Is NOW Broadband a Good Choice?

Chris75

I have an old neighbour couple whose Plusnet contract ends this month.

They have looked around and found that NOW is by far their cheapest option. £20 a month including Anytime calls and Top Cashback £90. For a 12 month contract this is around £12.50 a month................ but they have asked for my advise and I have several concerns having read various user reviews.

1. Will they keep their existing phone number? Some forums suggest that this is far from certain.

2. If after 12 months they want to leave NOW will they keep their number and will it be a problem in other ways as I understand NOW will use the Sky LLU in the exchange and some ISP's don't like ex Sky/NOW customers and number porting.

3. Is the wifi any good? Various reports suggest very restricted range but I am not sure if this is the latest router.

4. As the Top Cashback £90 is such an important element of the package how likely are they to actually get it?

Comments please from NOW or Ex NOW users.

shiraz99

Chris75 said:

I have an old neighbour couple whose Plusnet contract ends this month.

They have looked around and found that NOW is by far their cheapest option. £20 a month including Anytime calls and Top Cashback £90. For a 12 month contract this is around £12.50 a month................ but they have asked for my advise and I have several concerns having read various user reviews.

1. Will they keep their existing phone number? Some forums suggest that this is far from certain.

I've done two in the past 4 months and my sister recently moved hers to Now BB and we've all kept our existing number.

2. If after 12 months they want to leave NOW will they keep their number and will it be a problem in other ways as I understand NOW will use the Sky LLU in the exchange and some ISP's don't like ex Sky/NOW customers and number porting.

I've not heard of any issues porting your number from Sky to other providers.

3. Is the wifi any good? Various reports suggest very restricted range but I am not sure if this is the latest router.

Router's OK, not the best but no worse than most, if you have issues with wifi coverage anyway then you could always try another router, such as the latest Sky SR203 router which you an pick up on ebay, FB etc or try other solutions such as mesh wifi.

4. As the Top Cashback £90 is such an important element of the package how likely are they to actually get it?

Again, in both the moves I made via TCB I've received the £90 cashback.

Comments please from NOW or Ex NOW users.

My comments in bold.

Richard_T_

Recently switched from Plusnet to Now....

1. Will they keep their existing phone number? Some forums suggest that this is far from certain.

Yes, you can keep your number but be careful when signing up, there is a box where you have to pout your number in and also click a box to keeping the number , if you look at the Now forums this bad design catches a few people out

2. If after 12 months they want to leave NOW will they keep their number and will it be a problem in other ways as I understand NOW will use the Sky LLU in the exchange and some ISP's don't like ex Sky/NOW customers and number porting.

I have jut switched, you should be able to move away once the contract has finished, and keep your number, as the previous post er says i havent seen any issues with moving form now/sky to another provider with regards to keeping a phone number. the only issues is if you are in an open reach stop sell copper, move everyone to FTTP  area - but for me the move from now is 12 months away

3. Is the wifi any good? Various reports suggest very restricted range but I am not sure if this is the latest router.

I've heard the router that Now use isnt very good, the one they sent me is still in its box unused. likewise the plusnet router also falls into the not very good category , that too stayed in its box and was never used. I use a TP link Archer VR2800 router - cheaper routers will also work with Now, but they must be compatible with NOW ( and/or Skys) service which uses a different log in system to other ISPs . by all means try the router and if it works fine then that's ok, if it doesn't go to the router settings and give the 2.4Ghz and 5 Ghz wifi different names, if that doesn't work look at getting your own router, but make sure its compatible - as i mentioned i use a TP link Archer VR router others also work go to the tp link dsl modems support forums for more

4. As the Top Cashback £90 is such an important element of the package how likely are they to actually get it?

This is the first time I've used a cashback service so cant speak until it comes through - i understand this can take a few months , but even if the TCB doesnt work £20/month for landline calls plus FTTC internet is still a good deal

A few other notes:

 if you use the landline, then the 1571 answer service is not included, this costs an additional £1/month

It is possible to keep the plusnet email address after you have left plusnet

you can not pay via direct debit for now, its done via a credit card/bank card continuous payment

I have had zero issues in switching, the service switched overnight sometime in the early hours , went to bed with plusnet, woke up with now active

Chris75

That all sounds very good.

Can you easily use the modem part of the router and attach it to a better router/ mesh system?

jem16

Now BB offers free Anytime calls. Are these the normal Anytime calls where your phone is connected to the actual phone line? Or is the internet type calls where your phone is connected to the router?

Mainly asking as it's more a problem for elderly people who neither have nor want a mobile in case of power cuts.

bill888

where your phone is connected to the actual phone line? 

NOW does not yet offer 'internet type' call service.  For starters. there is no socket on the 2015 era (Sky) hub to plug in a telephone wired handset.

One of my relatives moved from BT superfast to NOW superfast fibre in 2020.  They are coming close to the end of their second term with NOW and will no doubt renew for another 12 months, with free Anytime calls.   

Note that NOW does not offer Call Protect (unlike BT, Talktalk, Sky, Plusnet), so if nuisance calls becomes a problem, you may need to buy some new telephones with call blocking technology.

fyi, BT have 'paused' roll out of their Digital Voice service.
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2022/03/isp-bt-pauses-uk-digital-voice-rollout-after-consumer-complaints.html

shiraz99

Richard_T_ said:

A few other notes:

 if you use the landline, then the 1571 answer service is not included, this costs an additional £1/month

It is possible to keep the plusnet email address after you have left plusnet

you can not pay via direct debit for now, its done via a credit card/bank card continuous payment

I have had zero issues in switching, the service switched overnight sometime in the early hours , went to bed with plusnet, woke up with now active

Not true. I'm currently paying for Now BB via DD.

shiraz99

jem16 said:

Now BB offers free Anytime calls. Are these the normal Anytime calls where your phone is connected to the actual phone line? Or is the internet type calls where your phone is connected to the router?

Mainly asking as it's more a problem for elderly people who neither have nor want a mobile in case of power cuts.

Normal landline calls.

Richard_T_

shiraz99 said:

Richard_T_ said:

A few other notes:

 if you use the landline, then the 1571 answer service is not included, this costs an additional £1/month

It is possible to keep the plusnet email address after you have left plusnet

you can not pay via direct debit for now, its done via a credit card/bank card continuous payment

I have had zero issues in switching, the service switched overnight sometime in the early hours , went to bed with plusnet, woke up with now active

Not true. I'm currently paying for Now BB via DD.

Must have changed, as as far as i can see direct debit is no longer an option, and comments on the now tv broadband customer site point in that direction ( ie credit/debit card payment only) as well.

As for Landline, yes its a normal phone connection, which takes normal traditional phones, although as with all phone calls in power cuts you will either need a corded phone, or a DECT cordless phone with a back up battery in the base unit ( hard to find)

flavione74

Any of you using Now Broadband to work from home?
I noticed quite few posts in the Sky Help forum, raised by people who had issues with their office VPN. Sadly I think in none of them the OP is posting further messages to say if they fixed their problems or not.
Thanks.

jem16

bill888 said:

where your phone is connected to the actual phone line? 

NOW does not yet offer 'internet type' call service.  For starters. there is no socket on the 2015 era (Sky) hub to plug in a telephone wired handset.

One of my relatives moved from BT superfast to NOW superfast fibre in 2020.  They are coming close to the end of their second term with NOW and will no doubt renew for another 12 months, with free Anytime calls.   

Note that NOW does not offer Call Protect (unlike BT, Talktalk, Sky, Plusnet), so if nuisance calls becomes a problem, you may need to buy some new telephones with call blocking technology.

fyi, BT have 'paused' roll out of their Digital Voice service.
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2022/03/isp-bt-pauses-uk-digital-voice-rollout-after-consumer-complaints.html

Thanks. Reason I was asking is that my parents are currently with Sky and have Essential BB plus Sky Talk with Anytime calls. Any time I’ve renegotiated their contract I’m always asked about the need for any medical alert attached to the phone and whether they have a mobile to use in emergencies. So it sounds like Sky themselves are keen to get everyone off the normal landline and on to internet calls as they refer to it. With parents in their 90s I’d prefer not to be changing stuff over. 

I did notice BT had paused their digital voice rollout for these very reasons. We had a couple of Openreach engineers out on Wednesday to fix a fault and I was talking to them about it and the fact that it was supposed to be all changed over by 2025. His answer was basically to laugh and say it wouldn’t happen by then.