of about 500.

I will have a think and make a decision. I think what's nice about both Starlink and National Broadband is there's a money back guarantee if you're not happy with the speeds. With normal broadband there's a 14 day cooling off period, but most have quoted me 14 days to get installation sorted, so you can't use this if you decide the speed isn't sufficient.

@jellybaby I took a peek in the BT broadband wholesale checker tool, and it does say that there is a VDSL line. Downstream line rate a high of 32 and a low of 18. I wonder if the broadband providers are just being really conservative with their minimum guaranteed speeds?