Why I decided not to move to Onestream

GDB2222

I looked at moving to Onestream, but decided not to, for a couple of reasons. I was one click from signing up, but:

1. Router cost. An extra £3 a month on top of the price advertised on the MSE comparison site. That eats up most of the apparent price advantage. That's all a bit underhand.

I could buy the router Onestream offer for £35 at retail prices, so why Onestream are charging £70 over the life of the contract is beyond me.

It's all a bit creepy.

2. Then, there's anti-virus added to the package at extra cost. Yes, I can ring up and cancel it, but I can't opt out at the time of signing up. CREEPY!

3. Plus, there's the charge for providing help and support - £4.95 a month! Yes, I can ring up and cancel it, but I can't opt out at the time of signing up. CREEPY!

Basically, Onestream is suckering customers in with an apparently cheap deal, but then gouging them with hidden costs. I won't deal with a company like that. Bye!

Should a reputable site like MSE be promoting these guys? 

Bendo

Hardly creepy. Personally don't think charging for a router is a bad idea. Fed up of all the landfill rubbish ISPs insist on sending out that I neither want nor will use.

A better reason to avoid them would be their underhand use of RPI rather than CPI for their price rises. Also they use Vodafones network which is frankly,  rubbish.

GDB2222

The problem is that most ISPs don’t charge extra for the router, so the comparison sites are misleading.  Maybe, MSE should include the cost of the router?

Bendo

The practice of supplying a free router should be banned. The amount of routers that end up in landfill is silly.  Every time I change ISP they insist on sending a router, it doesn't come out of the box,  and its generally low spec, locked down rubbish that has no value to anyone else so ends up at the recycling center.

GDB2222

Bendo said:

The practice of supplying a free router should be banned. The amount of routers that end up in landfill is silly.  Every time I change ISP they insist on sending a router, it doesn't come out of the box,  and its generally low spec, locked down rubbish that has no value to anyone else so ends up at the recycling center.

I understand and agree with the point you are making, and indeed I could have bought a router to use with Onestream (for £35). My point is simply that the cost comparison is misleading.  I also don't like having software and services bundled in at significant extra cost, with no option to cancel them at the point of sale.

Cisco001

So do you have an option of not paying £3 per month for their router?
i.e. use your own router?
It is not a bad idea as router from some of the ISP are quite rubbish.

onomatopoeia99

Bendo said:

The practice of supplying a free router should be banned. The amount of routers that end up in landfill is silly.  Every time I change ISP they insist on sending a router, it doesn't come out of the box,  and its generally low spec, locked down rubbish that has no value to anyone else so ends up at the recycling center.

The problem is the number of people that won't be able to get their broadband to work if they have to buy and configure a router, and then will be on here blaming the ISP and demanding compo / penatly free exit / compaining about ISP support not knowing how to configure their noname aliexpress cheapo rubbish for them that they bought on price with no understanding of its suitability or reliability.

QrizB

Bendo said:

The practice of supplying a free router should be banned. The amount of routers that end up in landfill is silly.  Every time I change ISP they insist on sending a router, it doesn't come out of the box,  and its generally low spec, locked down rubbish that has no value to anyone else so ends up at the recycling center.

Shell ask for theirs back at the end of the contract and provide a post-paid label.

Vodafone say you can drop it off in one of their stores for reuse or recycling.

I dont know about other suppliers, but maybe they offer similar?

GDB2222

Cisco001 said:

So do you have an option of not paying £3 per month for their router?
i.e. use your own router?
It is not a bad idea as router from some of the ISP are quite rubbish.

Yes, you can use your own router, and they say they will provide the setup details you need.

The router they provide is a TPLink VDSL router - probably 9970, but maybe 9960, as they don't specify the model.

stretfordmongrel

No it is very scammy. Like the RyanAir of broadband. Plus the weird email follow ups from Lucy Dee saying don't tell my boss I'm sending you this link to continue your sign up. I mean it's a bit but it smacks of the worst scam sites. MSE should do better they should not be recommending practices like this. I come to MSE for good consumer advice this is very poor and should have warnings. 

jbrassy

I signed up for Onestream back in October and was slightly surprised the router wasn't included. I wasn't bothered at the time as I thought I could just use my eero router, but it turns out you can't because it doesn't connect to ADSL.

In the end I bought the TP-Link TD-W9970 N300 from Argos for £30. This is the same router they offer at some inflated price. I could then connect this router to my eero and it all works fine.

I will probably just sell the TP Link router on Ebay once I'm finished with Onestream. 

The antivirus thing caught me out as well, but I rang them up and cancelled it and they refunded me straight away. 

I have not been charged for help and support, so don't know what you're going on about there.

As for Onestream being 'creepy', I find this description a bit strange. I think it's fair pointing out that there are things to look out for with them, but I don't find them creepy. I have to say, once it all got set up, I haven't had any problems with Onestream. They are a low cost, no frills provider, so you get what you pay for.