Cheapest Broadband Provider Discussion

theloft

oranabana wrote:

This must be the cheapest by a mile:
http://www.plus.net/residential/broadband/broadband_plus.shtml?link=resbb_pluslink
its got the following features as far as I can discern:
- setup fee waived if staying for 12 months - no port blocking
- no download cap (although they prioritise web traffic at peak times, whatever that means) - monthly contract - 100 Mb webspace
- unlimited e-mails
thought this might interest some of you, specially if you already on a 2 Mb/sec connection, meaning you can move to them for free...

This does look a very good deal. Have just done a rough check on one or two other "cheapies":
Total Cost of Ownership for 1year
PlusNet £179.88 (modem & activation included) For 2MB speed
ADSL4less £ 143.88 + £58.75 Activation + modem £29.99 + £5 P & P.
Total £237.62 (for 1MB with 2GB limited download per month)
B]E7even[/B] £120 + connection charge £50 + modem £55
Total £225 (512kbps unlimited)
Euro1net £120 + connection £49 + 1 month tech support (freefone) £5 + modem £49 Total £224. (1MB unlimited).
Note: Modems when not supplied in the deal can be purchased cheaper elsewhere. All of these prices are for 1 year with payment up front. No mention is made of microfilters but when you start looking these companies charge up to £7.99 each (rip-off price). For the 2MB service PlusNet looks good, but ARE THEY GOOD and what is their tech support like and how much does it cost ?

Nick_sub

I was also looking at Plusnet who were looking great until I discovered that there is a cancellation charge if you leave before 5 years! So if you take the free modem the 1 year cost is actually £67 more (see below) than you quoted! Very sneaky and very hidden. I struggled to re-find it a minute ago even though I knew it was there! I think a lot of people have signed up to Plusnet recently and I haven't seen anyone mention this so I expect most don't realise. You need flexibility to move as the broadband market is moving so fast these days so I would look elsewhere. I'm looking at ToucanSurf, (Have not found any catches there yet, and a good phone line deal too!), Virgin (look OK), Tiscali (but very poor customer service from what I've heard) or BT (fairly cheap over 1 year (£21 cashback available through quidco.com, but would look at switching after 12 months!)

From the PlusNet website:

Want the detail? ‘You stay we pay’ explained.
For every year you stay with PlusNet we’ll guarantee that the cancellation cost decreases. What does this mean? If you cancel within the first year, then you will pay £58.75 for the activation. For every year you stay we’ll reduce this by £11.75. If you also choose to take a modem as part of the offer there will be an additional cancellation fee of £25 in the first year and this will reduce by £5 for each year that you stay.

Here's the link too incase you're interested:

http://www.plus.net/residential/broadband/bbplus_freesetup.shtml

Nick

theloft

Nick - I had realised there would be a charge if you cancelled within the first year. They are fairly up front about it, if you click on 'learn more'. I would not expect anyone to give you a free set-up and modem and then leave scot free. However I do agree that extending this charge by reducing it gradually over 5 years is really poor customer service. Not only that but if you take the "free" modem, they will charge you £25 for this in the first year and that reduces by £5 for every year you stay with them. This means that if you cancel after say, 13 months, you would have to pay £67 to leave them !! I will NOT be using them based on this.

Nick_sub

OK - well spotted, I must have missed that link. I agree the charge in the 1st 12 months is totally reasonable. Virgin have a similar charge which has annoyed a lot of people recently but it's only fair if they are providing connection and a modem. The 5-year cancellation charge is not on though, a shame as PlusNet looked really good apart from that.

cajef

Most ISP's charge for connection, BT charge them they have to re-coup the charge, some provide free modem but not many nowadays.

With Plusnet you have the option of paying the the charge and for the modem when you first sign up, therefore if you leave there is no additional charge and you have payed for your modem, or you can defer the payment over a five year period but if you leave within the 5 years you pay a reduced amount to cover these costs depending on your time with them

It was brought out as a way of helping people get broadband without a big inital payment.

Downloading is only throttled on Broadband Plus for users of P2P (downloading music or films) if the network is busy, ordinary web browsing, emails and downloading software or antivirus updates etc are not throttled

GeoThermal

cajef wrote:

It was brought out as a way of helping people get broadband without a big inital payment.

When others were giving a free modem and connection if you stayed for only 12 months and Virgin at the time giving a free modem and connection with no 12 month contract PlusNet's offer didn't seem that great to me. ymmv

Edinburghlass_2

theloft wrote:

Gabriel - You missed out some of the better cheaper ISPs -
Here are a few who have been mentioned on these forumns :-

E7even - Euro1net - ADSL4less - Firefox

Have to point out here, incase anyone is trying to check out Firefox that it is not an ISP but a web browser

cajef

Big difference between Virgin and Plusnet

Virgin and Tiscali use datastream which makes it very difficult to migrate away if you are unhappy, Plusnet use IP Stream which the majority of good ISP's use

Also suggest you look at comparitor and user forums at https://www.adslguide.org.uk for reports on users happiness with various ISP's

A lot of unhappy Virgin customers!!! and even more unhappy Tiscali users!!!!

Nick_sub

Thanks cajef! I didn't know PlusNet were IPstream - that is swinging me back towards them a bit. I have read about datastream/ipstream and it put me off Virgin (that and the many disgruntled customers!) I've been trying to find out if ToucanSurf is IP or Datastream - if anyone knows I'd be really grateful. I've tried asking Toucan but no reply yet...

Stumpy

I was rather concerned about the cancellation fee with Plusnet too - however, I'm actually migrating from another company, so don't need the equipment, therefore my cancellation fee, if I leave in the first year, is £14.99. Considering I'll be saving at least £5 per month with them anyway, I can cope with that.

First company I was with were Virgin - ugh!! Not good.

Um - could anyone explain in English what IPStream and Datastream are?!