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Broadband Provider Recommendations

JustLikeMe

JustLikeMe

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Joined
Aug 29, 2011
Messages
1,439
Location
South Coast
We've just moved house, and as there are no fibre options available I thought I'd be clever and cancel my BT broadband for the Sky equivalent as it would save some cash given that we're keeping Sky Q.

Turns out I should have done a bit more research - the connection itself is fine and speeds are exactly what you'd expect via openreach, but the Sky hardware is a complete joke. The terrible router they provide can't be put into bridge or modem mode, and the Sky Q boxes act as a terrible mesh network sending jumbo packets over ethernet which means that WiFi devices connected to the Q boxes can't connect to devices hardwired in via network switches, even with jumbo packets enabled on the managed switches. It just isn't fit for purpose if you have ethernet at home.

Given that I'm stuck connecting via the openreach network it's not like there's much to choose from in terms of speed, so I'm looking for an ISP that allows you to use your own hardware, and has decent customer service / prices.

At the moment I'm tempted to either go with Zen, or to try Cuckoo - has anyone used either / have any other recommendations?

The most frustrating part is that G Network installed fibre on the road I used to live on just a few months before we moved!
 
Have you considered buying a dedicated modem/router and connecting the Sky Q to that?
I am bought into the Draytek kit and have found a few posts where people give help to getting it working with Sky Q.
My setup is on BT, I have played around with using the BT device as a modem only but in the end there was no gains. I have a 2860ac but it no longer deals with Wi-Fi as it is a rack.
 
I'm with Zen too and have been for years. Great service and, since they changed hardware to the Fritzbox, coverage has been fantastic (I have an extender also) with no dropped connections at all.
 
I was long-term on Zen for broadband and still have some hosting, excellent responsive customer service akin to being a business customer
 
...I am waiting for @Neil McRae to chip in being Mr Openreach, but i can say that i am with BT, and although its SFBB (so copper from the kerb it's pretty good, ok yes i know everyone is getting ripped of with the 3.9% increase plus CPI, no complaints, but Zen although more money has some good reviews on customer service. i wouldn't touch Talktalk, coz of that silly bitch Di*do that was in the chair when there was a massive data breach, Virgin, as its well not Virgin anymore, Sky, nope as Murdoch is a tw*t, even BT well they are 12% French owned now...for me i cannot complain with level of service as at the end of the day it's Openleach doing the final mile for most operator's in UK.
 
Thanks all, looks like I’ll be giving Zen a call in the morning.

Calimori said:
Have you considered buying a dedicated modem/router and connecting the Sky Q to that?
I am bought into the Draytek kit and have found a few posts where people give help to getting it working with Sky Q.
My setup is on BT, I have played around with using the BT device as a modem only but in the end there was no gains. I have a 2860ac but it no longer deals with Wi-Fi as it is a rack.
Click to expand...

I did consider that as I came across similar suggestions when I first started to troubleshoot why I couldn’t connect to my hue bridge after the sky q boxes were installed.

However, Sky really don’t want you doing that - they won’t even give you the info required, you have to dig it out of the hub using software - and apparently they won’t really help troubleshoot legitimate problems if you’re using your own hardware. As I’m still in the cooling off period I thought it made sense to just scrap it and go with an ISP that doesn’t try to lock you into crap tech.
 
JustLikeMe said:
If Neil can somehow put my address to the top of the list for full fibre installs then BT would have my business for life!
Click to expand...
Some 170 areas going FTTP this year, so i'm juggling SoGEA, EAD, FTTP accesses left right and centre (yes i know thats all greek but its paying my mortgage), can't happen quick enough...everyone bitching we need more bandwidth in the business.
 
170 areas and the rest!

we have work to do on customer service although that’s got a lot better but nobody beats us for network quality. Virgin launch speeds just above ours to pretend they are good but according to the regulatort the quality is shocking.

with other providers - notably the smaller ones just watch out for usage limits and if you are a big video watcher make sure they can deliver the content you want at the stream quality you want to have it.

Neil.
 
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