Broadband Renewal Options

fcjf

I currently have BT Fibre (FTTC) and out of contract tomorrow so looking around for a new deal. Openreach FTTP has recently been installed in our street so there’s a number of options. I have been happy with BT so I’m wary about moving away from them, I had Sky a few years ago and suffered from signal drop out and connectivity issues which Sky couldn’t / didn’t want to resolve which led to an unhappy household with me as the enemy.

My original house is relatively new so minimal masonry walls but I have a two bedroom above garage extension and a sunroom extension which is where the connectivity issues have previously been. I currently have a BT disc extender which works fine with no coverage or speed issues but previous Sky boosters didn’t work as well.

What’s holding me back from just renewing with BT is cost, their Fibre 500 is £41 whereas Sky, Vodafone and Plusnet alternatives are much cheaper. I can't get Virgin.

I’m naturally nervous about the Sky option but maybe the current Router / extender options are better than previous technology?

I have also considered just going with one of the cheaper alternatives and buying a mesh system but there’s quite a choice of different systems, specs and costs which leads me back to just sticking with what works.

Any thoughts or experiences I should take into consideration?

Exodi

I'd always opt for the cheapest out of BT/Sky/Vodafone/etc as they all use the same lines (Virgin is the only one that uses their own lines).

As you identify, signal quality is just down to hardware.

Personally I use a third party router and WiFi points (Nest Wifi), so regardless of what ISP I choose, I just plug my nest router into their modem and then the signal quality is exactly the same regardless of who I use (and you don't need to set up all your devices as the network name/password/etc stays the same - though technically you could do this with the ISP model/router too).

You can get decent broadband for ~£25-£30 a month and get a router + point (e.g. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/315116593771 ) for £75 which pays for itself in half a year compared to your current idea (and you keep the hardware forever).

Obviously other routers/mesh networks/extenders exist.

Also Fibre 500 is massive overkill for 99.9% of families. Most people would do just fine with the 60ish mb packages or 150mb (though people regularly conflate signal quality with speed).

flaneurs_lobster

Do you really need 500Mbps? What's your current FTTC speed? 150Mbps would get that monthly figure down to what I'm guessing you are currently paying?

Landline phone? Lose it if you can, probably saves £5/mth.

Make sure your quote includes your BT disc, that costs extra.

Have you checked out deals for switching to EE? I'm just out of BT contract and they seem to be offering deals that will better the BT proffers. Sign into your BT account to see what's on offer. 

There might be room for a bit of haggling too.

fcjf

Exodi said:

I'd always opt for the cheapest out of BT/Sky/Vodafone/etc as they all use the same lines (Virgin is the only one that uses their own lines).

As you identify, signal quality is just down to hardware.

Personally I use a third party router and WiFi points (Nest Wifi), so regardless of what ISP I choose, I just plug my nest router into their modem and then the signal quality is exactly the same regardless of who I use (and you don't need to set up all your devices as the network name/password/etc stays the same - though technically you could do this with the ISP model/router too).

You can get decent broadband for ~£25-£30 a month and get a router + point (e.g. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/315116593771 ) for £75 which pays for itself in half a year compared to your current idea (and you keep the hardware forever).

Obviously other routers/mesh networks/extenders exist.

Also Fibre 500 is massive overkill for 99.9% of families. Most people would do just fine with the 60ish mb packages or 150mb (though people regularly conflate signal quality with speed).

Thank you. Is the Nest router + point as good as TP Link alternatives? Would it be as good as the BT Hub 2 and disc that I already have?

The 150mb option is probably what I'd go with then, Vodafone 150 is £25/month, Sky and Plusnet £27/month. 

fcjf

flaneurs_lobster said:

Do you really need 500Mbps? What's your current FTTC speed? 150Mbps would get that monthly figure down to what I'm guessing you are currently paying?

Landline phone? Lose it if you can, probably saves £5/mth.

Make sure your quote includes your BT disc, that costs extra.

Have you checked out deals for switching to EE? I'm just out of BT contract and they seem to be offering deals that will better the BT proffers. Sign into your BT account to see what's on offer. 

There might be room for a bit of haggling too.

Yes I'd probably just go with 150Mpbs. I don't need a landline but then again some don't give you the option.

That's interesting on the EE switching, when going to EE via the MyBT app, the EE Deals were actually more expensive than the comparable BT deal.

With regards to haggling BT rang me last week and I told them I was considering changing to an alternative provider to see if they would bite but they didn't.

Exodi

fcjf said:

Exodi said:

I'd always opt for the cheapest out of BT/Sky/Vodafone/etc as they all use the same lines (Virgin is the only one that uses their own lines).

As you identify, signal quality is just down to hardware.

Personally I use a third party router and WiFi points (Nest Wifi), so regardless of what ISP I choose, I just plug my nest router into their modem and then the signal quality is exactly the same regardless of who I use (and you don't need to set up all your devices as the network name/password/etc stays the same - though technically you could do this with the ISP model/router too).

You can get decent broadband for ~£25-£30 a month and get a router + point (e.g. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/315116593771 ) for £75 which pays for itself in half a year compared to your current idea (and you keep the hardware forever).

Obviously other routers/mesh networks/extenders exist.

Also Fibre 500 is massive overkill for 99.9% of families. Most people would do just fine with the 60ish mb packages or 150mb (though people regularly conflate signal quality with speed).

Thank you. Is the Nest router + point as good as TP Link alternatives? Would it be as good as the BT Hub 2 and disc that I already have?

The 150mb option is probably what I'd go with then, Vodafone 150 is £25/month, Sky and Plusnet £27/month. 

Sorry I couldn't say, I haven't used them but from what I understand TP Link is just as good so don't let my Google bias influence you. I'd imagine both options would be better than the BT option.

Yeah I'd imagine 150mb is best option (and likely still overkill but at least it's not as crazy as 500mb).

If you end up going with Vodafone, they're constantly running deals where you can get a £100-£150 giftcard at the same time as signing up - I've had two off Vodafone (I switch every time my contract is up).

EDIT: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/compare-broadband-deals/

Looks like £115 at the moment.

Northern_Wanderer

If you like BT, how about Plusnet? My neighbours went for Vodafone, who contracted out the FTTP full fibre installation. I saw the wiring in their house which was a complete mess. Personally hoping to choose a provider that will use Openreach to do installation as I rightly or wrongly feel they will do a better job. 

Neil_Jones

Northern_Wanderer said:

If you like BT, how about Plusnet? My neighbours went for Vodafone, who contracted out the FTTP full fibre installation. I saw the wiring in their house which was a complete mess. Personally hoping to choose a provider that will use Openreach to do installation as I rightly or wrongly feel they will do a better job. 

Vodafone install FTTP with Openreach or somebody like CityFibre depending on where you are and what's available. You may not have a choice who installs your fibre.

With regards to Plusnet, the OP hasn't mentioned regarding needing Digital Voice but its worth stating here that Plusnet does not provide Digital Voice.

35har1old

Northern_Wanderer said:

If you like BT, how about Plusnet? My neighbours went for Vodafone, who contracted out the FTTP full fibre installation. I saw the wiring in their house which was a complete mess. Personally hoping to choose a provider that will use Openreach to do installation as I rightly or wrongly feel they will do a better job. 

Was this wiring to the ONT?

Northern_Wanderer

35har1old said:

Northern_Wanderer said:

If you like BT, how about Plusnet? My neighbours went for Vodafone, who contracted out the FTTP full fibre installation. I saw the wiring in their house which was a complete mess. Personally hoping to choose a provider that will use Openreach to do installation as I rightly or wrongly feel they will do a better job. 

Was this wiring to the ONT?

Yes I believe so. I just don't want a sloppy cowboy install inside my home. And I can't be assed sorting it out if it is....

Northern_Wanderer

Neil_Jones said:

Northern_Wanderer said:

If you like BT, how about Plusnet? My neighbours went for Vodafone, who contracted out the FTTP full fibre installation. I saw the wiring in their house which was a complete mess. Personally hoping to choose a provider that will use Openreach to do installation as I rightly or wrongly feel they will do a better job. 

Vodafone install FTTP with Openreach or somebody like CityFibre depending on where you are and what's available. You may not have a choice who installs your fibre.

With regards to Plusnet, the OP hasn't mentioned regarding needing Digital Voice but its worth stating here that Plusnet does not provide Digital Voice.

Well I beleive it's actually Openreach that contracted it out. CityFibre don't operate here, it's all done from poles.