Broadband Switch Issues

androidguy

Hi,

I'd really like some help about switching broadband supplier. It does not seem so simple! Here is our situation:

We are with BT Broadband. We have their copper wire (slowest) broadband. We pay about £13 a month ( we got a deal). Switching up to Infinity 1 will cost £22 a month, according to their Customer Services people, yesterday.

We would like fast broadband with unlimited useage. Yes, we really do need unlimited! There are a couple of issues with switching:

1. Child Protection. We've two young kids and we want them safe. BT offers Parental Controls but I also understand that they provide a "clean" feed meaning that it is difficult to accidently get unsuitable material. I understand that this is not the case with other providers. I am not sure if I am completely up tp date on this matter, though.

2. Reliablility. We use the internet for work a grreat deal and losing our service would hit us hard in the pocket. Staying with BT means that we just them and it gets fixed if there's a problem, but what happens if the provider is not BT? Does it make it more difficult to get a fix to breakdown if there is a separate Broadband provider?

I would be extrremely grateful for advice and expereince in this matter, please.

John

Browntoa

PlusNet provide


https://www.plus.net/home-broadband/safeguard/


and

https://www.plus.net/home-broadband/protect/


PS;- PlusNet is owned by BT

Browntoa

sky supply


https://www.sky.com/help/articles/sky-broadband-shield-explained

Browntoa

BT Openreach do the repairs for almost all the providers from the exchange to the premises , equivalence rules set by Ofcom means that ALL faults are dealt with on an equal basis .Basically they cannot do BT faults before any others so the service level is the same


If you really need it for work then you should be on a business line and not a residential package to get the higher service levels that brings over a residential line

androidguy

Many thanks for the information above. Further advice and experience would be appreciated, of course.

Neil49

I recently switched from BT fibre to Plusnet fibre simply to save money as my BT deal had come to an end.

The switchover went without a hitch with the phone line being switched at about 8am but the broadband was not up and running until about 3pm. This kind of situation probably occurs with whoever you switch to but may be an issue if you rely on it for work.

At a push you could probably tether your pc to your phone to keep a connection with the outside world.

As an aside, my download speed with Plusnet is around 37Mb which is what I got with BT at the time (they are faster now) but the upload speed is only 1.9 Mb compared with around 9Mb with BT. I don't know if this is important to you but it's something to check with all providers.

Hope this helps.

AndyPK

1) Most providers have child protection these days. e.g Sky. I think its an agreed standard almost.

2) Openreach actually fix problems, so just because you are with BT doesn't mean things will get fixed quickly. But do your reseach on customer services with other providers.

androidguy

Many thanks everyone. Really useful stuff. I did not realise there may be such a difference in the upload speeds which something that is crucial to us.

More thoughts welcome!

brewerdave

I can only repeat what Browntoa has said -if your connection is essential for business reasons then get a business line.
There are many stories of people running businesses from their homes on a residential line and losing their connection for a period of weeks!!

grey_eyed_wolf

Hiya, just wanted to chime in with a recommendation for Plusnet (who as Browntoa says is owned by BT anyway)

Their new customer deal is pretty good at the moment, and they look after their existing customers well too (I just got their new customer rate as a 3 year customer so they are in my good books at the moment!) UK call centres and long opening hours means they've always been able to help when I've needed them.

Protection - they offer an altered Safeguard option when you sign up, same as BT

Reliability - Obviously will depend on where you live, but mine has been very reliable and when there was service disruption the delay was BT Openreach's fault, not theirs! Plusnet kept me informed on progress and offered full refund for downtime. Other than that, plain sailing.

Good luck with the switch!

androidguy

Many thanks for the information about Plusnet.