BT Contract ending soon - Vodafone, Plusnet or Zen?

sudosaurus

Hello,

My BT contract (500Mbps) is coming to an end and looking to switch providers.

Highly tempted by the Vodafone Full Fibre 900 package which is currently available at £36 via Topcashback.

Whilst I don't anticipate needing to speak to customer services and understanding the IT side of things, I was wondering if anyone else here is using VF and are happy with the service?

Yes, I've seen many reviews on TrustPilot etc warning not to go with VF however these reviews are so many in every 100k people so, you can't really use that as a figure to judge against.

I won't be using their Router but my own TP-Link router which I've been using with BT just fine for the past 24 months.

If I don't go with this, I will probably sign up with Zen or Plusnet instead but at a lower package due to costs.

Thanks!

QrizB

My previous contract was FTTC with Vodafone.

I had no problems at all, it just worked.

I'm now with Shell who get even worse online reviews, but still no problems!

iniltous

Is it only Openreach FTTP available in your area , VF don’t exclusively use Openreach, so if they were using an Alt Net , you would need a new install, so another CSP , and ONT , the OR ones remaining in place but unused , obviously if it’s only Openreach in your area it’s not going to be an issue , or getting another FTTP connection alongside the existing one may not be an issue anyway , but VF can and do have different pricing depending on which underlying network they use.

400ixl

Two providers I would never use are TalkTalk and Vodafone through having to support so many friends and family through their incompetence when things don't go well.

One thing to consider with Plusnet on their FTTP service is that they do not have a Digital Voice service so you would not be able to have a phone line with them. Outside of that I would recommend them as a basic provider and pretty decent support.

Zen have had a very good reputation for a long while, used to use them and would recommend them. You will pay more for that service, which may not be too bad if they still offer contracts which are fixed for the duration and don't have the annual CPI+/RPI+ rises (check that is still the case though).

Do you need more than the 500Mb that you have today? I wouldn't compromise on service to get a bit more speed that I don't really need or would use.

sudosaurus

What about Sky - are they any good for full fibre?

matelodave

We changed from BT FTTP to Vodafone FTTP nearly two years ago because VF were half the price of BT for a better service (100mbit/s v 73mbits) and I've never had to call VF so I have no idea what their customer service is like. The transfer was virtually seamless on the day of my choice. 

I changed the VF router log-in info to be the same as the BT SSID and password before changeover day and it was just a case of transferring the cable from one to the other and "et voila", it all worked just as before - in fact with a slightly better wifi coverage in our bungalow and out into the garden. Both had Digital Voice and that transferred over without a hitch as well.

I've got to renew in January 2024 and depending on the cost  I'll either stay or contemplate Zen who are still offering 18month contracts with no increases which may work out cheaper in the long run ((taking into account the CPI+inflation rise that VF will probably impose in March next year and the year after)

Arfa__

Just moved from BT to Vodafone, both business accounts as I work from home wanted better SLA's. The whole move has been fine, installation by Cityfibre very smooth, no complaints with Vodafone at all (albeit only been with them a few weeks).I moved as BT could not offer fibre, but Vodafone could via some new Cityfibre lines. They were also cheaper so I jumped from ~40Mbs to ~110Mbps for a tenner less each month! (I could go upto 900Mbps, but deemed it overkill)

The big tip I can give after getting stung by BT is to get on the ball with cancelling your BT contract. I fell fowl to not reading the small print so:

Despite porting my landline number over, it did not end my BT contract. I did not realise this until too late and so my 30 day notice period only started after I switched... Secondly, I had completely forgotten that my 2 year contract would revert to a higher price after it ended - no mention of this in any recent correspondence or on the online account... Thus I've been stung for a month's broadband with BT that I'm not using at an inflated price... :-(

sudosaurus

Arfa__ said:

Just moved from BT to Vodafone, both business accounts as I work from home wanted better SLA's. The whole move has been fine, installation by Cityfibre very smooth, no complaints with Vodafone at all (albeit only been with them a few weeks).I moved as BT could not offer fibre, but Vodafone could via some new Cityfibre lines. They were also cheaper so I jumped from ~40Mbs to ~110Mbps for a tenner less each month! (I could go upto 900Mbps, but deemed it overkill)

The big tip I can give after getting stung by BT is to get on the ball with cancelling your BT contract. I fell fowl to not reading the small print so:

Despite porting my landline number over, it did not end my BT contract. I did not realise this until too late and so my 30 day notice period only started after I switched... Secondly, I had completely forgotten that my 2 year contract would revert to a higher price after it ended - no mention of this in any recent correspondence or on the online account... Thus I've been stung for a month's broadband with BT that I'm not using at an inflated price... :-(

You only have to give 30 days notice if you're on BT Business. For consumer packages, your service just switches from one to the other - BT told me this themselves.

StevieD54

Interesting reading through the experiences posted here, my 24 month BT FTTP contract is up on 21/11/23, so I’m looking around. I currently pay £36 for 150mbps.  A friend is with Shell and by coincidence, has just renewed with them, on a 12 month fibre deal. (one strange thing I noticed yesterday, their contracts have suddenly changed from 18 to 12 months just this week).  Even so, I’m tempted by their offer, which when the Amazon voucher is factored in, would work out about £20 per month for the year, as opposed to BT’s offer of £38 to renew!

However, a couple of things……

someone made a point on here about the BT small print, the 30 day notice thing, hopefully that won’t happen. I’m about to ring BT and tell them I’m cancelling and going elsewhere……but how does this work?  Do I just sign up with the new provider first and they deal with everything?  i.e. tell them my BT contract finish date and they then deal with BT?  Do I have to ring BT and cancel?

Any advice much appreciated.

iniltous

If you are intending to migrate between providers using Openreach ( which is the most likely situation ) you don’t contact BT yourself ( unless it’s to negotiate a better price only threatening to leave ) , if you have already decided to use another ISP , you leave it to them to contact BT on your behalf.
With migrations the 30 day notice is not really a thing , you tell the new provider, they tell BT , it takes about 10-14 days to complete the migration, so if you want to avoid as much as possible any early termination fee , you either give the new ISP the date you want to migrate on , or contact them 10-14 days before the renewal date and ask for the migration to be actioned ASAP .

If you ring BT yourself and arbitrarily say ‘I’m off , cancel my renewal’ , the new provider will have to wait until the order you asked BT to raise to cancel your BT service has completed , before the new company can raise a provide order for your new service with them , so you will have a break in service of at least a few days , possibly even longer depending on work-stacks etc.

StevieD54

We don't currently have a phone call package with BT (we use our mobiles), but our (digital) landline is still live and is plugged into the BT hub, so we can still take incoming calls.  We wouldn’t want to lose this facility, so I’m wondering if we would still have this with a Shell hub?  It looks like it, as there is a phone socket on their hub as far as I can see.  Has anyone experience of this scenario?  i.e. changing from BT to Shell (full fibre)