Best provider - London house (never had internet)

lukey105

Hi Team ! Quick question for the hive mind here:

1) Looking for recommendations for best provider to go with to get broadband installed into a house we bought that has never had internet - an Victorian terrace in London that hasn't been renovated since the 1970's. Can any provider do the install or does it have to be BT?

2) Our builder told me that on installation day, they would want the broadband engineer to fit the connection to the outside of the property (I think he means the Optical Network Terminal (ONT)) - then his electrician (who is handling all the internet install too) would do the rest……so that we can keep the cables tidy behind new skirting boards rather than having ugly trunking all over our new walls! Anyone else had experience with this? and know if it is possible to request this with the installer?

Thanks all !

JSmithy45AD

The ONT goes on the inside (needs a nearby powerpoint), it's a CSU that gets fitted externally. This is presuming that you have FTTP available of course. If so then the hub gets connected to the ONT via an ethernet cable which if cat6 say should be able to reach anywhere to place the hub in the best possible position. It'll be likely Openreach or Cityfibre who fit the cable and CSU outside, internally it could be the ISP who fits the ONT.

Being Victorian be prepared to purchase your own wifi mesh system as an ISP supplied hub/router will struggle.

flaneurs_lobster

You first need to ascertain which networks are available to install service at your property. Will almost certainly be a FTTP install.

Whatever infrastructure supplier/internet provider you decide to go with will probably need to complete the install to the property - an external splicing point which is usually found at the point that the fibre enters the property - and an ONT (never outside) which needs a power supply. They need this much hardware installed to check that the connection is functioning.

Don't think they will let your guys complete the install to this point, although the positioning of the splice point, ONT and the run of the cable between them is open to negotiation, and will be influenced by whether the FTTP feed is coming to the house via ducting or overhead.

flaneurs_lobster

Hopefully if you are rewiring then you are including CAT6 (or whatever this year's standard is) cables throughout the property?

lukey105

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82092920#Comment_82092920

The plan was to have the wifi router downstairs and a solution for the upstairs to get wifi too……sounds like I need to decide quite quickly the best layout to have them install here. We will have a small office upstairs and just need broadband for standard work from home / home office type stuff…….we don't have a television and don't plan to buy one, but make make sense to install some sort of port in the wall in case a future buyer does want to have TV/Sky ? Thanks !

oldernonethewiser

As advised find out what ISPs are available and do they use BT Openreach, Virgin or CityFibre cabling.

In my experience the ISP will send you a router and then the company with the fibre to the property do the install as they need to check that it actually works prior to connecting the router.

If you can run a cable (Cat 6) from the router to your upstairs office that will work better than any wireless option.

"some sort of port in the wall" - what does this mean?

flaneurs_lobster

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82092936#Comment_82092936

We had the option when we moved into our Victorian property smidge over a decade ago to have network cabling installed at the same time as a full rewire of the electrics. Regretted not doing it ever since (cost, ignorance).

You don't get to rewire very often, I wouldn't waste the opportunity despite no immediate needs.

Don't want to oversimplify it, does need knowledge of network cabling, routers, switches etc. It's not just shoving some cables behind the skirting.

lukey105

I checked today - we have FTTP and both BT Openreach and Virgin are available

Which ISP do folks recommend here?

Super appreciated, thanks all !

JSmithy45AD

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82093347#Comment_82093347

It's not BT Openreach, it's just Openreach. You would have to see who supplies your address through one of the BB checkers and choose based on your requirements and the cost. I personally would avoid Vodafone as they've let me down twice in the past purely trying to sign up.

If you do go down a wifi mesh system route given it's a Victorian house, the ISP supplied router doesn't matter.

Try the below links.

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

https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/

flaneurs_lobster

The subset of ISPs that will be available at your location on Openreach will be different elsewhere, so a recommendation might not be available to you.

Having said that, BT/EE, Sky, Vodafone, TalkTalk are about as ubiquitous as it gets.

Working from home? Thought about business-level service?

oldernonethewiser

The BT Openreach naming was my fault, apologies, I do know the proper name, just had a senior moment.

I've used both Zen and Sky for FFTP both were on CityFibre's network.

Friend has Virgin and no problems, Sister in Law was with Virgin and hated them.

Check what deals are available, read up on customer support and see if cashback is available as well. (Quidco, Topcashback)